The Governor and the World Chess Championship

8/16/2005 – He is the man who brought information technology, film and music industry to his corner of Argentina, reducing unemployment there from 14.7% to a national low of 1.2%. Now flamboyant Governor Alberto Rodríguez Saá, who is an avid and accomplished chess player, is bringing the World Championship to the town of San Luis. GM Miguel Quinteros sent us a portrait and interview.

Chess Classic: Anand, Svidler, Radjabov win

8/16/2005 – The hot favourite Vishy Anand won the rapid chess match against Alexander Grischuk with a round to spare – and went on to lose a very dramatic last game. Peter Svidler considers himself lucky to have beaten Zoltan Almasi in Chess960, and the giant Ordix Open with 55 GMs has a bright young winner: 18-year-old Teimour Radjabov.

The brief glory of Reuben Fine

8/15/2005 – Reuben Fine was perhaps the only player to have a total plus score against world champions without being a world champion himself. Unfortunately for chess – but fortunately for his bank balance – he retired from the game at an early age to pursue and utilize a Ph.D. in psychology. In his Monday night Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos shows a fine Fine game.

Mastering The Game: A History of Computer Chess

8/14/2005 – In September the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, is opening a new physical and online exhibit on Computer Chess. It follows a chronological plan from Turing and Shannon to the development of PC chess software and the drama of Deep Blue. It also has a lot of other fascinating exhibits.

Mainz Rapid: Grischuk strikes back

8/14/2005 – At 22 you have boundless energy. Even if you are facing the world's highest-ranked active player in the evening you can still take part in the giant rapid chess open in the afternoon. After all, what else is there to do when you have missed your breakfast? Alexander Grischuk played 1½:½ on day three in Mainz.

Greetings from the other side

8/14/2005 – Over a year ago we staged an interesting move-a-week match between ChessBase.com visitors and the Uzbek GM Saidali Yuldashev. The event was covered in Uzbekistan TV. Three participants won copies of Fritz with personal dedication by GM Yuldashev. These have long been delivered, as explained in this illustrated report by organiser Jamshid Begmatov.

Team Championship – The Homecoming

8/13/2005 – Last Sunday the European Team Championship ended with a great victory by the Netherlands. The Dutch players were given an enthusiastic welcome by officials and fans at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. We have great pictures by Frits Agterdenbos, and also bring you some interesting performance statistics in our Gothenburg retrospect.

Mainz Rapid: Anand marches on

8/13/2005 – On the second day he was a bit lucky. After overcoming losing chances in both rapid chess games against Alexander Grischuk, Indian chess superstar Vishy Anand came out of the hall with 1½:½ points. Levon Aronian won the Chess960 section and the amateur program Spike the Chess960 computer tournament. Illustrated report.

Anand takes the first two games

8/12/2005 – Alexander Grischuk, one of the young turks challenging the supremacy of the top players, started badly at the Chess Classic in Mainz, when he ran into the rapid chess firewall of Vishy Anand. The score: 2:0 for Anand. Meanwhile Peter Svidler took a 1½:½ lead in his Chess960 match against Zoltan Almasi. Report and pictures...

Looking ahead: FIDE World Championship in San Luis

8/11/2005 – The FIDE Classical Chess World Championship is set to take place in San Luis, Argentina, from September 27 to October 16 this year. The venue is a beautiful lake-side hotel complex, the eight participants are amongst the strongest players in the world. Top seed Vishy Anand talks about the event.

Karpov, Kortchnoi win Unzicker Gala

8/11/2005 – They are still mortal enemies – Anatoly Karpov moved his seat from next to Viktor Kortchnoi at the openings ceremony, the latter wore the trade-mark shades against Karpov's gaze. In the Gala Exhibition in honour of Wolfgang Unzicker's 80th birthday Karpov and Kortchnoi both scored 3.5/6. Unzicker Gala and 960 man vs machine reports.

