Five stars for birthday boy Rustam Kasimdzhanov!

12/4/2007 – Born on December 5th 1979, the grandmaster from Uzbekistan won the FIDE world championship title in 2004, beating players like Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Topalov and Adams. Kasimdzhanov is also a superb chess teacher, who explains chess ideas in an eloquent, lucid style, with a fine touch of humour. Edwin Lam has reviewed his Tactics DVD, and we have added a few charming family photos.

An Evening of Chess, Literature and Music

12/3/2007 – It was a splendid event, here in Hamburg, with a well-known Irish novelist and screenwriter, and his latest book (Ronan Bennett, Zugzwang); with a gorgeous young actress, composer and singer (Vaile); with a double bass wielding grandmaster (Daniel King) and with a music composing and teaching computer program (Ludwig). Join us for an exquisite evening in this pictorial report.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Ponomariov, Shirov and Carlsen score

12/3/2007 – Round four is under way in the FIDE World Cup. Ruslan Ponomariov surprised everyone with a white win in game one of the round. Alexei Shirov did his usual firebrand thing, winning the first game with the black pieces. And the youngest player in the tournament, Magnus Carlsen, defeated veteran Michael Adams with white. Full report with commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenko.

Learning about learning from a chess prodigy

12/2/2007 – Josh Waitzkin – the name may sound familiar. Back in 1993 his father Fred wrote about the lad's early years as a chess prodigy, in a book entitled Searching for Bobby Fischer. That was subsequently turned into a successful Hollywood movie, and Josh into a media star. Now 31, Josh revisits that story in an extraordinary book, for which we have an extraordinary review by Carol Jarecki.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Top seed Ivanchuk knocked out

12/2/2007 – In today's tiebreaks four matches were decided after the rapid games, in two matches the blitz games were played. The winners were Aronian, Svidler, Bareev, Nisipeanu, Karjakin and Sasikiran. Ivanchuk, Rublevsky, Grischuk, Bacrot and Macieja are out. If you are interested in the chess, as opposed to just the pure results, we have a treat for you: commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenko.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Shirov, Carlsen, Adams through

12/1/2007 – Today we celebrate the first round three wins with the black pieces, by Alexei Shirov (who else) against Alexander Onischuk. Magnus Carlsen beat Dominguez Perez, Michael Adams and Ivan Cheparinov drew to advance. Ten players are through to round four, six matches go into tiebreaks tomorrow. We bring you a full report with extensive commentary by Dorian Rogozenko.

Questions, questions

12/1/2007 – ChessBase Workshop isn't afraid to tackle the tough questions, and the toughest come from our readers. In the new column we look at a recent batch of e-mails and brave the cruel slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to provide some answers. Read more in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Ivanchuk, Carlsen, Ponomariov through

11/30/2007 – The round two tiebreaks consisted of twelve matches, with two rapid games, two blitz games, and finally an Armageddon shootout. Top seed Vassily Ivanchuk coasted through with a fine win against Alexander Galkin, Magnus Carlsen won both his rapid games against Arkadij Naiditsch, and Ruslan Ponomariov played a very dangerous game to take out China's Wang Hao. Illustrated report.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Cheparinov, Adams, Kamsky win

11/30/2007 – FIDE World Cup: five decisive games in the first leg of round three, all won with the white pieces. The most spectacular was second seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's loss to the young Bulgarian GM (and Topalov second) Ivan Cheparinov. Michael Adams, Gata Kamsky, Dmitry Jakovenko and Wang Yue were the other winners. Express report.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Round three game one annotations

11/30/2007 – Having people like Mamedjarov, Aronian, Cheparinov or Nisipeanu in a tournament means that excitement is guaranteed. But the visible tendency in round three was White's willingness to win without taking unnecessary risk. Unlike in the previous days, there were no more wins for Black. We bring you highlights with commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenko.

'There are worse things in life than losing a game of chess'

11/29/2007 – Nigel Short, former world championship challenger, was eliminated in the first round of the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. It happened in the tie-breaks, when he lost the first game to 19-year-old GM David Baramidze. The latter turned up 24 minutes late for the game, and thus had less than one minute on his clock. Nigel talks about the incident and Garry Kasparov's plight.

Kasparov on forced hunger strike – now release from prison

11/29/2007 – "We have strictly instructed him not to drink any water or eat any food they offer him in detention," says Kasparov's lawyer Karinna Moskalenko. The fear is that he might be poisoned. Amnesty International have condemned the arrest, classifying Kasparov as a prisoner of conscience. Meanwhile old rival Anatoly Karpov tried to visit Kasparov in jail but was denied access. Latest: Kasparov is free.

