Election 06: Ilyumzhinov, Makropoulos reply

5/27/2006 – Yesterday we published an open letter that was sent to us by former Deputy President of FIDE (1995 to 1996) Bachar Kuoatly that was very critical of the tenure of the current President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and his Deputy President Georges Makropoulos. Now Ilyumzhinov and Makropoulos have reacted with strongly worded replies to Kuoatly.

Shredder 10 now available

5/26/2006 – No other program has won as many titles as Shredder, the chess program written by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen of Germany. The latest version has been substantially improved and plays about 80 Elo points stronger than its predecessor. And it can access its new highly compressed tablebases 1000 times faster, dramatically increasing its endgame abilities. Don't wait, buy it now!

Olympiad R5: Armenia holds Russia, joins in lead

5/26/2006 – Vladimir Kramnik is back after a lengthy illness in full strength, with a fine victory for Russia over Levon Aronian of Armenia. After a 2-2 score both teams still share the lead. Uzbekistan drew The Netherlands, the USA defeated Georgia, and Iran pulled off a stunning 3:1 victory over Vietnam join the group at places 5-11. Illustrated report with performance statistics.

Election 06: Can F.I.D.E be reformed?

5/26/2006 – Grandmaster Bachar Kuoatly has fought a number of FIDE presidential battles, and as such has intimate knowledge of the electorial process. And of the management structures of the World Chess Federation. Today he sent us an "open letter" with his assessment of the current election campaign. Warning: it contains some fairly tough language.

Election 06: 'Statements of support' are nonsense

5/26/2006 – Russian chess journalist Yuriy Vasiliev is gaining cult status. After famously using George Orwell's Animal Farm to criticise opponents in the democracy debate, Vasiliev, who staunchly supports the Kirsan ticket, has written about an attempt by the other side to install "fifth columns" (as in the Spanish Civil War) and destroy world chess unity. Article and a puzzler.

Olympiad R4: Russia beats China, leads with Armenia

5/25/2006 – Kramnik and Bareev drew, but Svidler and Grischuk scored to send China from place two down to nine. Armenia defeated Norway 4-0 to join Russia in the lead. Both teams have four match points and 13.5 board points. In the women's section Russia defeated Lithuania 3-0. Tatiana Kosintseva and Kateryna Lahno (Ukraine) have perfect 4-0 scores. Full illustrated report.

Turin: Seeing the Olympiad with your own eyes

5/25/2006 – Let's face it, not everybody can travel to Turin to see the chess spectacle that is taking place there. Certainly not people living in more distant places in the world. But you can watch the games, with live video commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, on Playchess. Or do a walk-around with our staff in Turin. And listen to interviews with the players. Like to try?

TCF to Israel Gelfer: you must respect democracy

5/24/2006 – That is what the Turkish Chess Federation is demanding of Israel Gelfer, the member of FIDE Executive Board who sharply attacked the Right Move campaign and Ali Nihat Yazici, the Turkish candidate for Vice Presidency. Murat Kul, the Deputy President of TCF, sent us the following reply.

Olympiad R3: Kramnik, Anand play and win

5/24/2006 – Vladimir Kramnik played his first game at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, defeating Germany's Arkadij Naiditsch in a nice 33-move game. Anand, who flew in from Sofia, beat Cegmed Batchuluun, a cheeky young FM from Mongolia. Russia, China and Uzbekistan are now in the lead. Big pictorial report.

Kasparov: 'I'm just an interested outsider'

5/24/2006 – Recently Garry Kasparov spent a few days in Greece to launch the first volume of his book series "My Great Predecessors". He gave a press conference in Athens and answered questions from a group of Greek chess journalists. See what the Great Chess Player has to say about retirement, Topalov-Kramnik and the FIDE Presidency. Excerpts from the interviews.

If it's good enough for Capa...

5/23/2006 – The finest players in the world are still trying to find the best black defence to the Ruy Lopez. This week our Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin takes a game from 1911, where the legendary Jose Raul Capablanca plays 3...Bc5 4.c3 Qf6!, to make life easier for chess players today. Come watch.

Election 06: Scandal in the US Chess Federation?

5/23/2006 – The Kirsan Campaign has published a letter written by an Executive Board Member of the USCF, Beatriz Marinello, who says that "the more fanatical supporters" were trying to prevent her from taking a neutral position in the upcoming election. Chess Fidelity speaks of a "shocking campaigning methods" of the US Federation. Another lesson in democracy and elections.

