My Great Predecessors – Nigel loved it!

9/15/2003 – On the eve of his departure for China Nigel Short wrote a review of "My Great Predecessors" by Garry Kasparov, calling it "probably the most enjoyable chess book I have ever read." Remarkable praise from a man not known for gratuitous flattery, especially not toward his nemesis Kasparov. You can read the full review in Nigel's Sunday Telegraph column.

Look into the future to improve your chess

9/14/2003 – If you are bored with "white to play and win" tactics we have something more challenging and perhaps more useful for you. This method will help your tactics and your visualization skills. Stop leapfrogging from diagram to diagram when you read books and magazines. It's tactics with a twist.

Kings and Queens in China

9/13/2003 – It sounds like a lot of fun. A rapid chess tournament has started in China, with four men and four women playing in "couples". The players are of very high calibre and the pairs are determined by lots. Evgeny Bareev was not happy with his designated partner Xie Jun – because of their incompatible openings systems. Here is our first report.

A crackling documentary: Kasparov and the Machine

9/13/2003 – The intersection of chess and computers -- hardly a subject for a full-length movie documentary. Some people were wondering if award-winning director Vikram Jayanti was trying to commit career suicide by taking on this project ("Is he getting his funding from Nytol?"). But now the film has premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to enthusiastic reviews.

Marie Sebag – France's new wonder-girl

9/11/2003 – She is sixteen and was invited to play in the Grand Prix de Sénat rapid chess tournament in Paris. In the semifinals Marie Sebag knocked out GM Laurent Fressinet, Elo 2640, with a dry 2-0 score. In the finals she had veteran GM Anatoly Vaisser on the ropes, but botched it up in the endgame. Read all about this exciting tournament in Jean-Michel Péchiné's illustrated report.

How to counter the Benko Gambit

9/11/2003 – Last week our Online GM trainer Dorian Rogozenko showed us how Black gets initiative for the sacrificed pawn in the Benko Gambit. Today he will explain how White can counter this strategy. You can attend the lecture on Thursday night on our Playchess.com server. Here are the details...

Singapore Internet Chess Carnival

9/10/2003 – Thousands of students in sunny Singapore took part in the biggest Internet Chess Tournament of all time! This year's edition included international qualifiers, which led to a Grand Final with top Singapore school players competing against Internet blitz experts. Here is organiser Junior Tay's extensively illustrated report.

Questions and answers

9/10/2003 – In this week's ChessBase Workshop, Steve Lopez answers a handful of common questions regarding ChessBase and Fritz. There is bound to be something of interest to you.

Alexei Dreev wins Moscow Open Air Blitz

9/9/2003 – The traditional Moscow Blitz is played under open skys in the Museon park. 500 players fight for a place in the finals, where they were joined by ten world-class GMs. Chess fans can watch the action at close range, or chat with some of the famous visitors to the event. Anna Dergatscheva has sent us an illustrated report from Moscow.

Grachten and fietsen – Alexandra in Amsterdam

9/8/2003 – As we reported Alexandra Kosteniuk had a telephone date in Amsterdam on Saturday. The world women's vice champion gave the first ever chess simul on cell phone. This was done with the help of special software, which allowed her to play against opponents who were not at the site. Here are some pictures from the event.

Kramnik on the world chess situation

9/8/2003 – In a statement issued today Vladimir Kramnik makes a number of points pertaining to his match against Peter Leko: he has broken with the Einstein Group, has not authorised FIDE to negotiate on his behalf (the Buenos Aires plans are "far from reality") and has found a potential sponsor himself. This is what he has to say.

Geri's Game – the Pixar chess movie

9/7/2003 – Do you know Pixar? They made this Summer's blockbuster about a timid clown fish who takes part in an improbable land-and-sea rescue of his son. Now this cutting-edge animation company has posted a chess film on their web site which you won't want to miss. Geri's Game won an Academy Award for best animated short film.

