Meet the match commentators

When millions watch a game of basketball or tennis there is little concern that the spectators won't fully understand what is happening on the court. An overhead slam and a slam-dunk are obvious feats of athleticism. But feats of mental prowess need more explanation.

In order to provide just that X3D has assembled a group of commentators and experts to bring the moves to life. We introduce them below so you know a little more about who you are watching, reading, and listening to. Tune into ESPN2 or watch here live online!

Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan is a four-time US Champion and a former Candidate for the world championship. "Yaz" is generally considered to be the strongest American-raised player since the legendary World Champion Bobby Fischer.

Seirawan has played countless battles against the world's best. His tournament career included wins over legends Karpov and Kasparov during their world championship reigns.

Yasser is also an experienced and entertaining chess writer and commentator. He has a successful series of instructional books and was the founder and editor of Inside Chess magazine.

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley became the first African-American Grandmaster in 1999. His true chess passion has been coaching and bringing the benefits of the game to thousands of children in his New York home and across the country.

With many appearances as a commentator – including several Kasparov matches – and even his own chess software title, Maurice has become a leading ambassador of the royal game.

Ashley is a spokesperson for AmericInn, which continues to sponsor the fantastic National Youth Chess Championship. His many other activities are listed at his website, MauriceAshley.com.

Joining Yasser and Maurice in front of the live audience and ESPN2 cameras in New York is Paul Hoffman. He may not be a Grandmaster but that's about the only title he hasn't held.

Paul has done everything from running Encyclopaedia Britannica to appearing on David Letterman and Oprah. He is a best-selling author whose latest and 11th book is Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight.

Hoffman is a strong amateur tournament chess player ("Class A" in the US). He has written about the game for The New York Times, Time, Smithsonian and many other publications.

In the past six years Mig Greengard has become a well-known personality in the world of online chess. A blend of news and offbeat humor made his column Mig on Chess an instant success.

In 1999 he was hired by Garry Kasparov to help design and run his website. Mig's columns and reports now appear at ChessBase.com and his popular e-mail chess training site ChessNinja.com is about to celebrate its first anniversary.

Mig commentated Kramnik-Fritz in Bahrain in 2002 and Kasparov-Deep Junior in 2003. His fast fingers will provide the live online game commentary and the reports and photos here at www.x3dchess.com.

The online commentary will be presented in our beautiful Flash applet complete with notes and variations. It will include comments from Seirawan, Hoffman, and the many chess VIPs who stop by Mig's table. Already on the guest list are current US Women's Champion Anna Hahn and three-time US Champion Lev Alburt.

That takes care of the humans, but who can look into the silicon mind of X3D Fritz? We are well-prepared in that area as well. The Fritz programming team will be in New York in force, together with one of the leading lights of computer chess, Frederic Friedel, the founder of ChessBase. Tune in to our live online coverage for their exclusive insight into the top computer chess mind ever.

Team Fritz, l to r: Programmer Mathias Feist, opening book expert Alex Kure, and Fritz creator and programmer Frans Morsch.