ACP World Cup: Kirsan speaks his mind

1/5/2007 – The opening of the First ACP World Rapid Chess Cup in Odessa, Ukarine, was a festive affair, highlighted by a frank press conference in which FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov answered questions of journalists. These were mainly about computer cables, cheating and a Kramnik-Topalov rematch. Read all about it in Misha Savinov's report.

Indian National Championship won by Surya Ganguly

1/5/2007 – Normally the championship of this chess superpower is a massive 22-player round robin event. This time it was staged as a 13-player Swiss with 45 participants. The venue was idyllic – the picturesque Atul Club in the State of Gujarat, 180 km north of Mumbai. The winner, who took his fourth Indian title, was Surya Sekhar Ganguly. Picture report.

Chess in the news

1/4/2007 – Is chess a sport, should it be included in the 2012 London Olympics? Is there a basis for thinking that cheating with computers is going on at the very highest level? What is the potential of the strongest Indian players according to Commonwealth champion Nigel Short? And why hasn't Tania Sachdev's face launched a thousand products yet? We've been reading the papers.

Learning from Lasker: the art of defence

1/4/2007 – Recently our Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos stumbled across a game in which White committed an egregious error, but then hung on to the position with extraordinary tenacity, somehow thwarting Black's attacking efforts. The players: Emanuel Lasker vs Aron Nimzowitsch. The year: 1934. Come watch, with an attentive mind.

A New Year with chess trainer Andrew Martin

1/3/2007 – We start 2007 with an Andrew Martin Radio show directly from the ChessBase studio in Hamburg. Our chess trainer interviews Frederic Friedel for a second time – the first was sixteen years ago. After that there are games and a puzzle to discuss. The show starts at 15:30 GMT/16:30 CET on Wednesday, January 3rd. See you on the server.

Chess – and a new electronic chess system – in Bolivia

1/2/2007 – The game is popular in Bolivia, but not properly encouraged. The country has produced just one grandmaster, who is 200 Elo points above everyone else in the region. But now it can boast its own digital chess system, a clock and sensor board used to display games and broadcast them on the Internet. Hitech made in Bolivia.

Topalov still tops the list, Anand four points behind

1/2/2007 – The January 1st 2007 FIDE rating list has Topalov still at place one, in spite of losing 30 points from his match against Kramnik and the Essent tournament. The gap to Vishy Anand has reduced to just four points, with world champion Vladimir Kramnik in third, 17 points below the leader. Lists and statistics.

Sun nien fai lok – a Happy New Year

1/1/2007 – That's what we wish our Chinese friends and our English speaking readers. For the rest we have a list of many different languages. Please let us know if any is given wrongly or missing. And for New Year's day a monochromatic chess puzzle, the last of our Christmas set, by John Nunn. Have a happy and prosperous year.

A library on your computer - part four

1/1/2007 – Now that you have a newly created database, how do you get games into it? In the latest ChessBase Workshop we discuss copying games and inputting them from scratch, and show you how to do it in both ChessBase and Fritz.

Third Singapore International Chess Convention

12/31/2006 – At the end of every year, the biggest chess celebration in South-East Asia takes place in Singapore. It includes a Masters & Challengers tournament with a $18,000 prize fund. Players from 15 countries take part, with GMs, IMs, WGMs and may very young hopeful players. Big pictorial report by Olimpiu G. Urcan.

Jennifer Shahade on shaking up the chess world

12/29/2006 – "I have very mixed feelings about the various Anna Kournikovas of chess who promote chess and themselves in sexy modeling shoots," she says. "A big dream is to help get chess on TV or featured in a film so I’m also working on that with a few different producers, hoping that if I shoot enough darts we’ll hit a bull’s-eye one day." Read this indepth interview with the author of 'Chess Bitch'.

Astonishing Alexander Morozevich wins Pamplona

12/29/2006 – When he is good he is very, very good. The Russian grandmaster drew exactly two games in Category 7 tournament in Pamplona, winning all the rest of his encounters. His performance was 2951, and if he had won queen vs rook ending in one game his performance would have in fact been 3085! The draw rate in the event was only 35%. Results and highlights.

Will Kübra checkmate the volleyball star?

