All one can say is Wow!

5/2/2003 – Our favourite chess babe does it again. Alexandra Kosteniuk, the women's vice champion of the world, continues to prove that excellence in chess is not necessarily linked to nerdyness or an unattractive exterior, but can in fact display very high levels of elegance and glamour. We bring you Sasha's latest photo shoot with some of the sexiest pictures taken so far. Interested?

Fritz and Chesster get an A

5/1/2003 – Of course we are proud when ChessBase super-programs like Fritz and Junior bash Kramnik and Kasparov. And we're proud that just about every GM in the world uses ChessBase every day, as do thousands of other chess fans. But we're REALLY happy with our new Fritz and Chesster program that teaches chess to kids. And so was a Houston Chronicle writer, as you will see here.

The Great Humming God

4/28/2003 – That was what the State Library of Hannover in Germany called their exhibition on calculating machines and computers. This weekend there was a special event staged by ChessBase and featuring a lecture (the Adventure of Chess Programming), tournaments and demonstrations. But we also took time to look around the exhibition and bring you some very interesting pictures of early attempts to build "thinking machines". More

Kasparov-Ponomariov match postponed to November? (NOT!?)

4/25/2003 – FIDE has denied a report in the Argentine newspaper La Nación saying that the FIDE world championship match between Ruslan Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov, scheduled to begin June 19, has been postponed to November, 2003. The organizers don't seem to agree with FIDE... Updated report here.

Sharp claws for the sharp-eyed

4/23/2003 – We have a winner! We had over 1000 correct answers, but the cruel and random hand of Fate has decided that only one gets the free copy of the new Chess Tiger 15.0. But we have a consolation prize for everyone else. If you don't have Tiger you don't have your own cool glass 3D board, so we made some lovely wallpaper for you. But you just might be the winner!

A Tiger with Easter eggs?

4/22/2003 – We had so much fun hunting for (and eating) Easter eggs on Sunday that we thought everyone should have the opportunity for an Easter egg hunt. There aren't any chocolate bunnies, but there is a copy of the new Chess Tiger 15.0 for the winner. Contest ends Wednesday, so you'd better get started. Happy Hunting!

King of the Castle

4/22/2003 – On April 13 2003 Garry Kasparov turned 40. He celebrated his birthday at Home House, a fashionable London club, which 23 close friends from 11 nations celebrated with him. The Times of London was also present and conducted an extensive, highly readable interview with the champion. We bring you some highlights and a link to the Times article.

On the brink of madness

4/22/2003 – He is from Kazakhstan and lives in Cannes. He is 29, flamboyant and eloquent. Vladislav Tkachiev is the star of the ChessBase Magazine 93 multimedia report. In almost 25 minutes of videos the 2634 Super-GM talks about chess in general and his mind in particular, what it is like to face Kasparov and who are the most beautiful women in chess. Interested?

Nigel Short, new Hungarian champion?

4/21/2003 – The Hunguest Hotels "Talent and Courage" event was intended to be a showcase for a powerful crop of homegrown chess talent. One of the strongest tournaments to be held in Budapest in 75 years was won by an Englishman ahead of the five Hungarians. But that's okay, Budapest 1928 was won by a Cuban ahead of the five Hungarians. Report and games

Tania misses win against a grandmaster

4/21/2003 – Imagine you are a 16-year-old girl, for the first time in your life playing against a grandmaster. Your position is good, but your GM opponent offers you a draw. Would you take it? Tania Sachdev of India did, and will regret this decision for a long time. Read about this and follow our links to the Commonwealth Chess Championship which has just started in Mumbai, India. More

Why is this man smiling?

4/20/2003 – England's Nigel Short rose to the challenge and defeated one of his bêtes noires, Judit Polgar, to claim sole first place in the eighth round of the Hunguest Hotels tournament. Short needs only a draw in Sunday's final round to take first place. The last two rounds have seen almost as many decisive games as the first six. Check out some of the wild sacrificial games and replay them online here.

The gospel according to Enrique Irazoqui!

4/18/2003 – It is the closest thing to paradise, this side of Redendo Beach. The north Spanish costal town of Cadaqués was home to famous artists, writers and intellectuals. Today its most prominent resident is an economist, professor of literature, actor, revolutionary and computer chess expert. Here, quite appropriately for the Easter festival, is an in-depth interview with Enrique Irazoqui.

