Mr Cool wins Moscow Blitz Tournament

12/11/2004 – Due to their dynamism, blitz tournaments are always fascinating. Instant duel, instant bloodshed! But when you organize it in the vicinity of the Kremlin, with supertalents like Morozevich, Rublevsky, Vlad Tkachiev and Sasha Grischuk, suddenly the event becomes a global spectacle. Here's a report with lots of pictures.

Impressions of the Super Final – Part three

12/10/2004 – The Russian Championship has been over for some time now. We all know the result and, of course, Garry Kasparov's remarkable +5 victory. "He utilized his pit-stops better than his opponents, he changed his tires early on," writes Misha Savinov, who was in Moscow and sent us this illustrated report.

A royal reception for US women's team

12/10/2004 – The first medal in US women's team history has reached home shores to fanfare from coast to coast. This week they were welcomed in New York by the state's Governor, George Pataki. In the evening there was a media reception. Both events included the team's special trainer, Garry Kasparov. Report and beautiful photos.

Andrew Martin's DVD The ABC of the Ruy Lopez

12/9/2004 – The Chess Media System feature of ChessBase 9 and the Fritz family of playing programs allows instructors to provide video chess instruction in a more engaging manner than standard chess videos by using fully animated chessboards. The latest entry in the Fritz Trainer series is Andrew Martin's DVD The ABC of the Ruy Lopez. In this week's ChessBase Workshop, we tear off the shrinkwrap to bring you details on our latest chess DVD release. Workshop...

FIDE terminates negotiations with Dubai

12/7/2004 – As we reported recently, FIDE was preparing to cancel its plans to hold the reunification match between Garry Kasparov and Rustam Kasimdzhinov, scheduled for January 14, 2005, in Dubai, UAE, and to make arrangements to stage it in Turkey instead. Now FIDE confirms that negotiations with Dubai have indeed been terminated.

Aagaard & Shaw: current events in chess

12/7/2004 – On the Wednesday evening lecture live on Playchess.com in our Glasgow Chess Radio, IMs Jacob Aagaard & John Shaw will again discuss current events in chess. This includes the events at the recently completed US Championship 2005.

16-year Hikaru is US Champion

12/6/2004 – Hikaru Nakamura, a teenage ace from White Plains, NY, beat Alex Stripunsky for the US championship title and $25,000 in prize money. With that Hikaru became the youngest winner of the 159-year-old title since Bobby Fischer.The women's section was won by Rusudan Goletiani. Here are the results, games and lots of pictures in our final report.

Chess lessons from a soccer model

12/5/2004 – Why did a man who looks disconcertingly like Arnold Schwarzenegger visit a beautiful soccer model last weekend? For a chess lesson he had won in a competition? During a trip to a tiny island off the German coast? Which the British had tried to blow up with 6800 tons of explosives? Even if you don't believe this convoluted tale, at least enjoy the pictures...

Tactics at the 2005 US Championship

12/4/2004 – After eight rounds at the 2005 US Championship in San Diego Alex Stripunsky and 17-year-old Hikaru Nakamura are in the lead. We bring you results and games, but also a something special: a set of twelve positions from this event which you can print out and use to hone your tactical skills.

The gentleman boxer world chess champion

12/4/2004 – The fifth world chess champion Max Euwe was a real gentleman and a fine sportsman, respected by all. He wasn’t even a professional player but taught mathematics at a girl’s school! In his Monday night Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monkroussos shows us a beatiful game by Euwe, one that serves as a model for the attack.

The Titan speaks his mind

12/4/2004 – Garry Kasparov talks the way he plays chess: straight-forward, self-critical, telling it the way it is. In a extensive, in-depth discussion the 2004 Russian Champion touches on his magnificent victory in the Super Final, his upcoming match against Kasimdzhanov, Kramnik, and Fischer Random Chess. Take time off to read this remarkable interview.

Chess on the gift list of the Trib

12/2/2004 – It is not everyday that you see chess on the front page of an International newspaper. "This month, for the first time on the Amazon.com best-seller list for software for children, the No. 1 product was a chess program," the Herald Tribune noted this weekend. And hastened to make chess part of their gifts guide for Christmas.

