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Deep Fritz 11 is fast – and now available from ChessBase
21.11.2008 – Fritz 11 is a complete rewrite of the famous Fritz program. It is crammed with tactical strength and chess knowledge. But until recently it ran on just one processor. Now ChessBase has released a "deep" version that supports up to 16 CPUs or cores. On a quad system, fast becoming the industry standard, it runs almost four time faster than on a single core. A perfect partner for chess analysis.
 

Olympiad R7: Armenia lead ahead of Germany, Israel and France
21.11.2008 – The win came on board three: Gabriel Sargissian defeated Alexander Grischuk, and with it the Russian hopes of catching the leading Armenians. Now Kramnik and Co. are in the third tier, together with Ukraine, China, Vietnam and the US and behind Germany, Israel and France. In the women's section Ukraine has come to within a point of the leading Chinese. Big pictorial report.
 

Aronian: 'I have a lot of blood in my brain'
20.11.2008 – The world's number seven ranked player has some unusual (or maybe not) views on the game at which he so excels. "Women cannot play chess," he says flat out, "they are generally much too emotional." And "chess programs are our enemies, they destroy the romance of chess." We have translated his interview from last weekend in the Berliner Zeitung. Interesting fellow.
 

Olympiad R6: Armenia and Russia lead with 11/12 points
20.11.2008 – After a 2:2 against Ukraine, and wins by Russia and Armenia over England and Azerbaijan respectively, the leading Germany join six other teams in the second slot. In the women's section China beat Hungary to take a two-point lead, with Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, USA and Poland in second place. TV ChessBase is producing interviews after the games. Pictorial report.
 

Chessboxing Triumph in London
19.11.2008 – This hybrid sport, with four-minute sessions of chess interspersed with three minutes of boxing, is the brainchild of Dutch event artist Iepe Rubingh. The match ends in checkmate or knockout. Chessboxing is fast becoming a world-wide phenomenon, overtaking chess in the number of spectators it can attract. The latest match took place in London. Pictorial report.
 

Kamsky-Topalov to be held in Bulgaria, Feb 16–28, 2009
19.11.2008 – FIDE has announced that an agreement has been reached for the Challenger Match between Topalov and Kamsky. It will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 16th to 28th February, 2009 with a prize fund of US $250,000, which will be shared equally by the players. Press release and blitz interview.
 

Tromsø – a Chess Olympiad in the midnight sun?
18.11.2008 – It lies well within the Arctic Circle and has a history of chess activity. Now the city of Tromsø is bidding to host the 2014 Chess Olympiad in one of the most attractive regions of Europe. A full presentation is being made at the Olympiad in Dresden. We visited the city this summer and support their bid with some WYSIWYG evidence of why it is ideally suited for an Olympiad. Photo report.
 

Olympiad R5: Six teams with 9/10 points
18.11.2008 – Germany and Russia drew their match, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and England won theirs, so now there are six teams with an equal number of match points at the top of the table. The day's sensation: Adams lost with white against 16-year-old Fabiano Caruana. In the women's section China thrashed their main rival Poland to take the sole lead. Results, games, giant pictorial.
 

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (12)
17.11.2008 – The Editor of Chess Notes has been working with the Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary on chess lexicology. Three fields are covered: the oldest occurrences of chess terms, unusual vocabulary, and ‘chessy’ words. Enter the world of the skewer, x-ray attack, sui-mate, pedaneous chess, and chessikins. We present the current listings, and readers are invited to contribute further citations.
 

Olympiad R4: Germany ahead of Russia
17.11.2008 – Talk about home advantage: the German Olympiad team is in the lead, a few tiebreak points ahead of Russia, both teams having won all their matches so far. Israel beat Egypt in a somewhat charged political match. In the women's section China and Poland have won all their matches and lead with 8/8. We bring you results, games and once again a giant pictorial report.
 

Olympiad R3: Norway beats China, Ugandans forfeited
16.11.2008 – The shocker of round three was nineteenth seed Norway's 2.5:1.5 win over third seed China. Armenia and Germany won to take first and second place on the table. The Ugandan team appeared for the round with only one player, owing to visa problems, and have sent an urgent appeal for assistance. In the women's section top seed, Russia almost lost to eleventh seed India. Big pictorial report.
 

Olympiad R2: Azerbaijan and Armenia lead, US twice upset
15.11.2008 – After two rounds at the Olympiad in Dresden 20 teams have four points each, with Azerbaijan and Armenia leading on tiebreak points. The upset was the 2:2 draw between 10th seed US against 27th ranked Greece. In the women's section Israel, ranked 21st, beat the seventh seed Americans. Fourteen teams lead with four points each, with Russia ahead on tiebreaks. Massive photo report.