Looking forward to Linares
17.02.2004 In two days the “Wimbledon of chess”, begins in Linares (Spain). Starring in it are seven of the strongest GMs in the world, including Kasparov, Kramnik, Shirov, Topalov and Leko. Ram Prasad gets us in the mood by looking back at previous tournaments.

Linares 1: Leko takes early lead
19.02.2004 The action on the scoreboard was in Radjabov-Leko. The Hungarian refuted the teen's aggressive play and converted an endgame. Shirov-Kasparov was a fantastic duel that will give analysts headaches. Vallejo-Kramnik was a non-game draw. Hundreds at Playchess.com listened to live commentary from Mig Greengard and special guest Nigel Short. Full report and analysis.

Linares 2: All games drawn
20.02.2004 Round two of the supertournament in Linares saw all games drawn. Mig Greengard again did live audio commentary on the Playchess.com server, this time with four-time women's world champion Susan Polgar as a phone-in guest. We bring you results, annotated games and pictures...

Linares 3: Kasparov and Shirov (and Topalov!) on the ropes
21.02.2004 Garry Kasparov ran into a well-prepared novelty by Peter Leko. Alexei Shirov missed his own winning chances to get into difficulties against Veselin Topalov. Radjabov vs Kramnik was uneventful. All three games were drawn. ChessBase Radio listeners got a live report from Linares during the round! We bring you games, pictures and a full report.

Linares 4: All games drawn, one with a fight
22.02.2004 In the good old days Luis Rentero used to prowl the halls of Hotel Anibal, hurling invectives at players who agreed to a quick draw. Rentero has relinquished control over the event, and today he was sadly missed. At least Topalov put up an effort to overcome Taimour Radjabov. We bring you analysis, report and pictures.

Linares 5: Three fighting draws (for a change)
24.02.2004 Same procedure as in every round (almost). But at least today we can say that all three draws were hard-fought, with local hero Paco Vallejo and Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov pushing hard with the black pieces, while the top encounter Kasparov-Kramnik was a positional battle. We bring you analysis, report and pictures.

Linares 6: Shirov beats Radjabov
25.02.2004 The second decided game in the Linares Super-GM tournament came in round six, with the proverbial firebrand Alexei Shirov sacrificing an exchange and then a piece to defeat the youngest participant, Teimour Radjabov from Baku. Topalov vs Kasparov was hard-fought but ended in a draw. We bring you games and results.

Linares 7: Three wins, Leko in the lead
26.02.2004 Maybe they put something into the water? Just when everybody was getting used to the daily serving of lifeless draws, had the jokes about the lack of fighting spirit had been honed to stand-up class, the players suddenly burst into action and presented the world with three decided games in this round. More...

Linares 8: three draws – the death of chess?
27.02.2004 Yesterday was apparently a freak accident, today Linares returned to normal, with all games drawn. One must mention that again it was Garry Kasparov's board where all the excitement was. With his opponent Alexei Shirov was pressing with the black pieces the world's number one had to fight for a draw. Here are results, games and pictures.

Linares 9: three more draws – but plenty of fight
28.02.2004 Today's ninth round was dominated by the battle between the Baku boys. Garry Kasparov was determined to win with the black pieces and dutifully outplayed his young opponent in the endgame, only to drop the full point with a mistake right at the end. The other games were drawn. We bring you a report and pictures.

Linares 10: Topalov beats Shirov, quick draw by Kasparov
29.02.2004 The bravest player in this tournament and, with Kasparov, the biggest fighter, Veselin Topalov today defeated the fiery Latvian Alexei Shirov. Garry Kasparov clearly hadn't overcome his disappointment in the previous round and, with Luis Rentero watching, let Peter Leko off with a 19-move draw. We bring you a report and pictures.

Linares 11: Leko falters against Kramnik
02.03.2004 For the longest time it looked like Peter Leko would once again take a full point with the white pieces against his favourite opponent, Vladimir Kramnik. But on move 32 the young Hungarian stumbled and allowed Kramnik to spin a mating net. The other games were drawn. We bring you a report and pictures.

Linares 12: Leaders draw, Radjabov scores first win
04.03.2004 Wins at Linares 2004 have been very hard to come by and now Paco Vallejo is the only player without one. He lost to Radjabov and fell into last place. Kramnik-Kasparov lasted 17 moves, Topalov-Leko four more. Even if the games don't excite we'll have fun with our live trivia competition during our Radio ChessBase broadcast during tomorrow's games. Don't miss it! Report and analysis

Linares 13: Radjabov wins again; Kasparov misses a win
05.03.2004 Why isn't this man smiling? Because he missed another chance to join the lead. 13 wasn't lucky for the 13th world champ. Topalov held him to a draw in a spectacular game. Radjabov beat Shirov to finish even. Don't miss the live audio commentary and trivia contest during the final round on Friday at Playchess.com. Report and analysis