A chess queen goes mainstream

9/7/2003 – Name the last former US chess champion to be the subject of a lengthy article in a national monthly magazine with eight million readers. If you are thinking of Bobby Fischer in The Atlantic you are wrong. The answer is Jennifer Shahade, who had eight pages in the August, 2003, issue of the prestigious Smithsonian magazine. The author of that article deserves an article himself, so read on

Vladimir Kramnik backs a new chess association

9/6/2003 – Vladimir Kramnik, disillusioned by the failure of FIDE to look after the interests of top professionals, is now urging his colleagues to join a new Association of Chess Professionals (ACP). "It is high time for us to work together and improve conditions in tournaments, which have taken a turn for the worse." Here is some information on the ACP.

The NY Sports Commissioner announces...

9/6/2003 – ...that New York City will host a world-class chess match between Garry Kasparov X3D Fritz. Commissioner Kenneth Podziba, a deputy of NY Mayor Bloomberg, has become quite interested in the Man vs Machine struggle. Just like the rest of the world: a Google search reveals over 6000 articles! Here are the details...

Bacrot and Milliet new French champions

9/5/2003 – France is a leading chess nations – when you consider that 944 players took part in the 78th national championship. The men's and women's sections were won by two young stars, Etienne Bacrot and Sophie Milliet. The event was held in Aix-les-Bains, where great French literature was created. Jean-Michel Péchiné of Europe Echecs tells it all in a beautiful illustrated report.

Mumbai clarification, Anand's

9/5/2003 – There has been a lot of discussion in the international chess community about the Super-tournament announced for Mumbai in December this year. Many players were sceptical about its prospects, as we reported in a subsequent article. Now the organisers have sent us some clarifications, and the Times of India has added some new information to the pool. The same newpaper also reports on Anand's dissatisfaction with the new FIDE knockout cycle. Here are all the details...

Megastars to meet in Mumbai

9/3/2003 – A top chess event has just been announced for December in Mumbai. 13 GMs will participate in the category 20 round robin tournament, including (are you holding on?) Kasparov, Karpov, Anand, Kramnik, Leko, Grischuk, Shirov, Svidler, Polgar, Bareev, Adams, Short. Maybe even Ponomariov and Ivanchuk. What a lovely Christmas present...

Top columnists at the Telegraph

9/3/2003 – If you want news and gossip, on a weekly basis, the British Telegraph newspaper is a good address. It has three correspondents, GMs Nigel Short and David Norwood, as well as IM-journalist Malcolm Pein. In the past weeks the latter told us about the Staunten Memorial (won by Speelman), while the GMs handled more general subjects. Details...

Dima takes on the tennis stars

9/3/2003 – The 2003 U.S. Open is being plagued by rain, which forces the players to pass the time with other activities. Capriati naps and pedicures. Myskina and Likhovtseva play cards, Agassi gets a rubdown. But many players and celebrities are taking up the challenge to play Dmitry Schneider at simultaneous chess. It all there in the world sports press.

Pie in the sky?

9/3/2003 – Yesterday we reported on a Supertournament in Mumbai. After all it was splashed all over the biggest Indian newspapers. Now most of the top players say they know nothing about this event. Even more embarrassing: it turns out our August 27th report on the "Face on Mars" was also flawed. Here is the whole shocking truth.

Postion search shortcuts in ChessBase 8

9/2/2003 – Have you ever been playing through a game in ChessBase 8, seen an interesting position, and wondered whether or not it appears in any other games in your database? That information is just a right- click away -- we'll show you how to do it in this week's ChessBase Workshop.

Chess in the sunshine of Greek mythology

9/2/2003 – The traditional Acropolis tournament was held for the 18th time in Athens, this time in three groups: GMs, Men's and Women's Opens. We asked one of the participants to write a report and send us pictures, which she dutifully did – mainly from the women's section. Here is Natalia Kiseleva's richly illustrated report.

Engine management in Fritz

9/1/2003 – Do you have dozens or even scores of engines available in your Fritz engine selection dialogue? Do you get tired of scrolling through long lists of available engines? Do you ever wish the task could be easier? We address the issue in this week's ChessBase Workshop, in which we examine the "Engine management" feature in Fritz8. More...