An evolutionary explanation for chess excellence

6/4/2005 – Do Ashkenazi Jews, by virtue of their history, have higher IQs than the rest of society? The fact that they make up 3% of the American population but have won 27% of its Nobel prizes, and account for half the world chess champions, would seem to suggest that. A study by the University of Utah claims it might be a result of natural selection.

FM Fabio Bruno wins Frascati

6/2/2005 – The GM tournament in the beautiful Italian town was won by a "young talent": Italian Champion Fabio Bruno, a 44 years old who only recently returned to chess after a 15-year pause. Other real juniors also showed great promise, like 15-year-old Daniele Vocaturo, who beat GM Igor Khenkin with the black pieces. Illustrated report by Roberto Balzan.

Bush’s Buddy in Moscow

6/2/2005 – Is the West – and specifically US President George Bush – coddling the current regime in the Kremlin? Is the US supporting dictators just because they are considered important allies in the war on terror? Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and contributing editor at the Wall Street Journal, answers this question with a blistering “yes”.

Disastrous start for Leko in beautiful Miskolc

6/2/2005 – We have to look back to 1991, when the eleven-year-old Peter Leko lost a white game in 27 moves. He did it in 25 against Michael Adams today in their rapid chess match in Miskolc, eastern Hungary. Worse still: in the first game he allowed mate in one in a drawn position. No, we don't know what is wrong with Peter Leko.

Back to the 1970s?

6/1/2005 – Bobby Fischer to play chess again. Liverpool winning at football. Are the 1970s really back in fashion? IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw discuss this and many other vital issues while demonstrating some of the most interesting chess played in the last week. Flares optional.

Nigel Short turns forty

6/1/2005 – He was a classical child prodigy, qualifying for the British men's final at eleven and winning it at fourteen. He matured into a very strong grandmaster, eliminating Karpov and Timman in the 1992/93 Candidates to challenge Garry Kasparov for the world championship in 1993. Today Nigel celebrates his 40th birthday. Here are some pictures and stories.

Eleven qualify for main Freestyle Tournament

5/31/2005 – 48 players from 20 different countries got together on the Playchess server last weekend to play in the PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament. Using computer assistance, which is not forbidden in Freestyle, eleven qualified for the main tournament starting on Friday. There they will have to battle it out with scores of computer-assisted GMs.

Miss Mitropa Muzychuk scores 8/9

5/31/2005 – The Mitropa Cup, a yearly championship for European teams, was won in a breath-taking finish by Slovenia this year. They did it both in the men's section with a last-minute victory over Hungary. In the women's section it was mainly due to an 8/9 score by 15-year-old Anna Muzychuk. Illustrated report.

Sergey Karjakin, the Wizard of Kirishi

5/31/2005 – The exciting Young Stars tournament in Kirishi ended in a most predictable way – top seed Sergey Karjakin, 15, secured victory with a round to spare. After an understandably shaky start (he had been in a car crash in Greece) Serge picked up speed, winning six of the last eight games to take the title with a round to spare. Beautiful illustrated report by Misha Savinov.

Searching multiple databases in ChessBase 9

5/31/2005 – In what may be the shortest ChessBase Workshop column ever, Steve Lopez takes a fast and dirty look at how to perform a search across multiple databases using ChessBase 9. Yes, it's that easy...

He beat Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine – and old age

5/30/2005 – GM Andor Lilienthal has played against ten world champions, beating a number of them in the process. At 94 he is in good health, active and cheerful, writing articles for chess magazines and zipping around Budapest in his Toyota Yaris. Slobodan Adzic attended the birthday celebrations of this amazing man.

ChessBase Expedition to the Bismarck Springs

5/30/2005 – Once a year our company stages an outing for all its employees. Somehow we are able to make these trips exciting and adventurous, even if we restrict ourselves to northern Germany. This year we went on a search for the legendary Bismarck Springs, the source of the nation's favourite bottled water. Illustrated report.

