Dieter Nisipeanu in the Heart of Transylvania

12/8/2005 – It is a place we normally associate with a certain fanged count, but the province of Transylvania has its own authentic heroes. Like Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the reigning European champion, who paid the area a visit and spent a very intense day visiting the historical places and playing a 40-board simul. Big illustrated report.

Grischuk, Rublevsky, Ponomariov win

12/7/2005 – With the FIDE World Chess Cup down to 16 players things are becoming tense. In the first half of round four Rublevsky and Ponomariov defeated Sakaev and van Wely with the black pieces, while Alexander Grischuk (picture) did the same, brutally, to Gata Kamsky with white. 15-year-old Magnus Carlsen is still going strong. Full report.

Grischuk, Rublevsky, Ponomariov advance in Khanty

12/7/2005 – Five games of the FIDE World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansyisk go into the tiebreak on Thursday, with only the winners of yesterday's first game going through to the next round. Grischuk took Kamsky to the brink of a 2-0 shut-out, while Ruslan Ponomariov did exactly that to Dutch champion Loek van Wely. Report and games.

The Portuguese Gambit or Jadoul Variation

12/6/2005 – This opening, which starts with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4?!, has an enthusiastic worldwide following. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture chess trainer Andrew Martin will tell us whether all the fuss is justified. He will also look at a popular response to 1.d4 and review an excellent new book. Tune in...

FIDE to charge $1 million for a presential bid

12/6/2005 – In an interview with Sport Express Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has revealed a startling plan to force any challenger during the May 2006 FIDE presidential election to put up $1 million for the privilege of running. He also reveals an equally revolutionary new plan for the World Chess Championship. First protests are already in.

FIDE World Cup Round 3.2

12/5/2005 – Even Emil Sutovsky is feeling the heat. All but five of the sixteen matches are headed to rapid and blitz tiebreaks. Three players won back on the second day, but one favorite, Shirov, is on the way home thanks to Mikhail Gurevich. Maybe appearing on the homepage here is a good luck charm? Report and photos from Siberia.

FIDE World Cup Round 3.3 - Tiebreaks

12/5/2005 – The cull continues in Khanty-Mansyisk. 128 has now become 16. No sudden death was needed and most of the eleven tiebreak sessions were over after the rapid games. Almost all the favorites are through, joined by a 15-year-old prodigy and an American former prodigy on the comeback trail. 4th round pairings and all results here.

FIDE World Cup Round 3.1

12/4/2005 – Mikhail Gurevich works hard and it shows, even though he played a short draw today. Seven hard-fought wins distinguished the first day of the round of 32 in Khanty-Mansyisk. Three players won with black to really put the pressure on their opponents in the second game. Everyone is feeling the heat to make to the sweet sixteen.

Pavel Blatny's modern masterpiece

12/4/2005 – Some of the greatest games go unnoticed – at least in chess databases, especially if they were played in open tournaments. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us a truly memorable effort by Pavel Blatny, one which contains a sacrifice line that you have to see to believe. Enjoy!

Ted Danson in Knights of the South Bronx

12/3/2005 – This A&E Network production premiers Tuesday, December 6, 8-10pm ET/PT. Ted Danson plays English teacher David MacEnulty in a true story which depicts one man’s struggle to better the lives of underprivileged children from a broken-down school in the South Bronx – by teaching them chess. Must watch.

From the mailbag

12/3/2005 – In the latest ChessBase Workshop we again field a number of e- mailed questions submitted by our readers. Included are questions on text colors, gamne list notation and symbology, and even one letter that has us scratching our collective heads. Workshop...

A hot cup of Elo?

12/2/2005 – Many chessplayers wouldn't think of starting a round without a cup of coffee next to the board. Are they just trying to wake up for that early game (anything before noon) or are they also getting a memory boost? New studies show how caffeine enhances brain activity and short-term memory. Starbucks is waiting for you.

