Girls will be girls

12/19/2002 – World Junior Championships has two more rounds to go. Armenian GM Levon Aronian is half a point in the lead in the male section, while in the girls' group the Indian supertalent Koneru Humpy and the Chinese WGM Zhao Xue share the lead. Both groups are still segregated, but the players are learning to live with it. Only the girls sometimes dare to sneak a peek. Read about it in our exclusive illustrated report.

Pictures from Paradise

12/17/2002 – At the World Junior Championships, which are being currently held in the spectacularly beautiful Vainguinim Beach, Panaji, Goa (India) the boys cannot watch the games the girls play, and vice versa! The organisers, we are told, think it is too distracting, mainly because of the light clothing of the girls in the hot weather. You will find an illustrated report with some lovely location pictures by Vishal Sareen and Vijay Kumar here.

Pictures from Paradise

12/17/2002 – At the World Junior Championships, which is currently being held in the spectacularly beautiful Goa (India) the boys cannot watch the games of the girls play, and vice versa! The organisers, we are told, think it is too distracting, mainly because of the light clothing of the girls in the hot weather. You will find an illustrated report with some lovely location pictures here.

Karpov vs Kasparov in glorious live 3D

12/17/2002 – It is billed as the first ever Internet broadcast of a chess match in 3D. By donning special electronic LCD viewing glasses for $99 you will be able to watch the two legendary world champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov battle it out in "eXtreme 3D". The rapid chess games will be played in the ABC Studios in Time Square, New York on December 19 and 20. More – oh, so much more!

ChessBase Magzine 91 now shipping

12/16/2002 – It is a monumental CD with 1527 games, 484 with expert annotations, special sections on openings theory, strategy, tactics, endgame and telechess. It also contains part one of a multimedia report on Kramnik vs Deep Fritz in Bahrain, with over an hour of video footage. All of this for just € 19.95 or just over $17. Find out all about the contents of CBM 91. And if you really want to know what you are missing take a look at the CBM 91 multimedia report.

Mig talks to Kramnik

12/16/2002 – Immediately after the mega event Kramnik vs Deep Fritz in Bahrain our correspondent Mig Greengard cornered the world champion in his Royal Suite room at the Gulf Hotel. In a private, intimate atmosphere the two spoke about what had transpired in the past three weeks, but also about life in general, like what it feels like for a kid from Tuapse, Russia, to find himself a dollar millionaire. You will find excerpts from the interview and some MP3 soundbites here.

The man with the thousand-watt gaze

12/15/2002 – The Mott Hall School. Jerald Times, chess master and teacher, has a thousand-watt gaze and skin the color of bitter chocolate. He radiates energy as he patrols the classroom, urging fourth and fifth graders to fight through chess problems that he has given them. NM Jerald, a FIDE-2359 player, is the subject of an uplifting story in the New York Times. We bring you excerpts and pictures here.

Shredder 7 – the record computer world champion

12/14/2002 – It is the most successful tournament programs in the world. Since 1996 Shredder has won the world computer championship four times (1996, 1999, 2000, 2001), in this year's event it came equal first and lost narrowly in the playoff, but winning the computer blitz world championship outright. Now it's out, in a brand-new version, ready to challenge Fritz and co. at the top of the computer ratings lists. More

World Juniors play in paradise

12/14/2002 – Goa, popularly known as "Rome of the East", "Tourist Paradise" and "Pearl of the Orient", is a land of abundant sunshine, seashores, sandy beaches and warm, friendly, hospitable people. The World Junior and the World Girls U-20 Chess Championships is being held there from 9th December 2002 to 20th December 2002, at the palacious 5-Star Hotel Cidade de Goa, Vainguinim Beach, Panaji, Goa. Photos, games, links.

Why should the challenger have more rights?

12/11/2002 – As we heard from Yasser Seirawan in his "turkey article" FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov has thrown a spanner into the Reunification Plan for chess by insisting on draw odds in his upcoming match against Garry Kasparov. Now Ponomariov has explained his motivation for this move. He also complains about his treatment by the International Chess Federation in the wake of the Prague summit. Read all about it in this interview by Anatoli Jaworski.

What are the best time controls?

12/11/2002 – While he and others were defining a new format for future world chess championships, Yasser Seirawan polled the world's top 200 players on the proper time controls for blitz, rapid and professional chess games. Even if you are not part of this illustrious group you can have your voice heard. We will collect votes and opinions and forward these to the relevant people. Please write to us and tell us what you think.

Trouble with the turkey

12/9/2002 – "I have to respond to Mig on Chess #182 quickly before my in-box explodes with congratulatory messages," writes Yasser Seirwan, who was pictured in the article carving up a turkey. Seirawan reveals that the Unity Plan has run into serious problems with FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov, who is insisting on draw odds in his match against Garry Kasparov. "If Ponomariov refuses to join the unity cycle, we are back to square one". More...

