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Carlsen on the Grand Prix: readers' feedback
03.12.2008 – The cauldron is on the boil, FIDE has changed the World Championship qualification regulations, Alexei Shirov has lodged a protest. Now Magnus Carlsen, represented by his father Henrik, hints at legal action and withdrawal from the cycle. We bring you a report from his blog and feedback from readers on this and other subjects (including Aronian on women and computers!). A long, interesting read.
 

Nigel Davies – The English Opening
03.12.2008 – "I don’t know many people who actually enjoy playing against the English Opening," the reviewer writes. "In my experience, club and tournament players are rarely well prepared to meet it. Thus it seems a very reasonable idea to add it to your collection of favourite openings." You can do this with Nigel Davies' trainer DVD. Order it now or read this review by Sean Marsh.
 

World Champion vs lowly IM – a crush
03.12.2008 – Mikhail Tal was winning Gold for the Soviet team at the Olympiad. In the final round he faced IM Jonathan Penrose. As one might expect, it was a crush – but the "crushee" was Tal. In his Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos introduces us to this remarkable player and his remarkable game. Be there at 9 p.m. ET.
 

Olympiad Dresden: The Ivanchuk Files
02.12.2008 – The events surrounding the failed attempt to get Vassily Ivanchuk to submit to a doping test have hit the broadsheets and news services. A number of chess players, most publicly Alexei Shirov, have expressed fears that Ivanchuk may be banned from competitive chess and the medals redistributed. Before you make up your mind where you stand, here are all the details of the case.
 

Alexei Shirov: 'Let us ban FIDE!'
02.12.2008 – "I don’t know how many times I have said to myself," says the world class GM and world championship runner-up, "that it makes no sense at all to keep getting involved in chess politics and that I should just concentrate on my work. But the recent FIDE 'developments' possibly made many late great champions turn in their graves. That means the living chess players should speak out." Press release.
 

Olympiad Dresden: statistics and stories
02.12.2008 – The games are over, but there are still plenty of stories to tell about one of the biggest and most spectacular chess Olympiads ever. We start our series of retrospective articles with one on the Elo winners, a medal-deciding game, on the most unusual results, the stolen diamond, the reception of the winners in their home countries and the trauma of a 0-4 loss against your arch rivals. Enjoy.
 

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (13)
01.12.2008 – The famous brilliancy in which Carl Carls defeated Schuster lasted under a dozen moves, but the Editor of Chess Notes points out that there are many complications. These are historical (when did the game occur, and did Carlos Torre score an identical victory the following decade?) as well as analytical (was the combination sound?). A detailed investigation is presented.
 

Bob Wade – eulogies to a well-loved personality.
30.11.2008 – Robert Wade, player, writer, arbiter, coach and chess promoter, passed yesterday at the age of 87. Our report on his life and work found a world-wide echo, and we received dozens of messages from close friends and chance acquaintances. They include Speelman, Nunn, Short, Levitt, Levy, O'Connell – and a long article with annotated games by GM Raymond Keene. A fond farewell to Bob Wade.
 

Magnus Carlsen – now we are eighteen
30.11.2008 – We first introduced the Wonderboy, the "Mozart of Chess", to our readership back in January 2004. In the meantime countless articles have been written about this super-star of chess, who for a few days in September this year topped the live world rankings. Today he is eighteen – a good opportunity to embarrass him with some baby photos we dug up. Happy Birthday, Magnus!
 

Chess legend Bob Wade dies at 87
29.11.2008 – Robert Graham Wade, player, writer, arbiter, coach and chess promoter, was born in New Zealand, where he won the national championship three times. After moving to England he won the British Championship twice and played for England in six Olympiads. He beat Korchnoi and helped Bobby Fischer prepare for his match in Reykjavik. Bob died in the early hours of the morning. In memoriam.
 

Olympiad in Dresden: Closing ceremony and prize giving
29.11.2008 – 1,270 players took part in the event, hailing from 141 different countries. 722 men and 548 women played a total of 6,050 games. In the end Armenia and Georgia had won Gold in the men's and women's sections. But there were also prizes in different Elo categories, medals for best performances on different boards. We bring you all the winners in this big pictorial report.
 

Good humour, personal stories, and the champion's best games
28.11.2008 – Vishy Anand's clear victory at the World Championship in Bonn was the chess highlight of the year. During the match one wag suggested Kramnik might have fared better had he watched Anand's DVDs 'My Career'. Steve Goldberg of Chesscafe did just that and enjoyed the great combination of humour, anecdotes and in-depth annotation in volume two. Buy it now or read more.