ChessBase Magazine Online

Mediaeval chess sharks
25.03.2003 – Where do you think first chess "professionals" turned up? We are talking chess masters who craftily lose to strangers, only to win the decisive final game by "pure luck". The Café La Regence you say? Wrong. It was in the Caravansarays on the Great Silk Road, the ancient trade route which is synonymous with adventure, mystery and wonder. Jamshid Begmatov tells us the story.
 

Black and white American queens draw match
24.03.2003 – Modern art on the walls, wine and cheese on the table, wigs on the players, and 25 minutes on the clock for two games. Irina Krush and Jennifer Shahade played a two-game rapid match at a New York City art gallery. An audience of chess lovers and art lovers watched them split 1-1. Our intrepid reporter braved the formidable buffet to bring you this report.
 

An historical picture
24.03.2003 – Do you know why the tournament in Monaco is called "Melody Amber"? When the first blindfold-and-rapid event was held there? Who won it and who won the subsequent tournament? We give you the results, games and pictures of round eight of this year's edition (Kramnik lost both games!), and then answer the above questions. Check it out here...
 

Looking for a friend?
23.03.2003 – People who own Fritz 8 (or the interface compatible Shredder 7) will probably have seen an unusual message when they logged on to the Playchess.com server. The request would have been to upgrade the program, a process which involves a few "yes" clicks and a couple of minutes of your time. Here's a list of all the great new functions you get.
 

Wrong board game, John!
23.03.2003 – Round seven of the Melody Amber tournament in Monaco saw Peter Leko drop a point and the lead to Alexander Morozevich. Boris Gelfand picked up one against Evgeny Bareev to move into second, half a point behind Vishy Anand, who cruised along at the top by taking a point against Shirov. Meanwhile John Nunn was playing something completely different. We bring you results, standing, games and pictures.
 

And we thought it was the brain
22.03.2003 – What separates Oscar-winners like Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino from aspiring actors whose careers never get off the ground? Or chess champions from the rest of us patzers? A new study suggests it may be testosterone surges. Researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta found that male actors who delivered a top-notch performance and chess players who won matches had higher levels of the hormone. Here's the Reuters article.
 

Leko, Anand lead in Monaco
22.03.2003 – At the 12th Amber Tournament, a combination of blindfold and rapid chess games, sponsored by Dutch billionaire J.J. van Oosterom, Peter Leko and Vishy Anand are in the lead with 8/12, half a point ahead of Kramnik and Gelfand. Our regular reports will resume on Monday, in the meantime after the half-way point we bring you standing, games and pictures.
 

Not for the novice chess player
22.03.2003 – The Simpsons may be an award-winning world-class cartoon series, but you do not want to learn chess from them. The "Simpsons Chess Game" contains instructions that include the following for the knight move: “Leaping forward, backward or right or left two squares at a time and capturing other pieces at its way. But cannot capture the opponent as his own team stands in the way.” Doh! Check out the full set of rules here.
 

Linares, Linares! – All over again
20.03.2003 – Why does Vassily Ivanchuk have trouble praying when he is thinking of God? Was Gata Kamsky's orange juice really poisoned? Was it a coincidence that general Juan Perea's son got married on the day Manolete was killed in the Linares bullring? Nadja Woisin searches for the answers in her review of a remarkable book by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam.
 

And on the fifth day they rested
19.03.2003 – How much hotter can Peter Leko get? Right on the heels of his Linares win, the Hungarian is leading the Melody Amber tournament in Monaco. He tops the combined standings in a very tight field with 5.5/8. Kramnik leads the blindfold and is part of the large pack of players chasing Leko after four rounds. More..
 

The Too Tough for ChessBase Trivia Contest
18.03.2003 – How could anything be too tough for ChessBase readers? If you can answer all 15 of these questions correctly, it will prove that nothing is too tough! Beat Lasker on his birthday? Father preferred dominoes? Orange juice? Bears in trees?!? Win a copy of Shredder, a book signed by Kasparov, or training newsletters. Good luck! More..
 

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2003
17.03.2003 – The organizers of Dortmund are so organized that they sent out their March 17th press release on March 16th! When you have a tournament this good, you want to get the word out asap. It's a Linares-style double all-play-all with six players: Kramnik, Leko, Anand, Naiditsch, Bologan, and Radjabov. It runs July 31 to August 10. Full press release here.