Criticism and support for the President

5/4/2006 – Returning home from the Russian Club championship Alexei Shirov discovers that instead of the promised details on the forthcoming candidate matches FIDE has announced the Topalov-Kramnik event, which he bitterly criticises. Meanwhile Veselin Topalov explains his position in this matter and throws his support on the side of president Ilyumzhinov. Letter and interview.

Andrew Martin: Great games!

5/3/2006 – The awesomely strong Russian Team Championship brought us many riches. Our Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin has selected two fierce contests for his Wednesday night lecture. In addition one from the Four Nations Chess League in England, and a homage to Wolfgang Unzicker.

Ural wins Russian Club Championship

5/3/2006 – With players like Grischuk, Shirov, Akopian and Dreev the team of Ural Sverdlovsk could not go astray. The won the Club Championship ahead of TPS Saransk with Ivanchuk, Volokitin and Najer; and Tomsk-400 with Aronian, Morozevich, Jakovenko and Bologan. The women's section was won by ABC Krasnoturyinsk, led by Antoaneta Stefanova. Big pictorial report.

Nona Gaprindashvili – the legendary fifth world champion

5/3/2006 – In 1962 a 21-year-old Georgian player defeated the reigning women's world champion to capture the title, and went on to retain it for 16 years, defending it successfully four times. Nona Gaprindashvili was also a frequent (and successful) participant men's tournaments. In 1978 she became the first woman to be earn the male GM title. Today Nona turns 65.

Robots unlimited – life in a virtual age

5/2/2006 – Some day, in the not all too distant future, robots will write poetry and prose so touching that it will make men weep; compose symphonies and judge court cases. Robots will one day be so life-like that a human could fall in love and marry one. That is what computer chess expert David Levy says in his provocative new book.

Elections 2006: Who controls FIDE?

5/1/2006 – Did you know that every member nation in FIDE has exactly one delegate and one vote? That the power wielded by Madagascar, Malawi, Belize and Uganda, who have no tournament players, is equivalent to that of the four top chess nations? André Schulz takes a look at the current stand in the FIDE elections.

Magnus Carlsen vs Loek van Wely: 1:1

4/30/2006 – The town of Schagen in northern Holland is paying host to a four-game match between top Dutch GM Loek van Wely and the Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen, 15. Time controls are classical chess. The event, which includes rapid, youth and school events, is sponsored by the DSB Bank. Picture report.

Chess Oscar 2005 for Veselin Topalov

4/30/2006 – Few will be surprised to learn that FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov has won the chess Oscar for 2005. 361 chess experts from 68 countries awarded him a total of 4376 points. Indian chess star Vishy Anand is a relatively close second with 3495 points, the retired Garry Kasparov is 7th with 1001. More...

Leko vs Radjabov – the Sveshnikov battle

4/30/2006 – At the recent Morelia/Linares tournament Teimour Radjabov played the Sveshnikov against Peter Leko, who produced an intriguing near-novelty. A tough battle ensued. Let our Monday night Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos show you this instructive game.

Global chess matches – on Playchess

4/29/2006 – This Saturday there are two interesting Internet matches on Playchess.com. One is between the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao, the other between the national teams of Turkey and Slovenia. They are an initiative to many countries from sporting isolation – geographical distances do not count anymore. Come and watch!

Shirov on the Spanish, Sicilian and Najdorf

4/29/2006 – Alexei Shirov is one of the most exciting players in the world, an uncompromising fighter who never fails to inspire chess fans with his attacking ideas. In a new series of DVDs Shirov explains his favourite openings, presenting the material with charm, humour, and plenty of instructional insight. Learn better chess with Alexei!

All the i's are dotted – let the best man win!

4/28/2006 – Recently there was a press conference in Moscow, attended in person by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, and by phone from Germany by classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Subject: their match this September in Elista, Kalmykia. Report in the Russian magazine '64'.

