16.12.2005
ALEXANDER KENTLER. CROSSROADS: we are 2 years old!
Two years is a big period for a chess site. And we managed to do something during this time.
The best contemporary chess researcher M.Dvoretsky has published a number of excellent works on our site. Excerpts from books of V.Korchnoi, E.Sveshnikov, V.Bologan, which are to be published, essays of an excellent master of style G.Sosonko, thoughts of M.Taimanov, and original works of A.Shashin arouse great interest among our readers. The interviews with V.Kramnik, P.Svidler, A.Khalifman, S.Movsesian, S.Dolmatov, S.Danailov, S.Karjakin were also memorable. The brightest representatives of the new wave of chess journalism V.Barsky, N.Vitiugov, S.Klimov, M.Notkin, I.Odessky, and M.Savinov began to shine on our site...
No big chess event remains unnoticed: the reader always has a chance to get acquainted with creative achievements of the participants. In the "Portrait of a Chess Player" section Anand, Bareev, Ivanchuk, Kasimzhanov, Leko, Sutovsky, Topalov, Shirov and Khalifman are represented. Our authors grandmasters K.Sakaev, S.Ivanov, D.Evseev, A.Bezgodov, A.Lugovoi, S.Ionov, and V.Loginov revealed their skills in those extensive articles.
Since January 2005 we are featuring "Best Games of the Month" section. Maxim Notkin defines ten best games with a help of respectable jury, and either annotates them himself or invites a guest star. And when the year ends, we will sum up the results of the year and proceed to the next one without delays.
In the "History of Chess" section the works of the IM V.Faibisovich are distinguished. He gradually fills up the map of the city with chess addresses... Several days ago I went by the destroyed Palace of Culture named after the First Five-Year Plan. A huge number of outstanding chess events took place there! Now there are only ruins left. Soon the second stage of the Mariinsky Theatre is to be built, and there will be ballet on bones of our memories... it was a non-lyrical digression. Readers liked the articles about Iljin-Zhenevsky, Model, and Shiffers...
A special role belongs to the articles connected with computer programs, competitions on the Internet, and scientific works based on chess. This very topic caused the foundation of the site, and soon a new breakthrough in this direction is possible.
There are things to work on. Unfortunately, our guestbook is rather dead than alive. On the other hand, the attempts to reanimate it (as it is done on other sites) in worse case demand twenty-four-hour watch for deleting abusive messages, and in the best case the guestbook becomes a recreation area for people intolerant to other viewpoints. We would like to have more authors. Unfortunately, a potentially very interesting section "Pen of a Wunderkind" does not have a continuation. Maybe, it is yet another proof of problems linked with generation change in Russian chess?
www.e3e5.com site has great plans. We will begin broadcasting the most important competitions with expert online commentary in the near future. We want to provide the reader with maximum of information about competitions, give him an opportunity to see the games.
In conclusion, I would like to thank everyone who is directly relevant to the site: its creator V.A.Bazhenov and staff: D.Timofeev, V.Balakirev, C.Ivanenko, E.Smirnova, and M.Savinov, those who worked here earlier, our authors and of course you, our reader!
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