Bobby Fischer and the missed combination

12/17/2006 – Iceland. A week ago. The TV station Ríkisútvarpið RUV broadcasts two hours of live chess. At the end of the game Icelandic master Arnar Gunnarson commits a blunder that allows his opponent Bragi Thorfinsson to mate him in one move. Nothing remarkable so far. But then comes a call from a viewer to suggest a spectacular win for Arnar. A voice from the past.

Evgeny Alekseev, 21, wins Russian Superfinal

12/16/2006 – Dimitry Jakovenko, 23, and Evgeny Alekseev, 21, tied for first in the Russian Super Final, with 7.5/11 points each. The title of Russian Champion was decided in two rapid games, played with the time control of 15 minutes + 10 seconds per move. Alekseev, the young grandmaster from St. Petersburg, won the nerve-racking tiebreak 1.5-0.5. Final report.

It's Pari vs Katya in the Amity Grandmasters Challenge

12/16/2006 – From December 16–25 the world's youngest Grandmaster, Parimarjan Negi will play against the world's youngest girl grandmaster and reigning European Women's champion Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine. The event is being held in New Delhi from 17-25 December 2006 and will consist of six long games, six rapid and six blitz games. Preview.

Danailov, Topalov challenge Kramnik

12/15/2006 – There is a FIDE regulation that states that any player with a rating of 2700 or higher can issue a challenge for a match of 12 games for the World Championship title against the incumbent World Champion. Condition: the challenger's side has to provide the prize fund of one million dollars. Now Silvio Danailov, the manager of former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov has issued the challenge.

Mega 2007: the biggest top class annotated database

12/14/2006 – The starting point for any serious study of chess is a first-class, impeccably edited and maintained database of games – 3.5 million of them, 60,000 including analysis and commentary. With a giant opening key driven by 100,000 classification positions, and a 180,000 player encyclopedia with 27,000 pictures. That about sums up what you get with Mega Database 2007.

Kramnik to play in Mexican World Championship

12/14/2006 – It was not a foregone conclusion but up for debate: would Vladimir Kramnik, who had just won the reunification tournament in Elista, really be willing to put his title up for grabs just ten months later in an eight-player tournament? Yes he is, as we learn from FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in this breaking news story.

Garry Kasparov: 'We will march!'

12/14/2006 – A Russian anti-terror hit team raided the offices of the oppositional "United Civil Front" in Moscow. It's founder, Garry Kasparov, was removed from a German TV news discussion, at the behest of Russian authorities. Things are looking dangerous for the former world chess champion, who will participate in a "March of the Dissidents" on Saturday. Spiegel Online.

Embracing Risk in Tournaments

12/14/2006 – The issue of playing style is not normally given much consideration in chess. In an interesting article computer scientist Darse Billings maintains that it is an important factor in the probability of winning. A player who tends to win or lose games has a significantly better chance of success in a tournament than a player who draws a lot of games. Read and consider.

The kick boxing women's chess champion

12/13/2006 – The winner of the Ukrainian Women's Championship 2006 was not one of the very strong top seeds, but WGM Oksana Vozovic, a law student who is also a kick boxer and karate champion. Oksana, who won the women's chess title on tiebreak points, is still trying to decide which area of expertise she will pursue professionally. Illustrated report by GM Mikhail Golubev.

Andrew Martin – the Sherlock Holmes appeal

12/12/2006 – In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture Andrew Martin delves into the swashbuckling King's Gambit, watches the blind lead the blind, shows us a humdinger from the Russian superfinal and a good way of meeting the insidious London System. He also has a chess puzzle for budding detectives.

Young Stars at the Russian Super Final

12/12/2006 – The players who did not qualify could make up a sterling tournament. This year's Super Final is full of bright young players, many unknown to chess fans in the West. Like Ian Nepomniachtchi, who may soon be challenging Karjakin and Carlsen. Meanwhile Jakovenko is in the lead in Moscow. Report my Misha Savinov.

Kübra for Sports Person of the Year

12/12/2006 – She has just turned fifteen and is the reigning European under 16 champion. Kübra Öztürk has just been nominated for the "Sportsman of the Year" award in her native Turkey, competing with weightlifters, boxers and volleyball players. If you think it would be nice for a chess player to win the award you can go to the newspaper site and cast a vote for Kübra.

