Man vs Machine – the endless fascination

11/9/2003 – Chess matches between humans and machines are enthralling. They attract large numbers of specators – next week it will be millions on ESPN – while most human tournaments are struggling to find more spectators than participants. Ram Prasad looks back at fourteen years of man vs machine encounters.

Want to play with the stars?

11/8/2003 – This weekend we are holding the First European Internet Championship on the Playchess.com server this weekend. This is your chance to play with to GMs like Adams, Bologan, Khalifman, Radjabov, Sutovsky, Bacrot, Nunn. Don't miss it...

May the Force be with him

11/8/2003 – "Remember the first 'Star Wars' movie? The only way to destroy the Death Star was to find this one little spot, this weakness, and blow it up. With computers it's the same." At the opening ceremony Garry Kasparov spoke about the ordeal he has to go through in his match against X3D Fritz.

A chess set from Uzbekistan

11/8/2003 – The game between grandmaster Saidali Yuldashev and the Uzbek TV audience, assisted by ChessBase.com visitors, is being received with great enthusiasm. People are already talking about a a match between the Uzbekistan and ChessBase audiences. A delighted woodcarver from Tashkent (picture) is even making a special gift for ChessBase.

Chess in the Southern Caribbean Sea

11/7/2003 – A bicycle race, a boat trip to the Spanish Lagoon, a beautiful sunset – and lots of chess. That was the Curaçao International Gateway Tournament. Three players, Gulko, Shabalov and Hübner tied for first with 6.5 poite each (Gulko had the best tiebreak). Ger Jan and Lily Meijer sent us a complete, illustrated report.

Physical Strength and Chess Expertise

11/7/2003 – How can humans hope to hold their ground in their uphill struggle against chess computers? Play shorter matches, stop sacrificing material, and don't fear the Sicilian Defense, says statistician Jeff Sonas, who also questions the high computer ratings on the Swedish SSDF list. Here is his evidence.

The world's strongest nonagenarian

11/7/2003 – Who is the strongest active player in chess in the world today aged ninety or older? We think it is Arkadi Gilman, who sports an official FIDE rating 2237. Gilman hails from Russia and lives in Canada. He is fit enough to compete regularly in local tournaments, including tough double round robins. Take a look at how he outwits his opponents.

Sport Express Interview with Garry Kasparov

11/6/2003 – Garry Kasparov is currently in New York City preparing for his match against X3D Fritz. Right before he left he gave an extensive interview with the famous Russian paper Sport Express. Kasparov talks about his book series, his cancelled match, his return to chess, the worst blunder of his career, unification, and his upcoming match with X3D Fritz. More..

Hoffman for chess in ESPN

11/6/2003 – Chess is at the brink of mainstream popularity. and who better to bring it over the edge than Paul Hoffman. The Harvard educated science journalist has been an editor at Scientific American and Discover magazine, and publisher of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Paul is also an avid chess player who next week will comment on Kasparov vs X3D Fritz for ESPN. More...

The Executive Board hath spoken

11/5/2003 – A lot of people were waiting in tense anticipation for news to come out of the FIDE Congress, which was held in Kallithea, Greece. Now the executive board has announced the results. In it the Ponomariov-Kasparov match is officially cancelled, but very few details emerge about the next FIDE world championship. Here is the news in a nutshell.

Vishy Anand takes Corsica

11/4/2003 – The International Open of Corsica ended on Monday with another win for rapid chess king Vishy Anand. After four hard-fought draws the Indian superstar overcame Veselin Topalov in the blitz tiebreak games of the final to win this prestigious event for the fourth year in succession! We bring you pictures, results and all the games.

It's Man vs Machine in virtual reality

11/3/2003 – If you liked Matrix II you're going to love this one. Just one week from now the world's strongest chess player, Garry Kasparov, will play a match against the chess program X3D Fritz. The historic match will be conducted on a virtual reality board which floats in the air in front of Kasparov. On Friday in the ESPN Zone in New York City will host the opening ceremony.

