The Complete Chess Portal - chess news, chess articles, top Grand Masters interviews, chess blogs, chess links, chess puzzles, live chess games, tournament reports, analyzed games, chess events information http://latestchess.com Alexandra Kosteniuk is a Russian chess Grandmaster with a FIDE rating of 2523, presently ranked eighth in the women chess world (according to April 2008 FIDE rating list). Her most notable chess achievements include: winning the Women's European Chess Championship in 2004, winning the Russian Women's Championship with 9/11 score and a performance rating of 2691 in 2005, winning the first Chess960 (Fischer Random Chess) women world championship beating Germany's top women chess player Elisabeth Pahtz in 2006. Kosteniuk has been promoting chess in the capacity of a fashion model and ambassador of chess in order to spark interest in the game around the world. Apart from chess, she is actively involved with writing poems, books and articles. She loves to do fashion modelling and even has played a part in a movie, which she considers the most fun thing she has ever done in her life. In this interview with Alexandra Kosteniuk, she talks about her fashion modelling hobby, Fischer Random Chess, Judith Polgar, importance of Chess in schools, her future plans etc. We hope our readers would enjoy reading the interview with interesting snaps, videos and famous games of Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk http://www.latestchess.com/showInterview.php?id=9 Grandmaster Laznicka of Czech republic and Indian Grandmaster Sasikiran tied for first place at the Kolkata Open GM chess tournament. Laznicka declared first first on better tie-break score, he performed brilliantly with the rating performance of 2807, while Sasikiran performed with 2763. Both scored 8.5 points out of possible 10 rounds. The Championship was organized by Alekhine Chess Club, the premier institution in the country, they have organised over 25 international tournaments in its 32-year old history. Read the report with prize distribution pictures, download games http://latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=149 Levon Aronian of Armenia won the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament in France's with one round to spare in the blindfold after settling for two draws with Vladimir Kramnik. Aronian took his overall tally to 14.5 points in all and remained 2.5 points ahead of nearest rivals Veselin Topalov, Peter Lekom and Kramnik, who all scored 12 points. Aronian scored 6.0/11 in blindfold chess, tying with Kramnik and Morozevich. He dominated the rapid section scoring 7.5/11, ahead of four players who scored 5.5 points each. http://latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=148 Indian Grand Master Viswanathan Anand, by all accounts one of the great gentlemen in the game of chess was honored with the degree of a Doctor of Literature ( An honorary degree ) by the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University at Chennai. Viswanathan Anand who recently won the Linares Chess Championship with the performance of 2825 rating is the only third chess player in the history to achieve the honorary Doctorate degree. Adolf Anderssen was given an honorary doctorate by Breslau for his accomplishments in chess in 1865. Susan Polgar was awarded an honorary doctorate degree earlier this year by Texas Tech University of Lubbock, Texas http://latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=147 When people think of chess, they usually think of Russia. But chess excellence has now gone global: The current World Champion is from India, and the current World Junior Champion is an Egyptian. Since 1991, Russian players and teachers have fanned out in a chess diaspora, gradually affecting how, and where, the game is played. For all but three years between 1948 and 2000, Russian players laid exclusive claim to the title of World Chess Champion. The lone exception came in 1972 when the American maverick Bobby Fischer, who died last month in Iceland at the age of 64, wrested the title from Russian Boris Spassky. While his victory would become a defining cultural moment of the Cold War, Fischer's tenure at the top was merely an interlude. He relinquished the title in 1975 to Anatoly Karpov, and Russians held the top spot for the remainder of the century http://www.latestchess.com/showArticle.php?id=11 Blue called me at 5:00 am expressing his excitement from what he had learned from reading my book on American Crime From A Black American's perspective. He said he could finally see the big picture of USA society; where he was positioned in it; what he was up against; and the requirement for surviving and thriving was by developing his intelligence. He said he was so stimulated as to start planning chess programs for youth. Chess calls for disciplined Attention and sustained Concentration. Furthermore, chess is above luck and chance. Instead it improves memory, sound thinking and critical judgment. To show its scope, it is considered as an art, a science, and an intellectual game. To play chess well requires skill, patience, and the perfection of foresight and forethought so as to plan moves. It consists of a set of figurines (chessmen) on a checkered board of 64 squares before http://www.latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=143 People who hold to a single idea, or a fixed design, generally lose in chess, as they lose in battle, in business and in economics. Bobby Fischer, who died two weeks ago, may have been the greatest chess player in history. The 1972 match in which he won the world championship from the Russian Boris Spassky is certainly the best known chess match in history http://latestchess.com/showArticle.php?id=10 Wii Chess is a video game for the Wii console. It is developed by Nintendo and was released on 18 January 2008 in Europe. Wii Chess uses Loop Express, a conversion of the Loop Chess Engine. Players can play online by using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. It can help you to improve your chess skills 'Wii Chess' also allows you record, review and replay previous games. Wii chess comes with 10 difficulty levels. It will be released in North America and Japan in 2008. Read the features of Wii Chess with Screenshots http://latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=137 In Part 1 of this article, I explained how a chess program plays the opening, and I also outlined the Minimax procedure that is used to play the middle game. This blog continues the discussion by revealing the primary difficulty faced by a computer chess program, and how that difficulty is overcome. As before, we will refer to our nefarious computer opponent as the satanic "Chessifer". Also as stated in Part 1, you need no background in computer science to understand this discussion http://latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=135 The history of computer chess is long and fascinating, and it has had a profound influence on the field of Artificial Intelligence, though I will not go into that history here. Under the assumption that it is wise to understand your enemy, this article will explain, if not all the nuances, at least the fundamentals of how your computer program regularly defeats you in a game of chess. Let us refer to our common digital enemy as the satanic 'Chessifer' http://latestchess.com/showNews.php?id=134 http://www.latestchess.com