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Anna, Anand and the Fajarowicz Gambit
31.10.2002
– ChessBase Magazine 90 is out, with 1849 games, over
500 with expert analysis and colourful reports, like the one by Anna
Dergatschova on the Dortmund Candidates. There are 45 minutes of video footage,
including interviews with Vishy Anand and Alexandra
Kosteniuk. You will find sections on openings theory (Fajarowicz Gambit,
Paulsen, Scotch, Jaenish, Slav), strategy, tactics, endgame, telechess and
new products. All of this for just € 19.95. Full details are here.
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Zombie attack
31.10.2002
– Werewolves on the patio? Vampires in the den? Stake through the heart. Ghosts
popping up all over? Call Bill Murray. But what can you do with hordes of undead
politicians running after chessplayers with little plastic cups? Aaaiiiiiieeeeeee!!
Mig Greengard describes the horrific Halloween Attack of the FIDE Drug
Testing Zombies! (Only for people with good nerves and a sense of humour!)
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The sea, the sun and chess
30.10.2002
– Cap
d'Agde, a beautiful French costal town, has been host to a rapid chess tournament
with 633 participants, amateurs next to top GMs. The final was held today, with Israeli GM Boris Gelfand beating ex world champion Anatoly Karpov in the beautiful
Salle Molière.
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You won't believe your eyes!
30.10.2002
– A simple chess diagram, on a corner of the board. Two knights and a large red
cylinder. The question: which is the white knight on the light square? That
is a problem?? You probably think we are crazy, and yikes, maybe we are! But
even if you feel the whole thing is quite meaningless we urge you to think
about it very carefully. You won't believe the solution. The full puzzle is here.
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Twenty tactical problems from the Olympiad
29.10.2002
– Apparently the beautiful litte town of Bled
was not quite prepared for the onslaught of a thousand chess players. The official
web site is mostly down, and the stream of games coming from the Chess Olympiad
has been reduced to a trickle. Just to make sure you don't lose touch with the
game we have prepared twenty tactical
problems (including a PDF file to print out), all taken from rounds 1–3 in Bled. Have fun solving them!
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Kramnik questions the Prague Agreement
29.10.2002
– In May FIDE and leading Grandmasters signed a Unity Agreement in Prague. But until now vital principles of the agreement have not been honoured, says classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik. "Neither the steps necessary for setting up a professional management organisation, nor the proposed and agreed business plan have been implemented." He pleads for clear and speedy measures at the Bled Olympiad in this
open letter.
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Highly recommended: Hansen on the Scandinavian
28.10.2002
– GM Curt Hansen training CD on the Scandinavian Defence is immensely popular.
“The idea of this CD is to give the reader a certain feeling for when Black’s
many set-ups are playable and when they are not…” the author writes.
And he has succeeded admirably, as an extensive review
in Seagaard reveals. Their summary evaluation: "Highly recommended
for all potential players of the Scandinavian." You can get Hansen's CD
in our online
shop.
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Did Kramnik really play against the world's strongest program?
28.10.2002
– Indeed he did. The Swedish Svenska schackdatorföreningen (SSDF, Chess Computer Association) which tests the strongest chess programs in the world, has completed testing the latest Deep Fritz 7.0, the program that played against Vladimir Kramnik in Bahrain. The result: on equal hardware Deep Fritz reached 2763 Elo points, 21 points more than the previous leader, Fritz 7.0. You will find the full SSDF computer rating list
here.
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The Great Russian Chess Joke
28.10.2002
– Okay, it may not be vintage Seinfeld material, but it is one of the best-known jokes in the
world. Certainly in chess circles. And it has the habit of creeping up on you
and pouncing when you least expect it. The latest assault: on the Chess
Olympiad home page, under the title "Jokes". We were first introduced
to it by Garry Kasparov in 1986, but by far the best rendition was by the Russian
chess magazine editor Alexander Roshal.
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Kasparov starts to play at the Olympiad
28.10.2002
– Garry Kasparov removed his wristwatch and placed it on his left side. However, it is not like Wijk Aan Zee or Linares, where he can play chess in silence and solemnity. At the 35th Bled Chess Olympiad he is there for the masses – fans who have traveled as far as Africa, South America and Asia to see the world's greatest living player in action. The results of round two are available
here.
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'Chess-playing duo who made the wrong moves'
27.10.2002
– John Allen Muhammed, the prime suspect in the deadly US sniper attacks, spent his evenings quietly playing chess with the boy with whom he was later arrested. This is reported by a number of sources that are looking into the background of the Muhammed and his 17-year-old accomplice John Malvo. Was the henious attack a game of chess for the Beltway Snipers?
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Controversy over FIDE doping check
27.10.2002
– For the first time there will be rigorous doping controls at the Olympiad. This is been done in a futile attempt to make chess an Olympic discipline. The result is that a number of players have protested, vigorously. Some have even cancelled their participation, like top German players Artur Jussupov and Robert Hübner. They fear the $100,000 fines that may be suddenly imposed on first-time "offenders".
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