Kramnik vs Deep Fritz: Game three drawn

11/29/2006 – The third game in the National Art Gallery in Bonn, Germany, saw Deep Fritz playing some surprisingly strategic moves. These included a pawn sacrifice for initiative in an inbalanced position on the black side of an Open Catalan. In the end the computer was pressing for a win, but Vladimir Kramnik defended well and the game ended after 44 moves in a draw. Full report.

Seirawan on Kramnik vs Deep Fritz game one

11/27/2006 – Did the computer miss a sure-fire draw early in the game? Did Vladimir Kramnik miss a clever win in the ending? Twenty-four hours after the first encounter in the Man vs Machine duel ended in a draw match commentator GM Yasser Seirawan provides us with his thoughts and analyses the course of the game. Interesting and original analysis.

Man vs machine shocker: Kramnik allows mate in one

11/27/2006 – Vladimir Kramnik played another wonderfully profound game, piling the pressure on Deep Fritz on the black side of a Queen's Gambit Accepted, and taking the computer to the edge of defeat. As usual the computer defended tenaciously and by move 34 Fritz had equalised and the game was clearly drawn. And then Kramnik overlooked mate in one!

Presenting – Kramnik vs Deep Fritz in Bonn

11/25/2006 – The much-awaited match between the human world champion and the nine million position machine begins on Saturday. On the day before the event tradition dictates a presentation ceremony, press conference and the drawing of colours. And a gala dinner with the FIDE President. Photo report with tumultuous scenes and interesting news.

Kramnik-Deep Fritz: First game ends in a draw

11/25/2006 – Game one finished in a draw after Deep Fritz defused the opening danger to reach a roughly equal endgame. Kramnik paid Fritz the compliment of using the same Catalan opening he played against Topalov in their recent world championship match, but although White was in control it was never quite enough to tip the balance. Express report.

Coming soon: Bonn, Wijk aan Zee and Morelia/Linares

11/23/2006 – Suffering withdrawal symptoms after the Elista World Championship and the Tal Memorial? The next big events with all the superstars you can take are already looming. This weekend we are going to see a Man vs Machine spectacular in Bonn, Germany. And in the first two months of 2007 there will be two Super-GM events. Preview.

'Blind Chess World Duel' Topalov-Polgar

11/23/2006 – From December 7–9 the Basque city of Bilbao, on the northern coast of Spain, will pay host to a blindfold match between former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov and the greatest female player the game has know, Judit Polgar. Earlier this week the event was introduced with a blindfold simul by Topalov. Picture and video impressions.

First ND Women’s Tournament in Berlin

11/23/2006 – Last week the German broadsheet Neues Deutschland revitalized the old tradition of "Newspaper Chess Tournaments" and, in cooperation with the chess magazine Schach, the Lasker Society, and ChessBase they organized a chess tournament with four talented young ladies. It was well visited and provided the spectators with gripping chess.

The last man vs machine match?

11/23/2006 – Three chess grandmasters have done battle with the program “Deep Fritz”: Robert Hübner, Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov. All three could only draw their matches. On Saturday world champion Vladimir Kramnik once again faces the machine – perhaps the last chance for humans to withstand the calculating power of the machine? Big article in Spiegel Online.

Kramnik: 'Fritz punishes you immediately'

11/23/2006 – The Stern, which means "star" in German, is one of the biggest news magazines in Europe, reaching almost eight million readers. In this week's edition there is an interesting interview with world champions Vladimir Kramnik, who speaks about his training for the match against Deep Fritz, his experience with computers, but also about the scandal in Elista. We bring you excerpts in English.

The Mating Patterns of Daniel King

11/21/2006 – Anyone can see a checkmate when it is on the board, and someone tells you it is there. But can you recognise the early outlines of mating patterns in a normal game? It is a vital skill that you can train systematically, when you have GM Daniel King's latest DVD: Order Powerplay I now or read about it first.

Andrew Martin – Down and Dirty on the Grid

11/21/2006 – In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture Andrew Martin shows us two games from the Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, one with the sleeping Petroff, and a virtuoso endgame performance from his old friend Bruno Carlier. The puzzle is one in which your chess engine cannot help. See you on the server.

