Boris Savchenko leads Politiken Cup with 6/6

7/24/2008 – It doesn't really make sense to calculate the performance of a perfect score, but we will mention that after winning all of his first six games in the Danish Politiken Cup one comes up with 3151 for St Petersburg GM Boris Savchenko. This 22-year-old talent is not just viciously strong, he also has a keen sense of humour, as you can see in this pictorial report by Sergey Tiviakov.

Biel R4: Evgeny Alekseev and Leinier Dominguez win

7/24/2008 – Before this round Magnus Carlsen was just two points behind Vishy Anand in the inofficial "live ratings". A win would have put him over the top. But that was not to be: Carlsen drew against Alexander Onischuk with black. Meanwhile Bacrot and Pelletier continued their losing streak, falling to Dominguez and Alekseev respectively. The latter joins Carlsen in the lead. Round four report.

Anand: A champion should play all formats

7/23/2008 – Is he still smarting over Vladimir Kramnik's recent attack? "I prefer not to give too much attention to interviews," said World Champion Viswanathan Anand. And what about the other claims and remarks? "I think analysing his games keeps me fairly occupied these days, I don’t want to start analysing his words." Anand spoke to Vijay Tagore in this DNA Sunday Interview.

Chess Classic Mainz 2008 starts next week

7/23/2008 – The annual Chess Classic in Mainz, Germany, will be held from July 28th to August 3rd, 2008. The big event is the Grenke-Leasing Rapid Chess World Championship with Anand, Morozevich, Carlsen and Judit Polgar. There are a number of Chess 960 events, one a Woman World Championship, and one a category 29 (!) Chess960 Computer World Championship. Full details.

Just in case: Anand vs Kamsky in 2009

7/22/2008 – This year Anand defends his title against Vladimir Kramnik, while Gata Kamsky plays a special Challenger's Match against Veselin Topalov. So it is conceivable that we will see an Anand-Kamsky world championship match in 2009. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks with feverish anticipation at this possibility. Tune in and enjoy.

ChessBase.com back online

7/22/2008 – No, we did not suddenly lose interest in bringing you the latest news from the chess world. It was a major computer glitch in our news server, which went down on Friday night. We were able to revive it and display the site, but could not add or modify anything without risking new problems. Now we have things up and running and hope to provide you with uninterrupted coverage.

IM Roeland Pruijssers wins Leiden Chess Tournament

7/22/2008 – With 84 participants, seven GMs and four IMs, the Second Leiden Chess Tournament, staged in the Denksportcentrum of the Dutch city, was taken by Roeland Pruijssers on tiebreak points ahead of GM Erik van den Doel. Four GMs were in the follow-up group, and half a point behind we find a Russian FM with an Indian name: Anish Giri, aged thirteen. Striking pictorial by Frits Agterdenbos.

Biel R3: Carlsen, Onischuk win, Carlsen leads

7/22/2008 – After three rounds of play the top seed in the Grandmaster Tournament in Biel, 17-year-old Magnus Carlsen, already has two victories under his belt. In an aggressive game against top French GM Etienne Bacrot, after a little hiccup the Norwegian took the point in 31 moves. Alexander Onischuk needed 57 to grind down Yannick Pelletier and join Evgeny Alekseev in second place. Round three report.

41st Biel Chess Festival under way

7/21/2008 – Two rounds have been played in the idyllic Swiss town of Biel (or Bienne), in this category 18 event, with the players Magnus Carlsen, Evgeny Alekseev, Leinier Dominguez, Etienne Bacrot, Alexander Onischuk and Yannick Pelletier competing. After two rounds Carlsen and Alekseev are in the lead, having beaten Pelletier and Bacrot respectively. First report.

Rybka 3.0 – Not just the strongest chess program in the world

7/18/2008 – Developed by IM Vasik Rajlich, Rybka is the shooting star amongst chess programs. It won the 2007 world championship and leads easily in all computer rating lists. Now it is available in the dramatically improved version 3.0 and under the ChessBase-Fritz interface. It includes exciting new analysis functions you will not find in other programs. You can order it now.

Times of India on 'Kramnik's psychological warfare'

7/17/2008 – Recently Vladimir Kramnik spoke about the world championship title which Anand won last year. His interview, says one of India's most prestigious newspapers, is full of salvos against the title holder. "Kramnik’s stance smacks of double standards and selective amnesia," editorialises the newspaper, which goes on to deliver its own salvos against the challenger. Let the hostilities begin.

