Ponomariov, Bacrot, Aronian through

12/10/2005 – Three players went through to the semi-final stage of the FIDE World Cup three, while Grischuk fought back to even his loss against Gelfand in game one. Magnus Carlsen beat Joel Lautier in the second group, Kamsky was successful over Sakaev, as was Malakhov over Dreev. Full illustrated report.

Eco and distributed computing

12/10/2005 – Is chess mathematically solvable? It's an idea which has been bounced around on computer chess message boards for years. Can a chessplaying program find a forced win for either player? Can a chess engine even find an advantage after twenty moves in a specific variation? We crunch some numbers and melt a few calculators in this week's ChessBase Workshop.

Bareev defeats Carlsen, Bacrot KO's Lautier

12/9/2005 – For young Magnus Carlsen (picture) the rocket ship ride in Khanty-Mansiysk has come to a tragic end. In the tiebreaks against Evgeny Bareev he turned a lovely win into a traumatic loss. The French civil war was duly won by Etienne Bacrot. Levon Aronian eliminated Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand ground down Alexey Dreev. Report and games.

Fritz 9 wins German Game Developer Award

12/9/2005 – Normally these prizes are given to fast-paced action-packed PC and console games. But this year one of the prizes went to a chess program. Fritz 9 received an award in the category "innovative technology" for its realtime generation of music and the animation of the Chess Turk. Congratulations.

The surealistic art of chess

12/9/2005 – Chess has inspired many artists, who are fascinated by the endless imagery of board and piece. Here is one who gives chess art a surreal twist. ARTitsa produces pictures on canvas that illustrate the imaginative and metaphorical aspects of the game. How about a Dali-like chess picture to replace that boring Monet? Samples.

Dieter Nisipeanu in the Heart of Transylvania

12/8/2005 – It is a place we normally associate with a certain fanged count, but the province of Transylvania has its own authentic heroes. Like Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the reigning European champion, who paid the area a visit and spent a very intense day visiting the historical places and playing a 40-board simul. Big illustrated report.

Grischuk, Rublevsky, Ponomariov win

12/7/2005 – With the FIDE World Chess Cup down to 16 players things are becoming tense. In the first half of round four Rublevsky and Ponomariov defeated Sakaev and van Wely with the black pieces, while Alexander Grischuk (picture) did the same, brutally, to Gata Kamsky with white. 15-year-old Magnus Carlsen is still going strong. Full report.

Grischuk, Rublevsky, Ponomariov advance in Khanty

12/7/2005 – Five games of the FIDE World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansyisk go into the tiebreak on Thursday, with only the winners of yesterday's first game going through to the next round. Grischuk took Kamsky to the brink of a 2-0 shut-out, while Ruslan Ponomariov did exactly that to Dutch champion Loek van Wely. Report and games.

The Portuguese Gambit or Jadoul Variation

12/6/2005 – This opening, which starts with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4?!, has an enthusiastic worldwide following. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture chess trainer Andrew Martin will tell us whether all the fuss is justified. He will also look at a popular response to 1.d4 and review an excellent new book. Tune in...

FIDE to charge $1 million for a presential bid

12/6/2005 – In an interview with Sport Express Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has revealed a startling plan to force any challenger during the May 2006 FIDE presidential election to put up $1 million for the privilege of running. He also reveals an equally revolutionary new plan for the World Chess Championship. First protests are already in.

FIDE World Cup Round 3.2

12/5/2005 – Even Emil Sutovsky is feeling the heat. All but five of the sixteen matches are headed to rapid and blitz tiebreaks. Three players won back on the second day, but one favorite, Shirov, is on the way home thanks to Mikhail Gurevich. Maybe appearing on the homepage here is a good luck charm? Report and photos from Siberia.

FIDE World Cup Round 3.3 - Tiebreaks

12/5/2005 – The cull continues in Khanty-Mansyisk. 128 has now become 16. No sudden death was needed and most of the eleven tiebreak sessions were over after the rapid games. Almost all the favorites are through, joined by a 15-year-old prodigy and an American former prodigy on the comeback trail. 4th round pairings and all results here.

