Five ChessBase disks

2/5/2007 – Potential purchasers of ChessBase products are always curious about what lies "beneath the shrink wrap"; what will they actually find on the disk inside the package. In the latest Workshop we demystify another batch of ChessBase CDs, including Junior10, Correspondence 2006, ABCs of Tactics, White Repertoire 1.e4, and Test, Evaluate, and Improve Your Chess. Workshop...

Akopian wins GibTel Masters in Gibraltar

2/4/2007 – The Fifth GibTelecom Chess Festival took place in Gibraltar from January 23rd to February 1st 2007. The Masters Section was a nine-round Swiss and was won with 7½/9 by Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, ahead of Areshchenko, Nakamura and Sutovsky. Report.

Campomanes hospitalized after car accident

2/3/2007 – The long-time president (1982-1995) and current honorary president of FIDE, Florencio Campomanes, was badly injured in a car accident on his way to the airport after the FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Antalya, Turkey. After a 7½ hour operation Campomanes was said to be in stable condition. Details.

Nigel Short's allegations in DNA Sport

2/3/2007 – We have been taken to task by the Topalov web site for "falsely attributing statements to Nigel Short" about his observations during the world championship in San Luis. Really? In the five lines of text there was just one one minor technical detail to correct. The rest was quoted verbatim from the original source. Accusations, refutations, feedback.

Moscow Open under way

2/2/2007 – The Third International Chess Festival Moscow Open 2007 is taking place in Moscow, Russia, from January 27th to February 4th, 2007. The number of participants is 820, a record for this event and for Russian tournaments in general. The participants are from 18 countries and include 60 grandmasters. Photo reports by the organisers.

Dennis Monokroussos on Boris Vasilievich

2/1/2007 – Best known for his two match losses to Fischer, Boris Spassky nevertheless remains, by virtue of his achievements from the early 1950s through the early 1980s, and especially his dominant play in the late 1960s, one of the all-time greats of chess. Our Playchess lecturer takes a look at some highlights from Spassky's career.

Nigel Short pushes for cheating enquiry

2/1/2007 – The international press has picked up the story on cheating allegations that have been leveled at Veselin Topalov and Silvio Danailov during the Wijk aan Zee tournament. There have been claims that signaling was also used during the 2005 World Championship in San Luis, Argentinia. Nigel Short, who was in San Luis, observed something sinister in San Luis. Press reports.

Kasim beats Uzbek national team 4:1

2/1/2007 – Clock simuls are something special: the master has the same time as each of his opponents, to whom he has to attend individually. They can move whenever they want. Under such circumstances to face a team of five players, including a bevy of grandmasters, is a daunting task. It was undertaken by former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Report and interview.

Andrew Martin – Everybody ought to change sometime...

1/30/2007 – ...because sooner or later, we have to go out in that lonesome ground. Those fateful words of Sleepy Joe Estes apply even to the Andrew Martin Radio Show on Playchess.com. From January 31st 2007 there will be a listening charge of ten ducats per show. Of course, this is still fantastic value, just enough to cover the weekly prize. We hope you'll stick with us!

Boris Spassky turns seventy

1/30/2007 – He was born on January 30, 1937 in Leningrad, learnt the moves at five and was one of the great child prodigies in chess. Boris Spassky went on to win multiple USSR championships and qualify for Candidates and World Championship matches. In 1969 he beat Petrosian to become the tenth chess world champion. Today Boris Vasilievich turns 70.

Sex Differences in Intellectual Performance

1/30/2007 – Is the disparity between women and men in the sciences the result of an innate difference in cognitive ability or the result of a social phenomena such as selective participation or discrimination? Chess is a good way to objectively study this question, since the rating system tracks players throughout their careers. A paper by two scientists reports on the results of such a study.

Fritz & Chesster Part 3 – Review in USA Today

1/29/2007 – Fritz and Chesster is an award-winning children's program that can teach toddlers and grownups how to play chess. Part three has just been reviewed in USA Today which thinks it's a great way for kids' to expand their chess knowledge by teaching chess strategy within the framework of an interactive computer adventure. Excerpts.

