Chess

NEW YORK - Russian chess luminary Garry Kasparov (kas-PAR'-ahf) says he doesn't regret trading the game for politics.

STOCKHOLM - A chipped and incomplete chess set believed to have featured in one of Ingmar Bergman's best known films fetched one of the highest bids at a special auction for the late director's belongings, auction house officials said Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES - Tim Rice has been playing the "Chess" game for more than 25 years, and the lyricist will go another round as PBS "Great Performances" serves up "Chess in Concert." "I think, at last, we're getting it right," Rice told the 5,000 audience members who packed London's Royal Albert Hall to see pop singer Josh Groban and Broadway stars Idina Menzel ("Wicked") and Adam Pascal ("Rent") head up a concert production of the musical in May 2008, which was recorded for the PBS presentation on Wednesday (check local listings).

CHICAGO - Koko Taylor, a sharecropper's daughter whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the sobriquet "Queen of the Blues," has died after complications from surgery.