White nights in St. Petersburg

5/29/2004 – The Russian Championship qualifiers are in full swing, with Alexey Dreev still in the lead. The games are exciting, with some spectacular accidents. Oh, yes, and it is advisable to have dark glasses at the end of the games, to protect your eyes from the 10 p.m. sun. Here's Misha Savinov's beautiful pictorial report.

ACP protest against FIDE world championship

5/29/2004 – The unclarity regarding the participation of Israeli players in the world chess championship in Tripoli (June 18 to July 13, 2004) has led the Association of Chess Professionals to protest vigorously against FIDE's strategy in staging this event in Libya. FIDE has replied by publishing the final participants' list – with no Israeli players.

Women's World Championship reaches Elite Eight

5/28/2004 – 56 players have been eliminated in just six days. Former women's world champ Maya Chiburdanidze (right) is in the quarterfinals along with a pair of teenagers and five other survivors. China has held the title since the 20th century but they are down to just one contender. Maybe next time around the USA will be in the finals? Report, results and games.

Kalashnikovs, Souqs and Qat

5/28/2004 – The Arab Countries Chess League was held in Ta'izz, which is an adventurous six-hour drive from San'a, one of the oldest cities in the world. GM Sergey Tiviakov undertook the trip to Yemen and has returned with stories of colorful market places, armed guards and chewing the local intoxicating weed. Here is Sergey's pictorial travelogue..

A Czech mates in Turkey

5/27/2004 – A young Czech champion is leading the 2004 European Individual Championship in beautiful Antalya, Turkey. With three rounds to go nineteen-year-old David Navara is ahead of big names like Ivanchuk and Radjabov. Can he hold on? What does Kasparov think? Test your tactical prowess. We have games and analysis.

From Tomsk to Omsk to Pinsk to Minsk

5/27/2004 – When the best players in Russia get together to find their champion, it is a global event. The St Petersburg qualifier is being covered fairly well, but unfortunately getting news from the other section is more daunting. One of our visitors helped us and we bring you all the necessary links and, most importantly, the Tomsk games.

Shirov dominating big chess in Sarajevo

5/26/2004 – With two rounds to play and his arch-nemesis safely behind him, Alexei Shirov is ready to finally win the Bosna tournament after many near-misses. Twice in the past late losses to Movsesian cost him the title, but now he has a full point lead and no Sergei in sight. We have pictures, games and analysis here.

Anti-Defamation League, Seirawan, Levy, Keene

5/25/2004 – Last week the ADL wrote a letter to FIDE regarding the restrictions on Israeli and Jewish players in the world championship in Libya. Meanwhile Yasser Seirawan has replied to Ruslan Ponomariov's proposals, and ICGA president David Levy gives his takes on the situation in chess today. Here are the documents and summaries.

Women's World Championship

5/25/2004 – With the controversy around venue and security in the past, the games finally began in Elista, Kalmykia. The top seeds started strong, all moving into the second round. The second round concludes tomorrow. The savvy veterans are going to have their hands full with the teenagers soon enough.

Alexey Dreev leads in Russian Championship

5/25/2004 – The qualifiers for the 57th Russian Championship have started, in St Petersburg and Tomsk. GM Alexei Dreev is in the lead with a perfect 4/4 score. The winners go on to play in a super-final in September with Kasparov, Kramnik, Karpov and Svidler. There the prize is $300,000. Details...

Kasparov blood-curdling testimony

5/25/2004 – We know him as an fear-inspiring player on the chess board, but in the political arena Garry Kasparov also remains true to his nature. Brave, outspoken, even incautious, he'll express his view without fear of consequences. You can see this in his article in the Wall Street Journal and his powerful statement to the Human Rights commission in Washington. Here are excerpts and links.

The Mysterious Minority Attack

5/24/2004 – Cross your heart, do you know what the Minority Attack really is? How it works and what role the "Karlsbad formation" plays? Let our online trainer Dennis Monokroussos unravel its mysteries so you can use it with ruthless efficiency in your games. Today Dennis starts his two-part lecture.

