ketchuplover: A Chess Center anywhere is a great idea. Learning the game is great for kids' education. To see what I mean listen to this (20 mins+):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p009p4qb/The_Friday_Documentary_Seeking_The_Endgame_Episode_2/

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4914

Anyone a big fan of either player?
They have both been a bit off form recently, I think.
So who will win?

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4153

And Kramnik scraped into 2nd place with a win in the last game. If only he had beaten Morozevich instead of losing ... there could have been some exciting tie break games.
It looks like Anand's official rating will go above 2800 now.

ouspensky: See http://www.chessbase.com/ for some good quality reports. They also contain links to the official website.
Latest news : "Morozevich beats Kramnik, Anand leads" !!

inpassant: What about Anand? He has a higher rating.

Who will win the championship?

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4123

For anyone interested, Dr John Nunn is setting his Christmas Puzzles for 2006. See
http://www.chessbase.com/puzzle/christmas2006/index.htm

I've worked out the first 2, but I think they normally get more difficult each day.

gambler104: Yes, Kramnik won the match twice in the end. 3 wins to 2 at classical chess, then 2.5 to 1.5 at rapid chess. The great news for the chess world now is that no-one can really argue about who is the champion anymore.
Now that Topalov has lost I find it easier to forgive him for his team's behaviour. It is a shame for him too. He played the more attacking chess (IMO) and if he had just kept his nerve at the vital moments he could have been ahead in the match after the first 2 games. He blundered later on too didn't he? I think he played so much better in San Luis.

Walter Montego: You asked "Does your clock run while you're in the restroom and it's your turn?". Yes it does, from chess at the highest level, right down to local tournament level.

naughtypawn: The first two games in particular were very tense and exciting I thought.
Now Topalov and his team have disgraced themselves. Topalov plays fighting chess, but Kramnik's cool approach has already proved to be superior I think. Top level chess is 50% psychology isn't it?
There are some amusing pics at the bottom of this page: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3386

chessmec: Thanks for the link. I had no idea it was there. Can't remember now if I read it when first registering here on BK.
The guidelines could be more verbose about cheating though. If it is ok to use books and openings databases but not engines, then it should say so explicitly.

I believe this issue has come up a number of times on various DBs. It concerns me that there are no published guidelines on BK; well, I've had a long look before without finding any.
Anyone new to the site is not going to be aware of the results of previous discussions.
If it is true that using Engines is allowed as long as players state that that is what they are doing, and if some people have even developed their own, then there could actually be some interesting engine-only tournaments here.
Would anyone else appreciate some official guidelines?

rabbitoid: This is a link to the fourth in a 'trilogy' of articles concluding beyond reasonable doubt (IMHO) that Mr. Kasparov was the best ever.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2409
The basic argument as I see it is that without the existence of Kasparov, Karpov would have dominated the world chess scene far more thoroughly than anyone else ever has. So the fact that Kasparov beat him up so much and also dominated for roughly as long proves the case.
Again IMHO, his early retirement was his best 'move' ever, and I wish him every success now in the opening phase of his new political challenge.
Best dream match? Kasparov vs Fischer would have been awesome.