Pattern Recognition — Fact or Fiction?

7/20/2018 – Chess players, chess authors and chess psychologists attempt to teach and explain chess playing and development of chess skills with the concept of pattern and pattern recognition. However, the lack of a precise definition of pattern raises the question of what we are supposed to recognise and if chess may not be too diverse and too complex to be reduced to simplified didactic devices like 'patterns.' This is comprehensively considered in a paper by RUNE VIK-HANSEN.

48 hours to Biel!

7/20/2018 – Get set for one of the summer's biggest events and one with a long tradition. The Biel Chess Festival begins in two days with World Champion Magnus Carlsen leading the GM tournament. ChessBase will produce the live commentary webcast with GM Daniel King (who has published his preview video of the event) and IM Anna Rudolf.

Dortmund Round 5 LIVE

7/20/2018 – Dortmund Round 5 is at 15:15 CEST (9:15 AM EDT) Friday with a wide open field as several player are tied for the lead after Wednesday's win by Vladimir Kramnik over Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Vladislav Kovalev and Ian Nepomniachtchi are with them on 2½ / 3 with three more rounds to play. | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Open result

7/20/2018 – Not an easy situation for Black in the diagram position: the rook is hanging, and on top of that White threatens to promote his d-pawn. A good idea is required — or rather two. Your move, please!

30-minute training: Learn to play the Tartakower

7/19/2018 – Learn from GM DANIEL KING on a favourite variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Here's the deal: you invest a small amount of time, reading a few paragraphs about an interesting opening line, selected for you by one of the world's great chess trainers. After that, you try it out, right there in your browser, against an engine that matches the playing strength of you potential opponents. You can play any number of games and test different ideas, as far as possible following the instructions of an experienced chess trainer. We have a brand-new application to support this kind of learning. Take a look – and admit: it is great fun!

A fascinating memoir: Genna Sosonko's "Evil-Doer: Half a Century with Viktor Korchnoi"

7/19/2018 – 40 years ago this week, Karpov and Korchnoi started their fight for the world title in Baguio City on the Philippines. Yesterday we published a lengthy interview with Karpov, who won the match 6 : 5, but Korchnoi almost became world champion. A good occasion to take a look at Genna Sosonko's new book "Evil-Doer: Half a Century with Viktor Korchnoi", a fine memoir of one of the most interesting chess players of the 20th century. | Pictured: Korchnoi and Sosonko | Photo courtesy Elk and Ruby

Dortmund: Kramnik beats Duda

7/19/2018 – Jan-Krzysztof Duda had a great start at the Sparkassen ChessMeeting in Dortmund, but fell victim to Vladimir Kramnik in the fourth round. Anish Giri also got a full point on Wednesday, as he beat Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu. These results left four players tied in first place. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Karpov on his biggest pleasure in life

7/18/2018 – Today is the 40th anniversary of the start of the 1978 World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio, the Philippines. To mark the occasion we bring you an epic interview from DAVID LLADA, who spoke to the 12th World Champion following his 184th tournament win in Plato d'Aro, outside of Barcelona, Spain. | Photo: David Llada

The Power Play Show

7/18/2018 – Wednesday at 6pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

Senior Team Champions: USA and Russia

7/18/2018 – The participants rave about a well-organized Senior World Team Championship of seniors in Radebeul, Germany. In the 65+ section, the Russian team won gold. The 50+ category was more competitive, but in the end, the favourites from the USA pulled ahead. GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY reports. | Photo: Karsten Wieland

Dortmund: An exciting round leaves Duda in first place

7/18/2018 – All four games in Dortmund's third round could have easily finished with decisive results. Ian Nepomniacthchi and Vladislav Kovalev obtained their first victories, while Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat his compatriot Radek Wojtaszek to stay at the top of the standings. Vladimir Kramnik pushed for a win once again, but was stopped by Georg Meier's solid defence. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

7/17/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. This week features games from the ongoing U.S. Junior Closed Championship and the early rounds of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund!

Endgame Magic with guest GM Mihail Marin

7/17/2018 – Joining Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice today is GM Mihail Marin, who is in Hamburg again to record a DVD. Mihail also does the strategy column of the ChessBase Magazine. Watch live at 15:00 CEST (9:00 AM EDT) or later on-demand!