Four players tie for first at Karpov Poikovsky tournament

7/17/2008 – The event, named to honour its patron Anatoly Karpov, saw firebrand Alexei Shirov take the sole lead after seven rounds, only to lose fairly traumatically to Vugar Gashimov, a soon-to-be 22-year-old grandmaster from Azerbaijan. All other games were drawn, as were all five games of the final round. In the end Rublevsky, Jakovenko, Gashimov and Shirov shared first. Results, games and statistics.

Benko (of 3...b5!? fame) turns eighty

7/16/2008 – Pal Benko, grandmaster, author, and composer of superbly imaginative endgame studies and problems, was born in France but was raised in Hungary (where he is known as Benkö Pál). He is most famous for the eponymous Benko Gambit, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5, which is the subject of tonight's Playchess lecture by Dennis Monokroussos. Tune in for the grand Benko Birthday Show.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (5)

7/16/2008 – We launch a major innovation: the ChessBase Simul Hunt. The aim is to save from oblivion as many games as possible played by readers in simultaneous displays. The Editor of Chess Notes invites all readers to submit their wins, draws and losses for inclusion in a special database. The best games will be annotated at ChessBase by a guest master. We look forward to your contribution.

Chess 960

7/16/2008 – Have you tried Chess 960 yet? It's a chess variant (devised by Bobby Fischer) which is steadily growing in popularity. In fact, you can even play Chess 960 in Fritz 11 and analyse it with ChessBase 10. In his latest column, our ChessBase Workshop correspondent shows you how. Workshop...

Rublevsky, Jakovenko, Shirov lead in Karpov tournament

7/15/2008 – The name of the town, located just east of the famous – in chess circles – is Poikovsky, but you will need to search for "Poykovskiy" to find the one we want in Google. The tournament is a ten player category 18 with an average rating of 2691. After six of nine rounds there are three players with 4.0 points. Draw average so far: 63%. We bring you results and games.

Chess in Iran: Premier Women's League

7/15/2008 – In a patriarchal country like Iran women did not have fair opportunities to prove themselves, but since a few decades, thanks to the devoted efforts of feminists and activists, Iranian ladies have had better chances to demonstrate their abilities, and they have evinced themselves in different fields. So too in chess. Meet the Iranian women players in this richly illustrated report by FM Arash Akbarinia.

Everything you wanted to know about Ukrainian chess

7/14/2008 – It is one of the super-powers of chess, but somehow there have not been that many great events in Ukraine. Until very recently, that is. This year, which is just half over, has already seen the ACP World Cup, the Aerosvit tournament, the Pivdenny Bank rapid and recently the Life:) chess match in Kiev. WIM Olena Boytsun visited the event and sent us some great pictorial impressions.

IV Torneo Internacional Abierto de Ajedrez “Alajuela 2008”

7/14/2008 – We ask you: is it polite to belch sulfurous steam, smoke and ash behind a strong grandmaster? Well that is what Volcan Poaz, just a few meters higher than Sergey Tiviakov's Elo rating, did in Costa Rica, where the the Alajuela chess event was held. We don't have all the games, but we did get some spectacular images, including GM Tiviakov's impressions of tropical Central America.

How to tease your opponent in move two or three

7/13/2008 – Colle, Torre, and London System – all these are d4 openings that you will hardly find a black player who feels happy about. While their general reputation is rather bad, there is simply no refutation. Moreover, they all have been played by world champions. Let Nigel Davies show you why and give you good reasons to rebuild your repertoire without much ado. Buy his QPO-DVDs now or read more.

Kramnik: 'My task is to play the very best chess'

7/12/2008 – Shortly after his rapid chess match against David Navara in Prague Vladimir Kramnik gave Czech journalist Pavel Motocha an indepth interview on Navara, chess ethics, the world championship title, his upcoming match against Anand and Garry Kasparov's political activities in Russia. An English language translation has appeared on the Kramnik web site. Here are the highlights.

Chess helps hostages in Colombian jungle

7/12/2008 – Here's a harrowing and uplifting tale. Three Americans had spent more than five years as hostages of the FARC rebel group in the jungles of Colombia. Last week they were rescued in a daring mission. They carried with them a metal lock, a bullet and – a chess board made of cardboard. One of the captives had carved the pieces with a a broken machete. The game helped them survive. CNN video report.

Archiving databases

7/11/2008 – Data corruption -- it's a heartbreaker and can strike without warning. The best defense is to be prepared by making backups of your important database files. Learn how to create compressed database archives in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Would you like a blindfold?

7/11/2008 – Blindfold chess has a long and colorful history. But did you know that blindfold chess isn't just for public exhibitions and special grandmaster events anymore? You can play blindfold chess in the privacy of your own home, as you'll learn in the latest ChessBase Workshop.