Mtel R1: Kramnik beats Ponomariov

5/13/2005 – 150 years ago it was common for the world's best players to give pawn odds and still win. Today former FIDE champ Ponomariov learned you can't do that to Vladimir Kramnik. The classical chess world champion smoothly converted the endgame to take the early lead. Meanwhile Anand and Topalov gave the Bulgarian public a sharp adrenalin boost.

Mtel R2: Bad luck strikes

5/13/2005 – You might not be superstitious, but it was bad luck for fans and organizers when all three games were drawn today, Friday the 13th. Kramnik-Anand was a drowsy Petroff. Ponomariov and Polgar drew a rook endgame. We also saw the first GM draw, a quick repetition between Topalov and Adams. Games, results and tables.

Super-GM tournament in Sofia starts

5/12/2005 – On Thursday, May 12th the strongest tournament of the year, the M-Tel Masters in Sofia, begins. It is a category 20 with an Elo average of 2744, brought to the Bulgarian capital by the likes of Anand, Topalov, Kramnik, Adams, Judit Polgar, Ponomariov. A special rule is in place: no draw offers! Info and links.

Dark Secret to Promoting Chess (revisited)

5/11/2005 – Once again the letters poured in, this time in response to a thoughtful article written by Jamie Duif Calvin. Many readers were deeply impressed by arguments presented by the chess player and media expert from San Rafael, California. We bring you a selection of the letters, some mini articles in their own right, and Duif's reaction. Well worth reading.

Radio ChessBase

5/11/2005 – In tonight's show IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw debate and analyse some of the most interesting chess played in the last few days. There is no limit on geography: this week's exotic locations include Armenia, Cuba and West Bromwich. Turn on, tune in, drop pieces.

German Bundesliga – Werder wins the title

5/9/2005 – Last year's champions Porz were the clear favourites, with an average of 60 rating points more on each of the eight boards. But the chess team of the German football club Werder Bremen was younger and fresher: average age under 30, vs 40 years for Porz. And in the end Werder clinched the title with a 4.5:3.5 tiebreak victory.

Freestyle tournament for $20,000

5/9/2005 – It's a new kind of chess tournament, with a substantial prize fund. $20,000 in all, $10,000 for the winner. Top grandmaster conditions. But with a difference. In the PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament on the Playchess.com server anyone can play. Even you. And anything goes. Anything! (In fact computer assistance is encouraged). Here are the details.

Kramnik on boxing, Fischer, Kasparov and Einstein

5/8/2005 – "Everything is relative," says the classical chess world champion in a long interview conducted with German chess journalist Dagobert Kohlmeyer. In high spirits during a preparation session for the Super-GM in Sofia Vladimir Kramnik speaks candidly about his many interests and the situation at the top of the chess world. Includes one historic game.

Lord of the Kings – Queenstown Chess Classic

5/8/2005 – Like to visit New Zealand? We know that it is on the other side of the globe, but it is Lord of the Rings country. The excuse for going: there is a very attractive tournament in Queenstown. You can combine chess with the holiday of a lifetime!

Technique and psychology with Ulf Andersson

5/7/2005 – Our Playchess.com trainer is concerned with keeping ChessBase viewers on a healthy, balanced diet. To this end Dennis Monokroussos takes a look a typical technical masterpiece by Swedish great Ulf Andersson in his Monday night lecture.

The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part III

5/6/2005 – What was the greatest chess performance of all time? Jeff Sonas has analysed the duration different players have stayed at the top of the ratings list, at the highest individual rating spikes and best tournament performances. Today he looks at the most impressive over-all tournament performances in history, and comes up with some very impressive statistics.

German Bundesliga – grudge match on Sunday

5/6/2005 – The world's strongest team championships has come down to a tiebreak match. Two bitter rivals, Werder Bremen and SG Porz, are facing each other in a final showdown, which you can watch live this Sunday on the Bundesliga site and Playchess.com. Bremen scored a 6:2 upset victory in the regular matches, so Porz is understandably out for sweet revenge.

Fischer Random World Championship

5/5/2005 – After introducing a chess clock that has gained universal acceptance, the reclusive former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996 proposed a form of randomized chess that is designed to eliminate today's over-emphasis on openings preparation. In August there will be a first computer chess world championship in this variant.

The FIDE World Championship Cycle 2005-2007

5/5/2005 – With its 2005 World Championship scheduled for late September in San Luis, Argentina, FIDE has published details of the cycle that is to follow this event. The knockout world championship is still there, but serves as one of the qualifiers for the next world championship. We bring you the full regulations and a quick-read summary.

Radio ChessBase: Team tournaments ending

5/4/2005 – Glasgow 3rd Floor Chess Radio, presented by IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw on Wednesday at 20:30h Central European Time on Playchess.com, looks at summer holidaying with or without chess, and the end of the larger team tournaments.

Indian chess professionals speak out

5/4/2005 – As previously reported the Indian Chess Federation has a new leadership. After the original officers were restrained by an Indian court, however, they refused to close shop, and the chess superpower seemed to be ruled by two federations. Now the Chess Players' Association of India takes a stand.

Making your own playbook -- part three

5/4/2005 – In the final installment of our ChessBase Workshop series on building and maintaining an opening "playbook" database, we tend to a bit of housecleaning. We'll show you how to organize and trim analysis lines that may become a bit unwieldy after numerous game additions. Workshop...

The fake Heroes of Chernobyl

5/3/2005 – From April 14 to 26 an interesting GM tournament called "Memorial Heroes of Chernobyl" was held in Óity a Slavutich, Ukraine. The official tournament site has games, results and pictures. All very nice, except that apparently the event never happened, as TWIC's Mark Crowther reports.

Attention all GMs: Köfte tournament in Turkey!

5/3/2005 – Kofte Kebab or Shish köfte are minced lamb meatballs, spiced with herbs, most often including parsley and mint. They are delicious and they are thematic for a tournament that is being staged in an idyllic thermal resort in Turkey. If you are 2600+ on the list you are welcome to apply. But be quick, only the first nine will be invited.

The Dark Secret to Promoting Chess

5/2/2005 – "I can't believe you only published articles supporting Susan Polgar's criticism of the ESPN story," wrote William Shea from Hawaii. "I don't want candy-coated stories about chess, I want to hear the big stories. Congrats ESPN for bringing chess to the forefront." He has a point, as the following article by Jamie Duif Calvin suggests.

Monokroussos on Viktor the inimitable

5/2/2005 – When a chess player ages, he often quits the game, or plays a far weaker brand of chess. That’s true for most of us, but not for the inimitable Viktor Korchnoi. In his mid-70s, he still continues to play a fighting brand of chess that ought to shame those quick-draw artists less than half his age. Dennis Monokroussos elucidates.

Dortmund 2005 – something to look forward to

5/1/2005 – The strongest tournament in Germany, the yearly Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, will be held from July 8 to 17, 2005. The ten participants include Topalov, Leko, Kramnik, Adams and Svidler, bringing the tournament category to 19. We bring you full information, including round-by-round schedules and pairings.

News feedback: your views and opinions

5/1/2005 – Every day, between generous offers to consolidate our loans or improve our lives in very personal ways, we receive a large number of genuinely interesting letters on the news items published on the site. We can only answer a small fraction of them. Rather let the others go to waste we have decided to share them with you.

FIDE world championship in Sardinia?

4/30/2005 – We are receiving word that there is a new bid for the eight-player FIDE world chess championship scheduled to be held in Argentina for one million dollars in September this year. Now the city of Alghero in Sardinia has offered to put up US $1.5 million in prize money. What will FIDE do?