Mayor Bloomberg invites us to New York

1/18/2003 – The Kasparov-Deep Junior match is just a week away. Today we received an official announcement from New York Mayor Michael R Bloomberg, who writes: "It is my pleasure to welcome the 'Man vs. Machine' tournament to New York City. People from around the world will enjoy the fierce competition between one of the world's most strategic and intuitive minds and the latest advances in artificial intelligence." Here is the full message from Mayor Bloomberg.

Loek who's leading in Wijk!

1/18/2003 – The Dutch players traditionally occupy the back ranks in the Super-GM tournament in Wijk aan Zee. They are normally outclassed by the -ovs, -chucks and the odd -and. But this time one player came to the Corus tournament ferociously well prepared and raring for a fight. Today Loek van Wely ground down Evgeny Bareev, after beating Topalov yesterday, both times with the black pieces. Here's Mig Greengard's round six report.

Einstein: the players have all been paid!

1/17/2003 – "We are disappointed that ChessBase neglected to check with us before posting the artícle," wrote Steve Timmins, CEO of the Einstein Group. He was referring to the press release of Jan. 15 in which Madame Nahed Ojjeh announced she was breaking ties with Einstein for non-payment of some participants at the Dortmund Chess Tournament, which she had sponsored. Timmins tells us that all participants have now been paid. More

Fritz comes second, just behind Deep Fritz

1/17/2003 – The Swedish Svenska schackdatorföreningen (SSDF, Chess Computer Association) has released its latest computer ranking list, based on over 90,000 games played by 250 computers. As usual (for about four years now) Fritz is at the top, with the multiprocessor version Deep Fritz 7 outstripping its single-processor sibling – on identical hardware. The level of play of the leader, by the way, is 2755.

Dear Judit, I hope you win this tournament!

1/16/2003 – A fantastic black win against Anatoly Karpov put Judit Polgar into the sole lead in the Wijk aan Zee tournament. With clever tactics and continues hammer blows the world's strongest woman trounced the former world champion in 33 moves. We would like to join a fan from France in fervently wishing Judit full victory in this tournament. Read his letter and Mig Greengard's round four report here.

Chess and the twisted radio show

1/16/2003 – What do chess players do on a rest day? Well rest they don't. Some give simuls for children, others take part in costume chess battles. Jennifer Shahade appeared on a classical rock radio station ("Bob Rivers and Twisted Radio") and humourously answered questions about whether she undid a few buttons on her blouse before playing against men. Read all about it in our latest report on the US championship in Seattle.

Anand wins, Kramnik loses, Shirov in the lead

1/16/2003 – They have played at least 82 games against each other, Vishy Anand has scored 58% against the legendary world champion Anatoly Karpov. Today Anand chalked up one more with a fine win in Wijk. Meanwhile the bitter anthagonists Shirov and Kramnik fought it out in a complicated game, which the former won to take the lead in the tournament. Young Radjabov and Loek van Wely also scored their first wins. Read all about it in Mig Greengard's round five report.

Applying Morphy's law in Seattle

1/15/2003 – Was a time chess players became US Champions by "popular acclaim" – they were hailed as such by virtue of their playing strength in matches and tournaments of that particular era. Today they have to fight it out against top GMs, in nine rounds and with 58 players. At least the have a world record prize fund for a national title: $253,000. Read about it in John Henderson's round five report.

Deep Shredder cuts 2642 Super-GM to strips

1/15/2003 – "It isn't easy to play with the black pieces against a computer", sighed Sergey Volkov, Russian champion in 2000. He had just lost to Deep Shredder 7 on the Playchess server in 33 moves. "Shredder played like a strong grandmaster!" It was the first of two games, the second being scheduled for tonight. Do not miss the dramatic action.

Madame Ojjeh say NAO to Einstein

1/15/2003 – She came with high hopes of reunifying the chess world. Nahed Ojjeh, Syrian-born multi-millionaire, created the NAO chess club and joined forces with the British Einstein Group and even put up the prize fund of the 2002 Einstein "Candidates Tournament" in Dortmund. Apparently some of the monies did not go to the players, and Einstein stopped answering enquiries. Now Madame Ojjeh has broken all relations with the Einstein Group. More.

In the shoes of the Fischerman

1/14/2003 – 45 years ago to the day a young lad from Brooklyn made his debut at the US Championship. The fourteen-year-old rank outsider was the shock winner that year and became (and still is) the youngest title holder. To this day Bobby Fischer continues to cast a giant shadow over the US Championships, as John Henderson tells it in his round four report from the US Championship in Seattle.

Anand to win Wijk aan Zee!

