Topalov turns down $1.4 million from Kramnik

11/14/2005 – Negotiations on a reunification match between FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov and classical chess champion Vladimir Kramnik broke down today when Topalov's team rejected a 1.4 million dollar offer from the Kramnik side. Apparently FIDE put hurdles in the way – at least according to the promoters.

Celebrities and icons people help hurricane victims

11/13/2005 – French artist Bernard Vidal is hosting a reception at the United Nations in New York to benefit Hurricane Relief Effort. There he will introduce a series of portraits celebrating "Vidal's Positive People of the World Today". They will be auctioned on eBay to benefit the Red Cross. And why are we telling you this? Well, one of "positive people" is a well-known chess player.

92 boys and 68 girls in Istanbul

11/13/2005 – The World Junior Championship in Turkey is one of the biggest in recent years. Some people, like Hamidullah Sarwary from Afghanistan, had to overcome obstacles to attend. After four rounds top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is leading with 4/4. We bring you results, pictures and a report by Nigel Short.

The self-winding Vladimir Kramnik watch

11/13/2005 – For a number of years Vladimir Kramnik has done promotionals for the Swiss company Blancpain, manufacturer of high-quality mechanical watches. Now Blancpain has created a special watch with an engraved image of Kramnik on its winding rotor. It will be handed over to him on November 24, before a simultaneous exhibition against 30 watch collectors. We have pictures...

Veteran vs upstart chess genius

11/13/2005 – What happens when you match up a 67-year-old grandmaster against a 19-year-old chess genius? The result is a rout. But who is routing whom? In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us what happened when in 1988 Vassily Ivanchuk encountered ex-world champion Vasily Smyslov. Heartening.

The true secret of intuition in chess

11/12/2005 – Everybody knows and admires the creative, speculative brilliance of the two great Latvian geniuses Mikhail Tal and Alexei Shirov. Is this a faculty we can all learn and acquire? Driven by need Niels Lauritsen tried to fathom the secret of intuition in chess and came up with a remarkable discovery: it is all about the way knights move.

Caught! Russians win the World Team Championship

11/11/2005 – It could not have been closer. Going into the final with a 2.5 point lead the Chinese men needed just one point to win the championship. They got half of that after 21 moves on board one. But on boards 2-4 the Russians cleaned up, and the 3-0 there put them half a point ahead in the final score. Triumph and despair.

World Junior Championships begin...

11/11/2005 – Well, actually with a wedding, between Turkey's greatest player and a WGM from Russia. For which our reporter, who incidentally was Best Man, had to cross a bridge from Europe to Asia. Which, together with the late-night celebrations did not leave him at his effervescent best. Anyway, you will probably enjoy the report by our man in Istanbul.

WCTC – China loses but retains the lead

11/10/2005 – It had to happen: the Chinese men's team ended their seven match winning streak with a loss to Armenia. But with a lead of 2.5 points they remain the hot favourites. High points in the last two rounds were the defeat of Russian GM Sergei Rublevsky by 16-year-old Shen Yang, and Vassily Ivanchuk's remarkable 'iron king' victory.

The draw problem – a simple solution

11/10/2005 – Recently Ignatius Leong and Leung Weiwen made a very radical solution to the problem of too many draws in chess. This led to a vigorous debate amongst our readers – we bring you a selection of their often very interesting letters. But we start off with the voice of reason: John Nunn analyses the problem and proposes a much simpler solution.

Searching for Bobby Fetcher

11/9/2005 – We must confess: we haven't a clue what this one is about. Apparently a film production company is planning or is in the process of shooting a satirical movie on chess. There is a trailer on the web site, and the Internet Movie Database lists the project as "in production". Figure it out yourself.

FIDE, ACP on the Team and World Championships

11/9/2005 – The debate continues, here on the ChessBase news pages. We have received messages for publication by FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong, on the World Team Championship selections, and from ACP President Joel Lautier, on the change of World Championship cycle rules. Also blitz interviews with top players.

It's... Andrew Martin's Radio ChessBase Show

11/8/2005 – The NiC Yearbook 76 paints a very poor portrait of Black's chances after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6.g3. In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture our chess trainer offers improvements that no Scandinavian player should miss.

WCTC – China still in the lead

11/7/2005 – "They haven't faced the strongest teams yet," protested some of our readers, when we said China was poised for victory. Today the Far Easteners defeated Ukraine and remained half a point ahead of the Russians, with a match to spare. On the free day all the participants went on an excursion to Jerusalem.

It doesn't take a genius to blunder

11/6/2005 – Contrary to what some of our readers might think, it is not necessary to be a grandmaster or even a world champion in order to blunder – even mere masters are capable of the most horrific mistakes. Dennis Monokroussos proves this in his Monday night Playchess lecture, looking at his own games. Here we find fallen humanity on center stage.

Opening of the Lasker Exhibition in Berlin

11/5/2005 – On the weekend from 20. October to 23. October the Lasker Society organized a big exhibition in honour of the only German World Champion. There were a lot of eminent guests, including one who had actually played against Lasker in 1935. The evening was rounded up by an Internet game Berlin-New York, two places where Lasker had celebrated great successes. Illustrated report.

World Team Championships – the Chinese are coming

11/5/2005 – The Russians have relinquished their lead. After playing only four of the first five rounds the Chinese men's team has overtaken them and looks poised for victory in Beer Sheva, Israel. Host Israel is in third place, followed by Armenia and Ukraine. Illustrated report.

Into the mailbag again

11/4/2005 – Columnist Steve Lopez serves up another batch of reader suggestions, comments, and observations in the latest ChessBase Workshop. Have a look and discover what the electronic postman has deposited in the mailbox.

Russia leads in the World Team Championships

11/3/2005 – Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich, both fresh from the world championship in Argentina, won their first two games at the World Team Championship, which has started in the Beer Sheva City, Israel. Nine teams are present, and they include eight players rated over 2700. Illustrated report.

A Cure for SAD (Severe Acute Drawitis)?

11/3/2005 – Draws, draws, draws – the problem has always faced chess, and it seems that there is no clear way to solve it. However, Ignatius Leong and Leung Weiwen, both of Singapore, offer a radical new proposal that would decide every game of chess in a sporting fashion. Will it catch on?

Harikrishna wins Essent Crown Group

11/2/2005 – One of India's brightest young talents, Pentala Harikrishna, won the Ninth Essent Chess Tournament last weekend. "Hari" had a full point lead before the last game in this four-player double round robin event, which included Ivan Sokolov, Emil Sutovsky and women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova. Illustrated report.

FIDE Deputy President Makropoulos weighs in

11/2/2005 – The controversies over the regulations of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, as well as the qualification rules for the next FIDE world championship continue. After protests by top players and a letters from FIDE officials and the ACP, here's a message we received from FIDE's Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos.

Radio ChessBase: from Aagaard & Shaw to Andrew Martin

11/2/2005 – Our popular Glasgow 3rd Floor Chess Radio is airing the last show of its existence. This is not only because the flat itself has been sold and must be vacated, but also because IMs Jacob Aagaard and John Shaw want to use more time for their own chess enterprises. Taking over is IM Andrew Martin, one of the most entertaining chess teachers around.

Chess for Peace – with Mikhail Gorbachev

11/2/2005 – Last Friday the city of Lindsborg in Kansas played host to former world champions Susan Polgar and Anatoly Karpov. And to the former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. This warm, humorous gentleman prepared tea for Susan and caused Karpov grief by playing 1.g4 for him in the match against Susan Polgar. Illustrated report.