Front Page

National News:
Former Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum Heads Chess for Peace Initiative

Movses Movsisyan of Norman, Oklahoma Wins Master Section of 2005 U.S. Class Chess Championships

Chess Merchandise Clearance Sale

World News:
FIDE World Championship Preview

World Tournament Roundup

Chess In the Media: Chess Stories Across the USA and Around the World

Index to Newsletters

Chess Around the World

FIDE World Championship Preview

Eight of the worlds top players, including current FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, will meet in San Luis Argentina to play in the FIDE World Chess Championship beginning September 27th. The tournament will determine FIDE's next champion, and boasts a prize pool of $1,000,000 - $300,000 of which will go to the winner.

Joining Kasimdzhanov are seven of the world's top grandmasters. Michael Adams was invited as the runner-up from the previous world championship; Peter Leko earned his spot as a participant in the last Classical World Championship, where he lost to Vladimir Kramnik.

The remaining players were taken from the FIDE rating list: Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Judit Polgar, Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler. Perhaps the most notable absense is Kramnik, though this is hardly surprising; Kramnik has always defended his world championship in match play, and has struggled in tournament play as of late.

The tournament is a double round-robin format, meaning each player will play fourteen games. If there is a tie for first, the results between the players will be used as the first tiebreak; if the players are still tied, the one with the most wins during the tournament will take first. If a clear winner is still yet to emerge, a series of rapid games will be used to decide the winner.

With such a strong field it can be difficult to pick a favorite; all eight players have done enough to show they are capable of winning a tournament such as this one. Nonetheless, some players do stand out.

As the current World Champion, Kasimdzhanov has shown that he can play against the world's best players and win. However, it seems unlikely that he can thrive against such strong competition in a round-robin format - Kasimdzhanov, of course, won his title in knockout match play, often winning in rapid or blitz tiebreaks.

Morozovich, Polgar, Svidler and Adams have all won major tournaments before. Certainly it is possible for one of them to have a particularly strong result and contend for first. However, they are definite underdogs to the top contenders, as they will be unlikely to score well against the favorites: Leko, Topalov, and Anand.

Peter Leko has been consistantly strong in recent play, posting several major wins in the last few years, along with his excellent performance in his World Championship match against Kramnik. Leko, along with Kasimdzhanov, is one of the two youngest participants in the tournament. His stock is still on the rise, and he may someday be the top player in the world. However, he is still a step below both Anand and Topalov for the time being. Leko will be a factor, but may not be able to overcome the two higher rated players.

Viswanathan Anand has arguably been the most dominant player in chess over the last few years. He is tied with Topalov for the best rating among active players, is simply unbeatable in rapid play, and has been in contention at nearly every major tournament for the past five years. Anand will undoubtedly be at or near the top again, and would make a worthy World Champion.

Still, the favorite might be Veselin Topalov. He has been the hottest player as of late, moving quickly up the rating list to tie Anand at the top among active players (both are rated 2788). Topalov posted a convinicing first in the Mtel Masters in May, and took second at Dortmund. He is playing the best chess of his career and should be the man to beat at the World Championship.

We will be providing complete coverage of the FIDE World Championship from the first round to its conclusion on October 16th. For more information, you can click here for the FIDE page about the tournament.

World Tournament Roundup

Lautier Wins French Championship

Grandmaster Joel Lautier scored 7.5 points in 11 games to win the 2005 French Championship by a half point. GM Andrei Sokolov and IM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave tied for second place with 7 points. Vachier-Lagrave is only 14, and is clearly one of the rising stars in French chess, losing just one game in the round-robin event.

In the Women's competition, Almila Skripchenko scored 9 points to narrowly outscore former French Women's champion Sophie Milliet by a half-point.

Here is Lautier's crucial 11th round win to clinch first place.

White: Lautier, J (2672)
Black: Bauer, C (2641)
French Championship, Round 11
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. O-O Na6 8. d5 e6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 exd5 11. cxd5 g5 12. Bg3 Nh5 13. Nd2 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Nc7 15. a4 f5 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. Nc4 Bd4 18. Bd3 Qd7 19. Bxf5 Rxf5 20. Ne2 Rxd5 21. Qb3 Qf7 22. Rad1 Rf8 23. Nxd4 Rxd4 24. Rxd4 cxd4 25. Qd3 Qf6 26. Na5 Kh8 27. Qc4 b6 28. Qxc7 bxa5 29. Qxa5 d3 30. Qd5 Qxb2 31. Qxd6 Qf6 32. Qxd3 Kg7 33. a5 Qe5 34. Qd2 Re8 35. Rc1 Re7 36. Qd8 g4 37. Rc4 h5 38. Rc8 Kg6 39. Qg8+ Rg7 40. Rc6+ Kg5 41. Qh8 Qa1+ 42. Kh2 Qh1+ 43. Kxh1 1-0

Morozevich Triumphs in Moscow Blitz

Despite a weakened field that did not feature former participants Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk and other top players, a recognizeable name still finished atop the standings at the 59th Moscow Open Blitz Championship. Alexander Morozevich scored 14/19 to take the championship by a half point over Alexander Riazantsev.

Going into the tournament, Morozevich's top competition appeared to be Alexey Dreev and Vladimir Malakhov. However, both strong grandmasters fell short of challenging the winner, as Malakhov scored 12.5 to finish 3rd, and Dreev scoring 11.5 points, good enough for 5th. Both drew their individual games with Morozevich.