FIDE World Cup Round 2.3 - Tiebreaks

12/2/2005 – The playing hall just got a whole lot emptier in Khanty-Mansyisk. The field is down to just 32. It was a wild day of tiebreaks with four of the seventeen matches going to sudden-death blitz. The remaining players are looking more like the usual suspects. The lowest-rated survivor is 2565. Report, game highlights, and photo report right here.

Hot start to second round in Khanty-Mansyisk

12/1/2005 – If the players keep this up they'll melt a lot of the Siberian snow outside the venue. Seven if the top eight boards finished decisively and only half of the 32 games were drawn. Top seed Ivanchuk lost to Cheparinov, showing that Bulgaria is on the march even without Topalov. We have many beautiful photos and a guide to the best games.

FIDE World Cup Round 2.2

12/1/2005 – The top seed is out thanks to Bulgaria's Ivan Cheparinov. Most of the other favorites came through, however, while it seems like the rest of the field really likes to play rapid chess. 17 of 32 matches will go to tiebreaks tomorrow and a brace of must-win wins showed cold weather doesn't dampen fighting spirit. Report and photos.

Topalov inaugurates Las Palmas Festival

11/30/2005 – The port of Las Palmas decided to celebrate their 100th year with chess. An international open with stars from Spain to Bolivia is accompanied with rapid and blitz events as well as a large simul. FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov was a special guest and surprised with his choice of the honorary first move.

FIDE World Cup Round 1.2

11/29/2005 – Kamsky remembers how to write the moves, don't worry! 38 of the 64 first round matches have been decided without needing Tuesday's tiebreak games. There are more than a few surprises on the first plane out of Khanty-Mansyisk, including two of the world's top juniors. We have photos, results, and some elimination games.

Kramnik and Blancpain in Moscow

11/29/2005 – Vladimir Kramnik is a promoter of Blancpain, manufacturer of high-quality mechanical watches. One contains an engraved image of Kramnik on its winding rotor. It was handed over to Kramnik in a ceremony on November 24, after which the classical chess world champion played a simultaneous exhibition against 30 collectors.

Love is on the air...

11/29/2005 – In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture chess trainer Andrew Martin takes a look at one of the most intense and bizarre matches in chess history. No love was lost between Korchnoi and Spassky in their 1977 candidates match, and their contributions to the openings won't be lost either. Tune in and turn on.

FIDE World Cup Round 1.3 - Tiebreaks

11/29/2005 – The pressure builds and the time control shortens, it's tiebreak day in Khanty-Mansyisk. The 25 matches that weren't decided after two games went to rapid chess and then, if required, blitz and sudden death. Half of the 128 participants are now on the way home. Report, pairings, games and plenty of photos now up.

Still more responses to Intelligent mistakes

11/28/2005 – The ChessBase Workshop column on "intelligent" computer mistakes continues to generate a great volume of interesting e- mails from our readers. In the latest edition we provide a sampling of these users comments as well as columnist Steve Lopez' replies.

Grandmaster Igor Ivanov, 1947–2005

11/27/2005 – A week ago the chess world was saddened by the passing of GM Igor Ivanov, who will not be forgotten by the people who knew him. In order to make sure his chess will also be remembered Dennis Monokroussos, in his Monday night Playchess lecture, shows us one of Ivanov's immortal games. A tribute to this outstanding figure in American chess.

A Magical Evening with the stars

11/27/2005 – Who are the two people in our picture? Well, one is Susan Polgar, winner of multiple women's world chess championship title, who paid a visit to gala benefit reception in New York, given to support the Christopher Reeve Foundation. The other is one of the numerous Hollywood actors who were present for the occasion. Find out who else was there.

FIDE World Cup starts in Khany-Mansiysk

11/27/2005 – It used to be known as the FIDE Knockout World Championship, now it is the World Cup, featuring 128 of the world's strongest players, who will play for a $1.5 million purse. 127 of them made to Khanty, 2250 km east of Moscow. We bring you a full report of round one, with results, games and pictures directly from this Siberian winter event.