Pavel Blatny's modern masterpiece

12/4/2005 – Some of the greatest games go unnoticed – at least in chess databases, especially if they were played in open tournaments. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us a truly memorable effort by Pavel Blatny, one which contains a sacrifice line that you have to see to believe. Enjoy!

Ted Danson in Knights of the South Bronx

12/3/2005 – This A&E Network production premiers Tuesday, December 6, 8-10pm ET/PT. Ted Danson plays English teacher David MacEnulty in a true story which depicts one man’s struggle to better the lives of underprivileged children from a broken-down school in the South Bronx – by teaching them chess. Must watch.

From the mailbag

12/3/2005 – In the latest ChessBase Workshop we again field a number of e- mailed questions submitted by our readers. Included are questions on text colors, gamne list notation and symbology, and even one letter that has us scratching our collective heads. Workshop...

A hot cup of Elo?

12/2/2005 – Many chessplayers wouldn't think of starting a round without a cup of coffee next to the board. Are they just trying to wake up for that early game (anything before noon) or are they also getting a memory boost? New studies show how caffeine enhances brain activity and short-term memory. Starbucks is waiting for you.

FIDE World Cup Round 2.3 - Tiebreaks

12/2/2005 – The playing hall just got a whole lot emptier in Khanty-Mansyisk. The field is down to just 32. It was a wild day of tiebreaks with four of the seventeen matches going to sudden-death blitz. The remaining players are looking more like the usual suspects. The lowest-rated survivor is 2565. Report, game highlights, and photo report right here.

Hot start to second round in Khanty-Mansyisk

12/1/2005 – If the players keep this up they'll melt a lot of the Siberian snow outside the venue. Seven if the top eight boards finished decisively and only half of the 32 games were drawn. Top seed Ivanchuk lost to Cheparinov, showing that Bulgaria is on the march even without Topalov. We have many beautiful photos and a guide to the best games.

FIDE World Cup Round 2.2

12/1/2005 – The top seed is out thanks to Bulgaria's Ivan Cheparinov. Most of the other favorites came through, however, while it seems like the rest of the field really likes to play rapid chess. 17 of 32 matches will go to tiebreaks tomorrow and a brace of must-win wins showed cold weather doesn't dampen fighting spirit. Report and photos.

Topalov inaugurates Las Palmas Festival

11/30/2005 – The port of Las Palmas decided to celebrate their 100th year with chess. An international open with stars from Spain to Bolivia is accompanied with rapid and blitz events as well as a large simul. FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov was a special guest and surprised with his choice of the honorary first move.

FIDE World Cup Round 1.2

11/29/2005 – Kamsky remembers how to write the moves, don't worry! 38 of the 64 first round matches have been decided without needing Tuesday's tiebreak games. There are more than a few surprises on the first plane out of Khanty-Mansyisk, including two of the world's top juniors. We have photos, results, and some elimination games.

Kramnik and Blancpain in Moscow

11/29/2005 – Vladimir Kramnik is a promoter of Blancpain, manufacturer of high-quality mechanical watches. One contains an engraved image of Kramnik on its winding rotor. It was handed over to Kramnik in a ceremony on November 24, after which the classical chess world champion played a simultaneous exhibition against 30 collectors.

Love is on the air...

11/29/2005 – In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture chess trainer Andrew Martin takes a look at one of the most intense and bizarre matches in chess history. No love was lost between Korchnoi and Spassky in their 1977 candidates match, and their contributions to the openings won't be lost either. Tune in and turn on.

FIDE World Cup Round 1.3 - Tiebreaks

11/29/2005 – The pressure builds and the time control shortens, it's tiebreak day in Khanty-Mansyisk. The 25 matches that weren't decided after two games went to rapid chess and then, if required, blitz and sudden death. Half of the 128 participants are now on the way home. Report, pairings, games and plenty of photos now up.

Still more responses to Intelligent mistakes

11/28/2005 – The ChessBase Workshop column on "intelligent" computer mistakes continues to generate a great volume of interesting e- mails from our readers. In the latest edition we provide a sampling of these users comments as well as columnist Steve Lopez' replies.

Grandmaster Igor Ivanov, 1947–2005

11/27/2005 – A week ago the chess world was saddened by the passing of GM Igor Ivanov, who will not be forgotten by the people who knew him. In order to make sure his chess will also be remembered Dennis Monokroussos, in his Monday night Playchess lecture, shows us one of Ivanov's immortal games. A tribute to this outstanding figure in American chess.

A Magical Evening with the stars

11/27/2005 – Who are the two people in our picture? Well, one is Susan Polgar, winner of multiple women's world chess championship title, who paid a visit to gala benefit reception in New York, given to support the Christopher Reeve Foundation. The other is one of the numerous Hollywood actors who were present for the occasion. Find out who else was there.

FIDE World Cup starts in Khany-Mansiysk

11/27/2005 – It used to be known as the FIDE Knockout World Championship, now it is the World Cup, featuring 128 of the world's strongest players, who will play for a $1.5 million purse. 127 of them made to Khanty, 2250 km east of Moscow. We bring you a full report of round one, with results, games and pictures directly from this Siberian winter event.

Viktor Korchnoi in Holland — still going strong

11/26/2005 – Bunschoten-Spakenburg is a little village north of Amersfoort in Holland. Bunschoten has it's own chess club, in a special building designed in chess style. Two weeks ago they invited the legendary Viktor Kortchnoi for a blitz tournament to commemorate their 70th anniversary. We bring you a special photo report by Fred Lucas.

Almira Skripchenko – cannons on the chessboard

11/25/2005 – China, one of the world's fastest-rising chess nations, has come up with a lot of ideas to promote the game. One interesting event was an "AIGO chess" match between French women's champion Almira Skripchenko and former women's world champion Xie Jun. Here's a spectacular pictorial by Almira.

Grandmaster Chess and topical essays

11/25/2005 – Chess books are often edifying and instructive, but more often they are franky boring. Here is one that breaks with the tradition. John Nunn's latest work looks back at a remarkable career of exciting chess, and then takes on some controversial subjects: the FIDE time limit, knockout world championships and drug-testing in chess. Highly recommended.

8:4 final score for the machines – what next?

11/24/2005 – All three games in the final round of the People vs Computers match in Bilbao ended in three exciting draws. Except for the Deep Junior vs Ponomariov game, which had everyone bored to tears, until Junior suddenly tried to win and almost lost to the former world champion. Report and games.

More responses to Intelligent mistakes

11/24/2005 – Our ongoing ChessBase Workshop discussion on handicapping chess programs to play in a more human-like manner has taken a decidedly technical turn this week. You can see the latest reader comments and our own replies in the latest edition. Workshop...

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Elisabeth Pähtz win World Juniors

11/23/2005 – He is (yet another) wonder boy from Azerbaijan, she a German talent who already picked up the under 18 title two years ago. Both finished clear first in the boys' and girls' sections of the World Junior Chess Championship in Istanbul, Turkey. We bring you results, games and a big pictorial report by Frits Agterdenbos.

Wham! 2½-½ for the machines in Bilbao

11/23/2005 – In round three of the People vs Computers match in the Basque city of Bilbao the computers all had white – and came close to giving the humans another 3-0 whitewash. Only Rustam Kasimdzhanov was able to save a grace draw for the three world champions in this event. Report and games.

Andrew Martin: attacking with the b-pawn

11/23/2005 – Are you interested in attacking chess? In his Wednesday night Playchess lecture Andrew Martin looks at a remarkable new pawn sacrifice in the Yugoslav Attack of the Dragon. He also whets our appetite with the easy-to-remember 1.b4! Tune in and learn.