Who is Mig Greengard?

7/23/2002 – He has seldom been seen in public, hardly anyone has actually met this reclusive person. But now the Dutch chess magazine New in Chess, in a desperate search for new material, asked ChessBase columnist Mig to fill out their last page questionnaire. It contains the sordid details of Mig's life, his likes and dislikes, his development from a cute little kid to the character he is today. If you have the stomach for it you will find it here...

Kortchnoï frappe d'entrée

7/23/2002 – Korchnoi starts with a bang. The 71-year-old veteran is once again show his opponents that he is not yet finished with chess – not by a long shot. With a win and a draw he leads the field at the Biel Chess Festival, which is being covered live (from 14:00 MET) on the Playchess server. In the evening at 20:00 MET the best games of the day are discussed there by GM Miso Cebalo. More

Dresden girls vs the rest of the world

7/20/2002 – At the start of the ZMD Open in Dresden the organisers staged a spectacular event. From a beautiful castle a squad of young female players, using the Fritz server, took on players half a globe away. The event drew a lot of attention, not just in Germany but in the countries of the opponents. You will find a report with many pictures here

Come to play in the castle

7/17/2002 – On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. European time, there will be an interesting Internet event on the Playchess server. In the Albrechtsberg Castle four young German girls will take on players from other continents. Why don't you drop by and watch? Maybe there will be time for an informal blitz game or two against these charming young lasses.

"Today a GM title is worth very little"

7/15/2002 – The U.S. vs China Summit match is currently being held in Shanghai, China (overall the Chinese are currently in the lead). Chris Heringer sat down with GM Yasser Seirawan to talk about chess, the Summit match, politics at the top levels, and more. You will fine excerpts of the conversation here

"I have learnt a lot from Kramnik"

7/14/2002 – After his 2002 defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in London, Garry Kasparov has changed his style and redirected his chess preparations. The world's strongest player talks about Deep Blue, FIDE, upcoming players ("Ponomariov, Grischuk and Radjabov") and his chances of regaining his title in a Sunday interview in the German newspaper FAZ. More

Learn to play the Dragon

7/11/2002 – This Thursday our GM trainer, Dorian Rogozenko, is going to tackle the Sicilian Dragon – its historical background and how to play it. The lecture will be held on the Playchess server, starting from 19:00 GMT (= 21:00 hours Berlin/Paris time, 20:00 London or 3 p.m. NY). Attendence is free. More

Looking for a partner for Tina

7/9/2002 – Would you like to take up the challenge? Play in our international Internet match on the Fritz server against four young girls between 12 and 18, each a junior champion, playing from a beautiful castle in Germany. More

The winners and the losers

7/4/2002 – The new FIDE rating list shows Kasparov still leading the field, 29 points ahead of Kramnik and 83 ahead of Anand. There are big winners (Epishin +37) and losers (Kasimdzhanov -26). All the top 101 players are over 2600, there are 13 over 2700 and two over 2800. And still only one woman: Judit Polgar, number 19 at 2681. More

FIDE and the French

7/4/2002 – It started with an angry press release by the French Chess Federation, attacking the FIDE leadership and calling for change. During the Third European Championships in Batumi FIDE officials and participants issued a reply. Now the French have sent out a second press release to clarify their position. More

The mystery benefactor of Dortmund

7/3/2002 – Who is the lady in the picture on the left? Syrian by birth, now living in Paris, and one of the financial driving forces of present-day chess. She is sponsoring a Paris chess club, has staged a classical super-tournament and is now backing the Einstein Group (to the tune of € 300,000) in the Dortmund Candidates. Read all about the incredible Madame Ojjeh here.