Chess Olympiad: Russia leads after two rounds

5/23/2006 – The 37th Chess Olympiad has started in Turin – after two rounds Russia leads with a perfect 2:0 match points and 8:0 board points, followed by four teams with 2:0/7.5. India suffered a shocking defeat against Morocco – but Anand is now in Turin to mend things for his team. We bring you results, games and a big pictorial report.

Vladimir Kramnik and the Spirit of the Régence

5/23/2006 – The «Café de la Régence» is a legend for any French chess player. This lieu de rendez-vous saw personalities like Philidor, Napoleon and Musset playing games of chess in a leisurely, intellectual atmosphere. Sadly this famous Café has now disappeared, but there are ambitions to make it live again.

Capa outplays Bogo to chase Lasker

5/21/2006 – Moscow 1925. The great José Capablanca faces the run-away tournament leader Efim Bogoljubow, whom he is desperately eager to beat, in order to catch Emanuel Lasker for second place. Capa plays sharply, sacrificing a piece on move nine for a terrific attack. The rest you can relive in the Monday night Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos. Don't miss it.

Election 2006: This is what you think

5/21/2006 – In the last days and weeks we have published a number of articles pertaining to the upcoming elections for FIDE President. One especially, entitled "Who controls FIDE", generated a vigorous discussion. Direct replies by experienced FIDE delegate David Levy, Scotland, and Russian chess journalist Yurij Vasiliev led to a great number of sometimes very interesting letters. Here are some.

MTel R10: Topalov wins M-Tel Masters

5/21/2006 – In (another) remarkable comeback Veselin Topalov wiped out his dismal first half score with four consecutive wins in the last four rounds in Sofia, to take clean first place, half a point ahead of Gata Kamsky. The American came second, Vishy Anand third. Wrap-up and pictures.

MTel R8: Topalov beats Ponomariov

5/20/2006 – He's getting closer! Veselin Topalov is attempting another comeback in Sofia. He won his second consecutive game to move into second place with Anand. Both are a point behind Gata Kamsky, who drew with Vishy today. It was Spanish day at the MTel, and nothing to do with Linares. Full report with pictures and videos.

MTel R8 analysis by GM Mihail Marin

5/20/2006 – Topalov confirms his fighting character with another fine win against Ponomariov in a slow manoeuvring game which ended in a brilliant attack with many unexpected moves. The other two games (Kamsky-Anand and Svidler-Bacrot) ended in draws after a relatively uneventfull fight. Short annotations by Mihail Marin.

MTel R9: Topalov on top after victory over Kamsky

5/20/2006 – Veselin Topalov picked up his third win in succession, this time over Gata Kamsky, who got a move sequence mixed up and spoiled his incredible tournament performance with a blackout in this critical round. Now Topalov and Kamsky lead, after Anand drew Svidler. Big pictorial report from Sofia.

MTel R7 analysis by GM Mihail Marin

5/19/2006 – Topalov used his pet variation of the Najdorf to take revenge on Anand for the defeat in the first half of M-Tel. Ponomariov played a good positional game against Svidler and obtained a generally deserved victory. Kamsky used an original variation of the Slav against Bacrot but allowed his opponent survive an inferior ending. Commentary by Mihail Marin.

Magnus Carlsen: age 15, performance 2700

5/19/2006 – This week the Bosna 2006 tournament was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia, with six players averaging 2659 Elo points. It was won by three players who scored 5.5/10, amongst them a 15-year-old boy, whose performance was very close to the 2700 level. This could well be a record for anyone of his age. Report and games and a correction!

Elections 06: 'A low-level campaign'

5/18/2006 – Israel Gelfer is a very influential member of FIDE Executive Board from Israel, who has remarkably won the trust of most Arab delegates. As part of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's Chess Fidelity team he sent us an open letter with the request for "equal presentation" on the ChessBase news page. Kirsan has also replied to the Leong proposal from earlier this week. Here...

MTel R6 analysis by GM Mihail Marin

5/18/2006 – This was quite an eventful round. Gata Kamsky overcame Ruslan Ponomariov's stubborn defence; Peter Svidler won a model Gruenfeld against favourite Topalov; and Anand decided to allow the Marshall Attack against Bacrot, and drew. Short analytical comments by Mihail Marin.