Let the games begin in Calvià

10/16/2004 – Actually they have already begun. Round one brought with no big surprises, as the top seeded teams rampaged through the bottom ranks. But before that the 36th Chess Olympiad was opened with an evening ceremony and a giant marionette on the beachside of Santa Ponça. David Llada sent us some photographic impressions.

Dannemann: Leko survives Kramnik onslaught

10/16/2004 – Game 13, the penultimate in this match, saw classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik turn on the heat, with the black pieces. Challenger Peter Leko was clearly surprised and was soon hanging over the cliff. But using some incredible defensive moves he managed to hold on and is now just half a point from the title. Analysis now up!

NAO defends Euro Club Cup title

10/14/2004 – A giant among goliaths, NAO Chess Club of France went undefeated to win the 2004 European Club Cup in Cesme, Turkey. Even without Vladimir Kramnik, NAO lived up to its billing by not losing a single game. Report and photos.

Dannemann: Just one point to victory

10/14/2004 – Game 12 was a draw, but quite a hard-fought one in 34 moves. With the white pieces incumbent Vladimir Kramnik turned the pressure on, but Leko defended deftly and even gained the advantage in the end. After this draw he has to pick up one point in two games to win the title. We bring you a photographic impressions by Olena Boytsun.

Database basics - part 8

10/13/2004 – In the final installment of "Database Basics", columnist Steve Lopez discusses the finer points of speeding up your database searches and offers some closing thoughts on why using a database is important for your chess development. Read about it in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Kasparov vs Kasimdzhanov in January in Dubai

10/13/2004 – The reunification match between FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Garry Kasparov is scheduled to take place next January in the United Arab Emirates. The prize sum is US $1.2 million. The players will stay in the only seven-star hotel in the world. We have new pictures to show you what that means...

Going for Gold in Calvià

10/13/2004 – The 36th Chess Olympiad begins tomorrow in Calvià. 135 men's and 91 women's teams are participating, with 782 male and 353 female players. We bring you some interesting lists of the strongest players and teams, including a picture report of a very ambitious women's team that you want to watch.

Dannemann: No-risk draw in game 11

10/12/2004 – What can you say: Peter Leko played his home preparation until move 16, when Vladimir Kramnik uncorked a novelty. One move later the two agreed to a draw. So instead of deep analysis we talk to the manager of both players, Carsten Hensel, the man who pulled this championship off.

A mix of beautiful dreams

10/11/2004 – Tea Lanchava was born in Georgia, learned chess at five, won a number of youth world championships and became a Women Grandmaster. Now, at 30 and living in Holland, she has completed her male IM norms. Reason enough for Fred Lucas to do a special photo shoot with Tea.

Dannemann: Leko two points from victory

10/10/2004 – As the challenger 25-year-old Peter Leko needs 7½ points out of 14 games wrest the world championship title from Vladimir Kramnik, who needs seven points to retain it. A quick and a hard-fought draw in rounds nine and ten brought the Hungarian to striking distance. Leko now needs two points from the last four games. Report on games nine and ten.

Feeding frenzy in Bilbao

10/10/2004 – The chess in this man vs machine team championship ended fairly disastrously for the human side. The computers for their part were unable to appreciate some of the biggest attractions of the Basque city of Bilbao. We would like to warn our readers that there are very graphic images in our pictorial and video report.

Machines attack, humans strike back

10/8/2004 – The man vs machine team chess championship in Bilbao started with a depressing 0.5-2.5 loss for the biological systems. But in round two humans struck back – in fact at one point they were very close to a 3:0 whitewash. The president of the sanctioning body ICGA, David Levy, gives us a provocative assessment of the event.

Database basics - part 7

10/8/2004 – Our ongoing ChessBase Workshop series on database searches continues this week with an examination of some common mistakes that might prevent you from gathering the information you require. Learn how to avoid these missteps by reading Steve Lopez's latest article.

Game 8: Leko wins to take the lead

10/7/2004 – In a stunning 32-move Marshall Gambit, Peter Leko demolished Vladimir Kramnik's preparation and took the lead in their world championship match 4.5-3.5. Leko accepted the challenge to play the Marshall and then found a flaw in Kramnik's prepared queen sacrifice. Updated with photos and video report.

Favorites lead 2004 Euro Club Cup

10/7/2004 – NAO Chess Club of France is on the road to defending its title as European club champion. Even with its top board Kramnik busy somewhere else, NAO is the favorite and has won all four of its matches. Kasparov lost his first game to Rublevsky and came back to beat Shirov. We have photos and some onsite insight from one of the players.

Dannemann: A quick draw at halftime

10/6/2004 – Seven of the fourteen games of the classical chess world championship have been played, the last was a 21-move draw, coming after title holder Vladimir Kramnik surprised his challenger Peter Leko with an unusual move order in the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Leko did not feel at home in the new opening and went for the draw. Game, pictures and video report.

Man vs Machine Team Championship starts

10/6/2004 – For the first time the ever fascinating encounter man vs machine in chess is being staged as a team championship. From October 6 to 10 a team of three strong grandmasters, Veselin Topalov, Ruslan Ponomariov and Sergey Karjakin, will face three of the strongest programs in the world, Hydra, Junior and Fritz – live on Playchess.com. Picture and video report.

Star-studded teams in Izmir

10/4/2004 – Did you know that there was a tournament under way, with 86 grandmasters, 38 rated over 2600? They include Kasparov, Morozevich, Adams, Shirov and a host of other top players. The event is the 2004 European Club Cup, which is being held in Izmir, Turkey. Here's all the information you need.

Chess in the City

10/4/2004 – What brings hundreds of New York chess fans to Central Park on a rainy October day? They are there to watch a game between two grandmasters, which children reinact on a giant chessboard. This is another great idea coming out of the Susan Polgar Foundation – one that even Governor George E. Pataki knows to appreciate. More...

FIDE ratings: Kramnik under attack

10/3/2004 – For as long as many people can remember three players have dominated the FIDE rating list: Garry Kasparov has been leading for almost two decades; Anand and Kramnik have been following at a respectful distance. Now the latter's third position is under siege by two young players.

Dannemann: Game six drawn in 20

10/3/2004 – World championship challenger Peter Leko is definitely on the offensive. After winning game five to equalize the score today, with the black pieces, he surprised the incumbent Vladimir Kramnik with a pawn sacrifice on move 14. Kramnik demurred and, with a super-model watching, the game soon ended in a draw. Here's our report.

Fitting chess into a disabled life

10/3/2004 – Jamie Duif Calvin was an obsessive reader and an avid chess player, one the top 100 women in the US. But then disability struck, not as a graceful transition, but "more like falling overboard in the middle of the night into a dark, cold, choppy sea." However, thanks to modern computer technology she has taken up chess again. Here is Duif's story.

Dannemann: Peter Leko catches up

10/2/2004 – After getting nothing in two 1.e4 games, challenger Peter Leko switched to 1.d4 and a quiet line of the Queen's Gambit, something that the title defender Vladimir Kramnik likes to play. Going into the ending a pawn up Leko showed fine form to win the game and equalize in this championship. Video report now up.

Playchess lectures with Alterman and Monokroussos

10/2/2004 – Lecture time on Playchess.com. On Sunday GM Boris Alterman presents a great weapon against the King's Gambit: the Falkbeer Counter Gambit. Monday night Dennis Monokroussos shows us a fine attacking game by Artur Jussupow. Don't miss them...