People and faces at Brains in Bahrain

10/7/2002 – Sunday, October 2002. Game two. Vladimir Kramnik has white in his match against Deep Fritz. The ChessBase team expect a tough battle. And that is exactly what they get. In the press room a large crown watch and transmit the game move by move to millions on the Internet. We bring you new pictures directly from the event site in our Bahrain Picture Gallery 2.

Kramnik Squeezes the Machine to Win Game 2

10/6/2002 – The champion induced Fritz to make several mistakes in the early going and the program never recovered. Fritz fought back tenaciously, but Kramnik kept firm control of the position throughout and now leads the match 1.5-0.5. After the game Kramnik said that he had been suprised by the "inhuman" defence of the computer and almost resigned himself to a draw. More

It's in the news – is it ever in the news!

10/5/2002 – The match between classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz has generated a huge amount of interest. The news media all around the world are slowly going into frenzy mode over the event. We have collected links to major articles in Time, The Times, Herald Tribune, New York Times, CNN, Voice of America, etc. Also to the sites that are doing live coverage using our Flash client. You will find a selection here.

Kramnik - Deep Fritz About to Get Underway

10/4/2002 – Before the press conference there was the obligatory photo shoot with the obligatory local children, who had been corralled on short notice. Even money says that maybe one of them knew how to play chess and 5 to 1 that any of them had heard of Kramnik before. But they are darned cute, we admit it. After that the champ was ready for more serious business: the pre-match press conference. The first game is Friday, Oct. 4 at 3pm local time, 12pm GMT. Log into the Playchess server for live chat and commentary. You can also follow the match live on our new Flash applet with onsite commentary from the elite team assembled in Bahrain. (Left: "Deep Fritz" in Arabic!) More

You say Manama, I say MaNAHma

10/4/2002 – Three days have passed, both teams in the Man vs Machine event have arrived and settled down in Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain. We bring you a first visual impression of a place where we are going live and play chess for almost three weeks. Take a look at our Bahrain picture gallery.

The Berlin Wall Holds. Short Draw in Game 1

10/4/2002 – After the game Vladimir Kramnik said that he was never really worried about losing the typical Berlin endgame that arose in his first game against Deep Fritz. The World Champion is the master of this line and Fritz was unable to take advantage of the white pieces. More

Today: Match of the week 3

10/2/2002 – Every week on Wednesday, chess friends can play in an intersting on-line team event and win a three-month subsription of "Chess". Just download our ten-day test-version and support the world team in their weekly encounter against the german team. Today, the inscription starts at 19.30 (server time). More

Kramnik is in Bahrain – and in the news

9/29/2002 – The Gulf Daily News reports that world champion Vladimir Kramnik has arrived in Bahrain. He was welcomed at the airport by a high-profile delegation and the Russian Ambassador. Meanwhile the news media all over the world has picked up the story. Today we found a full spread in The Telegraph and a four-page interview with Kramnik in Germany's Der Spiegel. More

No more coffee for grandmasters

9/26/2002 – If you are a tournament player and have a liking for a certain brown beverage, you are in big trouble, mate. Especially if you imbibe more than four cups. Ask GM Joe Gallagher, who was dragged off to a test by Swiss doctors after a tournament in Biel. Or Lindsay Earls, a 16-year-old sophomore who was forced to pee into a cup while teachers waited outside. More

IM Dr Ricardo Calvo, 1943 – 2002

9/26/2002 – It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Dr Ricardo Calvo, a medical doctor, a multilingual chess historian and a journalist. He was also involved in chess politics, and his activities culminated in his being declared persona non grata in 1987, after he had written a critical article on the world chess federation. We last met Ricardo when he moderated the Advanced Chess match in June this year. You will find pictures and links to his articles here.

Okay, so who is the fastest?

9/24/2002 – Since he gave up short pants Garry Kasparov has dominated every ratings list ever calculated. Now at last there is one where things are not quite so clear. Willy Iclicki, FIDE board member, has produced a rapid ratings list with another name at the top. Would you like to guess which players are on the top of this one?

Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld has died

9/24/2002 – He was born in the Ukraine on 19 March 1936. In the late 1950s had established himself as one of the strongest players in the world, defeating Tal, Spassky, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Bronstein, and just about ever other strong Soviet player. He was also a prolific author who wrote over 100 chess books. Sam Sloan and others have written fine eulogies to this great chess personality.

