Chess Informant no. 100

Exclusive interview with editor-in-chief Aleksandar Matanovic

Recently, the famous Chess Informant reached a milestone: edition no. 100 was published. Facts, figures and an exclusive interview with 77-year-old editor-in-chief Aleksandar Matanovic. full story »

Fischer passed away (6th update)

Bobby Fischer has died yesterday in Iceland according to local media. It was known he had big health problems; Bobby Fischer died at the age of 64 Reactions Ljubojevic, Short, Timman, Adams, Radjabov, Topalov, and Anand. full story »

Rustam Kamsky speaks

We hadn’t heard from him from a long time: Rustam Kamsky, the father of Gata and mostly known for his explosive character. Recently, he wrote a letter in which he expressed his disappointment in the way Gata’s victory in Khanty-Mansiysk was covered by the media. It includes a lengthy description of Kamsky’s career and how he was hindered by e.g. Karpov and Kasparov. Although Rustam seems to have good intentions, it’s unclear whether Gata should be very happy with support from this direction…

What’s worse: cheating or false accusations?

Last year’s story about a Dutch chess player who was studying his position with PocketFritz during an official game, quickly became known all over the world. Cheating should be banned as much as possible - everone agrees on that. But what to do when an innocent girl is falsely accused of cheating? Isn’t that equally bad? It happened last week at the Vandoeuvre Open. full story »

Merijn van Delft wins Weihnachts Open

ChessVibes-editor IM Merijn van Delft has won first prize in the Weihnachts Open tournament that was held 27-30 December in Hamburg. (Yes, there are still tournaments without world class players!) After a convincing first half, a couple of draws in the later rounds sufficed for the first place. IM Michael Kopylov came second, while outsider Christian Michna surprisingly finished third. Yours truly couldn’t make any difference to all this, and had to settle for a grey place in the outback of the tournament. full story »

Interview with Garry Kasparov (Part 2)

As promised, today the second part of Gert Devreese’s interview with Garry Kasparov. This part is about Kasparov’s chess career and especially about the matches against Karpov and Kramnik. It hasn’t been published anywhere before. Enjoy! full story »

Interview with Garry Kasparov (Part 1)

For everybody who’s looking for a good read during Christmas, we have a special treat. Chess journalist Gert Devreese had an interview with Garry Kasparov in april this year. After he saw our article on Kasparov’s simul in Belgium, Gert made the interview available for ChessVibes too, and it has not lost its topicality. Today part 1 of the interview, which was published before in the Belgian newspaper De Standaard. It is about Kasparov’s political career but also for example about his wife and kids. Tomorrow you can read the part about Kasparov’s chess career (which wasn’t published anywhere before). Enjoy! full story »

“I didn’t dare eat the food.”

“Of course it is inaccurate to say that the police commander was the one in command. KGB officers in plain clothes were clearly in charge even at the police station, and the arrest itself was as choreographed as the trial to come. When the special security forces known as OMON pushed in past everyone else to arrest me, we could all hear “make sure you get Kasparov” on their walkie-talkies.” Yesterday Garry Kasparov wrote about his five-day detention in The Wall Street Journal. “I have no intention of becoming a martyr.” full story »

Kasparov released

After a five-day detention, Garry Kasparov has been released today. In a brief statement Kasparov called his arrest an example of Russia’s transition into a dictatorship. He also stated that the arrest was meant as a warning and that next time it would be a criminal case. full story »

Kasparov in jail, Fischer in hospital

The two greatest chess players ever are in the news this weekend. Garry Kasparov has been detained during a protest in Moscow, because of “organizing an illegal demonstration and not obeying police orders”. Update: two videos added. Bobby Fischer is hospitalized and he’s not doing well. Update: Fischer has been in a hospital for two months already. He suffers from kidney problems and his situation is said to be critical. full story »

Big long interview with Viktor Korchnoi

It’s time for some chess culture. Time for the one and only living legend that’s left (leaving out Smyslov and Lilienthal, who don’t play anymore): Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi. He doesn’t do that many interviews anymore, but this week he sat down to talk to Europe-Echecs, who have built up an impressive resume in a short time, there in Moscow. Watch and enjoy this 20 minute-interview with one of the greatest players alive. Not to be missed! full story »

“Let’s go interview Kasparov”

“What the heck, let’s just go. If you don’t try…” This was all I needed to convince co-editor Arne, yesterday around five in the afternoon, to join. Join my foolish, naive but also bold, and, above all, fun plan to travel to Lint, Belgium, to interview Gary Kasparov. If we would explain that we had immediately jumped into the car when we heard about the simul, that we came all the way from Amsterdam and after several detours we had found that television studio in that little Belgium town right in time, who on earth would refuse a small interview? full story »

Third Micha Leuw Memorial

During the last two months I’ve been pretty busy and there wasn’t much time for chess. Playing, that is. This weekend was an exception because I was invited for a special tournament: the Micha Leuw Memorial. In a small round-robin of six players I ended fourth. More importantly, I played two games that Micha would have liked: sharp and adventurous. full story »

Russian chess player killed by gang

Tragic news from Moscow, where last Saturday IM Sergey Nikolaev (46) was killed by a vicious youth gang. Police is undertaking the investigation into the killing of the Russian chess player, which most probably was racially motivated. Up to 30 suspects have been detained in connection with the case. Extremist literature was found during searches of the suspects. full story »

Bluvshtein’s baptism of fire

When I met GM Mark Bluvshtein this summer in Budapest, he told me that in one month he was going to play the strongest tournament in his career: the 10 player round-robin Montreal International 2007, where he would be seeded 9th (!) below players such as Ivanchuk and Kamsky. After some busy months Mark found the time to tell us about how he experienced this high-class event.

The Montreal International tradition started in 2000 and became an annual event, with the 8th edition taking place July 19th-28th 2007. The tournament has always been a Round Robin event made to give Canadians norm opportunities as well as opportunities to gain valuable experience against some of the best players in the world. full story »

What you shouldn’t do against a 2660

Something that doesn’t quite happen every day: being paired against someone with 2660 behind his name. Yesterday, in the third round of the Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament in Vlissingen, The Netherlands, I had to play against the famous Polish GM Michael Krasenkow, the world’s no. 48 and winner of the C group of this year’s Corus Chess Tournament. Such a special game deserves to be annotated and published on ChessVibes, doesn’t it? full story »

Alexei Shirov 35

Regular visitors are well aware of the fact that Alexei Shirov is one of our favorite players here at ChessVibes. Congratulations to Alexei, because the current number 11 in the world turned 35 today. We pay a small tribute to the man who’s known for setting the chess board on fire. full story »

GM Mark Bluvshtein video

After the last round of the First Saturday Tournament I spoke with the young Canadian grandmaster Mark Bluvshtein. He tells about himself and then shows the fantastic game Vajda-Bluvshtein, played at the First Saturday. Mark also mentions his best game so far: his victory with Black in 23 moves over Alexei Shirov. You’ll find both games in the gameviewer under the video. Enjoy! full story »

ChessVibes on tour

During the months May, June, July and August it’s ChessVibes on tour! Editor-in-chief Peter Doggers took the time to spend all his energy on the game of chess for the coming four months. He will play many open tournaments throughout Europe and at the same time publish as many reports-on-location as possible. full story »

Where did our money go?

The European Championships in Dresden was quite succesful from an organisational point of view. Unfortunately ChessVibes had to report about some negative points as well. And we have to add one more. Today we received an open letter by one of the participants, GM Erik van den Doel. He and other players were very disappointed about the hotel food and after doing some math, they are confused about part of the money they paid for accomodation. full story »

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