Long live the Hedgehog!

4/12/2006 – Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin presents a grab bag of games today, starting with the Hedgehog system of defence, to the eccentric genius of Oleg Romanishin and a successful effort in a Caro Kann game of his own. Note that from now on the lecture will begin one hour later – so our trainer can get some cricket practice.

Kusadasi: Ivanchuk, Kozul, Nikolic lead

4/11/2006 – In the men's section of the European Championships top seed Vassily Ivanchuk is sharing first with 4th seed Kiril Georgiev and number 25 player Pedrag Nikolic. In the women's section we find Tea Bosboom and Ekaterina Atalik, ranked 24 and 25, in the lead group. Today's report brings you pictures of the venue, the coastal city of Kuşadası.

Topalov vs Nisipeanu – the final game annotated

4/11/2006 – As already reported, the match in Bucharest ended 3:1 for the FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov. We brought you extensive tutorial annotations, by GM Mihail Marin, of the first three. Today we complete it with game four. And a picture of one of the guests of honour at the tournament, whom we bet you do not recognise.

Topalov takes the lead against Nisipeanu

4/9/2006 – After a draw in the first, the second game in the match between Veselin Topalov and Dieter Nisipeanu ended in a white victory for the FIDE world champion. We bring you expert commentary by GM Mihail Marin, plus a pictorial report of the host country, Romania, withe its magnificent architecture and a castle that people say was owned by an unsavoury count.

Best game of the past 20 years?

4/9/2006 – That's what Jan Timman called the game between two of the world's best players thirty years ago: Ljubojevic vs Andersson. The superlative attacker against the consummate defender. Our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos tells us who blinked first.

Topalov beats Nisipeanu 3:1

4/9/2006 – FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria, outplayed European Champion Dieter Nisipeanu, Romania, in the last game of their match in Bucharest on Sunday. Topalov won both white games to take overall victory with a 3:1 score. A final report will follow, today we bring you extensive commentary on game three.

Koneru Humpy leads in Indian Championship

4/8/2006 – Here's some exciting news: after five rounds of the very strong Indian championship, with many GMs and IMs, the only female player is in the lead. Not just in the lead, but with a 5/5 score. GM Koneru Humpy has just turned 19 and is the second strongest woman player in the world (after Judit Polgar). You would do well to watch the championship and this girl.

Nigel Short – Inside Africa

4/8/2006 – It is not often one sees the army summoned to attend a chess federation meeting, but that is what happened in Kabwe, Zambia. GM Nigel Short was on an African goodwill and campaign tour, when he faced considerable animosity from certain dignitaries in Botswana and Zambia. Here are the graphic details.

Kusadasi: sensations in the women's section

4/8/2006 – After four rounds of the European Individual Championships we have three players, Jobava, Dgebuandze and Anastasian, in the lead, with 22 following them. In the women's section a lot of 2400+ players are languishing in the bottom half of the table, while the remarkable Muzychuk sisters are stealing the show. As promised here's a big photo report from the women's section.

The 'Game of the Champions' begins

4/7/2006 – It is a four-game match, being played between FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, and reigning European Champion Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania. The venue is Bucharest, the time controls are classic. The first game ended in a draw. We bring you an illustrated report with commentary by GM Mihail Marin.

Election '06: All about Kirsan and Kalmykia

4/6/2006 – Today we received an email from the Kirsan Election Campaign center, pointing us to an article on the "somewhat controversial figure" of their candidate for President of FIDE. It is (piquant, piquant) by members of the rival ticket. Coincidentally there is a big story on Ilyumzhinov and Kalmykia in today's Times, unveiling Kirsan's latest plan.

Reader mail

4/6/2006 – The reader mail created by our two ChessBase Workshop columns on distributed computing and the "solvability" of chess continues to pour in unabated. Our intrepid columnist once again braves the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (or at least those of our readers) to present some e-mail commentary generated by the topic, as well as his replies. Workshop...