Alterman on the Morphy Attack

5/23/2004 – He never lost a tempo, the center was focal point of his strategy. When he had a development advantage he would smash open the position for a crushing attack. "His mastery of open positions was so vast that little new has been learned about such positions after him," wrote Botvinnik. On Sunday GM Boris Alterman lectures on the 'Morphy Attack', on Monday you can play in a simul against him. Details...

Bikini chess championship in Ukraine

5/23/2004 – The Ukraine Women's Championship 2004 was held in the beautiful Black Sea resort of Alushta. It brought us dazzling chess – and dazzling pictures of young women grandmasters and IMs in beachside circumstances. We remain eternally indebted to the tournament winner and new Ukraine women's champion Olga Alexandrova for sending us this pictorial report.

Chess in a library – Dutch team playoff

5/22/2004 – Last year it was held in a casino, this year in a library. You decide which is more appropriate for the playoffs for the Dutch Team Championship, which involves the four highest-placed teams with top GMs participating. We bring you the results, all the games and a pictorial report...

The Giuoco Piano

5/21/2004 – In this week's ChessBase Workshop, ChessBase columnist Steve Lopez hits a "mid-life chess crisis" but finds the antidote in an unexpected form. Read his preview of the new opening training CD The Giuoco Piano by Reinhold Ripperger in the new ChessBase Workshop.

Pono's plan – a new proposal for unity

5/20/2004 – A week ago Garry Kasparov made some interesting remarks on how he would go about unifying the world championship title. Some days later Yasser Seirawan chipped in with his own ideas on the format. Now another key player has submitted his views on the subject or unification. Here is FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov' proposal.

Benefit simul by Alexandra and Yannick

5/18/2004 – To promote the 37th Biel Chess Festival (July 17–30) two of the stars, European women's champion Alexandra Kosteniuk and top Swiss GM Yannick Pelletier gave a simultaneous exhibition for children – free of charge. We bring you an illustrated report and, for your bedroom wall, some exciting pinup pictures.

Kasparov visits Italy and revisits St. Petersburg

5/18/2004 – The super-tournament in St. Petersburg 1914 saw the 45-year-old world champion Emanuel Lasker inflict a terrible blow on a young contender for his title, Akiba Rubinstein. Garry Kasparov, who dealt with this game in his highly successful book "My Great Predecessors", revisits the historic encounter with fresh analysis.

Chess in the City

5/16/2004 – On Friday we attended the press conference for the ChinaCom.com French-American Women's Chess Championship. The Russian Samovar in New York City will host the September match between Almira Skripchenko and Irina Krush. We survived the media blitz to bring you interviews and a full photo report.

Monokroussos on the Great Dane Larsen

5/16/2004 – Now essentially retired, Bent Larsen was one of the very best players in the world from the early 60s through the early 80s. In Monday's audio broadcast Dennis Monokroussos shows us examples of Larsen's "non-traditional understanding" of the game. Details...

Explosive start to chess championship in Turkey

5/16/2004 – European Individual Chess Championship in Antalya started with a bang – literally. At midnight before the first round an energy building, 100 metres from the hotel, exploded! The fire was extinguished and technicians rushed in to get everything ready for the chess games, scheduled to start 13 hours later. We have pictures...

The Fried Liver Attack

5/16/2004 – It started out as the 'Chigorin Counter Attack', and great credit for developing the theory and practice of the Two Knights Defence must go to the old masters. On Sunday GM Boris Alterman tells us all about the most aggressive attacking lines in this opening. Details...

A new plan for unification

5/16/2004 – The man behind the Prague Agreement for the unification of the world chess championship title, Yasser Seirawan, recently told us about the background of its failure. He was subsequently criticised by Kasparov, and today replies with a new constructive proposal to resolve the mess in the chess world. Read about it in this open letter to Garry Kasparov.