FIDE and ACP start talking

5/30/2005 – Official bearers of the world chess federation have met with those of the professional chess association to discuss differences of opinion and search for common ground. The meeting touched on anti-doping, anti-computer, official hotels, time controls, but not, apparently, on reunification. We bring you a summary.

Monokroussos on Shirov vs Grischuk, Delhi 2000

5/29/2005 – It is the FIDE world championship in Delhi. Two of the most exciting players in the world are battling in the semi-finals. Each wins a game; the final decision comes in the third encounter, a spectacular attack and counterstrike affair. Dennis Monokroussos discusses it in his Monday night lecture.

Peter Leko vs Michael Adams rapid chess match

5/29/2005 – Keep the second half of next week free for an interesting match featuring the world's number three and six players (excluding Kasparov). From June 2nd to 5th Peter Leko and Michael Adams will play eight rapid games in Miskolc, eastern Hungary. Here are details and links.

Kramnik on Sofia, blunders, world championships

5/29/2005 – After his disastrous result (and multiple blunders) at the Mtel Super GM in Sofia Vladimir Kramnik was suprisingly relaxed and cheerful, at least when he spoke to the chess journalist of the Russian news magazine Sport Express. In a long interview he answers a number of questions that chess fans all over the world were asking. Here are excerpts.

Breaking news: Fischer comeback?

5/27/2005 – Bobby Fischer is considering returning to the arena of competitive chess. Yesterday he met with his former adversary Boris Spassky, who travelled to Iceland with the expressed purpose of "drawing Fischer back to the chessboard". Fischer is agreeable to the notion, but insists on a worthy opponent and Fischer Random rules. Video report.

Come watch the Accoona match in New York

5/26/2005 – On June 21st the reigning FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov is scheduled to play a chess match against the "AI Accoona ToolBar". The venue is Times Square in New York, and the organisers, Accoona Corp., is making 225 free tickets available to our ChessBase new readers. Come and get them...

Mtel wrap-up: looking back at Sofia

5/26/2005 – The Mtel Masters in Sofia, one of the most interesting Super GM tournaments of the year, ended last Sunday with a resounding victory for local hero Veselin Topalov. Our photo reporter Valery Zahov provides his impressions of the closing ceremony and of the Bulgarian capital in a spectacular pictorial report.

Adams vs Hydra in London

5/26/2005 – Hydra, a machine with the processing power of more than 200 standard PCs, is arguably the world’s most powerful chess computer. From June 21-27 the 64-way cluster computer, housed in Abu Dhabi, will play a $150,000 match against top British GM Michael Adams. Hydra has never been beaten by a human.

Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian Champion

5/26/2005 – She is a disconcertingly beautiful creature, the perfect subject for glamour shoots. When dealing with Alexandra Kosteniuk one sometimes tends to forget that she is also intelligent, analytical and extremely determined – winning the Russian Women's Championship with 9/11 and a performance rating of 2691 speaks for itself.

The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part IV

5/25/2005 – So tell us already, who was the greatest chess performance of all time? After analysing and dissecting many different aspects of this question, Jeff Sonas wraps it up in the final installment of this series, awarding his all-time chess "Oscar" nomination to the overall greatest of all time.

The $20,000 free-for-all chess tournament

5/24/2005 – Like to play in a grandmaster tournament? From your home and for a substantial prize fund? With a guarantee that you will not disgrace yourself? Then think about joining the first PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament, where anything goes. Where computer assistance is not forbidden, it is positively encouraged. Here are all the details.

The fake Heroes of Chernobyl revisited

5/23/2005 – A few weeks ago we reported on a tournament that had supposedly been held in Óity a Slavutich, Ukraine. Nigel Short commented on this fake event in his Telegraph column. Now the Ukraine Chess Federation tells us it has investigated and found that the event was indeed an 'open and shameless falsification'