'Where's my Fritz 9?'

10/17/2005 – That was the most common greeting we received when we arrived, ten days ago, in San Luis for the FIDE World Championship. Prudently we had taken a bunch of pre-release programs with us. This week the full English version for Fritz 9 will become available in our shop. Here's what's so special about it.

Dia de Internet 2005

10/16/2005 – The World Championship in St. Luis is over, with three weeks of exciting chess. Now it’s time to become active yourself again. A wonderful and interesting opportunity to do so is offered by the "Dia De Internet" chess festival, which takes place from October 20 to 22 on the Playchess.com server. There is a prize fund of no less than €4,000,00 to be won – the first prize alone is €800.  More...

Playchess lecture: Gelfand's tactical feast

10/16/2005 – The Israel GM (originally from Belarus) Boris Gelfand is number 13 in the world, a hard worker who favours complicated positions. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us a razor-sharp 1995 game against Alexei Shirov. Don't miss it – it has something for every chess fan.

San Luis R14: Topalov wins, Anand second

10/15/2005 – A draw between Peter Svidler and Vishy Anand in the final round left Anand in second place by the tiebreak system used of this championship. The winner was and is Veselin Topalov, whose draw against Judit Polgar left him 1.5 points ahead of the field, with a 2890 performance. Full illustrated report.

'Veselin is interested to play Kramnik or Kasparov'

10/15/2005 – Silvio Danailov is the manager, trainer and coordinater of the new World Champion Veselin Topalov. Immediately after it became clear that his charge had bagged the title Danailov gave an interview to the Russian chess magazine "64", in which he spoke of Topalov's performance and his future plans for the world championship.

San Luis R13: Veselin Topalov is World Champion

10/14/2005 – With Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler both conceding early draws the FIDE World Championship was finally decided when the hard-fought Kasimdzhanov-Topalov game ended undecided. The Bulgarian is now a point an a half ahead of his nearest rivals and cannot be caught. Big illustrated report and videos.

San Luis – and simply getting there

10/14/2005 – For ten days now the ChessBase news team has been reporting on the World Championship directly from San Luis. We are comfortably settled, with excellent facilities provided by the organisers. However, just getting to the central Argentinian province was an adventure of its own. Here is the belated tale of our 12,000 km journey.

Chess film – win an autographed book by Kasparov

10/13/2005 – A Germany film company has produced a four-minute chess animation, depicting a famous game from the annals of chess. The sequence was generated using exquisite chess pieces from the 19th century. Your task is to guess which game the film depicts. If you do you can win an autographed copy of Garry Kasparov's book My Great Predecessors.

San Luis: Statistical chances of Topalov, Anand and Svidler

10/13/2005 – There are just two more rounds in the FIDE World Championship, and Bulgarian champion Veselin Topalov is 1.5 points ahead of the only other players who have a theoretical chance to win. But how realistic is it that there will be a champion named Anand or Svidler? Statistician Jeff Sonas tells us in exact figures.

The success of a World Chess Championship

10/13/2005 – The event that is currently taking place in San Luis, Argentina, is breaking records for world-wide interest in chess. This can be counted by the very large numbers of visitors who follow the Internet coverage. What are the reasons for this remarkable success? The organisation, the format, the exciting games? We bring you numbers and explanations.

FIDE October 2005 rating lists

10/12/2005 – Garry Kasparov tops the list, followed by Anand and Topalov. Peter Svidler has taken over place six from Vladimir Kramnik, while Judit Polgar remains in the top ten. Four players jumped by 28 points, one (Alexander Motylev) shed 43. The women's list it topped by two Polgar sisters. Here are more details.

San Luis R12: Anand beats Leko with black

10/12/2005 – In the third-last round Vishy Anand outplayed Peter Leko with the black pieces to draw level with Peter Svidler at a point and a half behind the leading Topalov (against whom Svidler drew today). So there is still a theoretical chance that one of them catches up. Illustrated report with video links!

The one hundred millionth game

10/11/2005 – Today was a special day for Playchess. In the fourth year after its launch our chess server was host to the hundred millionth game. It happened on Monday morning at 10:55 a.m. Central European Time. The world championship coverage from San Luis is also helping shatter other records. Here are some big numbers.

San Luis R11: Anand and Svidler win, Topalov on the brink

10/11/2005 – Round eleven was another exciting affair, with Vishy Anand winning comfortably against Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Peter Svidler outplayed Alexander Morozevich to take the full point. Meanwhile Michael Adams took Veselin Topalov to the brink (the game was drawn). Full illustrated report.

San Luis R10: Kasimdzhanov beats Polgar

10/10/2005 – The still reigning Uzbek world champion almost spoiled a completely winning position against Judit Polgar, but won the game in the end. Topalov had what must certainly be a winning position against Morozevich, but only managed to draw. Leko vs Svidler and Adams vs Anand were both drawn. Full illustrated report.

San Luis R9: Morozevich wins, Svidler, Anand draw

10/9/2005 – A last practical chance to catch Topalov were disappointed when Anand drew against the tournament leader and Svidler drew an exciting game against the uxorious Uzbek Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Alexander Morozevich continued his late rampage with a fine victory over Peter Leko. Full illustrated report with a Short glossary.

Playchess lecture: Kasparov-Short revisited

10/9/2005 – It was a lopsided affair, but Garry Kasparov's final 12.5:7.5 victory over Nigel Short in their 1993 title match belies just how hard-fought it really was. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us a mind-blowing game, full of brilliant attacking and defensive motifs. A lot of interesting analytical work awaits you.

Susan Polgar's take on San Luis

10/8/2005 – Halfway through the FIDE World Championship in San Luis a former (women's) world champion, Susan Polgar, gives us her assessment of the eight players, their performances and what we can expect for the rest of the tournament. There are three annotated games in her midway report.

San Luis: Topalov and other historical performance records

10/8/2005 – Victory celebration for Veselin Topalov at the FIDE World Championship are virtually a certainty. So our statistical attention is diverted to a different question: is Topalov's performance so far the greatest of all time? In addition: Susan Polgar gives us her expectations for round nine.

San Luis R8: Anand and Morozevich win

10/7/2005 – Alexander Morozevich got a full point when Rustam Kasimjanov [sic] got into time trouble. Vishy Anand defeated Judit Polgar in a 62-move struggle. Topalov and Leko drew an atypically peaceful game – which sent Topalov's performance rating crashing to 3073. Adams-Svidler was a draw. Big illustrated report.

San Luis R7: Topalov. Wins. Again.

10/6/2005 – It may already be too late to stop Veselin Topalov. The Bulgarian beat Kasimdzhanov for his sixth win in seven games and leads by two full points at the halfway point. All four games were decisive today, including Morozevich's first win, against Anand. Svidler is in clear second after beating Polgar. Full report.

Ilyumzhinov resigns as Kalmykian President

10/6/2005 – FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the president of the independent Russian republic of Kalmükia, has tendered his resignation as leader of his country, stepping down over a year before his term ends. This is apparently a move to get renominated with the full backing of Russian President Putin. More...

San Luis R6: Topalov beats Polgar with black

10/5/2005 – Veselin Topalov is on a rampage, the likes of which have not been see for a very long time in chess. In round six he chalked up yet another win, this time with black against Judit Polgar. With 5.5/6 points his tournament performance is now a staggering 3157. How far can he go? The other games were hard-fought, exciting draws. Full report.

Back in the mailbag

10/5/2005 – Most of our News items receive many reader comments, and the weekly ChessBase Workshop is certainly no exception. You can read a potpurri of reader responses in the latest edition. Workshop...