We mention only two of the chess news: the extra super grandmasters are fighting for the parallel crown in England. Kramnik does not look like a convenient adversary for the thirteenth World Champion. But Kasparov failed only once, so far. In his match with V. Anand he was losing until the tenth game where he sacrificed a rook. Well, he admitted that he made no move of his own in that game - but the score got equal, and then Kasparov finished the Indian super grandmaster. So, it's too early for any conclusions now. The challenger is leading 3:2.

A modest two round-robin tournament in the Netherlands does not look like an important event against such a background. Rather, it can be regarded as a little warm-up before the World Championship to be held in India - if nothing happens. The participants play unusual pieces, made of glass. There are only four rivals: the fourteenth World Champion Alexander Khalifman, Judith Polgar and Ian Timman. The fourth is the World Champion 1999 under 20, grandmaster Alexander Galkin. It was he who suffered from A. Khalifman so far. The fourteenth World Champion does not escape failures, still his rating stays at the very level which allowed him to win in Las Vegas. Timman and Polgar made a draw. We shall report to you the further development of the tournament.