Mainz 2007 – Anand leads in Rapid World Championship

8/17/2007 – With the Chess960 play finishing – Victor Bologan won the FiNet Open – the players at the Mainz Chess Classic return to regular unshuffled chess. In the Rapid Championship Vishy Anand used the Ruy Lopez to take a solid lead (2.5/3) ahead of his colleagues Levon Aronian, Etienne Bacrot and Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Big pictorial report with results and games.

Kasparov: 'Putin's System works like the Stalin regime'

8/17/2007 – In an interview with the influential German magazine Capital Garry Kasparov, opposition leader of The Other Russia, takes the regime of President Vladimir Putin to task. The ex-world chess champion also accuses the West of being accomplice to the decline of democracy in Russia. In spite of the constant danger of assassination he lives with his family in Moscow. Full interview.

Mainz 2007 – Aronian wins Chess960 world championship

8/17/2007 – It was an exciting day, which ended a few minutes before midnight: Vishy Anand and Levon Aronian went all the way to the finish line, with the regular Chess960 Rapid games ending in a 2:2 draw. In the blitz tiebreak it was the Armenian GM who won. In the morning the FiNet Chess960 Open started, with a sterling array of world-class GMs. Big pictorial report.

Eduard Gufeld and his 'Mona Lisa' in chess

8/16/2007 – The Ukrainian GM, a colorful and controversial figure, was one of the strongest players of his day, having beaten the likes of Tal, Spassky, Smyslov, Korchnoi and Bronstein. But Eduard Gufeld considered his 1973 victory over Vladimir Bagirov his greatest work. In his Thursday night lecture our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos tells us why.

Anand: 'It is pointless fighting against the impossible'

8/16/2007 – In an interview with a German newspaper on Tuesday the world's number one ranking chessplayer has criticised the world chess federation for haphazardly breaking and changing its own rules. Usually to favour Kramnik or Topalov, who get extra chances at the title. "At some stage you become sick of all this and decide to just play chess," says Anand bitterly. Summary.

Ács, Harikrishna, win György Marx Memorial

8/16/2007 – Actually the big story was the collapse of Viktor Korchnoi, who had been leading the event after the first half, with 3.5/5, but only got one point in the five games of the second half. In the last round Korchnoi lost mysteriously (with white) to Peter Ács, who thus joined India's Pentala Harikrishna on the top of the final table, and beat him on the tiebreak. Big photo report.

Mainz 2007 – Aronian and Anand qualify for Chess960 Final

8/16/2007 – Today one of them will win the world championship title – in Chess960, with shuffled pieces. Both the hot favourites Levon Aronian and Vishy Anand dutifully qualified, knocking Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Etienne Bacrot out of contention. The final will take place on Thursday, Aug. 16, at 6:30 p.m. local time (= 12:30 p.m. NY, 10:00 p.m. Chennai). You can watch it on Playchess.

Harikrishna leads in Paks, Groszpeter wins GM B

8/15/2007 – One round before the end of the 5th György Marx Memorial in Paks, Hungary, Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna is in the lead, half a point a head of two Hungarian rivals. The GM B group is already finished and was won by Hungarian GM Attila Groszpeter, a point ahead of his nearest rivals. Indian WGM Tania Sachdev came seventh with a 2404 performance. Big pictorial report.

Mainz 2007 – Levon Aronian leads in Chess960

8/15/2007 – At the start of the Chess Classic in Mainz four world class GMs – Anand, Aronian, Bacrot and Kasimdzhanov – are battling it out in an extraordinary form of the game: Chess960, a Fischer Random variant where the pieces are shuffled at the start. But what are the rules and how can you replay these games? We answer both questions and give you a free Chess960 player.

The chessboard killer of Moscow

8/14/2007 – Distasteful news: Alexander Pichushkin, a 33-year-old park chess player, faces charges of serial murder – he told police after his arrest he planned to kill 64 people – one for each square on a chess-board. He was arrested last year at a count of 49 to 63 (depending on different sources) and went to pre-trial hearings yesterday. The international press is full of this story.

Grand Slam 2008 in Bilbao with 400,000 Euro prize fund

8/14/2007 – It has been discussed for a year now, with periodic meetings between potential participating organisers. Now apparently things have come to fruition. The Grand Slam tournament, with the winners of Linares, Mtel Sofia, Corus Wijk Aan Zee and Ciudad de Mexico (plus two invitees) will be staged in the Spanish city of Bilbao in September 2008. Put it in your planner.

Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (12)

8/14/2007 – This new selection from Chess Notes focuses on José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942). The chess historian Edward Winter, who wrote a book about the Cuban genius in the 1980s (published by McFarland), discusses a miscellany of unresolved matters about him, including games, quotes, stories and photographs. Readers are invited to join in the hunt for clues.

