San Luis R11: Anand and Svidler win, Topalov on the brink

10/11/2005 – Round eleven was another exciting affair, with Vishy Anand winning comfortably against Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Peter Svidler outplayed Alexander Morozevich to take the full point. Meanwhile Michael Adams took Veselin Topalov to the brink (the game was drawn). Full illustrated report.

San Luis R10: Kasimdzhanov beats Polgar

10/10/2005 – The still reigning Uzbek world champion almost spoiled a completely winning position against Judit Polgar, but won the game in the end. Topalov had what must certainly be a winning position against Morozevich, but only managed to draw. Leko vs Svidler and Adams vs Anand were both drawn. Full illustrated report.

San Luis R9: Morozevich wins, Svidler, Anand draw

10/9/2005 – A last practical chance to catch Topalov were disappointed when Anand drew against the tournament leader and Svidler drew an exciting game against the uxorious Uzbek Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Alexander Morozevich continued his late rampage with a fine victory over Peter Leko. Full illustrated report with a Short glossary.

Playchess lecture: Kasparov-Short revisited

10/9/2005 – It was a lopsided affair, but Garry Kasparov's final 12.5:7.5 victory over Nigel Short in their 1993 title match belies just how hard-fought it really was. In his Monday night Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows us a mind-blowing game, full of brilliant attacking and defensive motifs. A lot of interesting analytical work awaits you.

Susan Polgar's take on San Luis

10/8/2005 – Halfway through the FIDE World Championship in San Luis a former (women's) world champion, Susan Polgar, gives us her assessment of the eight players, their performances and what we can expect for the rest of the tournament. There are three annotated games in her midway report.

San Luis: Topalov and other historical performance records

10/8/2005 – Victory celebration for Veselin Topalov at the FIDE World Championship are virtually a certainty. So our statistical attention is diverted to a different question: is Topalov's performance so far the greatest of all time? In addition: Susan Polgar gives us her expectations for round nine.

San Luis R8: Anand and Morozevich win

10/7/2005 – Alexander Morozevich got a full point when Rustam Kasimjanov [sic] got into time trouble. Vishy Anand defeated Judit Polgar in a 62-move struggle. Topalov and Leko drew an atypically peaceful game – which sent Topalov's performance rating crashing to 3073. Adams-Svidler was a draw. Big illustrated report.

San Luis R7: Topalov. Wins. Again.

10/6/2005 – It may already be too late to stop Veselin Topalov. The Bulgarian beat Kasimdzhanov for his sixth win in seven games and leads by two full points at the halfway point. All four games were decisive today, including Morozevich's first win, against Anand. Svidler is in clear second after beating Polgar. Full report.

Ilyumzhinov resigns as Kalmykian President

10/6/2005 – FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the president of the independent Russian republic of Kalmükia, has tendered his resignation as leader of his country, stepping down over a year before his term ends. This is apparently a move to get renominated with the full backing of Russian President Putin. More...

San Luis R6: Topalov beats Polgar with black

10/5/2005 – Veselin Topalov is on a rampage, the likes of which have not been see for a very long time in chess. In round six he chalked up yet another win, this time with black against Judit Polgar. With 5.5/6 points his tournament performance is now a staggering 3157. How far can he go? The other games were hard-fought, exciting draws. Full report.

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.