Back in the mailbag

10/5/2005 – Most of our News items receive many reader comments, and the weekly ChessBase Workshop is certainly no exception. You can read a potpurri of reader responses in the latest edition. Workshop...

Naiditsch wins Dutch Rapid Open

10/4/2005 – When Arkadij Naiditsch won the Dortmund Super-GM, ahead of Topalov, Kramnik, Leko, Svidler, Adams and Bacrot, some thought it was a fluke. Now the young German GM has taken the Dutch Open Rapid Championship in Vlaardingen with 8/9 points and a sterling 2866 performance. No way around it – we are going to have to accept Arkadij as a world-class GM. Illustrated report by Fred Lucas.

San Luis R5: Topalov on top of the world

10/3/2005 – Veselin Topalov beat his closest rival in the world championship, Peter Svidler, and did it with the black pieces. Anand drew a very promising positon against Leko, which left the Bulgarian a point and a half ahead of the field. Topalov seems quite unstoppable – his Elo performance so far is an astronomical 3124. Full report...

San Luis: Anand's chances after round four

10/3/2005 – Just before the start of the World Championship in San Luis chess statistician Jeff Sonas gave Anand a 31% chance of winning. Topalov got 17%. After four rounds the latter has a one-point lead, while Anand suffered a serious setback. What are the Indian's chances of winning now? And what about Topalov? Try to guess before you read Jeff's latest figures.

San Luis R4: The World Championship slugfest continues

10/2/2005 – This FIDE event has provided us with another exciting 4-0 day in Argentina. Anand was sensationally mated by last seed Kasimdzhanov, Peter Leko defeated his compatriot Judit Polgar, Bulgarian champion Veselin Topalov gave Michael Adams his second loss in succession, and Morozevich was defeated by Svidler. Big report by Nigel Short.

Knock-out king Alexander Khalifman

10/1/2005 – Although he was a very strong player and long recognized as a genuine talent, 33-year-old Russian Alexander Khalifman never managed to break into the world's super-elite. Until the FIDE knockout world championship in Las Vegas in 1999. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks at a key game that won the FIDE title for 'Khalif'.

San Luis R3: Slugfest at the World Championship

10/1/2005 – In round two all games were drawn. Today the hyper aggressive play at the FIDE world championship led to four wins: Anand crushed Adams in 32 moves, Svidler beat Leko, and Judit Polgar won a very nice game against Kasimdzhanov. Veselin Topalov needed over six hours to grind down Alexander Morozevich. Full report.

Variation colors in ChessBase 9

10/1/2005 – In the latest ChessBase Workshop, we show you how to use a little-known ChessBase 9 feature which can really make game variations come alive: color-coding individual variations. Have a look at the new column and learn how to add color to your game (or at least to your gamescores). Workshop...

Records and beauties – Saint-Vincent wrap-up

9/30/2005 – The recent European Chess Club Championships in Saint-Vincent, Italy, ended with some surprises. In a richly illustrated final report of the event, which includes replayable annotated games, Frits Agterdenbos looks back at a week of great excitement, giving full credit to the players and their achievements.

San Luis R2: Topalov takes Anand to the brink

9/30/2005 – Bulgarian champion Veselin Topalov's exchange sacrifice against top favourite Vishy Anand brought the latter on the verge of disaster, but Anand managed to save an ending queen vs queen + two pawns and draw in 97 moves. John Nunn tells us how. Two other games were also hard-fought draws. Full report with Nigel Short's San Luis diary.

San Luis R1: Anand and Topalov win with black

9/29/2005 – The hot favourite for this world championship, Vishy Anand, started off with a bang, beating Judit Polgar with the black pieces in a beautiful game. Peter Leko was close to victory, but then blew it against Veselin Topalov. Rustam Kasimdzhanov almost made it three black wins against Morozevich. Nigel Short reports from San Luis.

World Championship starts in San Luis

9/28/2005 – The first round of the FIDE World Championship in San Luis is under way: Leko vs Topalov, Morozevich vs Kasimdzhanov, Svidler vs Adams (drawn) and Polgar vs Anand. The live audio commentary delivered by GM Yasser Seirawan on Playchess has attracted thousands of spectators, where 30-40 GMs are following the games. Exciting stuff. Update with pictures.

