12/20/2023 – Arjun Erigaisi scored the sole victory in the penultimate round of the Chennai Grand Masters. It started a little wild compared to other games. His opponent, Parham Maghsoodloo, decided to sacrifice his bishop to get a couple of pawns and exploit Arjun's weakened king. However, there was not enough compensation and White could not generate a substantial attack. The other games had a relatively calm draw between Gukesh and Eljanov, Aronian and Predke, and Sjugirov and Harikrishna. Harikrishna can spoil Gukesh's tournament if he manages to beat the teenager. The final round stars one and a half hour earlier than usual. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/20/2023 – The name "Hastings" has a very special ring to it in the chess world. In 1895 one of the most important tournaments in chess history took place in the seaside resort on the south-east coast of England, and chess tournaments are still regularly held there today - no tournament in chess history has a longer tradition. The Berlin FM Jürgen Brustkern is a great expert on Hastings and has written a book on the history of this tradition together with Norbert Wallet. In an interview with ChessBase he reveals what fascinates him so much about Hastings.

12/20/2023 – As it is already well-known, chess is a game of repeated motifs; a game of repeated knowledge! Once you carefully and correctly learn a motif, a pattern or an opening, your subconscious carefully stores it for use when time comes and demands! Here is a valuable lesson from a world-class chess trainer on the subject. There is a lot to learn!

12/19/2023 – This month marks the birth anniversary of Viswanathan Anand. The phenomenal rise of the Indian super talent created a chess wave in his own land that shows no sign of diminishing. Vishy has been an inspiration for many young players, and today he is an ambassador for the game. Here our columnist recalls the early career of the former world champion.

12/19/2023 – D Gukesh scored his second win in-a-row, against Sanan Sjugirov, in the fifth round of the Chennai Grand Masters. Gukesh seized his advantage and synthesized an attack on the kingside. Sjugirov had no proper answer to it and succumbed. The Arjun Erigaisi-Levon Aronian saga continues. Arjun had a great opportunity to beat Aronian for the first time in a rated game in over two years. Unfortunately, he pushed a pawn incorrectly in the rook endgame and eventually lost his advantage. The two-time World Cup winner managed to salvage a draw. Pavel Eljanov handed Alexandr Predke his third consecutive loss. Gukesh is in the sole lead with 3½/5, followed by Pentala Harikrishna and Eljanov at 3/5 each. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/19/2023 – Budapest will host the Chess Olympiad 2024, Uzbekistan will host the Olympiad in 2026, and Abu Dhabi has been selected as the host city for the 47th Chess Olympiad in 2028, triumphing over Genoa with a vote of 96 to 60 during the FIDE Council meeting on December 17th.

12/17/2023 – Today, 17 December 2023, Alexander "Big Al" Beliavsky celebrates his 70th birthday. 50 years ago, in 1973, he became World Junior Champion and has been a fixture in the chess universe ever since. For decades he was a world class player and in the course of his illustrious career Beliavsky defeated no less than nine world champions in classical chess - a feat achieved only by Paul Keres and Viktor Korchnoi! Eduard Frey congratulates and presents highlights of a remarkable career. | Alexander Beliavsky at his first Chess Olympiad in Lucerne 1982 | Photo: Dr. Klaus Krtschil via Wikipedia

12/17/2023 – Magnus Carlsen beat Wesley So in a hard-fought match to claim his third consecutive Champions Chess Tour title. This time around, the last event of the cycle took place in Toronto and featured eight much deserving qualified players. In the end, however, it was the king of rapid chess who — once again — came out on top. It was a well-deserved victory for the strongest chess player of this era. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio

12/16/2023 – Vishy Anand inaugurated the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 by making the first move on D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi's board. They had a relatively calm draw. Alexandr Predke (SRB) had good chances against Pentala Harikrishna. However, he blundered away his advantage. The endgame expert, Harikrishna, does not miss these chances to secure a half point. Pavel Eljanov (UKR) made an incorrect offer of queen trades, which resulted in him losing an exchange. The already difficult endgame turned worse for him and his opponent Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) scored his first-ever classical win over his opponent. Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) was determined to push for a win, but a draw was the maximum result he could get. | Photos: Shahid Ahmed

12/16/2023 – Dr. Karsten Mueller and Luis Engel have generated a lot of interest with their four player type model. Now, with Fritz 19 offering different club player characters as opponents, the question arises whether there is a correlation to the player types. Surprisingly, the answer is quite positive, as Karsten Mueller explains in detail in the video. The German GM has also analysed three of the games against our ChessBase authors and friends Robert Ris, Jan Jettel, and Svitlana Demchenko.

12/16/2023 – Magnus Carlsen faced Levon Aronian several times in his career. The game Svitlana chose to analyse together with us, points out some crucial initiative decisions by Magnus, which made him win the game. Sacrificing one pawn to gain some advantage is a common practice. But sacrificing two pawns is already quite exceptional.

12/16/2023 – For the first time, the eight-player Champions Chess Tour Finals is taking place fully in person and over the board from December 9 to 16 in Toronto, Canada. Magnus Carlsen, the reigning Tour champion, and Hikaru Nakamura, the world’s top chess streamer, face stiff competition from a world-class field. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 18.00 CET (12.00 ET, 22.30 IST)