FIDE changes its plan, players protest

10/27/2005 – Five months ago FIDE announced full details of its next World Championship cycle, which was to culminate in a final one-on-one match. Due to the success of the recent San Luis tournament FIDE has decided to amend the plan and stage an eight-player final. Here are the details – and vigorous protests by two former world championship finalists.

FIDE's reply, Kamsky's rejoinder

10/27/2005 – Yesterday we reported that FIDE had changed its rules for the next World Championship cycle, and that top players like Gata Kamsky and Alexei Shirov had protested. Today we received a reply from FIDE Vice President Morten Sand and a rejoinder from Gata Kamsky. There is conflict in the air.

Topalov vs Kramnik – what the world thinks

10/27/2005 – Last weekend we published two interviews, with the new FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, expressing reluctance to put his title on the line against classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and with the latter insisting the matter should be settled in a reunification match. So should they play? Our readers' opinion is quite explicit.

Imagery of Chess: Hikaru's blindfold simul

10/26/2005 – On October 21, US Champion Hikaru Nakamura took on six opponents in his first blindfold exhibition ever, at the opening of The Imagery of Chess Revisited at the Noguchi Museum in New York City. Hikaru recreated a 1945 exhibition by the legendary blindfold master George Koltanowski. Illustrated report.

Chess for Peace – with Karpov, Polgar and Gorbachev

10/26/2005 – What do the three have in common? Well, the former Soviet president is Anatoly Karpov's old friend, and he will be visiting the Karpov Chess School in Lindsborg, Kansas, to help launch a worldwide campaign of promoting peace through chess. He will also attend a match between Karpov and Susan Polgar. Stand by for a chess weekend in Kansas.

Chess on the Arctic Circle

10/25/2005 – It is unusual when a chess tournament is held in a town that exactly straddles the Arctic Circle. That is the case for Salekhard (or Salegard), where ten teams are playing – with all participants required to be under 17 years of age, and one under ten. Here's a beautifully illustrated report by Eldar Mukhametov.

Playchess lecture: Caro-Kann or Semi-Slav

10/24/2005 – What, another Boris Gelfand win? No, this week he's the victim, losing to another relatively unnoticed member of the sometimes-2700 club, Alexey Dreev. When facing 1.e4 he's a Caro-Kann specialist, but against 1.d4 it's as if Alexey becomes a different person – a Semi-Slav specialist! Learn all about it on Playchess in the Monday night lecture by Dennis Monokroussos.

Chess stars of the Baltic Sea region

10/22/2005 – The International Youth Team championship of the Baltic Sea Countries in Narva, Estonia, saw 60 champions of the region playing in six teams – from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, and Estonian. There were ten players per team, from 10 to 18 years in age. Read all about it in Valery Golubenko's illustrated report.

Topalov says Nyet to Kramnik

10/22/2005 – The chances of a reunification title match between the newly crowned FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov and Classical Chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik took a dive when the Bulgarian stated unequivocally that he was not willing to take up a challenge by someone 60 points below him. "That is a different class altogether," said Topalov in this Sport Express interview.

Kramnik willing to face Topalov

10/22/2005 – "I firmly believe that I am the real World Chess Champion." With that Vladimir Kramnik makes his case to participate in a unification match against new FIDE champ Veselin Topalov. In brief comments Kramnik also addresses his lineage and Topalov's recent arguments for not having such a match. Read quickly, before the next reply comes out.

The Ugandans are coming!

10/21/2005 – Recently the Ugandan Chess Federation staged a qualification tournament to determine which of their national team would be included in a trip to Germany. After tie-break games eight player were selected, and spent some quality time in the beautiful town of Forcheim. Harold Wanyama reports.

San Luis: The return of the participants

10/21/2005 – Earlier this week, at the end of the very exciting but also quite exhausting FIDE World Championship, players, dignitaries, journalists and friends packed their bags and embarked on the journey back home. So too your newsteam from ChessBase.com. We bring you farewell pictures from San Luis and, for those who missed something, a list of all video links.

14-year-old Carlsen with 2792 performance

10/20/2005 – Schachwunderkind Magnus Carlsen strikes again. In devastating form the young Norwegian GM took first place at the Arnold Eikrem Memorial in Gausdal, a full point ahead of exprienced GMs and with a performance never yet seen from one so young. On the next rating list Magnus will be just a few points shy of 2600. Here's an illustrated report by Tarjei Svenson.

San Luis: The prize-giving ceremony

10/18/2005 – After three intense weeks in Argentina one of the most exciting world championships in memory came to an end, with a spectacular prize-giving ceremony. We bring you one of a series of picture reports while we ourselves embark on the journey back home.

'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.