The Week in Chess Anniversary (25) 25 Years of The Week in Chess Mark Crowther - Tuesday 17th September 2019

Mark Crowther on the day of the 25th Anniversary of TWIC. Photo © | https://theweekinchess.com I am celebrating the 25th Anniversary of The Week in Chess. The first issue appeared on Saturday 17th September 1994 and was posted to the newsgroup rec.games.chess. In the article below I talk about the anniversary, thanking a few of the many people who have helped over the years and list all the issues so far. I would also like you to consider donating if you find the work I do useful to you. Donations have been a key part of supporting the website. I'm very pleased - and amazed - to have made it to 25 years. I have the appetite to continue on and develop for at least a few more years yet. There is also a nice article about the anniversary by Peter Doggers on chess.com.

TWIC at 25

Today is the 25th Birthday of The Week in Chess. On Saturday 17th September 1994 I went to the computer centre of Bradford University and typed in important games I'd collected from newspapers and magazines, added some games I collected online from the Credit Suisse Masters in Switzerland and the issue was done. The whole thing was posted to a newsgroup called rec.games.chess and I was done. (Issue 1 of TWIC) Only a couple of years later the work had grown to the extent that I either had to do this full time or give up.

I've written several accounts of the TWIC story:

1000 issues and a 20th year

20 Years of The Week in Chess

1250 issues

I believe more than ever that a once a week service that brings together the key chess games and results has a place in many players' lives. It's hard enough for me to stay on top of all the major chess tournaments that are played, for those with a more casual interest it is next to impossible. If this is the first time you've heard of TWIC it consists this: a text section which gives the results and links to the events of the week; a games section to accompany this in either in PGN or ChessBase format. The PGN game downloads can be viewed in easily available chess software. You can download the latest issue of TWIC using the links on the right hand side of this website or from the TWIC archive page.

Donations for those first two anniversaries saved the magazine and still today they are of huge importance in keeping going. The link to a download of TWIC for £30 has been popular. I've also introduced a £4 a month subscription option, I'm working out precisely what I can provide there but at the very least you will be able to ask for an updated TWIC database file anytime. If this becomes popular I have a few ideas for additional useful services.

Send a £30 donation via Paypal and contact me via email (Email Mark Crowther - mdcrowth@btinternet.com) I'll send you an address for a cbv file of my personal copy of every issue of the games in one database. Over 2.4 million games.

Alternatively subscribe to donate £4 a month

I have plans for future improvements. Already this year I added a page where you can grab PGN files for the last year A Year of PGN files and then moved the website to a secure address. Now the busy summer period is over (I broke my record for the number of games in an issue twice) I will have chance to work on other ideas. I can certainly see my way to a 30th anniversary. As long as I see the magazine well used, and I can make a living doing this, I will continue.

There are far too many people to thank for their help over the years and I will inevitably leave out many names I should include. Here is a small attempt: Luiz Roberto Da Costa Jr., Elliott Winslow, David J. Barnes, Anjo Anjewierden, Olexandr Prohorov, Martin Bennedik, Roland Wimmer, Jon Speelman, Ian Rogers, Peter Svidler, David Navara, Nikita Vitiugov, Holger Lieske. People and organisations who have helped support TWIC financially include: Malcolm Pein and all the people of Chess and Bridge, New in Chess, Chess24, Chess.com, American Chess Magazine, Clark St James Ltd and all the other people who have advertised, donated or otherwise helped me keep going.

25 years of TWIC issues