12/28/2006 – It would be a first in chess. 15-year-old Kübra Öztürk, Gold medal winner at the European U16 Championship, has been nominated for Sportsperson of the Year by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet – and is now in second place behind an international volleyball star. A few more votes and the chess hopeful will take first place. Voting ends on December 29.

India: player gets ten year ban for cheating

12/28/2006 – Umakant Sharma is an Indian chess player who had performed at a steady 1900 level for many years. Then suddenly his rating climbed to 2484, after a series of spectacular tournament successes. A spot search revealed: he was using a bluetooth device stitched into his cap to receive external computer assistance. Now all players are being scanned for hidden devices.

A library on your computer - part three

12/28/2006 – In the continuing series on using a database as your personal chess library, we examine some legal issues regarding fair use of an author's work, as well as how to create a new database in both ChessBase and Fritz. Read all about it in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

With Andrew Martin it's chess 24/7

12/27/2006 – In family life, the days between Christmas and New Year are often rather quiet. Energy is regained. But at ChessBase we work round the clock, relentlessly, to keep up with the latest developments. And so our Playchess Radio Show, packed full of goodies, is back on air this Wednesday, albeit at the slightly earlier time of 15:00h GMT / 16:00h CET. See you on the server.

Lilienthal and the world champions

12/27/2006 – He is too young to have met Steinitz, but at 95 Andor Lilienthal has met every world champion since than, and chalked up wins against a number of them. In his Playchess lecture, which will take place on Thursdays in the future, Dennis Monokroussos takes a look at three key games of the nonagenarian's illustrious career.

A Junior 10 Christmas Present

12/25/2006 – Christmas morning. Did Sinterklaas, the altruistic gentleman contemporarily known as Kris Kringle or Saint Nick, bring you everything you wanted? Just in case, here's a little gift from our Israeli colleagues, Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky: a new, improved version of the Junior 10 engine, free of charge. Merry Christmas – come and get it!

Kateryna Lahno wins Amity Challenge

12/25/2006 – It was the European Women's Champion vs Indian boy wonder grandmaster, 16 years vs 13, from December 17-25 in New Delhi. And contrary to most expectations it was the Ukrainian girl who won all three sections, classical, rapid and blitz, to clinch an overall 11:7 victory on Christmas day. Final illustrated report by Vishal Sareen.

Lahno sweeps Negi in rapid games

12/24/2006 – After finishing the Classical Chess section of their match in New Delhi with a narrow 3.5:2.5 victory Ukraine star Kateryna Lahno started the rapid section with a 3:0 sweep over the world's youngest grandmaster Parimarjan Negi. Katya now needs three points from the remaining three rapid and six blitz games to take the Rs. 300,000 prize fund. Report by Vishal Sareen.

'Topalov can be disqualified for three years'

12/23/2006 – Recently we published the translation of an interview given by Veselin Topalov to the Spanish newspaper ABC. In it the former FIDE world champion made serious accusations that Vladimir Kramnik may have cheated in their recent title match. Now Kramnik's manager has complained to the FIDE Ethics Committee. If upheld the protest could result in a three-year ban for Topalov.

John Watson: Mastering Chess Openings

12/23/2006 – Most openings books contain copious amounts of variations and analysis, but here is one that takes a radically new approach: John Watson's book, published by Gambit, is aimed to familiarise chess players with the ideas that underlie the opening, with detailed descriptions of the plans and emphasising the the interrelation between one system and another. Review with sampler.

Fear and trembling on the chessboard

12/23/2006 – In the decades after WWII 1.d4 players were torn out of their peaceful lives and forced to confront the dangerous King's Indian Defence, as practiced by Bronstein, Tal, Fischer and Kasparov. Then Kasparov stopped playing it and the fashion-conscious chess world stopped playing it – an unjustified decision, as a former world champion explains.

Ilyumzhinov and Kok found Global Chess

12/22/2006 – They ran against each other in the last FIDE election. But Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the eventual winner, was so impressed by his rival's program that he has launched a ten-million dollar company, Global Chess, with Bessel Kok. It will be responsible for all major FIDE events, and for chess related projects. A new direction for the chess world.