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NIC'S CAFÉ YOUR MOVE MONEY FLOWS FREELY IN MOSCOW
With more and more sponsors pouring heaps of money into the game, the lean years for Russian chess seem to be well over. What other conclusion could one draw after the Tal Memorial in Moscow, where first 10 elite players split a 100,000 dollars prize-fund and then the same amount was fought over in a blitz tournament. Outshining the local heroes, Peter Leko, Ruslan Ponomariov and Levon Aronian topped the table in the main event, with the Hungarian winning the trophy on tie-break. Once the sparks started flying in the blitz, Vishy Anand was in a class of his own, claiming first prize with one round to go. KRAMNIK CLINCHES TITLE IN DRAMATIC TIE-BREAK
Although the toilet dispute and the forfeited fifth game kept casting a shadow over the world championship clash between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik, the second half of the reunification match gripped fans worldwide with lots of fascinating chess and drama. Evgeny Bareev and Ilya Levitov, two old friends of Kramnik's, describe how their hero struck mercilessly in the rapid tie-break. 'THIS WAS CRAZY. IT WAS LIKE A WAR.'
A talk with Silvio Danailov, the man who in the eyes of the world carries the blame for the unsavoury scandal that plunged the reunification match into a deep crisis. And with Veselin Topalov, who quickly dispels any ideas that he may not always have been happy with his manager's actions. INTERVIEW: VLADIMIR KRAMNIK
The chess world has been reunified and it's time to start with a clean slate. Now is the moment for FIDE to build a world championship structure that will obliterate the confusing experiments of the past years. And if it's up to Vladimir Kramnik, the pinnacle of the cycle will be the time-honoured world championship match. In Paris, the World Champion spoke to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about his hopes for the future and, obviously, the match in Elista. 'I didn't know what would happen by Game 8. Perhaps I would no longer be allowed to go to the toilet in my apartment.' TOMSK TRIUMPHS IN TYROL
At the European Club Cup in Fügen, Austria, the question was not if a Russian team would win, but rather which team it would be. René Olthof reports. GOING FOR THE JUGULAR
At the 10th Essent tournament in Hoogeveen only two of the 12 games ended in a draw. FEAR OF THE TURCOS
Though some of the world's best players took part in Baden-Baden 1870, Hans Ree was disappointed by the level of play. NEARLY INFINITE?
Jonathan Rowson read David Shenk's best-seller The Immortal Game and watched two new DVDs starring Rustam Kasimdzhanov. FISCHERESQUE FINISH
In Barcelona Jan Timman saw Cuban rising star Leinier Dominguez score one of his best results ever. CLOUDY FUTURE
Garry Kasparov draws his conclusions at the end of the reunification match between Topalov and Kramnik. JUST CHECKING
What's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's greatest fear?
Did they play your opening?In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players: Sicilian:
Polgar-Topalov, by Polgar
Grischuk-Shirov, by Shipov King's Fianchetto:
Dominguez-Ivanchuk, by Timman French:
Bologan-Vaganian, by Bologan Scandinavian Defence:
Dominguez-Narciso, by Dominguez Petroff:
Morozevich-Gelfand, by Kuzmin Ruy Lopez:
Shirov-Aronoian, by Shipov Slav:
Kramnik-Topalov, match-8, by Topalov
Topalov-Kramnik, match-9, by Cheparinov
Kramnik-Topalov, tiebreak-2, by Kramnik
Topalov-Kramnik, tiebreak-3, by Cheparinov
Kramnik-Topalov, tiebreak-4, by Bareev
Ponomariov-Grischuk, by Ponomariov
Leko-Gelfand, by Leko Queen's Gambit:
Aronian-Morozevich, by Aronian Catalan:
Kramnik-Topalov, match-10, by Bareev Nimzo-Indian:
Sokolov-Polgar, by Polgar
Inarkiev-Khalifman, by Inarkiev Queen's Indian:
Mamedyarov-Yakovenko, by Mamedyarov English Opening:
Ivanchuk-Elianov, by Ivanchuk
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