Material searches in ChessBase 9 – part two

8/10/2005 – ChessBase's material search feature is a valuable tool for researching specific material balances (and, more importantly, imbalances). Here's a detailed explanation of this feature in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

'No they aren't', say 76% (correction: 84%, no 88%)

8/9/2005 – Recently we reported on an article about science and chess attracting more men than women, and the possibility that this might be due to a difference in the general intelligence level of the genders. The questionnaire attached to the article brought an overwhelming result: neither gender is smarter. Interesting how the 50 personalities are ranked.

Open letter by GM Vadim Milov

8/9/2005 – Last year FIDE organised its knock-out world championship in Tripoli, Libya. But not all eligible participants were able to attend. Although the world chess organisation and apparently also the Libyan authorities assured the Israeli players they would be issued visas, none of them made it. One of them, Vadim Milov, sued FIDE and lost. Milov sent us an open letter on the subject.

Lubomir Kavalek's birthday guide to Prague

8/9/2005 – Today the well-known Czech-American GM and Washington Post chess columnist celebrates his 62nd birthday. He does this by sending us a spectacular photo report of his beloved Prague, where recently the Czech President and two FIDE presidential candidates attended the CEZ Chess Trophy. Here's Lubos' birthday report.

ECTC R9: Netherlands win Team Championship

8/8/2005 – The European Team Championship 2005 was won by the Netherlands with 15/18 match points. Second was Israel and third France (on tiebreak). Ukraine came fifth, Russia 14th. In the women's section Poland came first with 15/18, followed by Georgia and Russia (on tiebreak). Full illustrated report.

ECTC R7+8: Holland poised to take Gold

8/7/2005 – One round before the end of the European Team Championship Holland is in the lead, a match point ahead of Israel, Poland and Georgia, with the Russians no longer in medal contention. In the women's section Poland leads. The main sponsor is the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. Thing is, the Swedes don't seem to use cars a lot. Pictorial report.

The legendary, ill-fated Leonid Stein

8/7/2005 – His career as an elite chess player lasted a scant 12 years, prior to his sudden death at the age of 38. But in that short period Leonid Stein won three Soviet championships and displayed a style that was reminiscent of Tal and Spassky. In his Monday night Playchess lecturer Dennis Monokroussos shows us two examples.

ECTC R6: Moscow, we have a problem!

8/5/2005 – Things are not going at all well for the Russian men's team. After a dreadful 1-3 loss to the Dutch they found themselves on place 12 on the table. Ukraine lost to Azerbaijan, and France to the unstoppable Israelis. In the women's section Poland is still a point ahead of Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Ukraine. Results, games and pictures.

Material searches in ChessBase 9 - Part one

8/5/2005 – In his previous ChessBase Workshop columns, Steve Lopez has somehow managed to overlook a valuable ChessBase 9 tool for researching endgame positions: the material search. In the latest column he rectifies this oversight by beginning a comprehensive examination of this feature. You can read Part One of this series in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Trouble at the Youth Championship in Belfort

8/4/2005 – The World Youth Championship is an event that sees budding young players from all over the world battle it out in five categories: under 18, 16, 14, 12 and 10, in separate sections for boys and girls. The 2005 championship was held in Belfort, France, and did not run smoothly. We bring you results, games, pictures and one participant's very harsh criticism.

Michael Schumacher vs Peter Leko: 6-6

8/3/2005 – It ended in a draw, the spectacular match in Budapest, between many times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and World Chess Championship challenger Peter Leko. Mind you they were not driving or moving pieces on a board. It was a soccer match watched by 22,000 spectators. Illustrated report.

ECTC R4: France beats Germany, takes lead

8/3/2005 – The French team went into the lead at the European Team Championship in Göteborg, beating top rivals Germany 2½-1½. And the Russians? In spite of a 4-0 over Scotland they are in place 12. In the women's section Romania, Poland and Bulgaria are in the lead. Games, results, statistics and pictures.

Susan breaks all records

8/3/2005 – She strode 9.1 miles, in high-tech sneakers, drinking orange juice. She faced 326 opponents simultaneously, scoring an unprecedented 99.03%. After breaking the Guinness Book's simul record Susan Polgar went on to break a few more, like 1,131 consecutive games played in one session. Here's the full illustrated report.