11/13/2022 – How do you feel when you have to play against an opponent whose rating is some hundred points better than your own? The bold among us will see this as a special incentive. For most of us, however, unease will probably prevail. In the third part of his video series "Practical Tips for the Tournament Player" in ChessBase Magazine #210, Jan Markos deals with the important topic of how to play against a stronger opponent. The GM from Slovakia first makes it clear that you have to keep a cool head and then presents three promising strategies. Take a look!

11/13/2022 – The final episode of our series, in which we discuss something critical - the final round of a tournament. The last round often decides your fate. Will you avoid a rating loss? Can you qualify? Or even fight for a medal? Lilit has played hundreds of tournaments, and can give us some good advice. Furthermore, she shares her thoughts on what is the most likeable, dislikable, and important thing when preparing for a tournament. Thank you everyone for watching, and commenting on our YouTube channel.

11/13/2022 – 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 99th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman explains why it is good to study and to play the Sicilian. | Photo: Pascal Simon

11/13/2022 – A small country, Norway has produced exceptional representatives in various disciplines. Magnus Carlsen, the chess world champion, is joined by fellow geniuses hailing from the Scandinavian country: Niels Henrik Abel, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg and Edvard Munch. Diana Mihajlova tells us more.

11/12/2022 – India has seen the rise of many fine chess players who have done exceedingly well in their junior years and have even become strong grandmasters, but have stumbled on their path towards becoming world class players. There was definitely something missing when it came to development of these talents. As on today, it is widely agreed in the chess world that India has the best crop of young talents with players like Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani and many others. In order to ensure that their potential reaches the right destination, Vishy Anand decided to start off with the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) in December 2020. How did it all begin? How does this academy function? And how has been the journey of WACA since inception? Get to know all of this and more in this article.

11/12/2022 – Anatoly Karpov was the sixth of the twelve World Chess Champions whom Frederic met. In our new weekly series he tells us how he met and befriended the top players, and the adventures they experienced together. Frederic has written a new book, together with Professor Christian Hesse, with fascinating chess stories from the last 50 years. It appeared (first in German) in October.

11/12/2022 – In the diagram position, White missed the moment to turn the activity of his pieces into something tangible. Without time pressure and with the certainty that 'something is possible' - can you do better?

11/11/2022 – This week, Daniel King looks at recent examples of brilliant defence using stalemate - a creative way and often surprising way to defend. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

11/11/2022 – Every chess player blunders. Even the brains of the very best in the world sometime take a day off. We are humans, and errors are an inherent part of human nature. And yet, few things in chess are as discouraging as losing a good game after a silly mistake. Sometimes, one blunder spoils an entire tournament: a week’s amount of work is gone in a minute or two. But Jan Markos has good news for you. Huge portion of blunders can be avoided by a little discipline and a few simple tricks.

11/11/2022 – With an Elo rating of 2718, Yu Yangyi (pictured) was the top seed in the strong Fall Chess Classic in Saint Louis and he lived up to this role: with a convincing final-round win against Grigoriy Oparin he finished with 6.5 points from 9 games (+4, =5, -0) and secured sole first place. Vidit Gujrathi followed half a point behind with 6.0/9, third place went to Thai Dai Van Nguyen, who scored 5.5/9. Hans Niemann was fourth with 5.0/9. | Photo: Austin Fuller (Archive)

11/10/2022 – Which positions arose in Fischer Random games, which from classical chess games? This is what Arno Nickel asks, and in his essay he takes an in-depth look at Fischer Random Chess. His proposal: give players at tournaments the option of playing either classical or Fischer Random!

11/10/2022 – Next Tuesday, 15 November, the first round of the FIDE World Senior Chess Championships will be played at the Hotel Cenacolo in Assisi in Italy. Dr. John Nunn is top seed in the age group 65+, Zurab Sturua is favourite in the 50+ group. | Photo: Google Maps