FIDE World Cup Round 3.1

12/4/2005 – Mikhail Gurevich works hard and it shows, even though he played a short draw today. Seven hard-fought wins distinguished the first day of the round of 32 in Khanty-Mansyisk. Three players won with black to really put the pressure on their opponents in the second game. Everyone is feeling the heat to make to the sweet sixteen.

Pavel Blatny's modern masterpiece

12/4/2005 – Some of the greatest games go unnoticed – at least in chess databases, especially if they were played in open tournaments. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us a truly memorable effort by Pavel Blatny, one which contains a sacrifice line that you have to see to believe. Enjoy!

Ted Danson in Knights of the South Bronx

12/3/2005 – This A&E Network production premiers Tuesday, December 6, 8-10pm ET/PT. Ted Danson plays English teacher David MacEnulty in a true story which depicts one man’s struggle to better the lives of underprivileged children from a broken-down school in the South Bronx – by teaching them chess. Must watch.

From the mailbag

12/3/2005 – In the latest ChessBase Workshop we again field a number of e- mailed questions submitted by our readers. Included are questions on text colors, gamne list notation and symbology, and even one letter that has us scratching our collective heads. Workshop...

A hot cup of Elo?

12/2/2005 – Many chessplayers wouldn't think of starting a round without a cup of coffee next to the board. Are they just trying to wake up for that early game (anything before noon) or are they also getting a memory boost? New studies show how caffeine enhances brain activity and short-term memory. Starbucks is waiting for you.

FIDE World Cup Round 2.3 - Tiebreaks

12/2/2005 – The playing hall just got a whole lot emptier in Khanty-Mansyisk. The field is down to just 32. It was a wild day of tiebreaks with four of the seventeen matches going to sudden-death blitz. The remaining players are looking more like the usual suspects. The lowest-rated survivor is 2565. Report, game highlights, and photo report right here.

Hot start to second round in Khanty-Mansyisk

12/1/2005 – If the players keep this up they'll melt a lot of the Siberian snow outside the venue. Seven if the top eight boards finished decisively and only half of the 32 games were drawn. Top seed Ivanchuk lost to Cheparinov, showing that Bulgaria is on the march even without Topalov. We have many beautiful photos and a guide to the best games.

FIDE World Cup Round 2.2

12/1/2005 – The top seed is out thanks to Bulgaria's Ivan Cheparinov. Most of the other favorites came through, however, while it seems like the rest of the field really likes to play rapid chess. 17 of 32 matches will go to tiebreaks tomorrow and a brace of must-win wins showed cold weather doesn't dampen fighting spirit. Report and photos.

Topalov inaugurates Las Palmas Festival

11/30/2005 – The port of Las Palmas decided to celebrate their 100th year with chess. An international open with stars from Spain to Bolivia is accompanied with rapid and blitz events as well as a large simul. FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov was a special guest and surprised with his choice of the honorary first move.

FIDE World Cup Round 1.2

11/29/2005 – Kamsky remembers how to write the moves, don't worry! 38 of the 64 first round matches have been decided without needing Tuesday's tiebreak games. There are more than a few surprises on the first plane out of Khanty-Mansyisk, including two of the world's top juniors. We have photos, results, and some elimination games.

Kramnik and Blancpain in Moscow

11/29/2005 – Vladimir Kramnik is a promoter of Blancpain, manufacturer of high-quality mechanical watches. One contains an engraved image of Kramnik on its winding rotor. It was handed over to Kramnik in a ceremony on November 24, after which the classical chess world champion played a simultaneous exhibition against 30 collectors.

Love is on the air...

11/29/2005 – In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture chess trainer Andrew Martin takes a look at one of the most intense and bizarre matches in chess history. No love was lost between Korchnoi and Spassky in their 1977 candidates match, and their contributions to the openings won't be lost either. Tune in and turn on.