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NIC’S CAFÉ YOUR MOVE KRAMNIK SUCCUMBS TO DEEP FRITZ According to the author of the Fritz engine, Frans Morsch, his program when run on a ‘normal’ notebook should be strong enough to occupy 10th place in the world rankings. What it is capable of when, pumped up with some extra processors, it takes the stage as Deep Fritz, we saw in Bonn, where Vladimir Kramnik succumbed to the machine 4-2. ALEKSEEV NEW RUSSIAN CHAMPION ‘Finally the Russian chess society is trying to look to the future, and not to the past’, writes Ernesto Inarkiev in his report of the Russian Super Final. And with good reason. Defending champion Sergey Rublevsky (32) was the oldest player, while most of the participants were little older than twenty. Evgeny Alekseev (21) and Dmitry Yakovenko (23) shared first place. In the rapid play-off Alekseev took the title. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S POINTS Due to a string of court cases that unsettled Indian chess life, Nigel Short had to wait for the 2006 Commonwealth Championship before he could defend the precious title he conquered in 2004. LIKE A BISHOP ON THE LONG DIAGONAL The first player to win the Capablanca Memorial for a second time was Vasily Smyslov, who was victorious in 1964 and 1965. At the 41st edition another Vasily topped the table for the second time in a row. IVANCHUK ALSO REMEMBERS TORRE Mexico is enjoying a veritable chess boom, as tournaments are sprouting up everywhere. The oldest event is the Torre Memorial in Merida. Straight from his win in Havana, Vasily Ivanchuk arrived as top seed and duly took first prize. FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME With the death of David Bronstein last December 5, Caissa has lost one of her dearest sons. Bronstein ranks among the greatest players our game has ever seen. And as one of the most original thinkers. A lecture that he gave in California in 1992 will give you a taste of his passion for beautiful chess. INDIA SUPERIOR AT ASIAN GAMES For the first time in 55 years chess was included in the Asian Games. In the Qatari capital Doha, India finished way ahead of the rest thanks to a 3-0 rout of their main rivals China. TAL’S FORGOTTEN MATCH Preparing for the 1979 Interzonal in Riga, Mikhail Tal played a short training match. His opponent was Albert Kapengut, who remembers a ‘brilliant chess player, his incredible mind and his magical charm.’ SOLO PERFORMANCE MOROZEVICH At the 16th Pamplona chess festival the risk-taking passions of the aficionados at the annual bull festival seemed to hover over the boards, as out of 28 games only 10 ended in draws. ‘But’, as Alexey Kuzmin notes, ‘even in this maelstrom of internecine battles, the impressive series of wins by Alexander Morozevich stands out.’ ROWSON’S REVIEWS THE SORCERER Hans Ree pays tribute to the late David Bronstein. He reread some of the great man’s books and recollects his conversations. ON THE ROAD Jan Timman describes his recent adventures in various competitions. HUMAN DISFUNCTION Garry Kasparov shares his views on the man vs. machine duel in Bonn. JUST CHECKING What’s Evgeny Alekseev’s greatest fear?
Did they play your opening?In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players: Sicilian: Deep Fritz-Kramnik (6), by Jussupow Yakovenko-Khairullin, by Khairullin Abreu-Corrales, by Vera Van Riemsdijk-Tal, by Kapengut Kapengut-Tal, by Kapengut French: Timman-Hübner, by Timman Caro-Kann: Timman-Adianto, by Timman Petroff: Deep Fritz-Kramnik (4), by Kure Ruy Lopez: Ganguly-Short, by Short Bruzon-Graf , by Bruzon Tal-Kapengut, by Kapengut Bronstein-Kortchnoi, by Bronstein Italian Game: De la Paz-Ivanchuk, by Ivanchuk Short-Gupta, by Short Queen's Gambit Accepted: Zhao Xue-Koneru, by Koneru Catalan: Kramnik-Deep Fritz (1), by Lutz Nimzo-Indian: Vitiugov-Yakovenko, by Yakovenko Bareev-Ivanchuk, by Vera Queen's Indian: Inarkiev-Tomashevsky, by Inarkiev Grünfeld Indian: Morozevich-Shirov, by A.Kuzmin English Opening: Bu Xiangzhi-Sasikiran, by Sasikiran Tomashevsky-Alekseev, by Alekseev
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