A chess master's poker tour

11/20/2006 – What's a nice girl like Almira Skripchenko doing in a gambling den in Las Vegas? Taking part in the Ladies World Poker Championship, that's what. Like so many other chess players the former European women's champion is flirting with poker and taking part in national and international tournaments. Almira tells us how she got to go to the poker championship and Vegas.

The man who beat Mikhail Tal

11/19/2006 – On the 70th anniversary of the great Mikhail Tal’s birth our Playchess Monday night lecturer Dennis Monokroussos takes a look at... one of Tal’s regular conquerors. Viktor Korchnoi? No. Lev Polugaevsky? Wrong again! It is a mysterious figure who managed to accumulate a hefty 4-1 career score against the 8th World Champion. Meet Rashid Nezhmetdinov.

XiangQi – an alternate to Western Chess

11/19/2006 – Are you frustrated by chess? Disillusioned by realizing that you may never be good enough to make it to the top – no matter how hard you work? Well, here's a remedy: before you throw away board, books and pieces, why not try XiangQi – chess Chinese style. You can even take part in a world championship. Dr. René Gralla explains.

FIDE: Candidates Tournament 2007 in Elista

11/19/2006 – Originally 16 players were to play a series of matches to fill four places in the 2007 World Championship. But there were no sponsors, so President Ilyumzhinov proposed staging a round robin with a reduced prize fund. Sharp protests by GMs followed. Now FIDE confirms: the event will be held as originally planned in May 2007 in Kalmykia.

Tal-Mem Blitz: Anand wins with two point lead

11/19/2006 – Everyone knows that Indian superstar Vishy Anand is one of the world's strongest rapid chess players. This was driven home forcefully by a magnificent start-to-finish victory at the Tal Memorial blitz final, where 18 players, all rated 2650 or higher, played a double round robin on two days. Anand did not lose a single mini-match and won the event two points ahead of his nearest rival.

Tal-Mem Blitz: Jobava and Karjakin win qualifier

11/18/2006 – The Tal Memorial 2006 in Moscow ends with a spectacular blitz tournament. On Thursday and Friday 40 strong GMs played in a qualification tournament, with six players making it to the final. There they will be joined by the players of the main event and three invitees: Karpov, Anand and Judit Polgar. Big photo report.

Geurt Gijssen: Final response to Yasser Seirawan

11/17/2006 – "I was really surprised by the number of e-mails and phone calls I received after the publication of Mr. Seirawan’s article at ChessBase, my response and his subsequent response," writes the world championship arbiter. "As a matter of fact I was not surprised that the majority of the reactions I received supported my decision." Geurt Gijssen responds.

Activity and solid play: A Caro Kann recommendation

11/17/2006 – The Caro Kann sometimes has a rather dry image. On his Fritz Trainer DVD Andrew Martin strives to prove this a prejudice and offers an easy to grasp Caro Kann repertoire with lots of dynamic lines and good prospects for Black. Buy his "new thriller" (Bob Long) right away or read this review.

Tal-Mem R8: Peter Svidler beats Alexander Morozevich

11/16/2006 – Peter Svidler is number four in the world, Alexander Morozevich number five. They are the two top seeds in the Tal Memorial tournament. With his victory Svidler in round eight climbed to seventh place, and Morozevich is now alone in last place. Tomorrow will bring the final exciting clashes. We have simulations on who needs to do what to win.

Tal-Mem R9: All games drawn, three grandmasters win

11/16/2006 – We apologise to our readers for having spoken, in yesterday's report, of "final exciting clashes", and for doing the simulation of different combinations of results in the last round, while neglecting to include the one that actually occurred: all games were quick draws. Unenthusiastic final report.

Queens, New York: Chess without ethnic bounds

11/15/2006 – Queens, the largest borough of New York City, also the most ethnically diverse in the United States, with immigrants making up 46% of its residents. In the MacDonald Memorial Park people from all nations gather to – play blitz chess. Name a country, someone from there is hammering on the clock. David Pambianchi on blitz in the park.

Tal-Mem R7: Grischuk and Gelfand win

11/14/2006 – Round seven of the Tal Memorial was exciting and memorable. The games were pretty good, but more relevantly Garry Kasparov had remembered that the event was taking place just around the corner from where he lives. So he dropped by, much to the delight of the players, chess fans and commentators. Big pictorial report.