Another chess player climbs into the ring

6/28/2002 – We told you about Lennox Lewis's love of chess (see 09.06.2002 below). On Saturday another brainy boxer, Wladimir Klitschko, will fight for the WBO Heavyweight Title in Atlantic City – with Garry Kasparov watching. In a future match against Lewis, Klitschko has suggested the two should play a game of chess before the fight – with Garry Kasparov watching. More

The secrets of Capablanca

6/27/2002 – The subject of Dorian Rogozenko's training lesson tonight (Thursday, 19:00 GMT, 21.00 CET, 3 p.m. NY) is José Raul Capablanca. The Cuban world champion played miraculously easy-looking chess. With the help of several games and fragments, Rogozenko will explain Capablanca's art of chess. More

Illyumzhinov has other things on his mind

6/21/2002 – The president of the French Chess Federation, Jean-Claude Loubatière (right) has proposed an alternative direction to the present leadership of FIDE. "The President [Kirsan Ilyumzhinov] visibly has his mind on other things than Chess," writes Loubatière in the following press release...

Grandmasters

6/19/2002 – On the first days of June there was a special meeting of Grandmasters to discuss issues that impact the lives of professional chess players – mainly subjects that are of concern to the top 100 players in the world. American GM Yasser Seirawan, who attended all the sessions, sent us a detailed report.

Chess night in Hamburg

6/15/2002 – It was a spectacular event, pitting the very successful German national team against visitors of the Playchess server. Sixteen had qualified in tournaments, and took on the GMs in six rounds at 7 minutes per side per game. The result was 24:6 for the national team – quite victory, since the entire presidential board of the German Chess Federation had turned up to watch. More

Kramnik vs Deep Fritz starts October 2nd 2002

6/14/2002 – Originally scheduled for October 2001 the match between the Classical Chess World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and the the world's top-rated chess programm Deep Fritz had to be postponed due to the events of September 11. The match will now start on October 2nd 2002 in the Gulf state of Bahrain. This was announced by the Einstein Group in London today. You will find full details in this press release.

Server night: German national team + chess training

6/13/2002 – Two attractive events on the Playchess server today. Starting from 20:30 hours European time, the Playchess community take on the German national team, which won the silver medal at the last Olympiad. At 21:00 h openings theoretician GM Dorian Rogozenko conducts his weekly lecture in the "Training" room. Attendence for both events is free of charge. More

It's them vs the rest of us – again

6/12/2002 – Twice before Russia faced off against the rest of the world (in chess): the first time in 1970 in Belgrade and then in 1984 in London. Now FIDE and a Russian news agency have announced a third big match, to be held in Moscow at the beginning of September. More

CNN: The Chess Automaton rediscovered

6/12/2002 – It was the Deep Blue of its time, a turban-wearing automaton that defeated all comers. Now a new book about Baron von Kempelen's famous "Turk" has appeared. As CNN reports the author also discovered a reconstruction of the automaton in a magician and prop-maker's workshop in Los Angeles. Read all about the first chess machine here.

Are they going to include Vishy Anand after all?

6/11/2002 – Under the title "FIDE may invite Anand" the Indian chess web site Chathurangam is reporting that former FIDE world champion Vishy Anand, who was left out of the reunification treaty signed at Prague last month, "is likely to be" included in the world championship cycle. FIDE President Krisan Ilyumzhinov has promised to put the matter in the upcoming Presidential Board meeting. More

Etti wins European Women's Championship in Varna

6/9/2002 – 23-year-old Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria has won the 3rd international European Women's Championship in Varna. "Etti", as she is known to her friends, scored 9 points in 11 games with a performance of 2671! We bring you the final standings, pictures of Etti and others – and a link to Almira Skripchenko's multimedia report "Girls, girls, girls". More

Tournaments on the Playchess server

6/7/2002 – From Monday June 10 we will be holding regular tournaments on the Playchess server. Mondays is blitz (5+0), Tuesdays bullet (1+0), Thursdays three minute blitz and Fridays five minute blitz. Registry is usually fifteen minutes before the tournament begins. You will find all times and conditions listed here.

Ruslan Ponomariov breaks his silence

6/6/2002 – Everbody has had his say about the Prague unification agreement. Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Karpov – even Junior, would you believe it? And driving force Yasser Seirawan described in great detail exactly how it came about. Only one person was not present, did not sign anything and hasn't been heard. Until now. Ruslan Ponomariov, the freshly-crowned FIDE champion, gives us his take of current chess affairs. You will find the interview here.