Deep Junior vs Deep Fritz – the truth within

7/23/2005 – At a time when machines are likely to take over not just how we play chess, but also how we learn the game, it is of paramount importance to distinguish between good and best chess programs. Aside from the sporting parameters we need to know how different programs have adapted to human-style chess. Aryan Argandewal has examined two top contenders.

Five hours on her heels – Judit in Jerusalem

7/22/2005 – It is a beautiful Sunday evening in Israel. So what does a chess lover do when the eighth best chess player in the world is giving a simultaneous exhibition, just a couple hours from his house? He fights the traffic and finds his way to the Municipal Building in Jerusalem so he can see her in the flesh and send us a story and pictures.

Azmai cleared by Spanish court

7/22/2005 – Remember the brutal beating received by FIDE Vice President Zurab Azmaiparashvili at the close of the Chess Olympiad in Calvià, Spain? He was accused of having attacked members of the Guardia Civil, who were trying to prevent him from mounting the stage at the closing ceremony. Today at a court hearing in Mallorca the Spanish authorities decided to drop all charges.

Current tournaments – Sanjin, Biel, Argentina, Israel

7/21/2005 – Recovered from Dortmund? Well, the chess circuit continues, with a number of interesting international events either finished (Harikrishna won Sanjin in China, Najer and Smirin won in Israel) or under way. In Argentina the program Shredder played a spectacular blunder, but leads the event anyway. We bring you games, results and pictures.

Radio ChessBase: What newspaper do chess players read?

7/20/2005 – IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw go on a rampage through the world of chess for the last week or so in their weekly radio show on Playchess. There will be the usual snippets from all over the world, but also a puzzle show to guess the name of the newspaper that sponsors a major event. Come take part.

Dortmund – and now for the videos

7/20/2005 – The Sparkassen Chess Meeting was a great success, especially from the point of view of chess reporting. After every round TV ChessBase broadcast interviews with experts and with the players themselves, hot from the games they had just finished. If you missed these great shows not to worry: there are archive links to them.

Mikhail Tal – too complicated for one show

7/18/2005 – In last Monday's Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos looked at one of the most excruciating examples of a Tal game, one the great Latvian world champion had himself not dared to annotate. Dennis got up to Black's 21st move. Today he will show us the rest.

Dortmund R9 – Arkadij Naiditsch wins Super-GM

7/17/2005 – This is what everybody was waiting for: the underdog, bottom seed, finishes one of the strongest tournaments in the world in first place. And a local boy at that. Arkadij Naiditsch clinched it with a last-round draw against Peter Svidler, while his main rivals Loek van Wely and Vladimir Kramnik failed to catch him. Now with full report.

Dortmund R8 – Kramnik and Topalov win

7/16/2005 – Arkadij Naiditsch, the lowest-rated player, is still in the lead in Dortmund, but three top GMs are in hot pursuit one round before the end of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting: van Wely, Kramnik and Svidler. Kramnik achieved this by beating Nielsen, and both players afterwards analysed their game for a world-wide audience on TV ChessBase.

Winter on Zugzwang

7/15/2005 – Blurb... Full article.

Dortmund R7– Svidler, Bacrot and Naiditsch win

7/15/2005 – The excitement continues: Peter Svidler beat Peter Leko, Etienne Bacrot outplayed Michael Adams, and Arkadij Naiditsch took a full point off Peter Heine Nielsen with the black pieces. The games were transmitted live on the official web site and on Playchess.com. In the end Peter Svidler commented for TV ChessBase. Full report with video.

Two DVDs by Andrew Martin

7/15/2005 – Andrew Martin is a chess teacher of some renown, possessed of excellent communication skills and a flair for the metaphorical. He's already displayed his considerable talents on previous ChessBase DVD offerings. You can get a preview of his two newest training DVDs, The Basics of Winning Chess and The ABC of Chess Openings in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

North Urals Cup: Humpy wins, Xu Yuhua second

7/15/2005 – The North Urals Cup 2005, a super-tournament for female players, ended in victory for Indian GM Humpy Koneru. Second was another Asian, Xu Yuhua from China, third the Russian Women's Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Humpy is slowly emerging as an extraordinary figure in women's chess, quite on the lines of Judit Polgar. Illustrated report.

