New in Chess Magazine 2010/5

The Finest Chess Collection in the World
Immaculate copies of the rarest books, countless classics signed by the authors, a 15th-century Lucena manuscript, score-sheets ranging from Fischer’s Game of the Century against Donald Byrne to all the games of the 1927 New York tournament, letters by Morphy, Capablanca’s ­golden pocket watch, the contract of the 1886 Steinitz-Zukertort world championship match... There is no end to the treasures of the David DeLucia chess library. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam couldn’t believe his good fortune when he was received as the 6th visitor to this exquisite collection.

Carlsen King of the Kings
With yet another historical performance (7½ out of 10 and a performance rating of 2918), Magnus Carlsen confirmed his status of absolute favourite at the Kings’ Tournament in Romania. In the process the Norwegian world number one raised his Elo to 2826, the second highest rating ever, 25 points shy of Garry Kasparov’s all-time high.

Worth the Wait
In 1991 sixteen-year-old wunderkind Gata Kamsky won the U.S. Championship. He, like many observers, must have expected it would be the first of many U.S. titles. In fact he had to wait for nineteen years. At the 2010 U.S. Championship in St. Louis, at the cusp of thirty-six, Kamsky finally made it back to the winner’s circle. Joel Benjamin reports.

Memento Mori
After months of pessimism and uncertainty the concluding stage of the 2008/09 FIDE Grand Prix finally took place in Astrakhan. Pavel Eljanov relates how the GP helped him overcome a serious form crisis and gave him the opportunity to score one of the finest victories in his young career – a victory that cemented his status as a new member of the world’s top-10 with a 2755 rating.

Vanquishing Vikings
In the past twelve months Anish Giri collected an incredible 154 Elo points that took the 16-year-old to an imposing 2672 rating. Fourteen of those points the young Dutchman gathered at the Sigeman Tournament in Malmö. In an exclusive report Giri proves once again that he is not only a wonderful player, but also an insightful and witty commentator.

S.O.S.: Budapest Gambit Delayed
Does it make sense to delay the Budapest Gambit by one move? Jeroen Bosch shows why this is an underestimated weapon against the fearsome Catalan.

(Not) Havana Good Time
Nigel Short had always wished to play in the Capablanca Memorial, perhaps the most venerable traditional tournament in Latin-America. When the Englishman finally made it to Havana for the 45th edition, everyday reality in the Caribbean socialist paradise sadly differed from what he had hoped to find.

Tourist Turns Winner
For more than a year now, Loek van Wely has kept us posted about his adventures on the U.S. chess circuit. Imagine our (and his) delight when minutes after the last round of the Chicago Open we received a text message saying that this time he’d report from the winner’s perspective.

Battling till the End
Last year the Icelandic film Me and Bobby Fischer, directed by Fridrik Gudmundsson, came out on DVD. Hans Ree enjoyed the ‘extra exclusive bonus material’, which has Fischer talking for 83 minutes, longer than the film itself.

Sharp Games from Siberia
Jan Timmen signals a new trend in events where the Sofia rules are applied and shows spectacular chess from the Karpov tournament in Poikovsky.

Just Checking
Any idea what Vugar Gashimov believes to be the best chess country in the world?

Did they play your opening?
In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players:

Sicilian
Carlsen-Radjabov, by Carlsen
Kraai-Benjamin, by Benjamin
Stripunsky-Christiansen, by Benjamin
Short-Nepomniachtchi, by Short

French
Nakamura-Shulman, by Benjamin
Christiansen-Nakamura, by Benjamin

Petroff
Radjabov-Gelfand, by Radjabov

Ruy Lopez
Kamsky-Christiansen, by Benjamin

King's Pawn
Hector-Giri, by Giri

Queen's Gambit Declined
Cramling-Giri, by Giri

Slav
Gelfand-Wang Yue, by Gelfand
Kacheishvili-Van Wely, by Van Wely

Catalan
Giri-Grandelius, by Giri
Giri-Hammer, by Giri

Nimzo-Indian
Radjabov-Eljanov, by Eljanov
Riazantsev-Naiditsch, by Timman

Queen's Indian
Riazantsev-Karjakin, by Timman

Queen's Pawn
Short-Ivanchuk, by Short

English Opening
Van Wely-Shankland, by Van Wely

Réti
Hillarp Persson-Giri, by Giri