Anand has a date with Judit

4/17/2003 – No, not that kind of date. They are scheduled to face each other in this year's Mainz Chess Classic. This very successful rapid chess event will be held from August 14 to 17, 2003. We will also be treated to a shuffle chess match between Peter Svidler and Peter Leko, and the giant Open in which anyone can play. Details.

China sweeps Asian Team Chess titles

4/17/2003 – The Chinese men and women won the Asian Team chess title in Jodhpur. The men ended up with 25 points, India 'A' came second with 23.5, points while Kazakhstan took third place with 22.5. The Chinese women reached 20 points, while Vietnam came second with 19 points and India 'A' took third place with 18.5 points. Here is our second illustrated report from Rajasthan.

Short takes over first place in Budapest

4/17/2003 – We have an official Nigel Short sighting going on in Budapest. With three rounds to play the Englishman is on course for his best result in many years. A win over Boris Gelfand in round six gave him three victories against no defeats in a very tight field where wins are few and far between. Judit Polgar is in clear second despite her loss to Leko in round five. The big Short-Polgar showdown is set for Saturday. Report and games

Asian teams meet in the Thar Desert

4/16/2003 – It is held every four years: this time the Asian Team Championships is taking place from April 7th to 17th in Jodhpur, which lies in the state of Rajasthan, India. The participating teams include India, China, Vietnam, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazhakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. We have received a lot of pictures from the tournament and the royal town in the middle of the desert. Here is Vijay Kumar's report from Jodhpur.

Polgar in clear first after two rounds in Budapest

4/13/2003 – Judit Polgar didn't let getting the last number in the draw of the Hunguest Hotels tournament get her down. Undaunted by having black in the first two rounds, she went out and beat both Korchnoi and Acs. Her 2/2 score puts her in clear first. Only one other player (Nigel Short) has scored even a single win. Favorite Peter Leko has yet to make his move. Report and games here.

Garry Kasparov turns 40

4/13/2003 – At a time when chess players should be slipping, Garry Kasparov is still at the top of the chess world, where he has now been perched for over 18 years. Today is his 40th birthday, and instead of putting together a summary of his career we simply clicked a few times in ChessBase and allowed the database which he originally initiated to put together some biographical information.

And the winners are...

4/10/2003 – In recent months we staged a number of prize contests. Our readers were asked to pick the winners of big chess tournaments or solve chess puzzles. They could win software autographed by the world's top players. One of the awards was hand delivered to the winner, who lives in a charming Italian town with beautiful churches and run-down stadiums. We got some very nice pictures out of it. More

Chess, time travel and science fiction

4/10/2003 – Some time ago we linked to an article in which discovering the laws of physics was compared to learning chess by observing games. At the end of his article there is mention of a 1959 short story by Robert Heinlein, which turns out to be a special favourite of Dr John Nunn. The Oxford mathematician and chess grandmaster tells us why this tale is important and gives us a list of the best works of science fiction.

Rustemov takes Dos Hermanas title

4/8/2003 – Big names like Shirov, Khalifman, and Linares participant Vallejo were left in the dust as Russia's Alexander Rustemov took first with 6/9. His score was matched in the final round when Dreev wore down Campora in a marathon, but Rustemov won the title on tiebreaks over his countryman. Report, photos, and a selection of games here.

Anand wins the SIS Masters in Denmark

4/8/2003 – Viswanathan Anand, the "33-årige indisk verdensmester", won the SIS-MH Masters, Denmark, held from April 4-6 2003 in Middelfart on the Danish island of Funen. The other players were GMs Peter Heine Nielsen and Curt Hansen of Denmark, together with Swedish GM Jonny Hector, the event was a double round robin of rapid games. The Danish television station DR2 made a 30 minutes program to be broadcast on April 14. You will find a report and the games here...

Chess and yellow wine in Besançon

4/7/2003 – The French Championship "National 1" is one the most attractive in the world. 'From April 3 to 6 the eight top teams of the country battled it out in Besançon, a lovely Roman city situated near Switzerland. Jean-Michel Péchiné of the French chess magazine Europe Echecs has sent us this link-filled illustrated report.

It's six a.m. and your opponent is Garry Kasparov

4/7/2003 – A tale of two simuls. His website never made it to Wall St. but Garry Kasparov made it to the New York Stock Exchange anyway, for a 24-board simul. When it was done he had to catch a plane to Germany where he logged on to Playchess.com for an online simul. Four of his opponents were back in New York! Mig was on the scene for both events. More..