Abhijit Kunte the new British Champion

8/4/2003 – He's not British but he is the winner of the 2003 Smith & Williamson British Championship and that's what matters. The 26-year-old Indian played solid chess and punished his opponents' errors in an efficient display. He survived a close call in the final round against Gallagher. This is the second consecutive Indian takeaway at the British, but eligibility changes mean it will likely be the last. More..

Dortmund Round 4: Bologan keeps living the dream

8/4/2003 – Are we dreaming or is it just Viktor Bologan's dream and we're all living in it? After beating Peter Leko with black the Moldovan has now defeated the world #3 and #4 on consecutive days and leads Dortmund, 2003 by a full point ahead of world champion Kramnik. Naiditsch won the teen battle over Radjabov. Anand-Kramnik fizzled into a non-game draw. More..

Dortmund Round 3: Bologan leads after beating Anand

8/3/2003 – Maybe it's something in the water and only Anand is drinking it because everyone else in Dortmund traditionally drinks beer. Whatever the reason, Anand has now lost four of his last six games in the German city if you go back to his disastrous result in 2001. This time the damage was at the hands of Viktor Bologan and the Moldovan underdog is now the clear leader. But it's not champagne time yet. The other two games were drawn. Report and games

The strongest native-born American woman

8/3/2003 – At 22 Jennifer Shahade, the 2002 U.S. Women's Champion, is the strongest American-born female chess player in history. In a profile, published in the latest edition of the Smithsonian magazine, Paul Hoffman, author and chess player, introduces us to a generation of female chess champions and the new, cool world of competitive chess.

Dortmund Round 2: Radjabov shocks Anand with Black

8/2/2003 – Teimour Radjabov could make a habit out of this. What's so tough about those KKA guys? Sure he lost to Kramnik in round one, but he struck back by beating world #3 Vishy Anand with black in round two. In Linares he beat Kasparov, also with black. Name the last player to beat Anand and Kasparov with black in the same year in classical chess... Photos and games

Dortmund Round 1: Kramnik and Bologan win, Anand-Leko drawn

8/1/2003 – That Elo guy really knew what he was talking about. The rating favorites won in the first round and Anand-Leko was drawn. Kramnik offered his queen to Radjabov and won even though his offer was refused. Naiditsch blundered out of the opening and never came back against Bologan. The Pelikan/Sveshnikov Sicilian was played in two of three games. Games and analysis here with photos and onsite reports to come. Rapid review

Shredder living up to its name in Argentina

7/31/2003 – The ChessBase program by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen is maintaining a torrid pace in the VI Magistral de la Republica Argentina. It's score of 6/7 puts it 1.5 points over its closest challenger, who has a game in hand. In round six Shredder beat Valerga, who had drawn with Tiger and Hiarcs in previous editions of this intriguing Men vs Machine event. Report, games, photos

Morozevich leads in Biel

7/30/2003 – Alexander Morozevich, Super-GM from Moscow, is in the lead at the Super-GM tournament at the 36th International Chessfestival in Biel (Switzerland). He is closely followed by the young French player Etienne Bacrot and Israeli Ilia Smirin. We bring you games, results and an illustrated report.

The equitites man vs the chess champion

7/30/2003 – Belzberg Technologies Inc. of Chicago provides software for global access to equities and options markets. CEO Sidney Belzberg is a 2000-rated player. For the second time recently his company invited Garry Kasparov to give a simultaneous exhibition, this one in Chicago. Here are some impressions and a nice picture of the event.

The legend vs the computer

7/29/2003 – Fifty years ago a young South American player won the World Junior Championship in Copenhagen. Today Oscar Panno is playing in the Magistral de la Republica Argentina. In round four he encountered an opponent who knows no respect: Shredder 7.0 sacrificed a queen and announced mate in five moves. Full report.

Who will win Dortmund?

7/29/2003 – We don't care if you use clairvoyance, omphilomancy, haruspicy – or just plain chess sense. We are asking you to predict the final standings of the Dortmund Chess Meeting, which starts on Thursday. Will one of the Super-GMs win, will the youngsters come in last? There are valuable prizes to be won for the most accurate predictions.

Want to know what they're saying about Judit Polgar?

