KASPAROV AAN ZEE His eleven-month absence from tournament chess created certain doubts. His riveting come-back at the 61st Hoogovens took them all away: Garry Kasparov looks certifiedly millennium proof. Eight memorable wins he chalked up that featured brand-new opening concepts and dazzling combinations. 'This was the best tournament by far in my life', the World Champion opined. An extensive on-the-spot report by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, including Kasparov's best wins annotated by his second Yury Dokhoian, an impression of the blitz tournament (also won by The Boss), Vishy Anand's outstanding performance in the shadow of the winner and a selection of further Hoogovens highlights.
LINARES AND UBEDA OPENS Sergey Tiviakov undertook his annual trip to Andalusia and describes the success stories of Alexey Dreev and Konstantin Landa.
DÉJÀ Vu Inspired by Kasparov's mind-boggling combination against Topalov, Jan Timman entered the world of déjà vu's and emerged with a rich harvest.
BOOKS
SOS Spice up your Alapin if you want to avoid loads of Sicilian theory.
THE BIRTH OF A NEW ERA Hans Ree read Rolf Voland's book on chess life in the Soviet Union during World War II. Before the War the West knew that Botvinnik was a chess player second to none, and that chess had become a mass sport in the Soviet Union. In 1945 it became clear that Soviet chess had developed into a league of its own.
EUROPEAN CUP FINAL In Belgrade Panfox Breda won their first European Cup. Michal Krasenkow writes a first-hand account and raises a few chess political questions.
CHESS NOTES Edward Winter keeps finding interesting historical facts and curiosities. Readers are kindly invited to join his search for more.
