Kramnik loses to Bareev, three black wins today

12/24/2005 – The statistics at the Russian Championship Superfinal are interesting: a relatively low drawing rate (56%), an unusually high ratio of black wins (19%). That was partially because of today's three black wins, by Bareev over Kramnik, Volkov over Dreev and Jakovenko over Motylev. Report and games.

Turkish Chess Federation – going for the millions

12/23/2005 – A year ago Ali Nihat Yazici, the President of the Turkish Chess Federation, predicted that within a year his federation would have 100,000 registered members (and thus become the largest in Europe). The actual number turned out to be 105,000. Skeptics were convinced and people are now listening carefully when Ali speaks about one million members. A major bank is providing major funding.

Kramnik, Rublevsky, Morozevich victorious, Rublevsky leads

12/23/2005 – The lead in the Russian Championship Superfinal has been taken by Sergei Rublevsky, who won a third full point today, making it 4/5 with a performance of 2930 in this event. Vladmir Kramnik beat Evgeny Tomashevsky with the black pieces, Alexander Morozevich delivered a pretty mate against Sergey Volkov. Full report.

Immortal Game – the movie

12/22/2005 – Everybody knows the famous multiple sacrifice encounter between Anderssen and Kieseritzky, which has gone down in history as the "Immortal Game". The Hamburg film company Frame-by-frame has produced a beautifully animated version of it, which is now available as a DVD.

Carlos Torre Memorial – chess in the Yucatán

12/22/2005 – The XVIII Memorial Carlos Torre Repetto is taking place from December 15-23 in Mérida, Yucatán, México. There was a Swiss tournament with eight players proceeding to the knockout phase, where they were joined by seeded GMs. Pictorial report.

Morozevich wakes up in time, beats Khalifman

12/22/2005 – After sleeping through and defaulting yesterday's game Alexander Morozevich rose bright and early today, arrived at the tournament hall in time and outplayed Alexander Khalifman in a 54-mover. Bareev defeated Volkov, Zvjaginsev had the nerve to play a King's Indian against Kramnik (and got away with it). All other games were drawn. Report, games, statistics.

Art, Chess, Beauty and Depth

12/21/2005 – "For us chess players the language of artist is something natural," says classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik in this indepth interview with German artist Ugo Dossi. Their indepth dialog probes the creative processes that take place in each field, and the intersection points between chess and art.

GM Max Dlugy aquitted in $9 million embezzlement charge

12/21/2005 – For some time now American GM and former chess prodigy Max Dlugy has been languishing in a Russian prison. Yesterday the Solikamsk City Court acquitted him of all charges, which included attempts to embezzle $9 million from the Magnesium plant he had helped to run. Dlugy can now claim compensation for the time spent in prison. Details...

Humans down but not out against computers

12/21/2005 – Chess grandmasters can still keep machines in check, says Veselin Topalov, the reigning FIDE World Chess Champion. "I find it fun playing computers. The only problem is that the psychological duel does not exist. You cannot bluff. You cannot count on unforced errors," he told Reuters. Full story.

Svidler, Zvjaginsev, Rublevsky – players to watch

12/21/2005 – Four decisive games today in the Russian Championship Superfinal in Moscow. Morozevich apparently lost because he overslept and did not appear in the tournament hall in time. But Peter Svidler, Sergey Rublevsky and Vadim Zvjaginsev (picture), the reserve player, scored clean, exciting victories. We bring you games, results and pictures.

New ChessBase trainings CDs

12/21/2005 – Two of our recent training CD offerings concern the opening and middlegame: Knut Neven's Classical Nimzo-Indian 4.Qc2 and Alexander Bangiev's Squares Strategy 3. If you've not seen either of them yet you can get a preview of both in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Players and performances in Khanty-Mansiysk

12/20/2005 – The FIDE World Cup is over, the players are mostly back home. Time to take a look back at the 128 players who battled it out in the Siberian winter, to check the statistics of the top players and provide pictures of the many lesser-known participants that dropped out of the limelight earlier in the event. Big photo report.

Kramnik, Zvjaginsev strike in round two

12/20/2005 – After his shock defeat in round one, the first classical chess loss to friend Peter Svidler ever, Vladimir Kramnik rebounded with a fine win against Sergey Volkov. Replacement Vadim Svjaginsev played the cheeky 1.e4 c5 2.Na3?! against former world champion Khalifman – and scored a full point. Illustrated report.