Dortmund R6 – From tomorrow: live Internet coverage

7/14/2005 – Round six of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting was blisteringly exciting, Naiditsch-Kramnik especially so, with the audience in Dortmund applauding loudly when it ended in an astonishing must-be-seen draw. Michael Adams defeated Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen and analysed his game for TV ChessBase. Full illustrated report.

The Chinese secret to success

7/13/2005 – What is the reason for the remarkable success of Chinese players in the international chess circuit? According to Prof. David H. Li it is entirely due to the fact that they are all weaned on XiangQi, the fast and combative Chinese version of the game. The outspoken academic elucidates in part two of his interview with René Gralla.

Dortmund R5 – Leko beats Nielsen with black

7/13/2005 – Round five of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting saw a lot of hard-fought draws and one win: Peter Leko defeated Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen to join the lead group before the rest day. On our live post-game commentary on TV ChessBase Emil Sutovsky demonstrated exciting lines in his draw against Svidler. Full report.

Glasgow Radio ChessBase: Everything Except Dortmund

7/12/2005 – ChessBase Television is providing daily coverage from Dortmund. Now ChessBase Radio will complete the job by reviewing every other recent chess tournament in the world. IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw will cover all the best incidents and accidents from the last two weeks.

Ivanchuk, Shirov, Bologan at Canada Open

7/11/2005 – It is not often that one gets to see the world’s top players in Canadian tournaments. But the Canada Open in Edmonton is starring Super GMs Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov and Viktor Bologan. Shirov even treated the spectators to a lecture – on quiet positions, would you believe it. Illustrated report.

Dortmund R4 – Bacrot scores against Sutovsky

7/11/2005 – First results from the Sparkassen Chess Meeting: Top French GM Etienne Bacrot, who was languishing with half a point from three games, struck out with black to defeat Emil Sutovsky. All the other games were drawn, although van Wely had Svidler on the ropes. Full report with video.

North Urals Cup: Xu Yuhua, Humpy lead

7/11/2005 – After six rounds there were four players at the top of the tables in this super-tournament for female players: two Russians and two Asians. Then disaster struck for the Russian girls: one lost cleanly to a compatriot, the other turned a brilliancy chance into a traumatic loss. So now the Asians are favourites to win.

Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games

7/11/2005 – He may have retired from chess, but his name is still permanently in the news. Not a bad thing for Gambit Publications, the producers of some of the finest chess books that are available in the world today. Gambit has released grandmaster Igor Stohl's latest work: "Garry Kasparov’s Greatest Chess Games: Volume 1". We bring you a sampler.

Dortmund R3 – three sensational games

7/10/2005 – This is turning into one big slugfest. In round three of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting Vladimir Kramnik beat Veselin Topalov, young Arkadij Naiditsch outplayed Peter Leko, and Loek van Wely beat Michael Adams with black. We have a full report and video replay of our first (test) TV ChessBase broadcast from Dortmund.

First International Black Sea Tournament in Istanbul

7/10/2005 – This event was held in the Turkish metropolis from July 1 to 5. The goal was to extend the cultural and sporting relations between the countries bordering the Black Sea. Romania won the team event, Motoc and Zarkua won the women's and men's sections. And everyone had great fun sight-seeing on the Bosphorus. Pictorial report.

Mikhail Tal – too complicated to analyse?

7/10/2005 – The legendary Latvian world champion was famous for his intricate games. In his Monday night lecture on Playchess Dennis Monokroussos examines one of the most excruciating examples, a game Tal himself did not dare to annotate. But it worth a try, since it exemplifies the magic and ferocity of Tal's chess.