Chess Today was the first, and is the longest running, Internet-only daily chess newspaper, having continued virtually uninterrupted since 7 November 2000. It is distributed to subscribers by e-mail. Each e-mail has the PDF of the newspaper attached, as well as a small collection of recent games. The editor and proprietor of Chess Today is Grandmaster Alexander Baburin. Each edition contains at least one tactical puzzle, an annotated game, and world chess news. Other elements of the publication include 'On This Day', endgame analysis and chess reviews. Chess Today has also conducted and printed interviews with at least four former World Chess Champions.
Editors and contributors
In addition to proprietor and current editor Grandmaster Alexander Baburin, for much of the life of Chess Today Graham Brown was both web designer and editor and Ralph Marconi was the second editor. Some editorial work was also done by Tim Harding in the early years. A number of Masters and Grandmasters have contributed either entire editions or contributions to editions of Chess Today including Grandmasters Mikhail Golubev and Ruslan Scherbakov, and International Masters Vladimir Barsky, Nikolai Vlassov and Maxim Notkin. Grandmaster Karsten Müller also contributed endgame analysis to some of the early issues.
Technical format
Chess today is sent to subscribers by e-mail. Every issue of Chess Today includes three files in different formats. The PDF file contains the entire newspaper which varies in length but is generally 3–5 A4 pages in a two-column format. The games in each issue come in a CBV file and are duplicated in a PGN file.
Although Chess Today began with a relatively small readership its readership has continued to grow and it has for a number of years remained one of the main paid-for sources of chess news on the web often referred to as a source of material and point of reference by other authors. For example, many of the 'Move by Move' series of books cite 'Chess Today' in their bibliographies as an electronic resource. Originally planned to cost $15 every 4 months the price has effectively increased slightly from €19 for 4 months in 2001 to the current €15 for 3 months.
Origins
Chess Today was created by Alexander Baburin. He has related that he had the idea to create and run a daily Internet-only chess newspaper in the middle of 2000 while flying to Copenhagen. He has stated that he identified a gap in the market for paid-for daily chess news intended to inform, educate and entertain.
Content
Chess today contains a mix of different articles, each edition includes a selection from the following:
Test Yourself!/Tactical Quiz
This generally takes examples of recent tournament and match games and sets the reader the challenge of trying to find the tactical win available.
On This Day
This section is present in most editions. It includes facts about well known chess players who were born or died on this date in previous years. It also notes other significant chess events that occurred on the same date in previous years.
This includes news stories not only about chess tournaments and matches, but also the goings-on in FIDE and other chess organisations.
Annotated game
This section is present in every edition and includes detailed annotations on a recent game between strong players.
Chess reviews
This section generally includes reviews of recently published chess books. Reviews have in the past been contributed by Sam Collins, Don Aldrich and Andy Ansel but there are reviews from other players too.
Endgame kaleidoscope
This is a speciality of Chess Today and usually involves Grandmaster Baburin investigating a topical or recent endgame or endgames in great detail, also making use of endgame tablebases and modern chess engines.
Web watch
This section offers readers updates on changes in the lay of the land in terms of the presence of chess on the Internet.
Beware: blunder!
This section gives examples of relatively or very strong players making mistakes and allows readers to find improvements and understand the reason for the blunder.
Interviews
Occasionally Chess Today includes interviews with Grandmasters and with other important individuals from the chess world. Some of the most notable interviews have been with Grandmasters Glek, Anand, Svidler, Smyslov, Spassky and Ponomariov.