'League for Truth and Veracity' – a meta-prank

4/5/2006 – Apparently there is no such organisation. Google finds only one reference to it – in our April 1st story, which resulted in many hundreds of emails flooding our inbox. But wait a minute, amongst these were warnings and threats from LT&V. And some very entertaining efforts, like the wag who wrote: I never meta-prank I didn't like!

7th European Championships start in Kusadasi

4/5/2006 – With 85 GMs (20 over 2600) and 37 IMs from 36 countries in the men's section, and 81 titled players from 27 countries in the women's section, this is a stellar event. The five-star accommodation and a €78.000 prize fund have tempted a total of 234 to the beautiful western Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Big pictorial report.

Kirsan on the campaign trail

4/4/2006 – The next FIDE elections will be held in early June 2006. During the past few months we have been hearing quite a bit from the Right Move ticket. Now the incumbent President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is running for a third term, has launched his own campaign web site. It claims the support of 40 federations and included an interview with Anatoly Karpov.

Heavyweight clashes on the ChessBase Show

4/4/2006 – Our Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin shows us how Anand makes a mess of Kasimdzhanov in a topical Ruy Lopez, how Black triumphs in a complicated variation of the King's Indian in Topalov-Svidler 2006, and the scourge of many a one-minute game, 1.d4 c5, as in Fridman-Rustemov from the Bundesliga. Meet you on the server!

Chess in Croatia

4/4/2006 – Although it is slightly smaller than the US state of West Virginia, Croatia today has 17 GMs, 50 IMs and 82 FMs. The country can also look back on more than six centuries of chess. Ali Nihat Yazici travelled to Croatia to check its suitability for the European Youth Championships in 2007. Here is his report.

Freestyle tournament: Finals this weekend

4/3/2006 – After tiebreak matches the eight qualifiers of the Second PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament are ready to battle it out for the $16,000 prize fund. At the faster time controls this time four pure engines made it to the final round. You can come and watch the action at 14:00h CEST on Saturday and Sunday, when the tournament director says: Gentlemen, start your engines.

FIDE's April 2006 ratings without Kasparov

4/3/2006 – For decades we have been used to see him at the top of every chess rating list. Now, a year after his retirement from competitive chess, Garry Kasparov has been taken off the FIDE rating list. His successor is the current FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, just one point ahead of Vishy Anand. Here are the top rankings.

The outrageous king walk

4/2/2006 – In chess the king usually belongs in a corner of the board, squirreled away in the safety of a castled position. But sometimes the king can perform an outrageous walk into the enemy camp. Our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos shows us examples.

Position tutor

4/2/2006 – Our ChessBase Workshop columnist has been showing off the latest Fritz9 features in recent columns. In the latest edition he spotlights what in his opinion is the greatest new feature of Fritz9. Read about it in the latest edition. Workshop...

ChessBase: no more April Fool's jokes

4/1/2006 – In the past years our web site has published a series of elaborate April Fool's stories. Not this year, and not any more. An international watchdog group which calls itself League for Truth and Veracity, is threatening news services as well as private pranksters all over the world with lawsuits for publishing false information. This unfortunate activity spells the end of an old tradition.

Garry Kasparov in Chess Cafe and on BBC

3/31/2006 – Chess Cafe has done an indepth interview with Garry Kasparov on volume five of his "Great Predecessors". And yesterday a special edition of BBC's Question time, broadcast from Moscow, had the former champion turned politician on the panel. The debate was heated and contraversial – and can be watched in full on BBC's video service. Don't miss it!

Morozevich and Anand win Melody Amber

3/30/2006 – Vishy Anand did it for the fifth time, Alexander Morozevich for the third (in just five appearances). The two shared first at the 15th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament in Monaco, with a score of 14.5/22. Two points later we find Francisco Vallejo, with Grischuk, Topalov and Leko following. Final report.