The oldest chess tournament ran again at Hastings, England (official website) where the organisers yet again brought together an interesting selection of players including Sasikiran (IND), Kosteniuk (RUS) and Karjakin (UKR). However, the winner was the solid Dane Nielsen (DEN) 6/9. Reports can be found at BCM and the official site. The PGN file from TWIC.

The traditional Reggio Emilia , Italy (official website) took place where the joint winners were Chabanon (FRA) and Palac (CRO) 7/9. The PGN file from TWIC.

The first super-tournament of the year was a resounding success for Anand (IND) 8½/13 at Wijk aan Zee, Holland (official website) while Polgar (HUN) 8/13 finished in front of two current World Champions and an ex-World Champion with her best performance to date. See Chessbase for reports and games. The PGN file from TWIC. It is also worth mentioning the incredible performance fromZhang Zhong (CHN) 11/13 in winning the GM B tournament with a PGN file from TWIC.

The marathon Indian Championship (official website) with Sasikiran (IND) 16/20 retaining his title followed by Harikrishna 14/20. The PGN file from TWIC.

The US Championship (official website) saw Shabalov (USA) 6½/9 ahead of 7 others on 6/9. The TWIC gives reports: Rd1, Rd2, Rd3, Rd4, Rd5, Rd6, Rd7, Rd8 and Rd9 and thePGN file.

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

January Websites and Sources

February saw Kasparov (RUS) return to playing a computer in Kasparov vs Deep Junior (official website) which proved to be a fascinating struggle ending in a 3-3 draw. Kasparov started strongly but the relentless Deep Junior managed to pull back and hold the former World Champion. There is analysis from Game 5 and Game 6 from TWIC and the PGN file from TWIC. There was massive news coverage and Chessbase has provided a list of links.

A new and strong open was played in Gibralter (official website) with Kotronias (CYP) and Short (ENG) 7½/10 winning.

A tournament in Bermuda (official website) took place which will be remembered for the significant result from Nakamura (USA) who achieved his final GM-norm and beat a long standing record for the youngest American GM, previously held by Fischer (USA). There were in fact two tournaments: GMA won by Vescovi (BRA) 8/11 and GMB won by Fridman (LAT) 8/11 with the games from TWIC: GMA and GMB.

There was a match Short - Ghaem Maghami, Tehran, Iran (official website) which Short (ENG) won 4-2 which caused impress interest in Iran. The PGN file from TWIC.

A strong tournament was held in Reykjavik, Iceland (official website) which includd Adams (ENG), Korchnoi (SUI) and Shirov (ESP). As it turned out Shirov (ESP) won impressively with 7/9 with reports at TWIC: Rd1, Rd2, Rd3, Rd4, Rd5, Rd6, Rd7 and Rd8. The PGN file from TWIC.

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

February Websites and Sources

The Wimbledon of chess took place at Linares, Spain (official website) which wasa triumph for the Einstein half of the World Championship Reunification with Leko (Hun) and Kramnik (RUS) coming joint first on 7/12 with Leko adjudged the winner. For reports see TWIC: Rd 1, Rd 2, Rd 3, Rd 4, Rd 5, Rd 6, Rd 7, Rd 8, Rd 9, Rd 10, Rd 11 and the PGN file. See also BCM for a report

Sasikiran (IND) 7/9 continued his good year winning Asian Championship, Doha (official website) with the PGN file from FIDE.

The ever popular Amber, Monte Carlo (official website) tournament took place with another success for Anand (IND) 14½/15. See TWIC for Results and PGN with reports from Chessbase: Report 1 and Report 2.

The Edda Rapid, Reykjavik (official website) was a bit of a turn up for the books with Gurevich (BEL) 8/9 winning convincingly in front of players such as Shirov (ESP), Adams (ENG), Van Wely (NED) and Topalov (BUL). See the PGN at TWIC.

In the German Bundesliga, Round 12 and Round 13 took place with Luebeck retaining its top position in the Table. While in the UK 4NCL Wood Green are hoping to win their first title and are still leading after Round 5 and Round 6.

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

March Websites and Sources

Rustemov (RUS) 6/9 played well and surprised a few people by winning the XII Dos Hermanas, Spain ahead of players such as Shirov (ESP), Khalifman (RUS) and Dreev (RUS) with the PGN file from TWIC.

Congratulations to Luebeck who won the German Bundesliga for a third year in a row after Round 14 and Round 15, also see the Final Table. Chessgate supplies the PGN file for all games.

The Scottish Championship (official website) took place with Motwani (SCO) and Arakhamia-Grant (SCO) 7/9 joint winners. The Chess Scotland website gives: results, reports and PGN games.

The peripatetic Short (ENG) 6½/9 is showing the form that took him to a World Championship match with Kasparov and beat Polgar (HUN) into the bargain to win the Budapest, Hungary tournament with Leko (HUN) and Gelfand (ISR) trailing. The PGN file from TWIC.

Karpov (RUS) thrashed the European Champion, Macieja (POL), 6-2 in a match that took place in Warsaw, Poland with the PGN games from TWIC.

The Danish Championship (official website) saw another success for Nielsen (DEN) 7/9 with the PGN games from TWIC .

Svidler (RUS) and Lautier (FRA) 5½/9 won the strong 4th Karpov, Poikovsky, Russia (official website) with the PGN games from TWIC.

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

April Websites and Sources

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

May Websites and Sources

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

June Websites and Sources

Also in Swedish at Per-Åke Lindblom's Schackportalen Website.

July Websites and Sources