CONTENTWHO'S COMPLAINING ABOUT HASTINGS?
A couple of months before a wondrous drawing of lots marked the start of the 2003/04 Hastings Premier, Jonathan Rowson expressed his eagerness to write this year's report for us. Now we wonder, did the Scottish grandmaster have a hunch that he was going to win the event? ILLESCAS PERSEVERES IN PAMPLONA
Looking at the list of participants in Pamplona, Victor Bologan concluded that a couple of strong grandmasters, several local favourites and a few promising youngsters is a highly popular formula for tournaments these days. GANGULY INDIAN CHAMPION
The old Soviet adage 'mass participation leads to mastery' may well be the philosophy behind the Indian chess boom. After all, when was the last time we saw a marathon national championship of 23 rounds? INTERVIEW: JUDIT POLGAR
In the new world rankings Judit Polgar has reached yet another milestone. She occupies the eighth spot and her rating has shot up to a record 2728. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam visited a contented First Lady of Chess at her home in Budapest. THE SILICON DETECTIVE
John Nunn teamed up with 'the silicon detective' to investigate an ending that is 'quite complex and often counter-intuitive'. QUE? QUIEN? QUEZADA!
Four world-class grandmasters had been invited to add some weight to the Carlos Torre Memorial in Merida, Mexico. Miraculously, none of them got a look-in as Cuban IM Yuniesky Quezada steered for a sensational victory. INTRODUCING: ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ
Meet the first ever Central-American grandmaster, 15-year-old Alejandro Ramirez, and play through two games he (and you?) will not easily forget. NEW YEAR IN STOCKHOLM
The Rilton Cup. A report by Nick de Firmian. LESSONS FROM ONE GAME
Mark Dvoretsky explains what instructive lessons can be learned from 'one-way traffic' games played by the champions of the past. S.O.S.: LET'S WAIT AND SEE IN THE FRENCH SADLER ON BOOKS GOOD WRITER, WRONG SUBJECT
Hans Ree read The Chess Artist by J.C. Hallman and concludes that the book fails the subject in quite an entertaining manner. MACCUTCHEON REVISITED
Jan Timman takes a closer look at an old variation in the French that seems to be regaining popularity. JUST CHECKING
Guess what is Ivan Sokolov's biggest fear?
Did they play your opening?In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players: Sicilian
Luther-Yuniesky Quezada, by Dreev
Netzer-de Firmian, by De Firmian
Sutovsky-Nakamura, by Sutovsky
Cherniaev-Kotronias, by Rowson
Quezada-Filippov, by Dreev
Lobron-Taimanov, by De Firmian French
Gurevich-Short (Manila 1990), by Dvoretsky
Winter-Alekhine (Nottingham 1936), by Dvoretsky
Ramirez-Morozevich, by Ramirez
Gashimov-Eingorn, by Bosch
Aagard-Brynell, by De Firmian
Timman-Feygin, by Timman
Ganguly-Barua, by Ganguly
Shaw-Eingorn, by Bosch
Brodsky-Gurevich (Kharkov 1983), by Dvoretsky Caro-Kann
Sutovsky-Illescas, by Illescas Petroff
Sandipan-Humpy, by Vladimirov Ruy Lopez
Rowson-Gormally, by Rowson King's Pawn
Ravi-Harikrishna, by Vladimirov Queen's Pawn
McShane-Sutovsky, by McShane Slav
Milov-Luther, by Dreev Nimzo-Indian
Ramirez-Khenkin, by Ramirez
Rowson-Epishin, by Rowson King's Indian
P.H.Nielsen-Kotronias, by Kotronias
Humpy-Thipsay, by Vladimirov English Opening
T.R.Hansen-Gligoric, by De Firmian
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