Dortmund Sparkassen 2003

Round one by Chriss Lass

What a day. After a super boring opening ceremony (sorry;) the fire started on the boards. But first things first. When I arrived in Dortmund today I saw Mr. World Champion Kramnik entering the city theater. (No, he is not going to the theater - the games happen there.) And with him at least three assistants. Uh oh. Seems he wants to win this time. Seems he not so happy that Anand has stolen his first place in Wijk this year. Whatever. Some say he is extremely well prepared for this tournament. Prove? Todays game. He outplayed Radjabov already in the opening. I know that Radjabov was prepared for todays line, but he played maybe a bit too aggressive. Especially sacrificing your queen can be dangerous, Teimour. Well, get up on your legs again Mr. Radjabov and show us a new spectacular game. I personally like his playing style.

Replay Kramnik - Radjabov 1-0
Analysis by GM Boris Alterman and Jason Doss


Anand and Leko? Draw. Please Peter, no Leko-draw-tactics this year. You can play such nice games. Show us some. Thank you. Uh - and I heard some news from India. Vishy is in a good shape they say. So maybe a draw against him wont be enough next week.

Replay Anand - Leko 1/2


For over six hours Najditch and Bologan tried to test their endgame knowledge. This must be consuming a lot of energy. Too bad for the youngster that Bologan proved Arkadi wrong. Lets hope the long game and the loss today wont take Najditch's fighting spirit away.

Replay Naiditsch - Bologan 0-1

Television. Yes TV. We will have the Dortmund chess days covered as every year by the German TV station "WDR". They want to do three shows. And so you can see them running around all day with their huge camera. The host of the show is Mr. Claus Spahn. That is the man next to that young lady on the picture you see on this page. OK, ok. I will tell you who the lady is: Anna Dergachowa. An excellent chess player and journalist. She writes stuff for Chess.FM, Chess64 and some others. Plus: She always seems to know everybody (let's count the hugs;). Chess tournaments are like family reunions. You just meet well known faces and watch the same old game. And - hey - if you are in Europe - dont miss this show and come over for a day...

Click back tomorrow & CU online.