Happy FIDE New Year's Day Ratings!

1/1/2006 – Punctually, on the first day of the new year, FIDE has published its latest rating list. Kasparov is still on it in place one. Second is Veselin Topalov, nine points ahead of Vishy Anand. Peter Svidler is number four, Levon Aronian number five. We bring you all the top ranking lists and statistics.

John Nunn's New Year's fireworks

1/1/2006 – When somebody says "fire on the board" we tend to think of the Latvian player Alexei Shirov. But the British GM and publisher John Nunn has offered the chess world something similar, by playing over two decades of fierce, attacking chess. In his Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos proves the point by showing us a game between Nunn and Shirov.

In the beginning was the board...

12/31/2005 – ...and the board was empty and monochromatic. Then God created the pieces – the pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queens and kings. And He saw that the game was somewhat gross, but still it was good. And then He played a first game against the One Whose Name Should Not Be Uttered. Alex Shternshain has annotated it.

Rublevsky wins 58th Russian Championship

12/30/2005 – With a draw in the final round Sergei Rublevsky, Elo 2652, clinched the title and a $40,000 prize. The 32-year-old grandmaster did not lose a single game and finished a point ahead of the field. Behind him were Dmitry Jakovenko and Alexander Morozevich, who won a fine game to share second. We bring you games and results in our final report.

Rublevsky poised to take Russian Championship

12/30/2005 – With just one round to go (tomorrow's games start at 11:00h Moscow time!) Sergei Rublevsky is still a full point ahead of the field. He can still be caught but not overtaken by Dmitry Jakovenko. Today saw two upset wins, by Motylev over Bareev and Tomashevsky over Zvjaginsev. Report and games.

Ponomariov wins Pamplona

12/30/2005 – The Pamplona International was held from December 23-29 2005 in Pamplona, Spain. It was won by Ruslan Ponomariov with 5/7, followed by Pentala Harikrishna and Ivan Cheparinov half a point behind. Veteran Dutch GM Jan Timman came in an out-of-form seventh. Games and results.

Almira and the ChessBase Nikolaus

12/29/2005 – Saint Nicholas Day is a festivity for children in much of Europe, related to legends of the saint as a bringer of gifts. It was new to our friend from Moldova, Almira Skripchenko, who attended it for the first time in the ChessBase office – and for once from the other side of a camera lens. Almira's report has a tenuous link to our Christmas puzzle.

Russian Superfinal: three decided games

12/29/2005 – Evgeny Bareev recovered nicely from yesterday's loss to beat top seed Peter Svidler. Alexander Morozevich scored a fine victory over yesterday's winner Alexey Dreev, and Sergey Volkov profited from a capital blunder by Evgeny Tomashevsky to win a point and put the latter into last place. Report.

Rublevsky beats Jakovenko, takes one-point lead

12/28/2005 – The two rivals at the top of the scoreboard of the Russian Championship Superfinal clashed today. Sergei Rublevsky beat his younger opponent Dmitry Jakovenko convincingly to take a full point lead with three rounds to go. Alexey Dreev stopped Evgeny Bareev's thrust for the top, and Alexander Motylev kept Sergey Volkov at the bottom of the table. Report, games and pictures.

'Git thar fustest with the mostest'

12/28/2005 – This rather substantial quote from Frank Marshall all those years ago which could easily sum up his entire approach to chess. Marshall was a great ambassador for the game. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture our chess trainer Andrew Martin explores one of Marshall's many gambits apart from the famous Ruy Lopez one. Tune in...

Jakovenko wins, joins Rublevsky in the lead

12/27/2005 – 23-year-old Dmitry Jakovenko beat Evgeny Tomashevsky in round seven of the Russian Championship Superfinal. That put him in the joint lead with Sergey Rublevsky. Alexander Morozevich suffered defeat at the hands of Evgeny Bareev. All other games were drawn. Report.

The last hurrah for intelligent mistakes

12/27/2005 – The ChessBase Workshop column on "intelligent" computer mistakes has generated more e-mail than any other T-Notes/CB Workshop column over the last eight years. In this week's column we close the book on this topic with a final batch of reader responses. Workshop...

Aron Nimzowitch – the great innovator

12/26/2005 – Aron Nimzowitsch was not just a great tournament player, his contributions to opening theory (Nimzowitch Defense, Nimzo-Indian) and to chess ideas in general (prophylaxis and blockade) have ensured his fame for as long as human beings continue to play chess. In this week's Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us one of a great Nimzowitch game.

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.