Rook endings for the working chessplayer

7/5/2004 – Last week our Playchess.com trainer Dennis Monokroussos had every intention of examining the instructive endgame Kharlov-Nisipeanu. But the preliminaries were interesting enough to fill the lecture. Today Dennis gets to the meat and explains what really happened in the World Championship endgame.

Bookmark a game in ChessBase 8

7/5/2004 – Many ChessBase users run into situations where they want to "bookmark" a game for later retrieval. The usual solution is to use medals to mark games in the list. But there's another method: creating user keys and manually assigning games to them. We show you how in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

FIDE WCC R6-3: Then end is near for Radjabov

7/4/2004 – Will Sunday be the end for Baku teenager Teimour Radjabov? He couldn't capitalize on a superior position against Adams today and so will go into the fourth and final game needing a win with black to tie the match. Topalov and Kasimdzhanov drew a long game with mutually squandered chances. Who will go to the final and be guaranteed at least $70,000? Report and photos.

Russian Women battle it out in Kazan

7/4/2004 – Tired of all those men playing chess in the desert? Well here for a change in pace is the Russian Women's Championship with top female players competing for the title and a $50,000 prize fund in Kazan (Tatarstan). We explain where exactly that is and how the ladies are doing in our extensive illustrated report.

FIDE WCC R6-2: Slow day in Tripoli

7/3/2004 – Maybe the four remaining players in the FIDE world championship wanted to enjoy the chance to play a game that wasn't life or death. Both games were short draws. Kasimdzhanov will try to break the tie against Topalov tomorrow, while Radjabov needs a win to even the score with Adams. Photos and games.

FIDE WCC R6-1: Adams wins with black

7/2/2004 – Top seed Michael Adams of England took the lead in the FIDE semifinals, defeating 17-year-old Teimour Radjabov with a creative novelty in an open Catalan. On the other board Veselin Topalov drew against Rustam Kasimdzhanov in half an hour and fifteen moves of play. Here is our illustrated report and games.

16 Super-GMs top the list

7/2/2004 – The latest FIDE ratings has Kasparov leading, as he has done since time immemorial, followed by Vishy Anand. Kramnik is third, with place four being taken by Morozevich. Leko, Adams and Topalov are in hot pursuit, rank eight is occupied by a woman! So how have things changed over the last 21 years?

CD Sicilian Dragon 2 preview

7/1/2004 – In his preview of the new ChessBase training CD Sicilian Dragon 2, columnist Steve Lopez admits to receiving a pair of major shocks. What's so shocking about GM Dorian Rogozenko's CD? Read more about it in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

World Championship statistics: Topalov poised to win

6/30/2004 – After five rounds and two to go the four remaining players have considerably improved their chances of winning the title. Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov leads the field at 44%, followed by Michael Adams of England at 34%. Radjabov and Kasimdzhanov are at 13% and 9% respectively. Here are the latest statistics by Jeff Sonas.

I Want My Chess TV!

6/30/2004 – The Fritz Chess Media System is already in regular use for audio and video coverage of events and for lectures in Playchess.com. Now we are seeing the first CD products that use this great new video technology. Get a personal Grandmaster lecture as the pieces move around the board. Read on for more on this new technology in the latest ChessBase Cafe column.

FIDE WCC R5-2: How cool is this kid?

6/30/2004 – Teimour Radjabov and Lenier Dominguez looked content to play all night, but it had to end. It was after four tiebreak draws and past one in the morning when the 17-year-old from Baku drew the sudden death game with black to join Topalov, Adams, and Kasimdzhanov in the next round. The four-game semifinal matches begin Thursday. Report, photos, and games.

The Return of Garry Kasparov

6/30/2004 – Last October he did a promotional book signing for "My Great Predecessors" at the London Chess Center, causing total gridlock in the process. this Saturday Garry Kasparov is doing a repeat performance, signing copies of his book and the DVD movie "Game Over". Don't miss it...

Never surrender

6/29/2004 – With the high-flying Grandmasters playing in Libya, how about a game played between mortals? They might not be household names, but you can learn a lot from players who make the same sort of mistakes you make. Check out a fun annotated game.

