Batumi Olympiad Round 1: Li Chao is the biggest casualty

9/25/2018 – The first round of the Batumi Olympiad 2018 saw no upsets in the form of match score, but there were individual upsets where a Moroccan player was able to beat 2700+ Chinese GM Li Chao. Vassily Ivanchuk could not win his game and Sophie Millet lost to a 1900 opponent. We bring you all the pictures from the venue as well as videos that give you the flavour of the environment. The tournament is just warming up with ten more rounds to go, but there is already so much going on! That's what Olympiads are all about, too many things happening at the same time!

Cornered

9/25/2018 – Usually, endgames in which a bishop fights against a rook are drawn when no more pawns are left on the board. However, the defender should not go to the corner his bishop covers.

Endgame Magic / Weekly Show special with IM Lawrence Trent

9/25/2018 – Joining Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice today is English IM Lawrence Trent...and the pair will also look at some recent games in this special Endgame Magic / The Weekly Show combo. This week's show is live at 18:00 CEST (16:00 UT; 12:00 Noon EDT) and FREE to watch on-demand (for a limited time)!

"Oh Capablanca", the song

9/25/2018 – From musician and chess fan Juga, comes a ballad inspired by, and about, chess. "Oh Capablanca" has been making the rounds on social media in recent weeks to high acclaim. Today she has released a new acoustic version in a video recorded at the Marshall Chess Club in New York. Juga appears playing chess with a member of the Marshall and the video includes shots of historic photographs from the club of Capablanca, Marshall, and more. | Photos: Jugamusica.com

Nigel Davies: learn to face the Caro-Kann

9/24/2018 – For White, the Exchange Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3) is a simple and easy to answer to the Caro-Kann. It is probably something you can use very effectively in your next tournament, especially if you have been given instructions by a true expert, and have practised the strategies he advocates against a human-like chess engine that matches the strength of your future opponents. That's precisely what you'll find here. Give it a try and see what it does for your understanding of this popular opening.

Simon Says — Basman's lost ideas (part 1)

9/24/2018 – In this Simon Says we take a look at an idea from one of the real pioneers of original chess, Michael Basman. Does his opening idea of 1 e4 e6 2 d4 a6!? make any sense? Simon is on-demand this week, but free for ChessBase Basic account holders. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

The best ever chess opening ceremony!

9/24/2018 – It was an opening ceremony like no other. So meticulously planned and so well executed. It was held at 9 p.m. and it was 45 kilometres away from the city of Batumi. Yet when the ceremony ended, no one was complaining. We bring you the entire detailed article with photos, videos and just about everything you wanted to know about this grand curtain raiser. Opening report from Batumi Olympiad 2018 in Georgia.

Terrific chess in Tenerife

9/24/2018 – The name of the tournament sounds like music. On Tenerife, the "1st Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez San Cristobal de la Laguna" was held, fittingly in an old convent. The guests met a chess-loving population, young and old. Venezuelan IM Daniel Pulvett emerged the winner a half point ahead of Grandmasters Ilja Zaragatzki and José ("Pepe") Cuenco Jiminez and FM Makan Rafiee who tied for second place. | Photos: Melik Kramer

Artemiev edges Harutyunian to win Nezhmetdinov Memorial

9/23/2018 – Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912-1974) was one of the most famous chess players in the world during his lifetime — a few decades ago, it was almost impossible not to find his name while studying or following chess. In the early sixties, the International Master even worked as a coach of World Champion Mikhail Tal. The city of Kazan, Nezhmetdinov's hometown, hosts a memorial tournament in his honour every year. The 40th edition of the event finished Friday with a narrow victory by Russian Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev. | Photos: Official website

In beautiful Batumi!

9/23/2018 – Batumi is a resort and port city on the Black Sea. It is the capital of the Georgian republic of Adjara and it is also the host city for the 43rd World Chess Olympiad 2018. The organizers have predicted that 4,000 people from 189 countries will be present in Batumi over the next fortnight making it the central hub of the chess world for the next few days. ChessBase reporters Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal went through the city a couple of days before the beginning of the Olympiad and bring to you some of the best sights of Batumi.

Nunn on the World Chess Solving Championship 2018

9/23/2018 – It is a highly challenging discipline, with the top places generally going to the younger participants. But year after year a British mathematician, grandmaster and chess writer competes, successfully, with the strongest and brightest. This year the World Championship in problem-solving was held in a beautiful lakeside town in Macedonia, and once again 63-year-old JOHN NUNN did extremely well. In his report, he gives us some examples of the tasks that he faced. | Pictured: winners in the individual event, Kacper Piorun, Piotr Murdzia and Tomáš Peitl | Photo: Franziska Iseli

Perpetual Pelletier, an interview

9/22/2018 – Today is the birthday of Swiss Grandmaster Yannick Pelletier, who was born in Biel in 1976. During the Biel Chess Festival, where he served as the Tournament Director for the GM tournament, he was interviewed by Macauley Peterson and we bring you the full audio as well as transcribed highlights. Pelletier explains how he got into professional chess and the evolution of his career which will soon include magazine publishing. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Nine Indicators to improve your chess (part 1)

9/22/2018 – In a deeply thought-out and specific proposal, IM JAN PRZEWOZNIK provides a method to train the way we think while playing a chess game. He unveils nine indicators that push us to reflect on our decisions and interprets them in terms of problem-solving cognitive strategies. The author laid out many example positions for everybody to test the method first-hand. In Part 1, we present the groundwork and the first three indicators.