Discussing moves with a neural network

2/26/2021 – What is the best continuation? Which rook should you to move to the half-open b-file? You look at the 30 games in Mega, but cannot find a convincing answer. So you consult the latest chess engines, the NN variety with the most profound understanding. But even there you find clear differences of opinion. ICCF GM Steven Ham, who represents Team USA on Board #1, uses this practical example to explain why he prefers one engine to assist with his deep preparation. His conclusion: Fat Fritz 2 is the best overall chess analysis tool available.
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February 23 The Weekly Show
The weekly highlights with IM Lawrence Trent. View the new video!
February 24 The Game of the Week
The game of the week presented by IM Merijn van Delft. View the new video!
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Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Bashing the Gruenfeld

2/26/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King shows how White can try to bash the Gruenfeld with the seemingly modest 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2. But there is hidden menace.... | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 13:00 ET). All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

Armenian Championship, Round 10: Live

2/26/2021 – In round 9 of the Armenian Championship tournament leader Hovhannes Gabuzyan won against Tigran Harutyuian, and with two rounds to go he is now one point ahead of the field and has good chances to become Armenian Champion 2021. Round ten starts at 12:00 CET (11:00 UTC, 7:00 ET). Follow the games live.

Levon Aronian changes federations to play for the US

2/26/2021 – On Thursday, February 25, 2021, the Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian, currently number five in the world, informed the Armenian Chess Federation about his decision to move to St. Louis and to play for the US. With Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez and Hikaru Nakamura, the USA has now five players among the top 20. A press release by the St. Louis Chess Club has details. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes

Throwback Thursday: Caruana scores seven wins in a row

2/25/2021 – In a mind-boggling performance, Fabiano Caruana won the second edition of the Sinquefield Cup after scoring victories in his first seven games and obtaining a stratospheric Tournament Performance Rating. The six-player field had an average Elo rating of 2802 and included world champion Magnus Carlsen. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

Hybrid Chess celebrates its debut

2/25/2021 – Necessity is the mother of invention! Since the Corona crisis has limited travel possibilities, and many people don't want to play only online blitz and rapid chess, hypbrid chess was created. On February 21 and February 22, the four cities of Barcelona, Malmö, Oslo and Bratislava played the first official Hybrid Chess tournament, the Hybrid Cities Cup. Almost like the old days...

A tricky endgame revisited: Caruana vs Duda, Altibox Norway Tournament 2020

2/25/2021 – In round 2 of the Altibox Norway Tournament 2020 Fabiano Caruana won a fascinating and tricky endgame against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Of course, endgame expert and aficionado Karsten Müller was intrigued but the result notwithstanding he was not sure whether the endgame was also theoretically won. But now, after lengthy analyses with Zoran Petronijevic, he came to a definite conclusion. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The Chess Informant Today

2/25/2021 – When the first "Chess Informant" was published in 1966, it demonstrated the power of information. Twice a year the "Informant" offered a collection of the most important games from current tournaments, information every serious chess player needed and wanted. Today, databases and the internet keep chess fans up-to-date but the "Informant" is still alive and kicking. Diana Mihajlova visited its offices in Belgrade.

Game of the Week: M. Bosboom vs I. Khenkin

2/24/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes a look at a fine attacking game in which Dutch player Manuel Bosboom found a number of unusual, surprising and pleasing positional sacrifices. | Merijn's show is available at 16.00 UTC (17:00 CET, 12:00 EDT) and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Armenian Championship, round 7: Gabuzyan defends lead

2/24/2021 – The 25-year-old Grandmaster Hovhannes Gabuzyan started the Armenian Championships as number 9 seed, but after seven rounds he is sole tournament leader with 6.0/7. In round seven he defended his lead by winning a fine Najdorf Sicilian with Black against Zaven Andriasian.

Chess for the elderly

2/24/2021 – “Healthy Chess” is the name of Club Magic Extremadura’s program focused on the elderly and directed by Juan Antonio Montero since 2008. The pioneering goals of the program have more to do with keeping the mind active instead of simply teaching the participants how to play chess. The classes are given in the Spanish region of Extremadura. | Pictured: Juan Antonio Montero giving a class | Photos: Club de Ajedrez Magic Extremadura

Bobby Fischer on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show"

2/24/2021 – On September 1, 1972, Boris Spassky resigned the 21st game of the World Championship match Fischer vs Spassky 1972 in Reykjavik and Bobby Fischer was new World Champion. But after winning the title the American did not play an official game for 20 years, and soon hid from journalists, fans and colleagues. However, before Fischer fled into hiding, he showed himself to the public, and on November 8, 1972, Fischer was a guest in Johnny Carson's legendary "Tonight Show". Recently, a video of this remarkable episode appeared on YouTube. | Pictures: Screenshots from the show

The Weekly Show: The FIDE Corporate Championships

2/23/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at the FIDE World Online Corporate Championships, which took place last weekend . The team of GRENKE Bank (Georg Meier, Alina Kashlinskaya, Hanna Marie Klek, and Inna Agrest) won this huge worldwide online event by narrowly beating the the team of the Russian bank SBER in the finals. Lawrence presents a game between Georg Meier and Ian Nepomniachtchi, the top encounter of the finals. Lawrence's show is available at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 12:00 ET) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Gabuzyan leads Armenian Championship after 6 rounds

2/23/2021 – The Armenian Championships, open and women’s, are taking place on February 16-28 at the Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. After 6 rounds, Hovhannes Gabuzyan and Susanna Gaboyan are the sole leaders of the national events. | Photos: Gevorg Perkuperkayn / ArmenPress

The arms of the octopus

2/23/2021 – Usually a rook is far superior to a knight in a pure endgame. But there are exceptions. In the diagram position White's rook is helpless against the black knight and the black pawns. Black to move and win.

What's your profession?

2/22/2021 – Irina Bulmaga is a chess professional from Romania but she has sometimes found it difficult to explain to non-chess players what this means. Until recently - when she had an interesting conversation about chess, women's chess, Judit Polgar, Garry Kasparov, and others topics, while waiting for an official document. | Photo: Irina Bulmaga | Photo: David Llada

Understanding before Moving 15: Knight on the Rim

2/22/2021 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 15th part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman looks takes a look at knights on the rim. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

Grenke Bank wins World Corporate Championship

2/22/2021 – Grenke Bank defeated SBER in the final match to win the 1st FIDE World Corporate Championship. The German team, led by Georg Meier and Alina Kashlinskaya, beat Anahuac (Mexico) and PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok (Indonesia) in the knockout stage before facing the Russian favourites headed by Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Grumpy silicon and happy carbon

2/21/2021 – In this week’s column, Jon Speelman focuses on the importance of ‘trusting your hand’, noting that “playing chess is one of the few times in our lives when we are totally self-sufficient and self-reliant. It’s the joy and horror of the game that you can take all the credit for your triumphs but have nobody else to blame for your mistakes.” Unmissable! | Photo: David Llada
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