7/27/2003 – Four days ago she celebrated her 27th birthday. After our story about the world's strongest female player appeared we received hundreds and hundreds of letters congratulating her. All were dutifully passed on to the much-admired young lady. Here are a few samples for you to enjoy.

Where the chess is

7/26/2003 – There are a number of chess events to follow: the British Championships with a thousand players is being staged in Edinburgh, the Biel International Chess Festival (19th July–1st August) is well under way, with Alexander Morozevich in the lead; and Boris Gulko (picture) wins the US Senior Open chess tournament in Delaware. Here are all the links...

Looking back at Dortmund

7/26/2003 – The Chess Meeting 2003 in Dortmund is the 31st edition of Germany's strongest tournament. Ram Prasad, a Chicago-based software engineer and chess junkie, gets us into the mood for this year's action with an illustrated year-by-year look at the Chess Meetings of recent past. A must-read article.

Who is Victor Bologan?

7/24/2003 – In exactly one week Dortmund tournament starts, with three top GMs, plus Radjabov and Naiditsch, who have received a lot of publicity in the Western press. But what about the sixth player, Victor Bologan? You can find out all about this 31-year-old super-GM from Moldavia in tonight's lecture by his friend and colleague Dorian Rogosenko on the Playchess.com server. Here are the details.

Playing with Tigers

7/23/2003 – It's more fun and less dangerous than it would seem: The Chess Tigers, organisers of the Mainz Chess Classic 2003, are staging an Internet battle against "The Rest of the World". It is a game of Chess960, in which the pieces are shuffled in the starting position. Not easy to play, but you do have Vishy Anand and other illustrious partners helping you. More...

Too many Indians in the Commonwealth?

7/23/2003 – The 2003 British Championships has started in Edinburgh, with close on one thousand entries. Unfortunately the flagship event is being boycotted by all England's top players, due to the BCF regulation permitting any Commonwealth master (especially Indians) to play in the Championship. They are castigated for it in this Daily Telegraph article.

Happy Birthday Judit!

7/23/2003 – Today one of the great chess personalities of our day is celebrating her 27th birthday. Judit Polgar is the strongest female player – by a long margin – in the history of the game. She is number 11 in the world men's rankings and 215 points higher than the number two ranked woman. Here is a personal tribute to this remarkable young lady.

Matches and tournaments and analysis, oh my!

7/22/2003 – Can you name the last chess event held to honor a physicist? Boris Gelfand and Judit Polgar just played in one in Hungary, as far as we can tell. Gelfand demolished Polgar 6-2 in a rapid match. Meanwhile, a trio of players dominated the 18th North Sea Cup in Denmark. Dreev, McShane, and Sasikiran shut out the locals. Results and games here.

New ChessBase CDs: "Paul Morphy" and "English opening"

7/22/2003 – The games of Paul Morphy have fascinated generations of chessplayers. But what made Morphy "tick"? What were his strengths and weaknesses? How strong was he? A new ChessBase CD, Paul Morphy: Genius and Myth attemps to provide the answers. It's previewed (along with Mihail Marin's English 1.c4 e5) by Steve Lopez in this week's ChessBase Workshop

Chess in the sand

7/22/2003 – We known chess pieces made of wood, ivory, marble, metal, plastic. We have a hot air baloon set. But chess pieces made of sand? With eight-foot tall kings? They are certainly not meant for blitz games but part of an exhibition in the German sea resort of Travemünde called "Sand World 2003". Nadja Woisin reports.

A great historian passes

7/20/2003 – Kenneth Whyld was one of the great chess historians, co-author of the illustrious Oxford Companion to Chess and columnist of the British Chess Magazine for 25 years. This "wonderful person with the mind and sense of humour of a man half his age" (Sarah Hurst) passed away unexpectedly last week at the age of 77. More...

For a few ducats more

7/18/2003 – Tomorrow on Saturday begins the third edition of the Champions Challenge, our new knock-out tournament for title holders. The winner of the event, which is open to all Kings, can take home 2.000 ducats (about € 200,00). Start is at 17.00 CET, on our server at Playchess.com.

Workshop: Pawn captures with mate?

7/18/2003 – Games uncovered by using ChessBase 8's maneuver searches are a great resource for training questions. But maneuver searches can also be a source of fun. In this week's ChessBase Workshop, Steve Lopez goes hunting for checkmates caused by a capturing pawn. ChessBase Workshop