Le Quang Liem and the Soviet School of Chess
Moscow’s Aeroflot Open can be something of a graveyard for foreign chess talent, so for the Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem to win it twice in a row was an amazing achievement. It’s also thought-provoking: does Le’s success tell us anything about the current balance of power between Russia and Asia?
Can you match Garry Kasparov?
Garry Kasparov, with some help from his wife Dasha, recently won the Georgian charity version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”, answering 15 questions correctly to win 20,000 lari (about 11,400 USD) for a brother and sister requiring heart surgery. Could you have done the same?
GM Ruslan Ponomariov answers your questions: Part I
Answering reader questions almost a decade after becoming FIDE World Champion as an 18-year-old, Ruslan Ponomariov provides both a revealing insight into the life of an elite player, and a damning indictment of the chess politics that saw his match against Garry Kasparov collapse.
Danailov: “Chess should either change, or die”
In a short but fascinating interview, Silvio Danailov, Veselin Topalov’s manager and the President of the European Chess Union, shed light on the fate of a number of tournaments, his protégé’s form, and new and controversial plans for the future of chess.
Mark Taimanov at 85
For someone perhaps best known for spectacular failure – losing 6:0 to Bobby Fischer – Mark Taimanov has had the most successful of lives. A top Soviet grandmaster and a successful concert pianist, he’s now the happy octogenarian father of 6-year-old twins. He talks about his life and contemporary chess.
Levitov on the collapse of the London match
In an interview published today, Ilya Levitov, a FIDE Vice President and the man in charge of the Russian Chess Federation, explains why he believes the plans to hold a World Championship match in London broke down, and also reveals details of the next World Championship cycle.
Birth of a Supernova: Vasiliev reports from Wijk aan Zee
Hikaru Nakamura’s tournament victory was described as “the birth of a supernova” by Yury Vasiliev in two final reports from the Tata Steel 2011 Tournament. The Russian journalist was on the ground in Wijk aan Zee to provide photo reports and comments from players and observers throughout the event.
Your questions for GM Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian is one of a kind – not only a phenomenally gifted chess player, but also a colourful and quirky character. Who better, then, to subject to a “people’s interview” as part of the Crestbook “KC-Conference” project? Seize the chance to ask him your own questions today!
Banking on Kasparov
While the fashion career of his former protégé, Magnus Carlsen, continues apace, Garry Kasparov has recently been involved in an advertising campaign of his own. It’s fair to say his promotion of the Polish division of ING Bank shows the ex-World Champion as you’ve never seen him before!
Remembering Smyslov
The death of the 7th World Champion, Vasily Smyslov (1921-2010), was one of the greatest chess losses of the last year. He featured in two year-end interviews: one with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who claimed Smyslov also encountered aliens, and the other with GM Sergey Shipov, who recalled the Smyslov he knew.
