Computer assisted chess in Maastricht

2/12/2004 – Two of Europe's brightest young talents, Daniël Stellwagen (16, Holland, Elo 2487) and David Baramidze (15, Germany, 2456) are playing a four-game match in Holland – with a twist. Both opponents are allowed to use computer assistance during the game. Here is a half-time report, pictures and annotated games...

A weapon against Caro-Kann

2/12/2004 – The Caro-Kann Defence is one of the most solid weapons against 1.e4. Tonight our GM trainer Dorian Rogozenko will talk about a very good way to fight it – with the Panov Attack. Learn more on our Thursday Playchess lecture.

Annotation and language tabs

2/12/2004 – In this week's ChessBase Workshop, we show how to add color to the annotations in your Notation pane and offer an important tip to annotators who are writing for worldwide electronic distribution. You will find it all explained in plain English in Steve Lopez's weekly ChessBase Workshop...

Watching the stars at the Dutch Blitz Championship

2/12/2004 – Last weekend there was an interesting blitz championship. It was held for the 19th year in succession in the Dutch town of Dordrecht (near Rotterdam). What makes it interesting is that there were many international stars present – Sokolov, Short, Dreev –, but also our reporter Jeroen van den Belt, who sent in a pictorial report.

Open Letter from the ACP to the ECU

2/12/2004 – The Association of Chess Professionals, which has been holding board meetings in Wijk aan Zee and Paris, has just released an open letter to the European Chess Union, a branch of FIDE. In it they criticise past practices and demand specific and substantial changes. We bring you a summary and the original letter.

Bad girls go to Laguna Beach

2/10/2004 – What are these chess players doing? They are playing a game against an Uzbek grandmaster. While Saidali Yuldashev sits in freezing Tashkent, some of his opponents are enjoying a beach-side think in sunny California. For our TV match Jamshid Begmatov has received a beautiful photo report from the opposite side of the globe.

MegaDataBase 2004 - review

2/9/2004 – In the last of a series of previews of the new ChessBase DVDs, we rip the shrinkwrap off of Mega Database 2004 and look at not just the database but the other goodies included on this DVD. Steve Lopez supplies the details in the latest edition of his ChessBase Workshop...

Live from the US of A – it's Radio ChessBase!

2/9/2004 – Tonight is the second lesson by Dennis Monokroussos on ChessBase Radio. The subject is Paul Keres, one of the greatest players never to become world chess champion. The free audio lecture starts at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (3 a.m. for European insomniacs) on the Playchess.com server. Here are the details...

Chess on the Beeb – Kasparov vs. the Kremlin

2/8/2004 – We recently reported on the foundation by Garry Kasparov and prominent liberals in Russia of a group to oust Vladimir Putin in the 2008 presidential elections. Today BBC News aired a remarkable six-and-a-half minute report, in which the situation in Russia is described. The situation is described, not the least by Garry Kasparov, in very outspoken terms.

Nigel Short: 'Economically I am right wing'

2/6/2004 – After winning the Commonwealth Championship Nigel Short has now taken the strong Gibraltar Open. In an interview with the winner we spoke less about chess and more about the historical and political background of British colony – and the conservative Nigel Short.

The Brain in Bahrain passes

2/5/2004 – Yousuf Ahmed Al Shirawi was one of the best-respected personalities in Bahrain. He was a scientist and minister in the government, responsible for many pioneer projects in the Arabian island state. He was also a dedicated chess player who in 2002 organised the Kramnik vs Deep Fritz match. Yousuf al Shirawi died on Tuesday at the age of 76. Here's a portrait of an unforgettable man.

A premiere for Radio ChessBase

2/4/2004 – Last Friday, in a relatively impromptu session, Radio ChessBase staged a premiere. Instead of the usual voice commentary on the weekly broadcast we switched on a high-quality video feed. About a hundred visitors saw some pretty spectacular images. The special guest in the studio was world champion Elisabeth Pähtz.