Breaking news: Kasparov-Kasimdzhanov in Turkey?

12/2/2004 – We are receiving word that FIDE will not hold the reunification match, scheduled for January 14, 2005, in Dubai after all. Instead efforts are under way to stage it in Turkey, as proposed on October 30, 2004 by the president of the Turkish Chess Federation Ali Nihat Yazici. FIDE press release...

My Gawd, it's full of Alexes!

12/1/2004 – Thee rounds before the end of the 2005 US Championship in San Diego Alex Stripunky has taken the lead, after beating Alex Fischbein in round six. Grigory Serper was dogged in his drawing intentions against Nakamura, and th unforgotten Gata Kamsky is languishin on place 22. More...

Harikrishna, Korbut win Junior titles

12/1/2004 – The Junior World Championships in Cochin was won by India's Pentala Harikrishna and by Ekaterina Korbut of Russia. The last round brought very tense games, triumphs and tragedies, and the final decision on the distribution of medals. We bring you a full illustrated report by Arvind Aaron.

Winning back the mammoth's tusks

12/1/2004 – Twenty years ago, to the day, he entered the hotel Rossija with a minus five score. Last week Garry Kasparov left it with plus five. In a candid interview with Sport Express the winner of the Russian Championship talks about his form, his play, Kramnik vs Leko, and the situation in world chess.

GameZone reviews Fritz Deluxe

12/1/2004 – The latest Fritz is out, a Deluxe version that is already getting rave reviews. "This is my first experience with Fritz, and I quickly saw why it is so popular," wrote one reviewer, who thought the online Fritz community was like a shark tank ("I mean that in a good way"). Here's his write-up in GameZone Magazine.

Show Threat

11/30/2004 – Among ChessBase 9's many new features is a "Show Threat" mode. It's more than just a visual display of an immediate threat, though -- learn why in the latest edition of ChessBase Workshop.

Returning to the 'scene of the crime'

11/30/2004 – Twelve years ago Boris Spassky played a match against Bobby Fischer in Yugoslavia. That got Fischer into a lot of trouble, while for Spassky, a French citizen, there were no repercussions. Now the tenth world champion returned to Belgrade to open the Belgrade Chess Trophy. Quick interview...

The return of Gata Kamsky

11/29/2004 – After eight years of moon-lighting with a university career chess prodigy Gata Kamsky has returned to chess and is currently playing at the US Championship. In his Monday night Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monkroussos looks back ten years, when Gata was a leader of the pack of youngsters, turning the chess world upside down.

A kiss for the champ

11/29/2004 – The Paul Keres Memorial in Tallinn saw six GMs participating in a rapid chess round robin tournament. it was won in convincing style by Vishy Anand, who scored a dry 5/5 points. For this he got a kiss from the president of the Estonian Chess Federation. We bring you games, results and a memorial to Paul Keres.

Pähtz/Korbut, Harikrishna/Zhao poised for victory

11/29/2004 – The Junior World Championships in Cochin, India, is in it final stages. Pental Harikrishna and Zhao Jun lead in the boys' section – with amazing 9½ out of 12. In the girls' section the gold medal will go to either Elisabeth Pähtz (picture) or Ekaterina Korbut. Last round tomorrow...

Super Final R11: Kasparov wins title by 1½ points

11/27/2004 – The Super Final of the 57th Russian Championship ended with a very convincing victory by Garry Kasparov, who finished a point and a half ahead of the field with a performance rating of 2855. The last round was well fought on all boards, with three decided games reshuffling the midfield. Here's the final stand, games and some interesting statistics.

Super Final R10: Grischuk loses, Kasparov clinches title

11/26/2004 – After ten rounds of the 57th Russian Championship Super Final the winner is already clear: Garry Kasparov leads with 7.0 points from nine games and a performance rating of 2877. His closest rival, Alexander Grischuk, lost his game today and now joins Dreev, who won, at 5.5/9. Games and results...