The winners of the Pune Super-GM

9/16/2004 – The western Indian town, know as "Poona" in the British Raj days, was still struggling with the pronunciation, when Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Rustam Kasimdzhanov (why don't they simply invite Short?) clinched top slots with 6/9 points. Nisi beat Kasim on tiebreaks. Here's our final illustrated report.

Irina Krush wins Accoona Women's Match in New York

9/16/2004 – Live from New York, it's the Krush-Skripchenko match, on Playchess.com! After updating the results and posting games and photos, we can now report that the American champion won the match against her French counterpart. A full report will follow, for now we bring you the games and some pictures.

Database Basics

9/15/2004 – Our series of articles on "Database Basics" is intended to show new users how to utilize the search features of chess databases. Part Three describes how to search for the various annotation forms that are used in ChessBase format games. Read all about it in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Searching for the best woman chess player

9/14/2004 – This Thursday there will be an exciting two-game rapid chess match in New York between the French and American women's champions Almira Skripchenko and Irina Krush. The sponsor is the search engine company Accoona.com and will be transmitted live on the Playchess server. Here's the latest press release...

Kasparov's Keynote Address

9/14/2004 – Garry Kasparov, the world's number one chess player, is very active in world politics. As chairman of the oppositional "Committee 2008" in Russia Kasparov was invited to speak to the Baltic Development Forum in Hamburg, Germany. As usual he did not hold back with sharp criticism of the Russian government. We bring you the entire compelling address.

The latest on Bobby Fischer

9/13/2004 – It's been some time since we last reported on the fate of the former world champion, who is detained in a Tokyo prison, facing extradition to the United States. Over 1000 articles have been published world-wide, numerous letters written or editorial opinions expressed. We bring you the latest material – in original and in summary. After all it is currently the hottest story in chess.

Clash of the Brains in the Plains

9/13/2004 – That is how it is billed in a National Public Radio interview: two former world chess champions, Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar battle it out in the first inter-gender chess summit, to be held next weekend in Lindsborg, Kansas. Playchess.com will be covering the games live. Here are all the details...

Jayel Taylor, chess player and webmaster

9/12/2004 – He is a budding chess player, around 1400 on the Playchess.com server. He loves reading, math, computers and sports. For almost a year now he has been running his own web site, devoted to his interests – including a special section on chess. So why was Jayel Taylor interviewed by CBS, and why are we doing a report on him here. There's a simple reason...

Alterman on Albin's Counter Gambit

9/11/2004 – Adolf Albin was born in 1848 Romania, and wrote the first chess book in the Romanian language. He gained international fame with a startling counter to the Queen's Gambit: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!? This aggressive counter is the theme of GM Boris Alterman's Playchess.com lecture this Sunday. Listen in...

Romanian holding on in India

9/11/2004 – In a tournament full of ups and down, Dieter Nisipeanu is staying up. (That's not him, but we needed someone smiling.) With one round to go he is clinging to a half-point lead in the Pune GM tournament. FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov is right on his tail. Local hopes for a place on the podium are good with Harikrishna and Chanda vying for third. Report and photos.

The Greatest Player Never to Become World Champion

9/11/2004 – He has been an active grandmaster for 50 years, in the world's elite for 40, and a three-time challenger for the world championship title. It is not impossible that, at 73, Viktor Korchnoi may yet win the title that has so far eluded him. In his Monday night lecture our Playchess.com trainer Dennis Monokroussos shows us a brilliant Korchnoi game from 1981.

1st Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open

9/11/2004 – After eleven grueling rounds in six days, China's Ni Hua took clear first place in the strongest chess tournament ever held in Malaysia. Players from all over the world came to this fascinating nation for a memorable event. Edwin Lam brings us a remarkable report with food, fun and photos.