The Gambit Challenge: How to Become a Pawn Star

2/4/2004 – Three weeks ago the Gambit Publications started a competition on our site for eye-catching titles for chess books. The "Guide to Beating the English" by Kunte and Ramesh is one cute example, "Play and Pronounce the Scheveningen" a practical one. The three winners are announced by Dr John Nunn.

Maurice Ashley appears in PBS documentary

2/4/2004 – GM Maurice Ashley will appear in a TV documentary entitled America: Beyond the Color Line, which will be broadcast in two parts on Public Television in the US beginning at 9 pm New York time, Tuesday, February 3. GM Ashley appears in the second installment which will be broadcast at the same hour on Wednesday, February 4. Here's the full story...

Tudo bem! Vescovi wins Fourways International in Bermuda

2/3/2004 – The one phrase you must know if you go to Brazil is "Tudo bem!" Often accompanied by a thumbs-up this is the universal expression for "okay", "cool", and "a Brazilian just won a category 16 tournament!" In dramatic fashion Giovanni Vescovi defeated Boris Gelfand in the final round to pass the Israeli and hoist the winner's trophy for the second year in a row. Full report and games.

ChessBrain world record attempt

2/2/2004 – It sounds quite terrifying: a Danish grandmaster faces over two thousand computers, all working together in a gigantic network of distributed machines. The event duly broke the Guinness World Record attempt, but the GM (Peter Heine Nielsen) did not have as much trouble as we would have expected. Here's a report and the game...

Topalov – Anand blitz in Sofia

2/1/2004 – On Sunday Feb. 1st there will be a live TV match in Sofia, Bulgaria, between the top national player Veselin Topalov and world's number three Vishy Anand. It consists of two 10-minute blitz games with a possible 5/4 tie breaker. The two have a 50% score in classical chess, but Anand is clearly ahead in fast games. Details...

The king in an iron grip

2/1/2004 – After a week of absence (GMs occasionally do play in tournaments) Saidali Yuldashev has returned to Tashkent to take up the game against Uzbek TV audience and the ChessBase public. Unfortunately our king is in a cage, so that most people think we are fighting for a draw, while some are more optimistic. There's a lot of excellent analysis in Jamshid Begmatov's weekly report.

Kramnik defeats German national team 2,5:1,5

1/31/2004 – On Thursday Vladimir Kramnik played a clock simul against the German national team at the Centro Dannemann in Brissago (Switzerland). His opponents were Christopher Lutz, Rustem Dautov, Robert Hübner and Klaus Bischoff. Kramnik defeated Dr. Hübner and drew the other three games. We bring you a picture and the games.

Sorokhtin takes on Kasparov

1/31/2004 – He asked for it, now he's getting it – in full force. After the appearance of Garry Kasparov's book, My Great Predecessors, the author invited readers all over the world, even if they are amateurs, to send in analysis and corrections. Nobody has taken him up with such vigour as Sergey Sorokhtin, a construction manager from St. Petersburg. Read about it all in our Analysis Focus #5

Help for the Handicapped: The search for a weak chess program

1/30/2004 – The quest to create the strongest computer chessplayer continues, but creating a weak opponent may be more important. All the top programs can crush you, but can they give you a fair and fun fight? Mig's latest ChessBase Cafe column looks at the sophisticated handicap features in Fritz and friends. Send in your own questions for next month's column. See the index.

Making chess part of the US school curriculum

1/28/2004 – America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) is committed to making chess a larger part of America's cultural fabric. By making chess accessible in schools and in popular culture AF4C hopes to elevate the profile of chess in America so that it will soon become a regular part of every child's classroom experience. The full story is told in this lovely video clip.

Breaking news: Kramnik vs Leko in September

1/28/2004 – The Swiss tobacco company Dannemann has just announced that the Classical Chess World Championship between Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko will be staged from September 25 to October 18, at a still to be disclosed location. Here are first details...

Moving ahead with the ACP

1/28/2004 – Things will be moving ahead in the chess world, if the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) have their way. The union now counts 146 members, including ten of the top 15 in the world. We bring you the press release after their recent board meeting, and some nice pictures of GMs planning their future.