Blindfold and Rapid in Monaco

3/16/2004 – From March 20 to April 1st the famous Amber tournament will be staged for the thirteenth time, in the spectacular Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo. The event features world class players like Anand, Kramnik, Svidler, Shirov and Leko. They play two games per day: one rapid and one blindfold. Here are details of the participants and schedule.

The Multimedia Circus: Audio/video lessons and more in Fritz

3/15/2004 – One of the top new Fritz features has nothing to do with the playing engine. With a free Fritz 8 online upgrade you can watch and listen to streaming multimedia broadcasts right next to the board at Playchess.com. This is ideal for taking lessons, watching live events, and more. If you want to know how to make it work, check out Mig Greengard's latest ChessBase Cafe article.

Garry Kasparov for president!?

3/15/2004 – Is the chess #1 considering a move to becoming the Russian #1? Running a country easier than playing in Linares? Kasparov recently launched the democratic reform group Free Choice 2008 Committee. Today, the day of Putin's reelection, Kasparov gave an interview to ABC News in which he didn't deny (or confirm!) his own political aspirations.

Rooting for the underdog

3/15/2004 – Admittedly it is great fun to see your top-notch chess heroes trampling on lesser mortals. But it is equally exciting to see a weaker player bite back and upset the big guy. In this week's Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks at some David vs Goliath games – with interesting sidelines to boot. This is how you can attend...

Top players in Iceland

3/15/2004 – Reykjavik, the capital of the volcanic island of Iceland, has been host to many famous tournaments. Currently the XXI Reykjavik Open is being held there. When it ends the top four players join the likes of Kasparov, Short and Karpov in the Reykjavik Rapid 2004, which begins on Wednesday. Here are the details.

Bobby Fischer goes to war

3/15/2004 – Summer 1972. Richard Nixon is president. The Cold War is raging. In Reykjavik, Iceland, an American faces a Russian across the chessboard for the title of World Chess Champion. Now, more than thirty years later, a new book is out on the subject. Here are some interesting reviews and audio interviews.

How about a nice game of war?

3/13/2004 – Get out your grains of salt, it's time for more chess analogies. Teams of researchers are using chess and other board games for insights into modern warfare. Tempo and search speed versus the importance of material? We wonder if they have ever picked up a Tarrasch book! More..

Attacking with g2-g4!

3/11/2004 – In recent years there has been a tendency to play the aggressive push of the g-pawn very early in the game. Tonight our online GM trainer Dorian Rogozenko will talk about the move g2-g4 in the modern openings, showing examples and explaining when it is justified and when not. The idea came to him after the last Bundesliga weekend, when he himself fell a victim of this move...

Queen of the king's game in Queens

3/10/2004 – GM Susan Polgar's Chess Center had a gala re-opening at its spectacular new location in New York City. VIPs came from all over for the festivities and an inaugural blitz tournament, won by WGM Rusa Goletiani. Of course we were there since there was the promise of free food. Between bites we talked with the proud owner about her plans and the culture of chess development in the USA. Read on.

What to do about the Sicilian – Part II

3/8/2004 – Still not sure how to handle those pesky 1...c5 players? Last week Dennis Monokroussos showed us a relatively theory-free way to counter the Najdorf. This week on his Playchess.com lecture Dennis looks at some great historical games on the subject. Learn and enjoy!

Linares 14: Vallejo holds Kasparov; Kramnik clear first

3/8/2004 – Vladimir Kramnik took clear first in Linares for the first time. He got a short draw and then watched as Vallejo defended against Kasparov for over five hours in an interesting game. 79% of the games were drawn in Linares this year, many of them in under 25 moves, including seven by the tournament winner. Full report and analysis now up!

'Male grandmasters respect me'

3/7/2004 – At 12 years and four months Kateryna Lahno became the world's youngest female grandmaster. Today, at the ripe age of 14, she has hit 2500 Elo points and is working on a male GM title. In an interview with the magazine "All Sports" and the web site "Chess Ukraine" Katja shares with us the realities of being a young person in the limelight.

