Magnus comes to town

11/19/2004 – He is just 13, and currently the youngest grandmaster in the world. He plays in strong tournaments and had Kasparov on the ropes in a game. Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian wonderboy, is an international chess celebrity. Now a book is out, written by his trainer GM Simen Agdestein and available in three languages, explaining the phenomenon.

Anjelina has a home for you

11/18/2004 – Looking for a place to stay? Something really, really nice? Well, here's a modern house in the mountains of Tucson, Arizona, with all the high-tech goodies you could ever want. It has been put on the market by a many times US women's chess champion, who is working in Tucson as a real estate agent. You may find it is a bit pricy, but then again you may want to snap it up on Ebay.

Super Final: Few draws, no tickets

11/18/2004 – The final phase of the 2004 Russian Championship is under way, three rounds are over and round four has just begun. Directly from the venue comes a report by someone who walks and talks with the players, hangs out in the pressroom and palavers with the dignitaries. We share with you Misha Savinov's first-hand impressions.

Super Final R4: Kasparov misses win, Grischuk doesn't

11/18/2004 – There was plenty of drama on two boards today in the Russian Championship. First 60-year-old Vitaly Tseshkovsky hung on well against super-GM Alexander Grischuk, 39 years his junior, only to spoil it at move 55. And Garry Kasparov overlooked a simple win to draw against rooky Alexander Motylev. Flash report...

Super Final R3: Favourites Svidler, Morozevich falter

11/17/2004 – Alexander Morozevich is having a bad tournament; after losing with white in round two he lost again today, to 60-year-old Vitaly Tseshkovsky. Peter Svidler, who has won more Russian championships than anyone else, lost with white to 19-year-old Artyom Timofeev. Garry Kasparov had a free day. Here are games, results, and an interview with Anatoly Karpov.

Jacob Aagaard: Basic Positional Ideas

11/17/2004 – Positional chess is the basis for success in the game. Of course material and points can be won by tactical measures, but first you have to bring the relevant positions up on your board. Here's a multimedia DVD by IM Aagaard, whom you can also listen to live on Playchess.com in our new Glasgow Chess Radio...

Fighting chess in St Petersburg

11/16/2004 – Just 29% of the 800 games were drawn, and only 3.4% in less than 20 moves. Maybe the Chigorin Memorial in St Petersburg did not have the biggest names, but it showed that a strong open can provide emotions, tragedies, brilliancies and sensations. We bring you the games and an extensive illustrated report by Misha Savinov.

Junior chess in God's own country

11/16/2004 – The enjoyment of chess tournaments, for the players and for the spectators, depends to a great degree on the venue. If it is drab and urban the mood is soured. But locate it, as they did for this year's Junior World Championship (starting November 18), on the south-west coast of India, and you can succeed spectacularly. Here's a teaser...

Super Final R2: Dreev beats Morozevich

11/16/2004 – Alexander Morozevich is a player who, on a good day, can beat anyone or anything in the world. But he can also have very bad streaks. In round one he spent seventy moves trying to win with the black pieces against Epishin; today he lost with white against Dreev. The other games were drawn. Here's a report on a memorable press conference...

The Budapest Gambit

11/15/2004 – This is an underplayed opening at amateur level, but the Budapest has claimed a number of strong GM vicitms in recent years. In his Monday night lecture Dennis Monkroussos on Playchess.com illustrates the most important ideas with an early game between Rubinstein and Vidmar.

Short and Norwood on chess today

11/15/2004 – "Aye lad. It were different in my day. A grandmaster was a grandmaster, not a bloody nobody. It all began to go downhill when them folks at FIDE decided that every federation, no matter how weak, should have its own GM." The British GMs Nigel Short and David Norwood are candid and blunt, and always entertaining, in their Telegraph chess columns.

Super Final R1: Kasparov, Svidler and Grischuk victorious

11/15/2004 – The first round of the 57th Russian Championship Super Final started with victories by Garry Kasparov, Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk, the latter two winning their games with the black pieces. The field now consists of 11 players. We bring you results and games, and a beautifully illustrated report by Dagobert Kohlmeyer.

