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..

Garry Kasparov's Internet clock simul

4/6/2003 – It was a private event, staged by the successful German chip manufacturer ZMD. To celebrate the laying of the foundation stone for a new ZMD campus Garry Kasparov played a clock simul against six opponents located in Germany and America. But if you were logged into the Playchess.com server you may have followed the action. In case you missed it here's a full illustrated report.

Top players move closer together

4/5/2003 – In the last FIDE ratings lists the two leading players had a berth to themselves. Now Kasparov and Kramnik have slipped almost 20 points down, while Anand, Leko and Shirov have gained about 10-12 each, making things much closer at the summit. Judit Polgar has once again joined the top ten, the only women in history to come close to achieving anything like this. Here are the top 100 and some statistics.

Sacrifice your rooks, not your wife!

4/3/2003 – In the chayhanas of Usbekistan it is usually considered impolite to openly play for money. The usual stake here is ordering Uzbek pilav (or "plov") for the whole company. This meal is delicious, and indeed it's the pride of Uzbek cuisine. In part two of his wonderful article Jamshid Begmatov tells us how to prepare it, and also how a very beautiful lady saved her life with a very beautiful chess combination.

'Please don't touch my hippothingy!'

4/2/2003 – That was the kind of rejection we got from some readers to yesterday's news story on a bionic chess interface (which was repeated in Slashdot). The report was not completely true. First of all the release date ("the beginning of the next year") was inaccurate – Fischer and Ivanchuk are already testing implants. And apparently there are a lot of rats playing chess already – on the chess servers. More feedback.

The bionic chess interface

4/1/2003 – Remember Brutus, the "mini-Deep Blue" that is being developed by ChessBase? Two years have passed since work on the chess chip was started, and many chess fans are becoming a little bit impatient. What is taking so long? As the director of the project, Dr Christian Donninger, reveals, the whole endeavour has moved in a different direction.

Linares, Linares... I-van-chuk!

3/31/2003 – Instability and weak nerves have been playing tricks on Vassily Ivanchuk ever since his youth. If he were able to control himself, many experts think he would have become world champion. In the Supertorneo he took the first prize here three times. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam describes this remarkable personality in our illustrated book review.

So many variations, so little time...

3/28/2003 – Two weeks ago we receive a letter from a depressed grandmaster. Dr John Nunn was deeply disturbed to find out that the end of the universe would come much earlier (after 22 billion years) than previously expected. We shared this poignant message with you, and received many letters of commiseration. We sent them all to the good doctor. Today we give you his reply, and excerpts from some of the letters. More

Anand wins the 12th Amber Tournament

3/28/2003 – To the delight of his beautiful wife Aruna Indian superstar Vishy Anand became the overall winner of the 12th Amber Chess Tournament, after he beat Topalov 1.5-0.5 in the final round. Sharing second/third a point behind Anand were Peter Leko and Alexander Morozevich. The latter had only three draws in a total of 22 games. Here are the final result and games.

Now this is how you must play it

3/26/2003 – Vishy Anand is still in the lead in Monaco, with but now it's Peter Leko and Veselin Toplaov who are hot on his heels. Both won both their games today and are just half a point behind the leader. Vladimir Kramnik beat Boris Gelfand in the blindfold game, but the classical chess world champion has not been able to win a single rapid game so far. Here's our illustrated report.

Let's Go to the Movies!

3/26/2003 – Pop your popcorn and grab your date, it's time for the real awards show. Mig wraps up all the recent news and views in Academy Awards style and you won't have to see any more pictures of Catherine Zeta-Jones, we promise. Who will win Best Performance, Best Music, Foreign Drama? Find out in Mig on Chess #188

Winning with the black pieces

3/26/2003 – The penultimate round of the 12th Amber tournament brought us some extremely volitile chess. Ljubojevich won his first game, with the black pieces against Leko (but lost their rapid game with white), while Topalov vs Morozevich ended in a win each for both players – with the black pieces. Anand coasted along in first place with two draws against Bareev. You will find highlights, games, results and pictures here.

