Peter Leko trounced FIDE champ Khalifman 4,5-1,5
The mysterious Dr Rilton whose legacy ensures the future of Sweden's finest open.
Lodewijk Prins, a remarkable and difficult man.
| ContentMY BATTLES AT HASTINGS
England's promise Luke McShane celebrated his sixteenth birthday at the Hastings 2000 Premier. An apt moment for the maturing former prodigy to take a closer look at his possibilities and prospects in a candid report. KHALIFMAN FAILS FIRST TEST
In a remarkably one-sided match in Budapest FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman stood no chance against Peter Leko's merciless precision, losing all his black games and merely drawing the games he played as White. THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE RILTON CUP
Jesper Hall tells the tale of the mysterious Dr Rilton, whose legacy ensures the future of Sweden's finest open. The winner of the latest edition, Sergey Ivanov, explains two crucial wins in great detail. SHORT SHRIFT IN THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT
Nigel Short saw a return to excellent form at the traditional New Year's tournament in Pamplona. As Black the Englishman again demonstrated great mastery in the Queen's Gambit. ARMENIA TAKE GOLD IN BATUMI
Michal Krasenkow explains how a great team spirit won the Armenians the gold medals at the European Team Championships in Batumi. BOLOGAN BELLICOSE IN BELFORT
Carefully dealing with the temptations of French cuisine Viktor Bologan secured first place at an unusually strong French closed tournament. SMYSLOV AS STUDY COMPOSER
With his eyesight dwindling Vasily Smyslov has entered an inner world where chess studies come to him spontaneously. In Moscow he showed his recent harvest to Genna Sosonko. SOS: PLAY THE SURPRISE INDIAN!
SADLER ON BOOKS
Critically reading recently published books, Matthew Sadler spent his best hours with Alex Yermolinsky's The Road to Chess Improvement. SAKAEV RUSSIAN CHAMPION
In an on-the-spot report of the Russian championship Sergey Shipov explains why we need not worry about the future of chess in his country. CHESS IN MAYA COUNTRY
Dmitry Komarov joined an impressive company of chess tourists at the Torre Memorial in Mexico. A SECRET FAVOURITE
Jan Timman discusses studies of one of his secret favourites, Ernest Pogosiants. SCORN FOR THE BARBARIANS
Hans Ree was one of the many to incur the wrath of the late Lodewijk Prins. Fortunately this did not stop him from writing a fascinating obituary. CHESS NOTES | 
