Chess News, Chess Programs, Databases

North Urals Cup: four ladies in the lead
30.07.2007 – It's Zhu and Katya and Zhao and Natalija (Chen, Lahno, Xue and Pogonina) who are leading in the super-strong women's event in Krasnoturinsk, Russia. With one round left all have 5.0/8 points and have cleared the rest of the field by a point and a half. All decisions will come in tomorrow's final round, which starts at 11 a.m. local time (translations given). Big illustrated report .

ChessBase Light 2007 - part 10
30.07.2007 – Now that you've activated your ChessBase Light 2007 program to ChessBase Light Premium, it's time to start learning about the new features: you can open multiple databases, create new ones, and copy games from one database to another. Learn about all this in the latest ChessBase Workshop.

Biel 06: Radjabov and Polgar win, Carlsen leads
29.07.2007 – Teimour Radjabov won in decisive style against Boris Avrukh, to replace him in second place behind Magnus Carlsen. Judit Polgar played an old and unfashionable line in the Najdorf, previously used by Fischer, to beat Alexander Motylev. In the Europe Echecs video section we hear about Topalov and the world championship in an outspoken interview with Anatoly Karpov.

Vassily Ivanchuk wins, Nigel Short crashes at 8th Montreal International
29.07.2007 – With a splendid last-round win over his main rival Pentala Harikrishna veteran Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk wrapped up the 8th International tournament in Montreal, finishing with a full point lead over the rest of his colleagues. But the big sensation was Nigel Short's 2.0/9 last place, one of the worst crashes seen in modern chess history. We asked Nigel: what went wrong?

Pia Cramling wins MonRoi Grand-Prix
29.07.2007 – She's been on top of women's chess for over two decades. Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling, who after marriage and becoming a mother finds that she is enjoying chess more than ever, proved that she is still a force to be reckoned with, by winning the Grand Prix in Montreal with 5.0/7, half a point ahead of the field. Pictorial report with video interviews.

Biel 05: Carlsen in the lead – can anyone stop this lad?
29.07.2007 – Magnus Carlsen beats Alexander Onischuk, his main rival, with a typical piece of tactical wizadry, while Bu beat Motylev in a fairly obscure game. The other encounters ended piecefully. 16-year-old Magnus has now taken the outright lead, a full point ahead of the field. His score is 4.0/5, his performance so far a scary 2907. Report with round five photos and commentary.

Biel 04: Four decided games, Carlsen and Onischuk lead
27.07.2007 – Magnus Carlsen was a tad lucky to beat Alexander Motylev with the black pieces – the Russian had pressed all through the game and then blundered. Avrukh taught Bu Xianghzi how every move counts, Onischuk outplayed Loek van Wely and Grischuk did the same to Pelletier. We bring you a report with a candid Europe Echecs video of Judit Polgar talking about Bobby Fischer.

The truly awesome Garry Kasparov
27.07.2007 – The Sicilian Najdorf is the system that mostly formed modern chess over the last centuries. That is why a course in the Najdorf can help every chess player's understanding of the game. Especially when you have the chance to learn right from the number one expert, Garry Kasparov. His new Najdorf vol 3 DVD is packed with six hours of deep analysis. Buy it now or read this review.

North Urals Cup: well balanced event, exciting play
26.07.2007 – At halftime all ten players in this tournament are very close together, just a point separating the first from the last. Elisabeth Pähtz recovered from her 0-3 start with two wins, Kateryna Lahno and top seed Hou Yifan faltered, Natalya Pogonina and Zhu Chen fought their way to the top. We bring you a full report with splendid pictures by event photographer Vadim Smalkov.

Krush US Champion, Houska leads in MonRoi Grand Prix
26.07.2007 – In the recent US Women's Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, it was top seed Irina Krush, WGM and IM with a 2479 FIDE rating (number 14 in the world), who took the title. Irina then rushed off to Montreal, where she is currently playing in the MonRoi Women's Grand Prix, where her British colleague Jovanka Houska is in the lead. Pictorial report and games from both events.

Efim Geller, the father of the King's Indian
26.07.2007 – Efim Geller (1925-1998) was among the world's best for about 30 years. He played in six Candidates cycles and had a +2 career score against Bobby Fischer. He was a great theoretician, of whom Botvinnik said: "Before Geller, we did not understand the King's Indian." Our Playchess trainer Dennis Monokroussos shows us a game in which he ironically defeats his opponent's King's Indian.

Biel 03: Wins for Bu vs Polgar, Motylev vs van Wely
26.07.2007 – Another day of exciting chess, with Bu Xiangzhi, the first Chinese GM to play in the Biel Chess Festival, defeating Judit Polgar in just 34 moves. Alexander Motylev, on the black side of an English Opening, demolished Loek van Wely. Top seeds Grischuk and Radjabov playing a cliff-hanger that ended after 66 moves in a draw. We bring you a report with pictures, and videos by Europe Echecs.