Everyone loves a winner and the Bulgarian press has been having a field day with new World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov. Here are a selection of English language reports from the Sofia News Agency [novinite.com], Bulgarian Focus News [focus-fen.net], and Sofia Echo [sofiaecho.com]. Read more...

One of the many qualities that determine a good chess game is a surprising sacrifice. The 2005 FIDE World Championship at San Luis, Argentina, was full of excellent sacrifices. Here are seven from the first half of the tournament. Read more...

In Creating a WWII Chess Set, Mjermom says, 'I would like to create a World War II theme chess set. However, I know nothing about chess and only basic facts about WWII. I have seen tons of Civil War themed chess sets, but very few for WWII. If anyone has any suggestions to me what the substitute WWII piece could be I would greatly appreciate it.' • If you are a military history buff, how about helping Mjermom with an idea or two!

The year end holidays are fast approaching and it's time to start thinking about gifts. Let's have some recent product and service news. Here are announcements from Kozmo Games, eBay, Rampart Chess, Game Trust, PROTOS, Shredder, Disney, Fritz, Chess Genius, and e-ChessSets.com. Read more...

Remember blue ribbons? Those humble, yet elegant, badges denoting first class and excellence? When it comes to chess books, we give blue ribbons to books that have shown outstanding commercial or critical success. Among the thousands of available chess titles, these are almost guaranteed to please. Read more...

First we talked about it. Now let's establish a consensus. Vote in our new poll : Should resignation be forbidden by the rules?

Congratulations to the new FIDE World Chess Champion, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, winner of San Luis, Argentina! After cruising through the first half of the eight-player event with a blistering +6-0=1 score, Topalov coasted in the second half with +0-0=7. The only undefeated participant, he finished 1.5 points ahead of Viswanathan Anand and Peter Svidler. • Long a member of the world's chess elite, Topalov has been a World Championship contender since 1993. Read more...

A popular response by Black to 1.d4 is the Queen's Gambit Declined (often abbreviated QGD) : 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6. The game usually continues 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5, which pins the Black Knight and threatens 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bxf6 gxf6, ruining Black's Kingside. As with most Queen Pawn openings, the QGD move orders are flexible. In this tutorial we look at the main ideas. Read more...

In Aladdin Brings Chess to Life, smtalim points to a post in his blog (satishtalim.blogspot.com) and wonders 'whether this is really the right approach one should follow to teach chess to one's child'. • He's talking about 'Disney's Aladdin Chess Adventures', due to be released next month. Have a comment? Let us know!

It's getting serious!. Reuters reported the story, CNN picked it up from Reuters, and now it seems like everyone is knocking it around. • Chess boxing: Brain and brawn: 'Bulgarian boxer Tihomir Titschko's punishing right hook and fancy footwork were not enough to defeat his opponent. Instead, it was the stocky fighter's mastery of knights and bishops that proved decisive in his successful bid to become the first European chess boxing champion in a dimly lighted warehouse in east Berlin.' [6 October 2005; CNN/Reuters]

How does chess boxing work? The fighters -- or are they players? -- alternate between four minute rounds of blitz chess and two minute rounds of boxing. A typical match has 11 rounds and starts with the chess. Since there are at most six rounds of chess, each player starts with 12 minutes on the clock. The winner is the first to checkmate or knockout the opponent. • Want to know more? See the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) site. Don't miss the video of the match between Luis the Lawyer and Iepe the Joker, complete with visored rappers and pretty girls holding big signs while they prance around the ring.