ChessBase Magazine Online

World Chess Beauty Contest
22.02.2005 – That is the title of a new chess "tournament", initiated by a crew that calls themselves the "blitz brothers". They have set up a research site to find the most beautiful (we assume female) chess players on the planet. The first participants have already started making their moves, and chess players all over the world are invited to submit "cool photos". Take a deep breath.
 

Shengelia and Brodsky win Cappelle-la-Grande
22.02.2005 – The biggest Open of the year, staged in the northern-most tip of France, ended with a victory for IM David Shengelia and GM Michail Brodsky, both of whom scored 7.5/9. The former made a GM norm, as did IM Monika Socko, who ended on place 11. We bring you results, the games that are available and pictures of the winners.
 

Live commentary – by the players, during the game!
21.02.2005 – This is a unique format: two grandmasters, Susan Polgar and Hikaru Nakamura, will play in separate rooms, exchanging their moves by radio transmission. During the game they explain to the audience what they are thinking and why they choose certain moves. Playchess.com will, if possible, cover the games and bring you the live audio commentary.
 

Joop van Oosterom's English Attack
21.02.2005 – The Dutch billionaire and chess patron recently won the 18th Correspondence Chess World Championship by a significant margin, using as his main weapon the English Attack of the Najdorf Sicilian – with both colors. In his Monday night Playchess.com lecture Dennis Monokroussos looks at a staggering idea on move 23 that refuted a novelty and won a key game. Enjoy!
 

Indian Chess Federation splits
20.02.2005 – Some weeks ago the General Secretary of the All India Chess Federation received a restraining order from the Madras High Court; then Mr N. Srinivasan took over his duties and appointed new officers. Now supporters of the previous leader have voted to instate one of his officers as president of the AICF. In the meantime the Commonwealth Championship at the end of the month had to be postponed. The turmoil continues.
 

Aeroflot Open: Sutovsky catches Kharlov at the top
19.02.2005 – Five rounds of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow have been played, and after a fourth-round loss by Ivanchuk it is Andrei Kharlov and Emil Sutovsky who have taken the lead. We still have only a selection of games, and no official progress table. But we have worked out the most important details for you and bring you extensive photographic impressions of Moscow.
 

Final day at Cappelle-la-Grande
19.02.2005 – This year's Cappelle Open is once again one of the biggest and strongest of the year. 590 players from 52 countries, 78 GMs and 62 IMs, all gathered together in the northern French town. After seven of eight rounds the surprise leader is 41st seed Amir Bagheri of Iran.
 

Wijk aan Zee: once more with feeling
19.02.2005 – Remember the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee? This exciting event took place in January and spawned no less than fifteen densely illustrated reports on our chess news site. Today we return one more time to show you some extraordinary pictures taken by Dutch chess fan Siep Korteling. They include some startlying effects you shouldn't miss.
 

Aeroflot Open: Ivanchuk and Kharlov lead
18.02.2005 – After three rounds of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow there are two players with a perfect 3:0 score: Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Andrei Kharlov of Russia. You can watch the games live on the official site or on Playchess.com. Here is a selection of the games played so far, and some visual impressions.
 

'Too early to bury the unification'
17.02.2005 – With the reunification match between Kasparov and Kasimdzhanov on ice FIDE is on the offensive, with a press conference and an interview by the president. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the President of the Republic of Kalmykia, describes the background of negotiations and his expectations for the future with the Russian newspaper Sport Express.
 

Ilyumzhinov: reunification with or without Kasparov
16.02.2005 – Reunification is still on track, the match in Turkey will go ahead, for an increased prize sum of $1.65 million. That was the gist of a press conference held by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Moscow yesterday. He has given Garry Kasparov a deadline until February 26 to agree to the conditions, otherwise another player will replace him.
 

Susan Polgar in Lifestyles Magazine
15.02.2005 – The former women's world champion is rapidly becoming America's biggest chess asset, an ambassador, patron and promoter of the game. In a long article Lifestyles Magazine describes her chess activities, her personality, views and, well, her lifestyle in general. We bring you excerpts, links and pictures from the photoshoot.