Moviestar, moviestar...

12/7/2002 – Look who's become a movie star! It's Alexandra Kosteniuk, women's vice champion of the world, photo model and internationally famous chess babe. Alexandra played a role in a Russian film, directed by the famous Stanislav Govorukhin. We have photos from the location, as well as more glamour pictures from other photo shoots. Click here, quick!

Fritz tops the computer ratings – yet again

12/6/2002 – For many years now the Swedish Svenska schackdator-föreningen (SSDF, Chess Computer Association) has tested the strongest chess programs in the world. Every few months a new SSDF list appears, and the latest, published on December 5, 2002, once again has Fritz on the top. The list is based on 89,000 games played over the years and is the most reliable measure of the playing strength of chess programs. You will find the new list here.

Kortchnoi's victory came 40 years late

12/6/2002 – He first played there in 1962, coming in fifth, behind Petrosian, Geller, Keres and Fischer. Now, 40 years later, Viktor Kortchnoi returned to the Caribbean island of Curaçao and won the tournament outright. He and the other players enjoyed the tournament and the stay on a tropical paradise. John Fernandez has sent us a richly illustrated closing report.

Jan Louwman, 1924 – 2002

12/6/2002 – On December 4 the computer chess world lost a distinguished personality. 78-year-old Johannes (Jan) Louwman passed away after a long illness in his home town of Rotterdam. Jan was considered the father of Dutch computer chess and for two decades was regarded internationally as one of the leading experts in this area. Eric van Reem and Dr Christian Donninger remember this abrasive, lovable man. Read about Jan Louwmann here.

Polgar beats Ponomariov in spectacular tiebreak

12/2/2002 – The Benidorm tournament ended in a tie for first place, with Judit Polgar and Ruslan Ponomariov both leading the field with 8 points in 11 rounds. The winner had to be decided by two blitz tie-break games (3min + 2sec). The first was a draw, the second won by Judit in brilliant style. Congratulations to the strongest female player in the history of the game! You will find all results and games here.

Is chess a war game?

12/2/2002 – It is hardly astonishing that the game of chess lends itself to military symbolism. In recent weeks the media has been full of war and conflict metaphors taken from the our sedate little game. "It is turning out that Saddam is a better chess player than President George W. Bush," says one report. Another says "The inspectors landed. Now the chess game begins." Here are a few stories that illustrate the point.

The Ambassadrice of Balmain

12/1/2002 – See what happens when you work hard and become really good at chess. A Swiss watch manufacturer comes along and sponsors your chess career, gives you some really cool watches and nominates you Ambassadrice to promote their products around the world. Well, it happened to Alexandra Kosteniuk, who has has just signed a sponsoring contract with the Swiss watch manufacturers Balmain. More

The 2006 world chess champion?

11/30/2002 – You have a tournament with the current world champion and a legendary ex world champion. And other world-class players like Shirov, Polgar and Psachis. And who, pray, would be leading after eight rounds? A 12-year-old boy, that's who. Some day Sergey Karjakin intends to become world champion himself. In four years from now, when he his sixteen. You will find an interview with young Sergey plus results and games from the Benidorm tournament here.

Who wants to be a millionaire – part two

11/29/2002 – Remember our report on the Austrian lady who missed a chance to become a millionaire by not knowing the name of the program that played against Vladimir Kramnik in Bahrain? Well, a couple of weeks later the story repeated itself on German television, with a candidate once again facing the same incredibly difficult (and strangly sleasy) question. This is how she fared...

Amateurs and stars side by side

11/29/2002 – You may not have heard, but there is an interesting new tournament taking place in Benidorm, Spain. It is based on the principle of the New York Open. The idea is to get amateurs and top stars playing together, in the same venue, with very high prizes. More

Alexei Shirov: FIDE steps back to medieval ages

11/28/2002 – Ten days ago we published thhe details of a new world championship format, as has been decided by FIDE for the current and next two cycles. Now Alexei Shirov has criticized the proposal in an open letter to his GM colleagues. "I think the last time when so many players got direct seeds from one cycle to another was in 1985 which is nearly the same as medieval ages." You will find Shirov's letter here.

Elli Pähtz, Junior World Champion

11/24/2002 – It is hard to contain our delight. Germany's Elisabeth Pähtz, who had shown great form at at the Chess Olympiad in Bled and then played a exhibition match against Garry Kasparov at the Munich Electronica trade fair, has just won the girls' under 18 section of the World Youth Chess Championships in Heraklio, Crete. you will find a lot of pictures of our 17-year-old star here.