1/14/2003 – That, in any case, is what most of our readers seem to believe. In reply to our Wijk aan Zee quiz we received many hundreds of emails from all corners of the world. Fortuna favet fortibus said one, which supplied Latin phrases for each of the participants. Prepare for a long and interesting read.

Judit Polgar in the lead in Wijk

1/14/2003 – Okay, she's sharing it with Karpov, Anand and Bareev, but the world's strongest female player did play a very nice game against Holland's Jan Timman in round three of the Wijk aan Zee tournament. Judit successfully navigated a very complicated middlegame, and then Timman's misplaced pieces were easy pickings for Polgar's tactical eye. Here are the games, results, tables and a report by Mig Greengard.

Russian Championship in the United States?

1/13/2003 – With many émigrés now living in America, many joke that the U.S. Championships could easily be mistaken for the USSR Championships. Read all about the great American players like Boris Gulko, Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Shabalov, Eugene Perelshteyn, Varuzhan Akobian, Yury Lapshun and this year's second seed Alexander Goldin (picture) in John Henderson's latest report from Seattle.

The Jeroen van den Belt Wijk aan Zee picture gallery

1/13/2003 – That's quite a mouthful, but definitely worth checking out. Jeroen van den Belt is one of the ChessBase team, responsible for the spectacular Fritz 8 3D graphics and a lot of the Playchess server functions. Jeroen spent a weekend at the top Dutch tournament and sent us a batch of candid photos of players and situations. Heck, it's almost like being there yourself. You will find Jeroen's extensive picture report here.

FIDE vs Ponomariov – the battle rages on

1/13/2003 – FIDE is putting the screws on their world champion Ruslan Ponomariov. They want him to sign an agreement to play against Garry Kasparov as part of the reunification plan. But the young champion is balking. We bring you some new documents on the "negotiations", including full regulations of the World Championship Match 2003.

Maurice and Steven – milestone men

1/12/2003 – Two players, one a grandmaster, the other a 2300 FM, taking part in the US Chess Championship. The landmark is that they are both African American. For 155 years the tournament drew only white men, but last year the format was radically changed, opening it to dozens more players – including, for the first time, women. More.

Fine performance by Karpov in Wijk

1/12/2003 – The first round of the 65th Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee didn't lack fighting spirit. But with most players rated so closely together, victories are not easy to achieve. Only two managed to score a win. Last year's winner Evgeny Bareev defeated FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, and Anatoly Karpov won the public prize by beating Michal Krasenkow in a lovely tactical battle. Games and results are available here.

Kramnik loses to Ponomariov in Wijk

1/12/2003 – The second round of the Wijk aan Zee tournament saw some shock results. FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov had apparently digested yesterday's defeat and took the full point off classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who blundered on move 36. Evgeny Bareev won for the second time in succession, beating youngster Teimour Radjabov, while Anand beat a too-daring Topalov with the black pieces. More

Happy Birthday Walter! – Walter? Walter?

1/11/2003 – They had organised a present of a bottle of vintage wine and placed it by his board. They were prepared to give this living-legend a Happy Birthday a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for his 54th before the start of play. But typically Walter Browne arrived five minutes late and missed everything! John Henderson reports from the US Chess Championship in Seattle in an article entitled Good ol' Walter Browne!

Will FIDE champion Ponomariov be defaulted?

1/11/2003 – FIDE has set an ultimatum until January 10, 2003, for Ruslan Ponomariov to sign a contract to play the world's top-rank player Garry Kasparov as as part of the reunification plan agreed in Prague. If the FIDE champion did not sign the agreement by that date then he would be replaced by runner-up Vassily Ivanchuk. This would mean that Kasparov would play Ivanchuk, and the winner would face the winner of Kramnik vs Leko in a unification title match. More.

Wijk aan Zee – who will win?

1/10/2003 – Corus Wijk aan Zee, the Dutch super-tournament, starts on January 10. For the second year in succession it is without the world's number one player, Garry Kasparov. But it does have nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10, the average rating is 2701 and the category 19. You will find some information on the participants and can take part in our special Wijk aan Zee quiz.

Searching for the next champion

1/9/2003 – What is a nine-year-old doing ceremoniously executing the first move at the 2003 US Championship? Well, he was sent to do it by the Mayor of Seattle, who had to cancel his own appearance due to an urgent City board meeting. Rather than send another official to deputize for him Mayor Greg Nickels prefered to nominate a child from one of the scholastic programs for chess. More

Kasparov vs FIBI in the broadsheets

1/8/2003 – Remember when it was Kasparov vs FIDE? Now in a déjà vu twist it is Kasparov vs FIBI (First International Bank of Israel). We reported on the cancelled Jerusalem leg of the Man vs Machine event and Kasparov's reaction. Today the broadsheets are full of it. Even the Islamic Republic News Agency of Iran (IRNA) give it a full page. More.