The 12th World Computer Chess Championship starts July 4 in Ramat-Gan, Israel. There's an event summary at ChessBase, which is also the publisher of all three of the favorites: Fritz, Shredder, and Junior. Computer chess is a thriving subculture. Thousands...
June 2004 Archives
More meat from down under comes from the indefagitable, peripatetic, perspicacious, and jocund personage that is Australian GM and chess journo Ian Rogers. He writes for the Sydney Sun-Herald and has a scoop on "the forgotten Israeli," Vadim Milov. Like...
On June 22 we saw a Bulgarian news report that said women's world champ Antoaneta Stefanova's simul in Tripoli was cancelled. Thanks to writer Paul Hoffman we know this is not the case. At the very least we know she...
If you want news on the exclusion of Israelis from the FIDE KO in Libya AND you like the way Australians talk, this is your article. Two developments come from down under, but you only get one today. It's a...
You probably don't know and you might not care, but the 2004 US women's championship is underway at St. John's University in Manhattan. In fact, it is down to Friday's final round. I finally tracked down the official website. (Background...
It's not 100% clear, but from this short report in a Bulgarian paper it appears that new women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova was not allowed to give her planned charity simul in Tripoli because of her gender. (It also mentions...
In the latest of the dozens of open letters flying around the chess world these days, Ms. Nahed Ojjeh has fired one off criticizing the FIDE KO currently underway in Libya. Apart from sponsoring the the NAO Chess Club of...
With dubious location and years of shenanigans left behind, actual chess was played in Tripoli, Libya this weekend. The Israeli federation isn't going quietly and the noise is percolating around after being covered by AP last week. From today's UK...
You may have to expand your browser to see it, but the Chesschamps website dedicated to Garry Kasparov's "My Great Predecessors" book series made an announcement today. An extra book will be added to the series, "Best of the West."...
In the latest edition of TWIC, #501, it is casually mentioned that Alexander Morozevich, the number two seed in the 2004 FIDE KO world championship starting Saturday, June 19, has dropped out at the last minute. The exciting young Russian,...
So Gata Kamsky is back at the public chessboard. I wish him the best and very much hope his off-the-board combativeness has mellowed after eight years in the normal world away from the spotlight. (Apart from a three-day appearance at...
and Statistics, to paraphrase Twain. Like many chess geeks I'm fascinated with ratings, but I'm also horrified by the fascination with them and what the list has done to the game and the culture of the game. Before the FIDE...
I was just thumbing through my battered copy of Alekhine's My Best Games of Chess 1908-1923. Alekhine's notes include some droll gems. Page 206, vs Muffang after move 22: "This move is not really an actual mistake. But in this...
As linked to from ChessBase.com, the Russian newspaper Pravda ran a scathing attack on FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov today. (An unrelated tidbit here.) Few if any of the accusations are theoretical novelties. What is new is the coverage. As anyone...
GM Ilya Smirin is still the missing link in the chain of events that has left all three Israeli players out of the FIDE KO. Roman Parparov, a board member of the Israeli chess federation, recently posted this: "Israeli players...
What would a week in the chess world be without an open letter or two? Resisting the urge to yell "Catfight!" I post below one from two Georgian WGMs from June 4 protesting the way the recently completed women's world...
Continue reading Opening Letters.
There's a poll in the message boards to pick the winner of the Petrosian Memorial team event that starts Wednesday. (I lobbied to get the name changed to the Mig Memorial since it starts on my birthday. [Actually it starts...
X for canceled, that is. The long, troubled tale of worldchessrating.ru (and .com) seems to be over, and this time for good. The site and the concept behind it was a Garry Kasparov initiative, fruit of his newfound association with...
Continue reading Rated X.
FIDE has released its no really it's final final list (Word format) of players for the 2004 FIDE World Championship. They even released pairings for the first round (Excel format). You can't expect too many upsets on the first 20...
The term "women's chess" has always bugged me. I figured now that the FIDE women's world championship final is underway in Elista, Kalmykia it was a good moment to share. The games in top women's events are more aggressive, more...
From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania comes the announcement by US Champion Alexander Shabalov (pictured with women's champion Anna Hahn) that he will not travel to Libya for the 2004 FIDE World Championship. He writes, "The reluctance of FIDE to deal with the...