'I have never given up the idea of reunification'

11/13/2004 – Classical Chess World Champion Vladimir Kramnik recently expressed doubts on the current course of the reunification process, and dropped out of the Russian Super Final for health reasons. For this he has taken a lot of harsh criticism in the press and from chess fans. In a press release Kramnik explains his position.

Fritz and Chesster tops Amazon

11/13/2004 – For the first time the bestseller list in the Children software section of Amazon was topped by a chess program – ahead of Nancy Drew, I Spy and Backyard Baseball. Learn to Play Chess with Fritz & Chesster by Viva Media has received a 4½ (out of five) star rating. Meanwhile Viva has announced the release of Fritz 8 Deluxe. Curious?

Confirmed: Karpov drops out of Super Final

11/13/2004 – On Saturday night we reported that Anatoly Karpov had dropped out of the "Super Final" of the Russian Championship due to "other business commitments" . Our information, which came from contacts close to the organisation, was contradicted by chess friends in Moscow. Now the Russian news agency Itar Tass has confirmed: Karpov will not play.

2nd Mediterranean Championship in Antalya

11/12/2004 – The incredibly active Turkish Chess Federation is hosting another one: the second Mediterranean Men & Women Championship in the splendid Belek region of Antalya, Turkey. Dates: December 11–19, 2004. If you are a member of the Mediterranean Chess Association get your federation to nominate you now. Details...

Levy on Reunification

11/12/2004 – Recently David Levy, IM, computer expert, author, long-time FIDE delegate, wrote a hilariously satirical piece on the reunification process in chess. But laughter doesn't solve the very real problems that doubtlessly exist in the chess world today. Now David has sent us a dead serious evaluation of the situation and proposals for its resolution.

Susan Polgar's dream comeback

11/11/2004 – The US women's team made history at the Chess Olympiad by capturing Silver, the first ever Olympic medal for the United States. The player and driving force behind this success was Susan Polgar, who came out of a seven-year hiatus with a stunning performance. Here's the full story and part two of our interview with Susan.

Andrew Martin: The ABC of the Ruy Lopez

11/11/2004 – The venerable Ruy Lopez is one of the most interesting of chess openings. In a new multimedia DVD IM Andrew Martin explains how the opening works – in over 200 minutes of high-quality video instructions. The well-respected chess teacher and writer does this in the relaxed style for which he is known. More...

The Azmaiparashvili Saga – your views

11/10/2004 – The events at the end of the closing ceremony of the 36th Chess Olympiad stunned chess players all over the world. A FIDE vice president beaten and arrested? We returned from Calvià to find a barrage of letters from concerned readers – most in support of "Azmai", but some critical of his conduct in the affair. Take some time for a long but interesting read.

From the mailbag

11/10/2004 – While columnist Steve Lopez doesn't answer every e-mail he receives, he does read and consider them. Steve dips into the mailbag and comes up with some interesting messages that lead us from chess into the world of linguistics and the importance of context and subtext. Boring? Not when Steve sharpens his pen and gets going. Read all about it in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Breaking news: Kramnik to skip Super Final

11/9/2004 – The "Super Final" of the 57th Russian Championship begins next week, with Kasparov, Kramnik, Morozevich, Svidler, Bareev, Grischuk, Karpov and six qualifiers from the championships in St. Petersburg and Tomsk. Well, strike Kramnik. We hear that the classical chess world champions won't participate.

The Taming of the Giuoco

11/8/2004 – The Moeller Attack in the Giuoco Piano is a complex line filled with traps Black must avoid. But before you give up 1…e5 altogether drop in at Playchess.com for Dennis Monkroussos's Monday night lecture. You might just end up considering the Moeller a free win with the black pieces.

Peter Heine Nielsen wins European Internet Championship

11/8/2004 – The Second European Internet Championship on Playchess.com ended in a triumph for Peter Heine Nielsen, who knocked out the likes of Kharlov, Short and Gelfand to take on England's Michael Adams in the final. The Danish GM won this encounter 0.5-2.5 to pocket the €2,400 first prize. Report and games...