Ponomariov: 'I am on my way back!'

9/28/2005 – In 2002 the 18-year-old Ruslan Ponomariov won the FIDE World Championship to become the youngest title-holder in history. A year later he was scheduled to play a reunification match against Garry Kasparov. After venue changes and long negotiations the match was eventually cancelled. For the first time Ponomariov speaks about this traumatic time in an exclusive interview.

San Luis World Championship – who will win?

9/27/2005 – Recently Garry Kasparov estimated that there was a 95% chance of either Anand, Topalov or Leko winning the world title. Nigel Short argued that, surely, the other five world-class GMs had more than a 5% chance, and offered Kasparov a 1:17 bet. Now statisician Jeff Sonas gives us the precise mathematical figures.

European Youth Championship: the winners

9/26/2005 – This very popular tournament was organised by the Serbia & Montenegro Chess Federation and held in Herceg Novi, a small tourist town in Montenegro, very close to Croatian border. 643 players from 42 different countries took part, playing in ten groups, from Under 18 to Under 10, boys and girls. We bring you top results, games and pictures.

Tomsk wins European Club Cup

9/25/2005 – It was as close as you can get: three teams tied for first, with an equal number of match points. Tomsk-400 won the title by half a point in board points. And the women's section? It was as close as you can get: three teams tied for first, with an equal number of match points. NTN Tbilisi won the title by half a point in board points! Big illustrated report.

Ilyumzhinov: 'In principle Kramnik can play the winner'

9/24/2005 – A few days before the start of the World Championship in San Luis FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has stated, in an interview with Russian newspaper Sports Express, that classical chess world champion could get a chance to play against the winner. In principle. The condition is that two million dollars prize money are found, and that the FIDE champion accepts the challenge.

San Luis: the players arrive

9/24/2005 – Some came a full week early, by plane from their European or Russian homes; others flew to Buenos Aires and took a bus to their final destination in San Luis. We have sightings of Topalov, Svidler, Adams, Polgar, Leko and Kasimdzhanov. Morozevich is on the way, Anand is due in on Monday. Looks like the games can begin.

Maradona and Needleman – Karpov's Argentine Adventure

9/24/2005 – On a recent goodwill trip to Argentina former world champion Anatoly Karpov played a couple of interesting game. One was in "living chess" against the soccer star Diego Maradona, who is now a talkshow host. The other was in a simultaneous exhibition against chess youth. Oh, and he also challenged Fischer to a match. Illustrated report (with more pictures).

Feedback on intelligent mistakes

9/23/2005 – The ChessBase Workshop column on "intelligent mistakes" and chess computer handicap modes has generated a great deal of response (and suggestions) from our readers. We take a look at a sampling of these responses in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Short challenges Kasparov: who will win?

9/23/2005 – In less than a week the FIDE World Championship will take place in San Luis. Garry Kasparov has said that there is a 95% chance that one of the trio Anand, Topalov or Leko will take the title. Nigel Short, who is the official commentator at the event, would like to wager money on one of the other five – at 17:1 odds. What are the true chances?

21st European Club Cup in Saint-Vincent

9/22/2005 – This top event is taking place in the a mountain town in Italy, with 48 men's and 11 women's teams. Ther is a sterling array of grandmasters, amongst them Vladimir Kramnik, who leads the NAO Chess Club. But last year's winners are now languishing in 11th place. We bring you games, results and pictures, as well as an interesting interview with Vladimir Kramnik.

Volokitin wins Young Masters in Lausanne

9/22/2005 – Ukrainian champion Andrei Volokitin, 19, won the prestigious Young Maters tournament in Lausanne, Switzerland, beating reigning US champion Hikaru Nakamura in the final of the eight-player knockout event. Third was Shakhiyar Mamedyarov, 20, from Azerbaidjan, ahead of India's Pentala Harikrishna. Report, games and pictures.

'It's like London, Gastings and Gaaga-Moscow'

9/22/2005 – Alexander Morozevich is one of the most talented and imaginative players in the world, a true “belle époque” chess master who could well produce the most interesting games at the San Luis world championship. "Moro", who can be taken lightly by nobody, fears Peter Leko most. Here are his answers to the ten question of the organiser.