Mainz on Fire

6/29/2004 – From August 4th to 8th, three days after the Chess Meeting in Dortmund, the city of Mainz in Germany will host a new edition of their Chess Classic. This includes a rapid chess match between the world's number two Vishy Anand and number 14 Alexei Shirov, and a "Chess960" match between Peter Svidler and Levon Aronian. Details...

Computer clash in Israel

6/29/2004 – Once a year on an average many of the best chess playing computers in the world meet to play in a world championship. From July 4–12 the 12th World Computer Chess Championship will be held at the Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. 14 programs are registered, at least two on very fast four-processor systems. Full details...

FIDE WCC R4-2: Favorites march on

6/28/2004 – Their baseball players may be leaving, but Cuba still has some fine chessplayers. The spirit of Capablanca was done proud when Lenier Dominguez (photo) upset Alexei Dreev. The 2700-club of Topalov, Adams, and Grischuk all moved on. Underdogs Nakamura and Kozul finally ran out of gas. Report, games, photos, and updated odds.

Postcards from Tripoli

6/28/2004 – You last saw writer Paul Hoffman on ESPN. No, not playing shortstop for the Mets or winning the world's strongest man competition. He joined GMs Maurice Ashley and Yasser Seirawan in the Kasparov - Fritz TV coverage, playing the roles of science expert and straight man. Now he's in Tripoli and you won't believe what he's gotten up to this time.

You could win $8,000 or more...

6/28/2004 – ...if you are Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and can go back in time. This is the spam-like title Dennis Monokroussos gives to his Monday night lecture, which describes how the strong Romanian player got eliminated in the FIDE world championship by not knowing the theory of a rook ending. Come for the Schadenfreude and stay for the endgame lesson.

FIDE WCC R5-1: Can anyone stop this man?

6/28/2004 – Nine games, eight wins. That's Veselin Topalov's record so far in Tripoli. The number one seed is playing like a Bulgarian possessed. His latest victim was Kharlov in the first game of the quarterfinals. Adams, Dominguez, and Kasimdzhanov also won. All four games were full-bodied battles with white winning every game! Games, results, photos and report now up.

FIDE WCC R4-1: A black day in Tripoli

6/27/2004 – Heavy favorites Topalov and Adams confirmed their status by winning with black. Kasimdzhanov notched the third full point of the day when Almasi blundered. The other games were drawn. So far in Libya only one player has lost the first game with white and gone on to win the match. Will there be another tomorrow? Report, games, and photos.

FIDE Championship odds after round three

6/26/2004 – The favorites are still the favorites, says Jeff Sonas. He has calculated the odds of each player in the sweet sixteen winning the event. Nakamura's 122 to 1 doesn't look so good, unless you placed your bet back when he was at 785 to 1! Plus, what is the best qualifying tournament system for a world championship?

FIDE WCC R3-2: Another favorite exits

6/25/2004 – But it wasn't a victorious Teimour Radjabov. Vassily Ivanchuk became the second 2700 to leave the field in Libya, ko'ed by Kasimdzhanov. Other top seeds Topalov, Adams, and Grischuk moved on. America's Nakamura is becoming quite a story as the teen moved into the fourth round. See our report on who else made it into the sweet sixteen.

Alterman on the Philidor Defence

6/25/2004 – In the 18th century chess was dominated by the Italians. Players would gladly give a pawn for a single tempo, relying on pure tactical strength to win the game. At that time a mild-mannered musical composer revolutionized chess. GM Boris Alterman looks at an opening line named after Francois-Andre Danican Philidor. Visit his Sunday night lecture and simultaneous exhibition.

FIDE WCC R3-1: Topalov wins five in a row

6/24/2004 – The top seeds (except for the unlucky Nigel Short) are all coasting towards the final of FIDE's knockout world championship. But you should also watch out for some dark horses, like 16-year-old Hikaru Nakamura and Croatian Zdenko Kozul, whose performance so far has been an incredible Elo 3002. We bring you games, results and pictures.