Mueller and Davies

11/18/2022 – Ever analyzing and sharing with readers and fans, Karsten Mueller receives many interesting correspondence and contributions. Here are a handful of endgames analyzed and sent in by Frederick Davies, which Mueller was quick to compliment profusely and send it forward for publication.

Game of the Week #542: Duda vs Erigaisi

11/18/2022 – In his “Game of the Week” show #542 Merijn van Delft looks at a fascinating though not entirely correct game Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Arjun Erigaisi played at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

The World Team Championships in Jerusalem start on Sunday

11/17/2022 – On Sunday, the World Team Championship begins in Jerusalem. Some federations come with the best possible line-up, other federations send B-teams. The tournament will be held in a new format with a shorter time-control. | Photo: FIDE
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Meltwater Finals: Pragg scores 3-0 win, Duda and Carlsen still perfect

11/17/2022 – All four matches in round 3 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals lasted three games, as Magnus Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Wesley So and Praggnanandhaa all secured clear victories which granted them 3 match points for the standings. Carlsen and Duda continue to share the lead, now no fewer than 5 points ahead of their closest chasers.
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FIDE World Senior Chess Championship 2022 kicks off in Assisi, Italy

11/16/2022 – The 30th edition of the FIDE World Senior Championship began in Assisi, Italy. The country is hosting this event for the eighth time. After the tournaments in Arco (2001), Lignano Sabbiadoro (2005), Arvier (2006), Condino (2009), Arco (2010), Acqui Terme (2015 and 2017), Assisi, the capital of Umbria, a small town in the heart of Italy, picked up the baton. | Photo: FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich makes the first ceremonial move in the game between GM John Nunn (ENG) and FM Sameer Sursock (LBN) | Photo: FIDE
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Russia most successful at European Youth Championships

11/16/2022 – The Russian Chess Federation sent no less than 73 participants to the European Youth Championship in Antalya, who all had to play under the flag of FIDE - and they won more medals than the other federations. But it was Mariam Mkrtchyan (photo) from Armenia, who started in the U18w, who achieved the most dominant victory by winning gold with 8.5/9. | Photos: Tournament page
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Meet The Fritztrainer - Ivan Sokolov

11/16/2022 – Plenty of our customers are delighted by Ivan Sokolov's Understanding Middlegame Strategies series, and meanwhile we have six parts available. The Grandmaster who has participated at twelve chess Olympiads as a player, and reached a rating of over 2700 in January 2004, had very recent success again, as the coach of the Uzbek national team, who won the gold medal in Chennai in 2022. We wanted to know what Sokolov is doing besides chess, and why he is paying a tax when he meets the gym. | Photos: Ivan Sokolov Facebook page
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Music, chess and Arnold Schönberg

11/16/2022 – The pianist Volker Ahmels regularly organises music festivals in Schwerin, Germany, to remember and to honour ostracised and persecuted musicians. One of these musicians was the composer Arnold Schönberg, who had to flee Austria because he was persecuted by the Nazis. Schönberg is the creator of 12-tone music but he also invented a chess variant, which he called "Coalition Chess". Last week, Volker Ahmels and the cabaret artist Matthias Deutschmann tried their hand at this demanding form of chess.
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Meltwater Finals: Duda and Carlsen share the lead

11/16/2022 – Two players have 6/6 match points at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2022. Magnus Carlsen and Jan-Krzysztof Duda both won their first two matches without needing tiebreaks and are now sharing the lead. Anish Giri and Le Quang Liem stand two points back. Duda and Giri will face each other in Wednesday’s third round.

Eline Roebers: 16 years old, International Master

11/15/2022 – The 16-year-old Eline Roebers from the Netherlands is an outstanding talent. She has already attracted attention with several successes and now fulfilled all the requirements to get the IM-title. On her way to the necessary norms, Roebers even skipped several other FIDE titles. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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The umbrella

11/15/2022 – One important defensive method in rook endings is giving checks - pawns that stop this "rain of checks" are called "umbrellas". In the diagrammed position it is White to move. How can he draw the game and stop Black from opening a functioning umbrella?

Meltwater Finals: Carlsen beats So in hard-fought match

11/15/2022 – The Meltwater Tour Finals kicked off on Monday, with four out of eight participants playing on-site in San Francisco. The all-important clash between Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So saw the former getting a 2½-1½ victory in a match not exempt of blunders. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri also won in the event’s first round.
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Dai Changren and Tan Zhongyi win Chinese Championships

11/14/2022 – Dai Changren and Tan Zhongyi (pictured) are the new champions of China. The 2022 Chinese Championships took place in Xinghua, Jiangsu province, on November 2-11. Both tournaments, open and women’s, were 12-player round robins with classical time controls. | Photos: Chinese Chess Federation

Chess on a houseboat in Kerala

11/14/2022 – Anil Kumar and IM V. Saravanan invite you to the Houseboat Chess Tournament in Kerala, which will take place in January for the second time after 2020 in the fairytale backwaters of the Indian province and will be played partly on a houseboat. Registration is still open until 15 November. | Photo: Cottages at ‘Waterscapes’, an exotic backwater resort at Kumarakom| Photo: Orient Chess Moves
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Meltwater Champions Chess Tour reaches its climax in San Francisco

11/14/2022 – A drama-filled season spanning nearly a full year of competition has led to the ninth and final event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The tournament is a seven-day long all-play-all round robin in San Francisco starting on November 14 and concluding on November 20. Eight elite chess stars will take part in the third and final major, the Tour Finals 2022, including Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
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Svitlana's Smart Moves - Akiba Rubinstein - Quick win & Endgame expertise

11/13/2022 – Akiba Rubinstein was one of Polands greatest chess players. Svitlana is showing us two of his incredible games. In the first game, Rubinstein achieved a small tempo advantage with the Black pieces, and quickly unleashes a beautiful, tactical combination to crush his opponent. Furthermore, in the second game, his endgame skills shine, and we can learn a lot about pawn endgames in general.

Don't be afraid of stronger opponents!

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!

Lilit Mkrtchian (6) - What to do in the last round of the tournament?

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.
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Understanding before Moving 99: Play the Sicilian!

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
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Norway, land of exceptions

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.
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How Vishy Anand is supporting young super talents of India through WACA

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.
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Frederic's mates - How I met Anatoly Karpov

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.

While the iron is hot...

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?
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Daniel King’s Power Play Show: The best rule in chess

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.