Krk is the Golden Island of Mediterranean

10/19/2006 – That, precisely translated, is the name of the tournament, which was held in the little town of Njivice on the Croatian island of Krk. The event is a women's ten-player round robin, which give budding young talents the opportunity to make WIM and WGM norms. Or spend some time playing chess on the Adriatic sea. Big pictorial report by Valery Golubenko.

Fall of the Favourites in PAL/CSS Freestyle

10/19/2006 – A "Freestyle tournament" is one in which computer assistance – or any other form of help – during the game is allowed and encouraged. The 4th PAL/CSS Freestyle tournament, which reaches its final this weekend on the the Playchess.com server, saw many of the favourites falter. Now the ten qualifiers will play a round robin for the US $16,000 prize money. Come and watch.

Simen Agdestein: playing with the nerds

10/19/2006 – Remember Simen Agdestein? Seven times Norwegian national chess champion? Trainer of Magnus Carlsen? Ballroom dancer? In a former life Simen was a national soccer player. Now the chess grandmaster is returning to the football pitch, as part of a team of super nerds. Here is some remarkable video footage.

Andrew Martin – Black is more than okay

10/18/2006 – Black is well on top in this week's Radio show, winning three games to one. Our Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin shows us a Poisoned Pawn Najdorf and an Alekine, an attacking game and yet another new move. His message: see you on the server!

An arbiter's tale: 'My blood pressure rose to 220'

10/18/2006 – On September 29, at 15:22h local time, chief arbiter Geurt Gijssen started the clocks for game five of the World Championship in Elista. Veselin Topalov was at the board, Vladimir Kramnik protesting in his room. At 16:22h Gijssen stopped the clocks and awarded the game to Topalov, which almost led to the collapse of the match. Gijssen decribes the course of events.

Shen Yang and Zaven Andriasian World Junior Champions

10/17/2006 – Both are seventeen and have won the girls' and the open section of the World Under 20 World Championship that was held in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 2nd to 17th 2006. Shen Yang was just a couple of tiebreak points ahead of one of the greatest talents in chess today, Hou Yifan, who is just twelve! Report and games.

Kramnik will not play Topalov in March

10/17/2006 – Topalov wants a rematch in March next year, but Vladimir Kramnik has issued a firm nyet to that idea. Will Topalov be able to play in Mexico, and will that event be degraded to a world championship qualifier? There are a lot of new press reports, but we concentrate our attention on yesterday's press conference by Kramnik.

The game that shook the world

10/17/2006 – Today, exactly fifty years ago, a 13-year-old boy played 17...Be6!!, sacrificing his queen and entering his name in the history books: Robert James Fischer, known to the world as "Bobby". The game was hailed as the "Game of the Century" and has been discussed in countless chess books and collections. We bring you a half-centennial commemoration.

Final impressions from Elista

10/16/2006 – Game eleven, game twelve, the tiebreak, with everything imaginable at stake. FIDE champion Veselin Topalov loses his title in the very last game to classical chess champ Vladimir Kramnik, who becomes the unified FIDE champion. Our Elista correspondent Misha Savinov has sent us final impressions in a giant pictorial report.

Chess Club – where primal male aggression is set free

10/16/2006 – Remember Fight Club, where Edward Norton and Brad Pitt become involved in an anarchic subculture of bare-knuckle fighting that ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion? Remember the dark, terrifying and bloody fight scenes? Here's a video that recreates the story into a chess environment. Funny, especially for FC fans.

Tomsk-400 wins the European Club Cup

10/15/2006 – The team from Tomsk, fielding five 2600+ GMs led by Alexander Morozevich (2747) took the European Club Cup 2006, which took place from 7 to 15 October 2006. A total of 406 players, with 124 GMs and 85 IMs, participated. The event was hosted by the city of Fügen, in Austria's Zillertal – famous for it Alpine scenery and recreational facilities. Report.

Topalov back in Bulgaria, seeks rematch

10/15/2006 – On Saturday Veselin Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov arrived at Sofia Airport. Speaking to journalists they said that FIDE would change its regulations soon, implying there might be a rematch between Topalov and Kramnik in March 2007. Danialov also announced that there would be a book exposing Toiletgate. State of Danailov?

