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.

Linares 8: three draws – the death of chess?

2/27/2004 – Yesterday was apparently a freak accident, today Linares returned to normal, with all games drawn. One must mention that again it was Garry Kasparov's board where all the excitement was. With his opponent Alexei Shirov was pressing with the black pieces the world's number one had to fight for a draw. Here are results, games and pictures.

Standard strategical plans

2/26/2004 – Following the wishes of his online audience our GM trainer Dorian Rogozenko tonight will show different positions on standard strategical plans. This is the continuation of last week's lesson on strategy and positional chess. Watch Rogozenko's lectures every Thursday night on the Playchess server.

Linares 7: Three wins, Leko in the lead

2/26/2004 – Maybe they put something into the water? Just when everybody was getting used to the daily serving of lifeless draws, had the jokes about the lack of fighting spirit had been honed to stand-up class, the players suddenly burst into action and presented the world with three decided games in this round. More...

Linares 6: Shirov beats Radjabov

2/25/2004 – The second decided game in the Linares Super-GM tournament came in round six, with the proverbial firebrand Alexei Shirov sacrificing an exchange and then a piece to defeat the youngest participant, Teimour Radjabov from Baku. Topalov vs Kasparov was hard-fought but ended in a draw. We bring you games and results.

Linares 5: Three fighting draws (for a change)

2/24/2004 – Same procedure as in every round (almost). But at least today we can say that all three draws were hard-fought, with local hero Paco Vallejo and Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov pushing hard with the black pieces, while the top encounter Kasparov-Kramnik was a positional battle. We bring you analysis, report and pictures.

Game over, ChessBase and Uzbekistan draw

2/24/2004 – The match between GM Saidali Yuldashev and the Uzbek TV audience, heavily assisted by ChessBase.com visitors from all over the world, has ended in a draw. Jamshid Begmatov has interviewed the GM and takes a pictorial look back at an eventful game. We are waiting for your final comments and have prizes for the best submissions.

The Coalition checkmates the Axis of Evil

2/24/2004 – It's a chess with a difference. This one pits white pieces, led by one George W Bush, against black ones with a figure called Osama Bin Laden at their head. Each of the piece types is a well-know character, taken from the international "war on terror". The manufacturers are calling it the 'mother of all chess sets'

Chess at 40 degrees below zero

2/23/2004 – What does a wildlife biologist in the Northlands of Canada do when the temperature plunges to arctic levels? With blizzards howling outside there is nothing better than sipping a hot drink by a crackling fire, playing a game of chess against Fritz. Thank heavens the program is not as cruel as the weather. Merlin Cypher explains.

Workshop: Stretching your evaluation profile

2/22/2004 – Software in general, and chess programs in particular, have many undocumented features which are up to the users to find. Take for instance the evaluation profile of Fritz, a very useful training instrument to locate errors at a glance. Trouble is you cannot stretch the profile enough for some people's liking. Or can you? Roger Vermeir tells us how...

Linares 4: All games drawn, one with a fight

2/22/2004 – In the good old days Luis Rentero used to prowl the halls of Hotel Anibal, hurling invectives at players who agreed to a quick draw. Rentero has relinquished control over the event, and today he was sadly missed. At least Topalov put up an effort to overcome Taimour Radjabov. We bring you analysis, report and pictures.

Lautier on Man vs Machine

2/21/2004 – New horizons or a dead-end? France's top player Joel Lautier, who attended the much-publicised match between Garry Kasparov and X3D Fritz in New York last November, takes a look at the current situation in the battle between humans and computers. He identifies the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, using two key games to illustrate his points.

Linares 3: Kasparov and Shirov (and Topalov!) on the ropes

2/21/2004 – Garry Kasparov ran into a well-prepared novelty by Peter Leko. Alexei Shirov missed his own winning chances to get into difficulties against Veselin Topalov. Radjabov vs Kramnik was uneventful. All three games were drawn. ChessBase Radio listeners got a live report from Linares during the round! We bring you games, pictures and a full report.

Linares picture gallery with – The Handshake!

2/20/2004 – You were asking for them, now you get your fill: first pictures from round one of the Super-Tournament in Linares. They were sent to us by Jesús J. Boyero Gabarre and include a close-up action replay of the first handshake between Garry Kasparov and Alexei Shirov in years. Here are the historic pictures.

Linares 2: All games drawn

2/20/2004 – Round two of the supertournament in Linares saw all games drawn. Mig Greengard again did live audio commentary on the Playchess.com server, this time with four-time women's world champion Susan Polgar as a phone-in guest. We bring you results, annotated games and pictures...

Linares 1: Leko takes early lead

2/19/2004 – The action on the scoreboard was in Radjabov-Leko. The Hungarian refuted the teen's aggressive play and converted an endgame. Shirov-Kasparov was a fantastic duel that will give analysts headaches. Vallejo-Kramnik was a non-game draw. Hundreds at Playchess.com listened to live commentary from Mig Greengard and special guest Nigel Short. Full report and analysis.

Aeroflot Festival – without the games

2/18/2004 – The 3rd Aeroflot Festival has started in Moscow, lasting from February 17 to 26. Well over 500 participants, amongst them 120 grandmasters have collected for this massive tournament in the Hotel Rossija. The prize fund is $150,000. Here is a first report with a list of all registered participants...