Chess Week in Frascati – with Alexandra Kosteniuk

4/27/2006 – The Italian town of Frascati, just south of Rome, is known for its historical buildings, its wines – and its annual chess week, where the members of the Olympic squads are selected. It is also remembered for the special guests, this year Anatoly Karpov and Alexandra Kosteniuk. We bring you games, results and a very special pictorial report.

Old Guard: Kozul and Ivanchuk's triumphs

4/26/2006 – Zdenko Kozul surprised many by winning the European Championship a week ago. But not our Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin, who has known him as a supreme competitor and an aggressive, creative experienced player. Andrew shows us a typical game, as well as one by Ivanchuk from the same event, and a crazy gambit from Denmark.

Karsten Müller: Basic chess endgame knowledge

4/25/2006 – Do you know how to mate with the queen or a rook? Can you do it with bishop and knight? Can you play endgames with queen or knight vs pawns? Bishops of opposite colour? If you find studing all these essential endgames from textbooks uninspiring, take a course with one of the world's leading endgame experts. Karsten Mueller: Chess Endgames 1.

Some thoughts on aging

4/25/2006 – Today Grandmaster John Nunn turns 51. Not a reason to panic, but our circumspect friend and advisor uses the occasion to reflect on aging and life expectancy in today's world. And we use it to start a collection of oldest grandmasters and active chess players. You can contribute.

The Velimirovic Attack... continues

4/24/2006 – Last Monday our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos examined an extraordinary correspondence chess battle, initiated by the Velimirovic Attack in the Classical Sicilian. The game is so instructive that it will be continued in this Monday's lecture. Don't miss it.

Wolfgang Unzicker, 1925–2006

4/24/2006 – After the war, until around 1970, he was the strongest German chess grandmaster. But Wolfgang Unzicker, seven times German champion, never made chess his profession, practicing law instead. He played in thirteen Olympiads and represented his country on the national team 400 times. Unzicker died of heart failure during a holiday in Portugal on April 20, 2006. In memoriam.

Klitschko checkmates Byrd to win IBF title

4/24/2006 – Vladimir Klitschko, the younger of the world champion heavyweight boxing brothers, took the new International Boxing Federation title on Friday night, defeating Chris Byrd of the US by technical knockout in the seventh round. The Klitschkos are great chess fans and promised their friend Vladimir Kramnik, who was present at the fight, to attend his matches.

Russian Club Championships begin

4/24/2006 – The idyllic town of Black Sea town of Sochi is paying host to the Russian Club Championship, which runs from April 19 to May 1st. Present are stars like Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Gelfand, Shirov, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov, Grischuk and many other world-class GMs – including a large contingent of foreign legionaries. Big photo report.

Ganguly, Sandipan, Singh win Indian Championship

4/22/2006 – The trio of grandmasters scored 14 points each in the grueling 20-round event, which is also the qualifier for the Olympic team. Ganguly took first on tiebreak. In the women's section WGM Swathi Ghate scored a maiden victory in her eighth attempt at the national championship. From Visakhapatnam we bring you a report, pictures and games.

On the other side of the lens

4/21/2006 – For two years now she has been providing us with photos. Her chess photobase has grown to around 2,000 high quality shots (of which she claims to like just about ten). Her dream is to make series of styled shots of the best world chess players. But before she could achieve this dream she herself was the subject of a photo shoot. Meet the remarkable Ms Boytsun.

Election 2006: could Topalov be excluded from the next cycle?

4/20/2006 – Recently FIDE announced a match between the classical chess and FIDE world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov. Presidential candidate Bessel Kok, who initiated the reunification process back in 2002, has directed a number of pertinent questions to FIDE, e.g. is this a FIDE or Kirsan match, and will Topalov be excluded from the next cycle if he loses?

Bidding to play Garry Kasparov

4/20/2006 – Right, we know he has retired and is now concentrating on politics. But if you want to play a game of chess against him you still can, live and in person, at the New York Athletic Club. Tickets for participants, who can bring up to three guests each, can be obtained on eBay's nonprofit "Giving Works". Bidding start on April 21st.