Questions, questions

9/23/2002 – How will he fare against Deep Junior in the match scheduled for December this year? What is at stake and how will he proceed strategically? Why doesn't the US have exceptional chess talents and why are there so few top women players? These are some of the questions answered by Garry Kasparov in an interview that appeared in the New York Times today. We bring you excerpts here.

Searching for Vladimir Kramnik

9/21/2002 – We were put into a car, with wads of cotton wool taped over our eyes. We were driven for hours through the forest countryside of an unnamed country and arrived at an undisclosed place. But in the end we got to see the reclusive world champion. He was not in a cave but in a nice hotel, posing for photographers, would you believe. Here's the full story.

Shredder wins first game against GM Kiriakov

9/21/2002 – Last night the Russian junior champion Petr Kiriakov lost the first of two games against Deep Shredder on the Playchess server. The event is being conducted by Martin Müller ("Smurskie" to the Playchess crowd), who has been playing his dual PIII 2 x 1 GHz computer (Diversimex, 1.5 GB RAM, 500 GB hard disk, Windows XP) against a whole pride of GMs. More

Germany strikes back in the clouds

9/17/2002 – After the first leg of the match ended with a depressing 3.5:0.5 loss for the German players, they were able to strike back on home territory, winning with a 2.5:1.5 margin. Playing 120 meters above the famous Alexanderplatz Christopher Lutz won his first game against Viktor Kortschnoj. All other games were drawn. Here's an illustrated report.

Kasparov vs Deep Junior postponed

9/17/2002 – We have just learned that the Kasparov-Deep Junior match has been postponed. It was scheduled to begin in Jerusalem on October 1, one day before the start of the Kramnik-Deep Fritz match in Bahrain. The new starting date is December 1 and the match is still set for six games and to take place in Jerusalem. More

India proud of youngest female grandmaster

9/13/2002 – Chess prodigy Koneru Humpy has become the first woman chess player from India to receive the Men's Grandmaster title. There is some debate about whether she is the youngest ever woman in the world achieve this – at 15 years, one month and 27 days (three months less than Judit Polgar's previous record). The Indian press are ecstatic. You will find links to the articles here.

Anna's impressions of Moscow

9/12/2002 – She is there in the Russian capital, covering the chess tournament. Our roving correspondent Anna Dergatscheva has sent us another batch of pictures that give you a nice impression of the match Russia vs the Rest of the World. They include Alexander Motylev with chess groupies, Alexandra Kosteniuk with a pushy admirer and an exclusive first-time shot of Kramnik with his wife (left). More

From Moscow with love

9/11/2002 – The Russians are playing against the Rest of the World – and although they fielded a "dream team" they are not doing well at all. Elsewhere we have reported on the abysmal performance, after eight rounds, of the four Ks. Now our very special correspondent Anna Dergatscheva, who is in Moscow, has sent us a special illustrated report with her impressions of the tournament. Find out why Peter Svidler was hobbling around on crutches or what exactly Judit Polgar is preparing for (psst – motherhood?). You will find Anna's personal report here.

Russia loses 48:52 – that is news!

9/11/2002 – Amazing, isn't it? The regular media will ignore big chess events, but if Russia, and especially Garry Kasparov, loses, then it is all over the news. "Russia falls behind in chess", reported ABC, and "Shock defeat for chess tsars" the Sydney Morning Herald. And just listen to this phone-in discussion in 720 ABC Perth. Results, games and statistics are on our special Moscow report page.

3.5:0.5 wipe-out by the Swiss

9/10/2002 – Viktor Kortschnoj easily outplayed Arkadi Naiditsch, 56 years his junior, while Yannick Pelletier turned a very precarious position into a stunning victory with his opponent's rook hopelessly trapped on a8. So after the first leg of the match the Germans return from Switzerland with a meagre 0.5 points and have their work cut out for them next weekend in Berlin. You will find an illustrated report here.

What is wrong with the great Ks?

9/10/2002 – They have all been world champions, they are all playing for Russia against the Rest of the World. But their performance are all well under par. Karpov and Khalifman have played 40 and 92 points below their expected scores, Kramnik is struggling at minus 161 and Garry Kasparov lost to Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar and Vladimir Akopian (in 25 moves!) to chalk up an incredible minus 242. Results and games are available here.

The Swiss are in the lead

9/9/2002 – If Viktor Kortschnoj had had his stubborn way it would in fact have been 2-0. The maximalist dominated in his game against Lutz, had a tremendous passed pawn on e6, but had to conceed a draw because of opposite coloured bishops. On the other board Yannick Pelletier of Switzerland defeated Germany's Arkadi Naiditsch in a very exciting encounter. More