Alisa at the Olympics

9/11/2004 – A chess grandmaster at the Olympic Games? Not the Olympiad, mind you, but the big one in Athens, where WGM Alisa Maric represented her country, Serbia & Montenegro. And while she was there she proved that size actually doesn't matter – by trouncing Yugoslav basketball stars, each a foot and a half taller than her. At chess. Here are impressions of Alisa in Athens...

A birthday song for Martica

9/10/2004 – Patrick Schönbach was born with a debilitating illness, but an unusually agile mind. Against all odds he grew up to be a musician, programmer and chess player. A while ago Patrick met a woman grandmaster on the Playchess.com server. A friendship developed, across 7000 km of ocean. Now it has resulted in a beautiful birthday chess song.

Nisipeanu leads in India

9/9/2004 – A chess tournament near a fort with spikes to ward off enemy elephants? It must be India! The city of Pune is hosting the strongest all-play-all event ever to take place in India, a category 16 that includes FIDE champ Kasimdzhanov and a host of local stars, sans Anand. We bring you an onsite report, analysis, and some beautiful local color.

Alexander Morozevich wins Moscow Blitz

9/9/2004 – Every year there is a Moscow Blitz championship, sponsored by a local newspaper. The first prize is a beautiful samovar. The legendary Mikhail Tal took twelve of them home with him to Riga. This year, under the watchful eyes of some famous player, it was another magician of the chess board

Women's Championship in Iran

9/7/2004 – For a while chess was forbidden, but now it is blossoming in Iran, which now boasts two GMs and five IMs. But especially the women seem to be profiting from the chess boom – 170 turned up for the Iran Women's Championship that ended last Friday. Here's a report and pictures of the Girls of Iran...

Yuriy Kuzubov joins the mini-GM club

9/7/2004 – He is two weeks younger than his club mate Sergey Karjakin – and ten months older than the Norwegian wunderkind Magnus Carlsen. Today, at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 12 days, Ukraine chess prodigy Yuriy Kuzubov completed his third and final GM norm.

Surprising the stars

9/6/2004 – Rating systems are a good indicator of what’s likely to happen in a game. Likely, but not guaranteed. Our Playchess.com trainer Dennis Monokroussos shows us how a world-class GM fared against a well-prepared 2290 master, in his Monday night lecture...

Momentoo – chess in available light

9/6/2004 – ChessBase.com is know for its emphasis on visuals – spectacular picture reports that accompany tournaments. Recently we found a man to whom we can only tip our collective hats. Dutch photographer Fred Lucas has shot some of the best portraits of chess players that we have ever seen. Here's a selection...

Finishing the Dragon: the Yugoslav Attack

9/5/2004 – This is a weapon Bobby Fischer used in an attempt to maintain the initiative in the Sicilian Dragon. With the "Yugoslav Attack" our GM trainer Boris Alterman completes his lecture series on the Dragon theme. You can watch and listen to him live on the Playchess.com server in his Sunday night lecture.

18-year-old Andrei Volokitin Ukraine champion

9/4/2004 – The 73rd Ukrainian Championship has ended with an upset victory by Andrei Volokitin 18, who beat his one year older compatriot Anton Korobov in the final. 24-year-old Alexander Moiseenko came in third. Top seed Vassily Ivanchuk was eliminated by veteran Oleg Romanishin in round two. Illustrated report.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, chess aficionado

9/4/2004 – In the past two years there have been a flurry of big chess events in New York city. Kasparov played against Karpov, Deep Junior and X3D Fritz. With 46,000 newspaper reports and live Internet and TV coverage the latter was the best-reported match in chess history. We introduce Armand Rousso, the extraordinary personality behind the events.

Kasparov em Brasil

9/3/2004 – Brazil, or Brasil as they write it, is embracing chess (xadrez) more and more. Anand and Karpov were invited to play in the showcase Desafio tournament in Sao Paulo. At the same time, Garry Kasparov was giving a simul, touring education centers, and signing the Brazilian edition of his book series. Report and photos.