Wijk aan Zee 2007 – final impressions

1/29/2007 – Wijk aan Zee is over, with an exciting finish that saw three players tie for first. Radjabov and Topalov were able to maintain their top positions with a draw in the final round. Aronian was able to join them with a victory over Tiviakov, and world champion Vladimir Kramnik improved his position with a win over Loek van Wely. Commentary and pictures.

Wijk R12: Radjabov wins, catches Topalov

1/28/2007 – With a black win against Motylev, and with Topalov drawing Kramnik, top Azerbeijani GM Teimour Radjabov caught up with the Wijk aan Zee leader Veselin Topalov. And to take the drama to new heights, the two will face off in the final round on Sunday (Radjabov has white). Van Wely beat Svidler and Navara beat Ponomariov. Updated report.

Toilet War – the Battle of Elista

1/28/2007 – On Friday a new book was released in Bulgaria called "Toilet War – A chess drama in 13 acts." It is by Zhivko Ginchec, the press officer of the Bulgarian team in Elista, and describes the "biotechnological attacks" Veselin Topalov was subjected to by the Kramnik side. In the meantime Silvio Danailov has reacted to the allegations of cheating raised by a German newspaper. Report from the combat zone.

Wijk R13: Aronian, Topalov and Radjabov tie for first

1/28/2007 – Levon Aronian beat Sergey Tiviakov to join Topalov and Radjabov, who drew their game, in first place. All three had 8.5/13 and shared first. Half a point behind them is Vladimir Kramnik, followed half a point later by Vishy Anand. Group B was won by a full point by Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov, and Group C by Polish GM GM Michal Krasenkow. Results, games, videos.

FIDE rejects Topalov's challenge bid

1/28/2007 – The FIDE Presidential Board has formally rejected the two million dollar challenge bid by Veselin Topalov to play against Vladimir Kramnik in the coming months. The time constraints made it impossible to stage such a prestigious event in a form that it warrants. Press release.

Wijk R11: Topalov falters against Svidler

1/27/2007 – Once again he had a winning position, and that with black. But in his eleventh round game against Peter Svidler former world champion Veselin Topalov started to go astray, spoiled the win to a draw and then actually lost the full point. Levon Aronian beat Sergey Karjakin to join Svidler and Radjabov at second place. Report, pictures and videos.

Danailov accused of signalling Topalov

1/27/2007 – This is a very grave question to ask, but it was posed in today's issue of one of Germany's largest and best respected newspapers, the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In the story IM Martin Breutigam, a longtime contributer to this and other major broadsheets, reports what he observed in rounds two and three of the current Wijk aan Zee tournament. Translation.

Karpov: Chess and the Art of Negotiation

1/25/2007 – This book by twelfth world champion Anatoly Karpov originally appeared in French and sees Karpov, Jean-Francois Phelizon (CEO of Saint-Gobain Corporation) and GM Bachar Kouatly discuss the similarities and differences between chess play and business negotiation. In-depth review by Howard Goldowsky.

The Topalov-Kramnik challenge match – will it happen?

1/25/2007 – The FIDE rules allow anyone with a 2700+ rating and enough money to challenge the reigning world champion. Veselin Topalov has done so, and provided a bank guarantee, and FIDE is deliberating. But the proposed match would run into scheduling problems, and it is unclear whether Kramnik would agree to play it in Bulgaria. Current status.

Wijk R9: Anand beats van Wely, leaders draw

1/24/2007 – The top of the table in Wijk aan Zee remains unchanged, with the leaders drawing their games in 21 to 28 moves. Only Anand played a super-sharp line against van Wely, one that gives three pawns for the attack. Anand had successfully defended this line against Motylev with black and now beat van Wely with white. Full report with games, statistics and videos.

Marie-Laure Germon marries Vladimir Kramnik

1/24/2007 – She is a French journalist who writes lead stories for Le Figaro and other newspapers. Two years ago she did an interview with chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and later the two started dating. On December 31st they married in Paris. It was a private ceremony, but Vladimir's mother Irina Fedorovna has released details to a Russian magazine. Summary and links.

Wijk R10: Anand beats Karjakin, Topalov unstoppable

1/24/2007 – Veselin Topalov has won yet another game, against Norwegian junior star Magnus Carlsen, to pull a full point ahead of the field. Vishy Anand in the meantime is staging a gritty comeback with a second win in succession, this time with black against Karjakin, to join the top group. Full report with pictures and videos.