Svidler beats Kramnik in Russian Championship

12/20/2005 – The "Superfinal" stage of the 58th Russian Championship – 11 rounds all play all – began with a face-off between the two top seeds. Peter Svidler from St Petersburg demolished the iron Petroff of his friend and rival Vladimir Kramnik. Sergei Rublevsky did the same to the French Tarrash of Evgeny Bareev. Report, games and results.

Levon Aronian wins FIDE World Cup

12/18/2005 – This knockout tournament of 128 players would, a year ago, have been the FIDE world championship title. The 23-year-old Armenian Levon Aronian won it, following in the footsteps of Karpov, Khalifman, Anand, Ponomariov and Kasimdzhanov. In the final round, yet another exciting affair, he beat Ruslan Ponomariov to take the title. Big illustrated report with analysis and statistics.

Savielly Tartakower – the game's greatest aphorist

12/17/2005 – He was a real maverick in the opening, willing to essay romantic and especially hypermodern ideas against even the strongest of players. Yet Tartakower, as befits a world-class player, excelled in all parts of the game. In this week's Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos illustrates with a great victory over Geza Maroczy in 1922. Come and watch.

More excitement – Aronian-Ponomariov draw

12/17/2005 – The fight for first place goes on in the FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk. The two "youngsters" Levon Aronian and Ruslan Ponomariov played another super-sharp game which was a joy to watch. Gata Kamsky equalised against Magnus Carlsen, so it all comes down to the tiebreaks tomorrow. Report, pictures and interviews.

Three magnificent games in Khanty

12/16/2005 – Playing for first place Ruslan Ponomariov and Levon Aronian fought uncompromisingly, and ended their game in a razor-sharp draw. Carlsen-Kamsky was a beautiful attacking effort by the 15-year-old Norwegian, and crowned by victory. And Malakhov outplayed Vallejo in a game you will want to study. Illustrated report.

Enrico Paoli: 13.01.1908 – 15.12.2005

12/16/2005 – He was the strongest active (!) nonagenarian in the world, who won his last Italian championship title at the age of 60 and once beat Kotov with black. Enrico Paoli, GM honoris causa, was the initiator and organiser of the famous Reggio Emilia tournament. This week he passed away less than a month before his 98th birthday. In memoriam.

Khanty-Mansiysk: The prodigies are through

12/15/2005 – All three are famous chess prodigies: Gata Kamsky drew attention to himself in the late eighties, 22-year-old Ruslan Ponomariov became a grandmaster at 14, and Magnus Carlsen is at 15 one of the hottest commodities in chess today. All three went through in the FIDE world cup in Siberia. Tomorrow it's prodigy vs prodigy.

A historical Mediterrean holiday and chess championship

12/14/2005 – Like to combine a holiday in a beautiful seaside resort with a battle for the European Individual Championships? Visit one of the great wonders of the Ancient World and play for a €78,000 prize fund? The Turkish Chess Federation is inviting you to Kusadasi next April to take part in what promises to be an extraordinary chess tournament.

The Talented Mr Agdestein

12/14/2005 – Simen Agdestein, 38, is Norway's strongest player, having won the national title a total of seven times. He was a grandmaster at 18 and runner-up in the World Junior Championship in 1986, ahead of Anand, Bareev and Piket. Simen also represented his country in football, playing for the A-team until a knee injury stopped this career. Now he is going for something new: ballroom dancing.

The XYZ of the Benko Gambit

12/13/2005 – Just before recording his new "ABC of the Benko Gambit" DVD our chess trainer Andrew Martin, in his Wednesday night Playchess lecture, takes a look at Cheparinov-Ivanchuk from the FIDE World Championship. Black faltered, but Martin has some interesting improvements. Tune in...

Bobby Fischer's life for sale – on eBay

12/13/2005 – When he dropped out of public view in the seventies, World Champion Bobby Fischer placed all of his most valuable belongings into a Pasadena storage unit. Some years ago the contents were sold off by the landlord, apparently in response to nonpayment of rent. Now the Fischer memorabilia have appeared on eBay. Reactions...