ChessBase Magazine Online

Deep Shredder cuts 2642 Super-GM to strips
15.01.2003 – "It isn't easy to play with the black pieces against a computer", sighed Sergey Volkov, Russian champion in 2000. He had just lost to Deep Shredder 7 on the Playchess server in 33 moves. "Shredder played like a strong grandmaster!" It was the first of two games, the second being scheduled for tonight. Do not miss the dramatic action.
 

Applying Morphy's law in Seattle
15.01.2003 – Was a time chess players became US Champions by "popular acclaim" – they were hailed as such by virtue of their playing strength in matches and tournaments of that particular era. Today they have to fight it out against top GMs, in nine rounds and with 58 players. At least the have a world record prize fund for a national title: $253,000. Read about it in John Henderson's round five report.
 

Judit Polgar in the lead in Wijk
14.01.2003 – Okay, she's sharing it with Karpov, Anand and Bareev, but the world's strongest female player did play a very nice game against Holland's Jan Timman in round three of the Wijk aan Zee tournament. Judit successfully navigated a very complicated middlegame, and then Timman's misplaced pieces were easy pickings for Polgar's tactical eye. Here are the games, results, tables and a report by Mig Greengard.
 

Anand to win Wijk aan Zee!
14.01.2003 – That, in any case, is what most of our readers seem to believe. In reply to our Wijk aan Zee quiz we received many hundreds of emails from all corners of the world. Fortuna favet fortibus said one, which supplied Latin phrases for each of the participants. Prepare for a long and interesting read.
 

Deep Shredder 7 vs GM Sergey Volkov
14.01.2003 – Tonight is the first of two games between Deep Shredder 7, tuned and operated by Martin Müller (photo), and Russian grandmaster Sergey Volkov. You can watch the game live on the Playchess server. Since it is a computer game it will take place in the Machine Room at 20:00h CET (2 p.m. New York). The rate of play is 120 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move. The second encounter follows tomorrow.
 

In the shoes of the Fischerman
14.01.2003 – 45 years ago to the day a young lad from Brooklyn made his debut at the US Championship. The fourteen-year-old rank outsider was the shock winner that year and became (and still is) the youngest title holder. To this day Bobby Fischer continues to cast a giant shadow over the US Championships, as John Henderson tells it in his round four report from the US Championship in Seattle.
 

FIDE vs Ponomariov – the battle rages on
13.01.2003 – FIDE is putting the screws on their world champion Ruslan Ponomariov. They want him to sign an agreement to play against Garry Kasparov as part of the reunification plan. But the young champion is balking. We bring you some new documents on the "negotiations", including full regulations of the World Championship Match 2003.
 

The Jeroen van den Belt Wijk aan Zee picture gallery
13.01.2003 – That's quite a mouthful, but definitely worth checking out. Jeroen van den Belt is one of the ChessBase team, responsible for the spectacular Fritz 8 3D graphics and a lot of the Playchess server functions. Jeroen spent a weekend at the top Dutch tournament and sent us a batch of candid photos of players and situations. Heck, it's almost like being there yourself. You will find Jeroen's extensive picture report here.
 

Russian Championship in the United States?
13.01.2003 – With many émigrés now living in America, many joke that the U.S. Championships could easily be mistaken for the USSR Championships. Read all about the great American players like Boris Gulko, Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Shabalov, Eugene Perelshteyn, Varuzhan Akobian, Yury Lapshun and this year's second seed Alexander Goldin (picture) in John Henderson's latest report from Seattle.
 

Kramnik loses to Ponomariov in Wijk
12.01.2003 – The second round of the Wijk aan Zee tournament saw some shock results. FIDE champion Ruslan Ponomariov had apparently digested yesterday's defeat and took the full point off classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who blundered on move 36. Evgeny Bareev won for the second time in succession, beating youngster Teimour Radjabov, while Anand beat a too-daring Topalov with the black pieces. More
 

Fine performance by Karpov in Wijk
12.01.2003 – The first round of the 65th Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee didn't lack fighting spirit. But with most players rated so closely together, victories are not easy to achieve. Only two managed to score a win. Last year's winner Evgeny Bareev defeated FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, and Anatoly Karpov won the public prize by beating Michal Krasenkow in a lovely tactical battle. Games and results are available here.
 

Maurice and Steven – milestone men
12.01.2003 – Two players, one a grandmaster, the other a 2300 FM, taking part in the US Chess Championship. The landmark is that they are both African American. For 155 years the tournament drew only white men, but last year the format was radically changed, opening it to dozens more players – including, for the first time, women. More.