Napoleonic battles in Corsica

11/2/2003 – The 7th International Open of Corsica is taking place from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3, 2003, in Bastia, with 350 players from 40 countries competing. The Masters section has stars like Anand, Topalov, Shirov, Gelfand, Karpov and Radjabov. We bring you all the action from the quarter finals.

Let's play chess with the Uzbeks

11/2/2003 – Once a year the Uzbekistan Chess Federation and the state-owned TV station organise a chess match between a leading national grandmaster and the TV audience. The moves are exchanged on a weekly TV special. Now the organisers have invited ChessBase.com visitors to participate. Jamshid Begmatov tells us how.

Garry Kasparov's Great Predecessors: Follow-up #1

11/2/2003 – The release of Garry Kasparov's book has caused major ripples throughout the chess world. Every sentence, every variation is being scrutinized, everyone seems to have an opinion. The author himself encourages discussion, and has written a series of articles on volume one, taking the criticism and suggestions of readers into account. Here is the first installment by Garry Kasparov...

World Champion Vishy Anand!

11/2/2003 – Indian superstar Viswanathan Anand has won the World Rapid Chess Championship, a title recognised by FIDE for the tournament in Cap d'Agde, France. Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik in an exciting two-game knockout final to end in first place in a field that included eleven of the twelve top players in the world. Now with new pictures!

Taking chess to new depths [updated]

11/1/2003 – A marathon underwater chess record is being attempted in Benoni (a place in South Africa – really!). Marnix Kleefmann has built a waterproof chess set for pools and bathtubs. Scientists are engaged in building a database of Chemosynthetic Ecosystems called ChEssBase. Here are a number of forgettable factoids regarding chess and liquids.

Workshop: Chess Media System

10/31/2003 – The latest Fritz8 service pack upgrade, available when you log on to the Playchess server, adds a significant new feature to Fritz: the Chess Media System. This week's ChessBase Workshop gives you the technical details on how to make sure your Media System upgrade is properly installed. Workshop...

David Howell and the Great Helicopter Tour

10/30/2003 – It's right out of Harry Potter. 12-year-old chess wizz David Howell is taken on a whirlwind helicopter tour of schools in England as part of National Chess week. He's on a mission to show other kids how exciting a good match can be – and why it's not just a game for adults. Here's a pictorial report...

Two new CDs: historical and one instructional

10/30/2003 – In this week's ChessBase Workshop, we preview two new CDs: one historical and one instructional. Have a sneak peek at Two Masters from Seattle by John Donaldson and Albin Countergambit by Luc Henris in Steve Lopez' ChessBase Workshop...

Perfection in checkers

10/29/2003 – Can you imagine a world champion, who reigns undefeated for 45 years? From 1950-1995 Dr Marion Tinsley played in thousands of checkers tournaments and matches, and never finished worse than undivided first. In all that time he lost exactly seven games. In the end he was succeeded by a machine. Jonathan O'Connor tells us the whole story.

Cap D'Agde World Rapid Championship

10/29/2003 – Sacre bleu! One of the strongest rapid tournaments of all time is reaching its climax in France. The 16-player field has reached the final four of the knock-out stage. Only Kramnik, Anand, Grischuk, and Svidler are left standing. You know it's a tough event when players like Adams, Shirov, Karpov, and Bareev didn't even make it out of the preliminary groups! We've got all the games and lots of analysis with diagrams here.

European Championship – without the expense

10/29/2003 – You are a grandmaster and want to win $2,400 – but without leaving your house? Do you want to play in an exciting chess tournament without the hotel and travel expenses? Meet interesting new people? This is exactly what the First European Internet Championship has to offer. We bring you all the necessary intructions in an open letter to enterprising European GMs...

This time it's about the attack

10/29/2003 – In his last lecture on the Playchess.com server our GM trainer Dorian Rogozenko spoke about the defence. This Thursday he issues a call to arms and speaks about attacking methods in chess. You can attend the lecture at 21:00h Middle European Time, which translates to 20:00h London and 3 p.m. New York. Details...