Linares 13: Radjabov wins again; Kasparov misses a win

3/5/2004 – Why isn't this man smiling? Because he missed another chance to join the lead. 13 wasn't lucky for the 13th world champ. Topalov held him to a draw in a spectacular game. Radjabov beat Shirov to finish even. Don't miss the live audio commentary and trivia contest during the final round on Friday at Playchess.com. Report and analysis

Zero to sixty in 4.7 GHz

3/5/2004 – Do you always want to have "the baddest car in the valley" when it comes to your chess machine? What do NASCAR, computer chess, and combat robotics have in common? The answer depends on whom you ask. If you ask columnist Steve Lopez, you'll get a rant like this week's ChessBase Workshop.

The greatest chess puzzle

3/4/2004 – Where and when did chess originate? This is a question that has puzzled chess historians for centuries. Aryan Argandewal was confronted by it in, of all places, a Russian train, when a colonel with a disconcertingly pretty wife asked him to think about the origin of the game. Here are Aryan's conclusions.

Linares 12: Leaders draw, Radjabov scores first win

3/4/2004 – Wins at Linares 2004 have been very hard to come by and now Paco Vallejo is the only player without one. He lost to Radjabov and fell into last place. Kramnik-Kasparov lasted 17 moves, Topalov-Leko four more. Even if the games don't excite we'll have fun with our live trivia competition during our Radio ChessBase broadcast during tomorrow's games. Don't miss it! Report and analysis

The value of looking ahead

3/3/2004 – Too many correspondence players use opening trees as a crutch, letting the numbers do the thinking for them. This can have unexpected and unfortunate repercussions when a "bust" to a line appears in another move or two. Steve Lopez shares an ugly example from one of his own correspondence games in this week's ChessBase Workshop.

Linares 11: Leko falters against Kramnik

3/2/2004 – For the longest time it looked like Peter Leko would once again take a full point with the white pieces against his favourite opponent, Vladimir Kramnik. But on move 32 the young Hungarian stumbled and allowed Kramnik to spin a mating net. The other games were drawn. We bring you a report and pictures.

The oldest chess café in Amsterdam

3/2/2004 – It might be raining outside, wind blowing and snow falling, Amsterdam can be dark and foggy – but in the chess café called Gambit life is a game. Locals and traveling chess fanatics provide excitement and a pleasant company all year round. It was founded by Menase Goldberg 25 years ago. Aniko Kiss shows us around...

Aeroflot tournament – pictures from Russia

3/1/2004 – We did not get the games, which are still being kept in a safe in Moscow. But we can bring you exclusive pictures from the 2004 Aeroflot Open. Jean-Michel Péchiné of the French chess magazine Europe Echecs met a number of reigning and ex world champions, as well as new talents. Here are his pictorial impressions...

What to do about the Sicilian

3/1/2004 – Cross your heart, do you really enjoy plowing through the theory of the Najdorf Sicilian? How about a sound, positional approach to meeting the Najdorf – but with a drop of venom in it? Dennis Monokroussos tells you all about it tonight on his Radio ChessBase lecture...

Linares 10: Topalov beats Shirov, quick draw by Kasparov

2/29/2004 – The bravest player in this tournament and, with Kasparov, the biggest fighter, Veselin Topalov today defeated the fiery Latvian Alexei Shirov. Garry Kasparov clearly hadn't overcome his disappointment in the previous round and, with Luis Rentero watching, let Peter Leko off with a 19-move draw. We bring you a report and pictures.

A tale of two cities

2/28/2004 – Recent reports are true. In an interview with the Russian Sport Express FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has confirmed that the next FIDE world championship will be held in Tripoli, Libya. He supplies interesting details. Meanwhile Itar Tass reports that in Kalmykia he is facing mounting political protest. More...

Linares 9: three more draws – but plenty of fight

2/28/2004 – Today's ninth round was dominated by the battle between the Baku boys. Garry Kasparov was determined to win with the black pieces and dutifully outplayed his young opponent in the endgame, only to drop the full point with a mistake right at the end. The other games were drawn. We bring you a report and pictures.