ContentTHE WIZARD OF DORTMUND
Although the story unfolded in the same week as the long-awaited publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the critics didn't fail to hail The Wizard of Dortmund as 'a captivating tale that will leave no chess fan unmoved even if the plot is hard to believe'. True, it's a bit of a tall tale. In his home-town Dortmund, 19-year-old Arkady Naiditsch faced nine grandmasters all stronger than him and despite the fact that five of his opponents belonged to the world top 10, the fearless hero triumphed over all of them. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OFTEN LIE
Boris Gelfand and Andrey Volokitin won the invitational group of the Biel Chess Festival. There was criticism that the stars had acted a bit too peacefully. Yannick Pelletier, one of the participants and our man on the spot, definitely doesn't agree. SAKAEV WINS IN COPENHAGEN
'The city cafés, bars and restaurants are the interests of some players. Others prefer museums, picturesque parks with sunbathing beauties or the old harbour.' Nick de Firmian describes the summer charms of Copenhagen where the Politiken Cup was held for the 26th time. MOST UNUSUAL FUND-RAISING
Three 2700-plus players, a dozen of other GMs, and 215 players overall gathered in the western Canadian city of Edmonton. Alex Shabalov reveals how the organizers managed to organize such a show in such a remote outpost. 10 YEARS OF ICC
It's hard to imagine that only ten years ago the world had to make do without the Internet Chess Club. ICC stalwart Larry Christiansen celebrates the tenth anniversary of a phenomenal success and provides ample evidence why playing on the net is such fun. 'BRAVO, KATYA!'
Fifteen-year-old Kateryna Lahno, the new European women champion, talks to Vladimir Barsky and analyzes her best games. ENDGAME THEORY
John Nunn took a look at a number of new six-man endgame databases with pawns and made some remarkable discoveries. 'In fact, the impact of these new databases proved to be far more substantial than I expected.' IN CAUDA VENEMUM
European champion Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu annotates the decisive encounter from the championship and 'the best game he's ever played'. S.O.S.: THE ALAPIN OPENING
Why on earth should White play 2.Ne2 after 1.e4 e5? Jeroen Bosch will tell you. THE VICTOR KNOWS NO LUCK
Hans Ree enjoyed many a pleasant moment at the Amsterdam Chess Tournament. 'LIKE TAL IN HIS EARLY YEARS'
Jan Timman describes two adventurous games he played in the ACT. ROWSON'S REVIEWS NEW WORLD DISORDER
Garry Kasparov evaluates Dortmund and makes his prediction for the world championship in San Luis. JUST CHECKING
Guess what's Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu's dream. Did they play your opening?In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players: Sicilian
Timman-Al-Modiahki, by Timman
Nakamura-Gelfand, by Gelfand
Sigfusson-De Firmian, by De Firmian
Naiditsch-Leko, by Naiditsch
Naiditsch-Sutovsky, by Naiditsch
Volokitin-Pelletier, by Volokitin
Timman-Zhu Chen, by Timman French
Shabalov-Shirov, by Shirov
Nisipeanu-Milov, by Nisipeanu Petroff
Adams-Topalov, by Adams
Naiditsch-Kramnik, by Kramnik
Shirov-Bluvshtein, by Shabalov Ruy Lopez
Sutovsky-Kramnik, by Sutovsky King Pawn
Kornev-Bakalarz, by Bosch Vienna Game
Kosintseva-Lahno, by Kateryna Lahno Bird's Opening
Danielsen-S.B.Hansen, by Danielsen Slav
Elianov-Sokolov, by Elianov
P.H.Nielsen-Bacrot, by Nielsen
Bauer-Nakamura, by Pelletier Nimzo-Indian
Beliavsky-Nisipeanu, by Nisipeanu
Pelletier-Carlsen, by Pelletier
Moiseenko-Bluvshtein, by Shabalov
Sakaev-Schandorff, by Sakaev
Topalov-Naiditsch, by Topalov Queen's Indian
Ivanchuk-Moiseenko, by Ivanchuk
Bacrot-Adams, by Bacrot Grünfeld Indian
Sakaev-Kurnosov, by De Firmian
Van Wely-Sutovsky, by Van Wely King's Indian
Pelletier-Nakamura, by Pelletier
Cheparinov-Stellwagen, by Ree
C.Hansen-Tjomsland, by De Firmian
Cmilyte-Lahno, by Kateryna Lahno | 