Chess Oscar 2006 awarded to Vladimir Kramnik

11/29/2007 – This international award, which has been awarded for the twelfth time in the new era, is a bronze statuette entitled the "Fascinated Wanderer". The winner is selected by a poll of chess experts across the world, of whom 204 saw Kramnik in first place (44 voted for Topalov and 41 for Anand). Kramnik received a total of 3636 voting points, with Topalov getting 2828 and Anand 2754. Details.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Ponomariov and Radjabov lose first game

11/28/2007 – Ruslan Ponomariov seems to be making a habit out of it. In round two of the FIDE World Cup the former FIDE world champion once again shockingly lost, to China's Wang Hao, with the white pieces. Third seed Teimour Radjabov dropped his first game against Polish GM Bartlomiej Maciej. We bring you an illustrated report with results, games, and commentary by GM Efstratios Grivas.

Dennis Monokroussos on the frisky Schliemann

11/28/2007 – The Schliemann Defense to the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5!?) is a club favorite, but even super-grandmasters like Korchnoi, Topalov, Aronian and – as recently as yesterday – Radjabov have trotted it out. Tonight our Playchess lecturer tells us what to do about it. You can start licking your chops.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Ponomariov equalises, Radjabov knocked out

11/28/2007 – As in the first round Ruslan Ponomariov lost game one of the second round, but equalised (with the black pieces) to remain in contention. Teimour Radjabov lost for a second time to Bartlomiej Macieja to drop out of the FIDE World Cup. Peter Svidler is the only player who has won all his games so far, ten others have conceded only a single draw. Report with results, games and analysis.

World Youth Championship – and the winners are...

11/28/2007 – Tonight this giant chess festival in Kemer-Antalya, Turkey, ended, and the organisers have already posted the final results in the twelve different sections. While the chess volunteers are still busy entering the games of the final round (we have collected those of rounds 1-10) and the closing ceremony with prize-giving is still to be held, we bring you top results and a pictorial portrait of the US team.

A great moment in chess (Part 1)

11/27/2007 – It’s 7 minutes past 5 o’clock in the afternoon on July 17th, 1972. The place is a small backstage room of Laugardalsholl in Reykjavik, Iceland, the venue for the Fischer versus Spassky World Championship Match. It’s Game 3 of their titanic struggle which has been called the Match of the Century. Fischer, playing black, had just made his first move. Prof. Christian Hesse narrates.

World Youth Championship – top scorers after nine rounds

11/27/2007 – This chess festival that is taking place in Kemer-Antalya, Turkey, has over 1500 players from all over the world. After nine of a total of 11 rounds the candidates for the medals are at the top of the tables. One has scored an incredible 9/9 points. We bring you top standings and a special photo report of the very strong Indian contingent. These are the stars of tomorrow.

In the news: Kasparov's arrest and detention in Moscow

11/26/2007 – All news channels are carrying reports, in Europe, the US and all over the rest of the world. Former world chess champion and Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov's arrest and five-day sentence for taking part in an anti-government rally is also covered in 1400+ newspaper articles. AOL/AP has new video footage and a slideshow of disturbing images.

Khanty-Mansiysk: when giants stumble

11/26/2007 – The second day in Khanty Mansiysk saw the favourites better prepared than on the first day. 44 players went through, which meant that 44 had to say goodbye. The major surprises were the elimination of Landa, Sutovsky and Pavel Eljanov (2691), who made a draw in the first game and lost the second one to IM Hossain Enamulu (2514) from Bangladesh. GM Efstratios Grivas analyses.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Favourites make it through, Nigel Short falters

11/26/2007 – The players with the bigger Elos generally went through in the tiebreak day of the FIDE World Cup, most notably Alekseev, Ponomariov, Akopian and Kasimdzhanov. Loek van Wely struggled longest against his Vietnamese opponent Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son. The shock was that Nigel Short's elimination by 19-year-old German GM David Baramidze. Illustrated report.

Khanty-Mansiysk: Gurevich knocks out Kaidanov

11/26/2007 – Mikhail Gurevich, 48 years old, a Ukrainian chess player who moved to Belgium in 1991 and to Turkey in 2005, where he lives today. At his peak Gurevich was consistently ranked in the top ten players in the world. After holding the well respected US GM Gregory Kaidanov to a draw in the regular games Gurevich knocked him out in the tiebreak rapids. GM Efstratios Grivas analyses.

Bob Durrett on specialized databases

11/26/2007 – Our columnist for ChessBase Workshop isn't opposed to stepping down from the soapbox to give someone else a turn. In the latest column, he enlists the support of a friend and e-mail correspondent to clear up an old mystery left hanging from a prior column. Learn more in the latest ChessBase Workshop.