No more Slavs – give us 1.e4!

10/15/2006 – Had all the Slavs and Semi-Slavs you can stand? The game this Monday night on lecture Dennis Monokroussos' Playchess lecture is deeply rooted in the e-pawn tradition: Mikhail Tal vs Oscar Panno, from the 1958 Interzonal in Portoroz. Enjoy!

Elista Tiebreak: Vladimir Kramnik wins unified title!

10/14/2006 – The dramatic tiebreak finish of the World Chess Championship in Elista ended in a victory by Vladimir Kramnik, who won two games and drew one to take the unified World Chess Championship title. Thousands watched the events unfold on the Playchess server, where GM Yasser Seirawan provided live audio commentary. Full report with pictures and analysis.

Elista 2006: The world champion's first press conference

10/14/2006 – The fourth tiebreak game was over, Vladimir Kramnik raised both fists in the air as a sign of victory, shouts, applause, friendly slaps, handshakes. Then Kramnik left for his first press conference as the unified world champion of FIDE. There he spoke about the match, his feelings, his team, his plans. New: videos with the final seconds of the match!

Already Ready for Mexico City 2007!

10/13/2006 – Is it too early to think about the next world championship? It looks like the ChessMexico.com website already needs to be updated because as of minutes ago Veselin Topalov won't be there as the defending champ. You can still check out the beta launch of this new site that promises to push chess event planning and coverage to a whole new level.

The Anna Politkovskaya slaying – is Kasparov in danger?

10/13/2006 – On October 7th the US born Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow. Her writings were very critical of the Russian government and army, she was a fervent supporter of human rights and the rule of law. The same can be said about Garry Kasparov, who now himself feels threatened.

Elista 2006: Before the tiebreak showdown

10/13/2006 – Armageddon. Friday the 13th. This is going to be one of the tensest days in modern chess history. The World Chess Championship will be decided in four rapid chess tiebreak games, with two blitz games to follow if necessary, and then a sudden-death final. Before the action begins here are excerpts from the game 12 press conference.

Fresh and entertaining into strategy and tactics

10/12/2006 – The famous British grandmaster Peter Wells was one of the very first authors who made a training course in the new Chess Media format. The content of his CD is however agelessly valid and fascinating. For "Strategy and Tactics" is what probably every chess player deserves to improve at any time of his career. Buy it now! or read this review.

Elista 2006: game 12 drawn, match ends 6:6

10/12/2006 – The twelfth game of the World Championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov ended after 3h 50 min in a 47-move draw, with Topalov harboring slight hopes to win. This leaves the final score at 6:6. The tiebreaks will be played tomorrow, Friday the 13th (oops!). Full report and analysis of game 12.

Andrew Martin – Chess in Bulgaria

10/11/2006 – It is doubtlessly thriving, and doubtlessly thanks to the Bulgarian World Champion Veselin Topalov. Our Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin pulls out a fascinating Old Indian from the national team championship this week's show. See you on the server!

Elista 2006: Game eleven drawn, score 5.5:5.5

10/11/2006 – The eleventh (penultimate) game of the World Chamionship match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik was a fighting draw and ended after five hours and 66 moves. In the last part of the game it was Kramnik with black who was pressing for a win. Wednesday is a free day, the final drama will be played out on Thursday. Full report with analysis by GM Mihail Marin

News and views on the World Championship

10/10/2006 – A letter of support by "famous Bulgarian grandmasters" for Veselin Topalov. What did the President of Bulgaria say to the President of FIDE? Is the new Appeals Committee in Elista really neutral? Could Topalov sue FIDE if the result of game five were reversed? And look who's calling for a boycott of the Topalov team. Here's a collection of news items from different countries.

Elista 2006: Scandalous and unscandalous impressions

10/10/2006 – The match was not abandoned and the biggest meltdown in chess history averted. Games eight and nine brought a turn-around for FIDE champion Veselin Topalov. Game ten turned it back again in classical champion Vladimir Kramnik's favour. Our correspondent in Elista, Misha Savinov, send us his latest impressions.