Top Dutch and British GMs lead in Staunton Memorial

8/13/2007 – The Fifth Staunton Memorial tournament in London is taking place from 7-18 August at its traditional home, Simpson's-in-the-Strand in Central London. The event is sponsored by Dutch chess maecenas Jan Mol and brings together a field of six Dutch and six British players. After six rounds the lead is shared by Dutch and British number ones Loek van Wely and Michael Adams. Illustrated report.

Chess Classic Mainz 2007 – Schmitt speaks out

8/12/2007 – The 14th Chess Classic will be held from 13 – 19 August in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz. The biggest rapid chess festival in the world will once again offer top level chess – rapid and Chess960 (a Fischer Random variant). Before the start of the event organiser Hans-Walter Schmitt gave a giant interview on the Chess Classic 2007 in particular and about the chess world in general.

Moiseenko wins the Arctic Chess Challenge

8/12/2007 – In the end it was a super-GM who took the unshared first place in the Tromsø Midnight Sun tournament: Alexander Moiseenko of the Ukraine scored 7.5/9 to overtake the long-time leader, "Mr Sunshine" Kjetil Lie, who had beaten him in round four. Top seed Magnus Carlsen recovered from a poor start to share 2-4. Like his parents we expect Magnus to scale the Store Blåmannen.

Viktorija Cmilyte wins European Women's Rapid Championship

8/11/2007 – The European Women's Rapid and Blitz Championships finished after three days of battle, with the constant din of rain and violent slaps on the clocks. But everyone survived, including the clocks. The first three places were shared by Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Muzychuk Sopio Gvetadze. We bring you results, games and a big photo report by WGM Elena Partac.

A double Scotch at the 94th British Championships

8/11/2007 – Jacob Aagaard and Keti Arakhamia, he originally from Denmark, she from Georgia, both now living in Scotland – these two won the British Open and Ladies sections. The last round was full of tension, with the final decision coming after 8 p.m., when Aagaard beat Glenn Flear with the black pieces to clinch the title. Big pictorial report.

Carlsen vs Carlsen – Magnus beats his dad

8/10/2007 – That is hardly a surprise, since the 16-year-old is over six hundred points stronger than his first teacher. But then again Henrik Carlsen has grounding powers... After seven rounds of the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø it is Norwegian GM Kjetil A. Lie who is in the lead, with 5.5 points, followed by four players with 5.0 points each. Report with pictures and videos.

Korchnoi leads in Paks at halftime

8/10/2007 – The oldest player – by a big margin – is showing the greatest vigor and acuteness at the György Marx tournament in Paks, Hungary. After the first half of the double round robin Viktor Korchnoi leads with 3.5/5 points, followed by Peter Acs of Hungary. Only 26% of the games were drawn so far; White won 47% and Black in 27%. There is a new glamor short in our illustrated report.

ChessBase Light 2007 - part 12

8/10/2007 – ChessBase Light Premium 2007 provides you with a number of tools which allow you to annotate your own games, both verbally and with symbolic commentary. You'll find out how to annotate and replace games in the new edition of ChessBase Workshop.

International Chess Festival in Predeal

8/9/2007 – This is the largest of its kind in Romania, consisting of five separate tournaments, with over 500 players from all over the world. Of the events it is the European Women's Rapid and Blitz Championships (August 7-10) that are of special interest. The top seeds are around 2460. One of the participants, WGM Elena Partac, has taken time to send us a pictorial report from Predeal.

In the Jaws of the Tiger – part two point five

8/9/2007 – Last week our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos presented a game by Tiger Hillarp Persson, the second by this wildly imaginative player. The game was so rich that he only made it halfway through. So this week Dennis continues with his analysis, starting from move 17. Don't miss it!

Fifth György Marx Memorial in Paks, Hungary

8/8/2007 – This tournament, which lasts from August 4 to 15, 2007, is intended to give the most talented young grandmasters of the country an opportunity to gain experience, at the hands strong foreign players. They range from Viktor Korchnoi, aged 76, Elo 2610, to Hou Yifan, 13, 2523 (Viktor beat Hou with the black pieces in round one). Report after round three.

Ponomariov wins XXII Torneo Villarrobledo

8/7/2007 – You may be forgiven if this comes as a surprise to you. The 22nd edition of the rapid chess event took place in Villarrobledo, a city in the heart of the Spanish wine-growing area. Participants included Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexei Shirov. The event was won by Ruslan Ponomariov, on tiebreak ahead of Dreev and Topalov. We have scraped together all available information.