Mediaeval chess sharks

3/25/2003 – Where do you think first chess "professionals" turned up? We are talking chess masters who craftily lose to strangers, only to win the decisive final game by "pure luck". The Café La Regence you say? Wrong. It was in the Caravansarays on the Great Silk Road, the ancient trade route which is synonymous with adventure, mystery and wonder. Jamshid Begmatov tells us the story.

An historical picture

3/24/2003 – Do you know why the tournament in Monaco is called "Melody Amber"? When the first blindfold-and-rapid event was held there? Who won it and who won the subsequent tournament? We give you the results, games and pictures of round eight of this year's edition (Kramnik lost both games!), and then answer the above questions. Check it out here...

Black and white American queens draw match

3/24/2003 – Modern art on the walls, wine and cheese on the table, wigs on the players, and 25 minutes on the clock for two games. Irina Krush and Jennifer Shahade played a two-game rapid match at a New York City art gallery. An audience of chess lovers and art lovers watched them split 1-1. Our intrepid reporter braved the formidable buffet to bring you this report.

Wrong board game, John!

3/23/2003 – Round seven of the Melody Amber tournament in Monaco saw Peter Leko drop a point and the lead to Alexander Morozevich. Boris Gelfand picked up one against Evgeny Bareev to move into second, half a point behind Vishy Anand, who cruised along at the top by taking a point against Shirov. Meanwhile John Nunn was playing something completely different. We bring you results, standing, games and pictures.

Looking for a friend?

3/23/2003 – People who own Fritz 8 (or the interface compatible Shredder 7) will probably have seen an unusual message when they logged on to the Playchess.com server. The request would have been to upgrade the program, a process which involves a few "yes" clicks and a couple of minutes of your time. Here's a list of all the great new functions you get.

Leko, Anand lead in Monaco

3/22/2003 – At the 12th Amber Tournament, a combination of blindfold and rapid chess games, sponsored by Dutch billionaire J.J. van Oosterom, Peter Leko and Vishy Anand are in the lead with 8/12, half a point ahead of Kramnik and Gelfand. Our regular reports will resume on Monday, in the meantime after the half-way point we bring you standing, games and pictures.

Linares, Linares! – All over again

3/20/2003 – Why does Vassily Ivanchuk have trouble praying when he is thinking of God? Was Gata Kamsky's orange juice really poisoned? Was it a coincidence that general Juan Perea's son got married on the day Manolete was killed in the Linares bullring? Nadja Woisin searches for the answers in her review of a remarkable book by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam.

And on the fifth day they rested

3/19/2003 – How much hotter can Peter Leko get? Right on the heels of his Linares win, the Hungarian is leading the Melody Amber tournament in Monaco. He tops the combined standings in a very tight field with 5.5/8. Kramnik leads the blindfold and is part of the large pack of players chasing Leko after four rounds. More..

The Too Tough for ChessBase Trivia Contest

3/18/2003 – How could anything be too tough for ChessBase readers? If you can answer all 15 of these questions correctly, it will prove that nothing is too tough! Beat Lasker on his birthday? Father preferred dominoes? Orange juice? Bears in trees?!? Win a copy of Shredder, a book signed by Kasparov, or training newsletters. Good luck! More..

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2003

3/17/2003 – The organizers of Dortmund are so organized that they sent out their March 17th press release on March 16th! When you have a tournament this good, you want to get the word out asap. It's a Linares-style double all-play-all with six players: Kramnik, Leko, Anand, Naiditsch, Bologan, and Radjabov. It runs July 31 to August 10. Full press release here.

Iceland: Mikhail Gurevich wins clear first in Edda Rapid

3/16/2003 – Russian-Belgian GM Mikhail Gurevich used the French to finish a point ahead of an all-star field in Reykjavic, Iceland. His 8/9 score put him out of the reach of big names like Shirov, Adams, and Topalov. His reward was not having to share any of the $10,000 first prize. Results and a selection of games for download and online replay here.

Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tourney Begins

3/15/2003 – Many of the world's top players are in Monte Carlo, Monaco for the 12th Melody Amber tournament that runs March 15-27. Seeing top GMs sitting in front of computers staring at boards without any pieces is enough to make you think you've gone mad. Which is what some people say playing blindfold chess will do. More..