The passing of David Bronstein

12/11/2006 – He was one of the greatest players of the middle third of the 20th century, who consistently produced beautiful games for many decades, contributed mightily to the theory of ancient, classical and trendy new openings alike. This week and the next our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos commemorates the life and works of David Bronstein.

Bilbao blindfold: Topalov beats Polgar 3½:2½

12/11/2006 – The six game blindfold rapid chess match between Veselin Topalov and Judit Polgar ended in victory for the former FIDE world champion, who won two games to Polgar's one. The rate of play was 25' + 10", the venue a theatre in the famous Guggenheim Museum in the Spanish city of Bilbao. Final report.

Nigel Short wins Commonwealth Championship

12/10/2006 – For the second time. With an incredible 9/10 score in a strong field of 170 players, consisting of 12 GMs, 8 WGMs and more than 25 IMs/IWMs. So we must admit there is still a lot of milage left in British GM Nigel Short, who is also the President of the Commonwealth Chess Association. From the Championship in Mumbai, India, we bring you a giant pictorial report.

Russian Super Final under way

12/9/2006 – The Russian Championship Super Final is taking place from December 3rd to 15th 2006 in Moscow. After five rounds Dmitrij Jakovenko is in the lead, with 3.5 points. He is followed by six players with 3.0 points each, amongst them top seed Peter Svidler and 16-year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi. Games, results and pictures.

FIDE's new world championship format

12/9/2006 – Since 1998 the FIDE world championship has been a 128-player knockout event, which never really found acceptance amongst chess players and fans. In 2005 the format was changed to an eight-player double round robin, with the knockout transforming into a "World Cup". Now FIDE has tabled a plan to merge the two. Interesting proposal.

Bilbao blindfold: Topalov vs Polgar 1½:½

12/8/2006 – The six game blindfold rapid chess match between former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov and the world's top female player Judit Polgar. The games are played at a speed of 25' + 10", with the rounds starting at 5:30 p.m. local time. The location is the Guggenheim Museum in the Spanish city of Bilbao. First round report.

Ivancuk wins Capablanca Memorial

12/8/2006 – The XLI Capablanca Memorial took place as a six-player double round robin category 17 tournament in the hotel Habana Riviera, Cuba. Top seeds were Vassily Ivanchuk and Evgeny Bareev, who dutifully finished first and second. The three Cuban participants landed at the bottom of the table. Games and results.

David Bronstein dies at 82

12/7/2006 – He came within one draw of becoming world champion, and was one of the strongest players in history to not win the title. David Ionovich Bronstein was a remarkable creative genius and a master of scintillating tactics that enthralled the chess world for many decades. He died on Tuesday in Minsk, in the arms of his wife Tatiana. Looking back, with a video tribute by Yasser Seirawan.

Meanwhile in Florence: Radjabov vs Deep Junior

12/5/2006 – With the eyes of the world trained on the national Art Gallery in Bonn and the match Kramnik vs Deep Fritz, the Festival della Creativita in Florence, Italy, staged a rapid chess game between GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and the Israeli program Deep Junior, which you can buy in the ChessBase Shop. The former annotated the game for us. Guess who won.

Kramnik vs Deep Fritz: Computer wins match by 4:2

12/5/2006 – World champion Vladimir Kramnik played a very spirited final game in his match against Deep Fritz in Bonn, Germany. It was a very double-edged encounter, with the computer playing some highly unusual and deep ideas to gain the upper hand and win the game on move 47. The final score was 4:2. Annotated game and big photo report.

Ludwig – a synthesis of chess and music

12/4/2006 – Do chess and music have anything in common? Can Fritz compose musical arrangements? The surprising answer to these questions is "yes!" This was driven home by Matthias Wüllenweber of ChessBase in a remarkable lecture held in the National Art Gallery in Bonn, where he introduced our latest software development: Ludwig. Da-da-da-daaa!

Kramnik vs Deep Fritz: Game five ends in a fighting draw

12/3/2006 – World champion Vladimir Kramnik had the white pieces for the last time in this match, and needed a win in order to have chances for an overall victory. He played a sharp game, very exciting for the world-wide audience, but one in which Fritz was able fight back. The game ended in a 35-move draw. Full report with pictures and video.