Women play in Dresden

3/21/2004 – This weekend the European Women's Chess Championship starts in Dresden, Germany. The openings ceremony was on Saturday, at the Treff Hotel Dresden, with players, trainers and guests of honour in attendance. We bring you all relevant links and a first picture report.

One K left in Reykjavik

3/20/2004 – Facing 2700 Nigel Short in the second round was a poor reward for Aronian's top seeding. The Englishman won to move into the semifinals. He is joined by Kasparov, Nielsen, and Dreev, who knocked out Karpov despite the elder K's first-ever King's Indian Defense. Report and games.

FIDE world championships in Libya, Hanoi

3/19/2004 – It's official: FIDE is to hold the next knock-out world championship in Tripoli, Libya. The announcement comes with a set of must-see pictures of FIDE president Ilyumzhinov playing chess against Moammar Al Qaddafi. And another secret is out: the superfinal between Kasparov and the winner is to be held in Vietnam. More...

Boy meets Beast in Reykjavik

3/19/2004 – It was a dream pairing for the organizers. 13-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen faced legend Garry Kasparov in the first round of this Icelandic rapid knock-out event. The result was predictable but it was closer than you'd think. The game is annotated by Almira Skripchenko.

The Aeroflot Chess Festival revisited

3/19/2004 – The Third Aeroflot Festival was held in the second half of February, with over 140 grandmasters. But the flow of information from Moscow was very modest. Spyridon Ilandzis, editor of a Greek chess magazine, took part in the tournament and has sent us an extensive wrap-up with a selection of the most beautiful games.

Short on draws

3/18/2004 – "I know that with perfect play, God versus God, Fritz versus Fritz, chess is a draw," writes Nigel Short, who describes a deadly disease called Severe Acute Drawitis. "Those afflicted with SAD display an uncontrollable urge to offer or accept premature peace proposals." Read about it in Nigel's highly entertaining Sunday Telegraph column.

The shocking novelties of Dorian Rogozenko

3/18/2004 – It happens all the time. A single move can change the evaluation of an entire openings system. A position that was considered winning for one side may suddenly become unplayable. Our GM trainer shows us many instances of this in his Thursday night Playchess.com lecture.

ACP Inaugural Internet Tournament

3/17/2004 – Are you a grandmaster, and a member of the Association of Chess Professionals? If so you are invited to participate in the first Internet Blitz Tournament staged by the ACP. It will be held from April 12 to 17 and will feature GMs from all over the world. The prize fund is $5000. Here is the invitation of the ACP Board.

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