Berlin GP Final: Following theory

4/2/2022 – The final match of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin kicked off with a quick draw. Wesley So had the white pieces, but was content with keeping things under control in a game that only left theory on move 27. Hikaru Nakamura happily followed suit, as he will get a chance to get ahead on the scoreboard when he gets white on Sunday. | Photos: World Chess

Challengers challenge I

4/2/2022 – In the diagrammed position, Black has full control over the long diagonal and the e-file. Now it's time to turn these factors into something concrete. How would you proceed?

Anand set to support Dvorkovich’s reelection bid

4/1/2022 – FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich visited Delhi to sign a contract with the All India Chess Federation granting the Asian country the rights to host this year’s Olympiad. At a press conference, Dvorkovich announced his intention to run for a second term as FIDE President, and informed that Vishy Anand would actively support him in his reelection bid. | Photo: FIDE

Berlin GP: Nakamura and So win tiebreakers, reach final

4/1/2022 – Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So moved on to the final of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin after getting 2-0 victories in the tiebreaks of the semifinals. The American duo showed excellent rapidplay skills, moving quickly and confidently even in somewhat inferior positions. Nakamura’s pair of wins allowed him to climb to first place in the rapid-chess live ratings list. | Photos: World Chess

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: The main line of the Rossolimo

4/1/2022 – In this week’s edition of the Power Play Show, GM Daniel King focuses on a battle in the main line of the Rossolimo between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Magnus Carlsen. Outstanding tactical finishes from the Charity Cup are also presented! | 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.

New: ChessBase Magazine Extra #206

4/1/2022 – Opening videos: Robert Ris shows the latest trends in the Hennig-Schara Gambit. Mihail Marin presents a Fianchetto setup against the Gruenfeld and King's Indian. Total playing time of the videos: just under one hour. "Lucky bag" with over 80 analyses by Anish Giri, Nijat Abasov, Romain Edouard, Marie Sebag and many others. In "The brilliancy" between the new rapid chess champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov and world champion Magnus Carlsen - commented by Anish Giri! - with 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 a trendy variation of the English Opening appeared on the board. ChessBase Magazine Extra is the perfect complement to ChessBase Magazine. Available as a single issue or by subscription (6 issues per year). Available as download or on DVD.
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Trent's Tactics - Outrageous moves by Nezhmetdinov

4/1/2022 – Rashid Nezhmetdinov was largely considered to be one of the sharpest players in the chess world, although he never reached the Grandmaster title. Certainly, it is worth to spend a few days in the Mega Database browsing through his 500+ games.

New chess table to ensure security

4/1/2022 – Two years ago, to the day, we reported that Garry Kasparov had launched a project called "Corochess", introducing a new chess table that would enforce full social distancing during the pandemic. Now a Russian leader has taken it a step further. His table is designed to ensure that he cannot be physically attacked during a game. Take a look at what his future mastches will look like.

Berlin GP: Tabatabaei bounces back

4/1/2022 – A heavy underdog, Amin Tabatabaei continues his excellent run at the third leg of the Grand Prix series in Berlin. The Iranian star bounced back in his semifinal match against Wesley So by scoring a remarkable 30-move victory to take the encounter to tiebreaks. Meanwhile, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura drew for a second day in a row and will also decide their match in rapid and blitz. | Photos: World Chess

Dubov: "The only way to change anything in Russia is a revolution"

3/31/2022 – Vladimir Putin uses athletes for his propaganda. But Russian chess grandmaster Daniil Dubov is standing up to the Russian leader and the war in Ukraine. In an interview with Europe's premier news magazine, the 25-year-old explains why he is willing to take that risk. "Nuclear war could break out and I could miss the end of the world while analysing the Italian opening." | Photo: Jacek Prondzynski/Newspix/Imago

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: Predke’s miniature in Berlin

3/31/2022 – This week Robert Ris takes an in-depth look at the miniature Predke vs. Vachier-Lagrave from the Grand Prix series in Berlin, featuring a sharp line in the Symmetrical English. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Aries and their strategy

3/31/2022 – If we were to assume that there really is something to astrology — that people born in autumn really do tick a little differently from those born in spring — might we have a useful clue to our opponent’s strategy in a chess game by asking about their star sign? Perhaps we would also involuntarily expect for a typical Dutchman to prefer a different strategy than a full-blooded Sicilian.

Free Fritz update: AI engine "Fritz 18 Neuronal"

3/31/2022 – Starting today, all Fritz 18 users will receive an additional engine as a free update: Fritz 18 Neuronal. The new engine Fritz 18 Neuronal achieves an increase in playing strength of about 120 ELO points compared to the classic Fritz 18 engine at shorter time controls. Simply start Fritz 18 and start the automatically offered update! Then the new engine will be installed!
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Berlin GP: So with a foot in the final

3/31/2022 – Wesley So beat Amin Tabatabaei in their first semifinal encounter at the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin, and now only needs a draw on Thursday to reach the final of the two-week event. In the other semi, Hikaru Nakamura could not get much with white against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a game that was agreed drawn after 30 moves. | Photos: World Chess

Svitlana's Smart Moves - The London System

3/31/2022 – One system ruffled up the chess world in the last decade - the London System. Svitlana couldn't stay away from this system either, and it is now a part of her repertoire. How to play it? What to take care of? Time for some smart moves!

Players’ heart rate in chess broadcasts

3/30/2022 – World Chess has introduced an innovation that will likely add a new dimension to the way fans watch chess (and other mind sports, for that matter!). They have developed – and will roll out today – a tool that tracks the players' heart rate over video signal (without playing having to wear a pulse-tracking device). Please find the press release below and tune in today to see the technology in action during the semi-finals of the Grand Prix in Berlin. Press release.

ChessBase for Coaches: Finding Novelties

3/30/2022 – Finding novelties is a fun way for students to learn how to use a database to annotate chess games. Novelties, loosely defined, are new moves but not necessarily good moves. National Master Jeffrey Ashton explains.

The Weekly Show: The FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin

3/30/2022 – In his "Weekly Show" Lawrence Trent will continue his coverage of the Berlin Grand Prix. He will take a close look at the performance of Hikaru Nakamura who qualified for the Candidates in Berlin. But the game of the day will be Aronian-Esipenko from round 5, in which White started rather unassumingly and then suddenly launched an attack out of nowhere, which led to a quick win. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

Berlin GP: So and Mamedyarov make it to the semifinals

3/30/2022 – Wesley So and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the rating favourites in Tuesday’s rapid and blitz tiebreakers at the Berlin Grand Prix, defeated Sam Shankland and Vincent Keymer and thus advanced to the event’s semifinals. So will face Amin Tabatabaei, while Mamedyarov will play Hikaru Nakamura in 2-game matches starting Wednesday. | Photos: World Chess

MPL Indian Chess Tour announced

3/30/2022 – India’s own elite online chess tour starts on March 31 with a star-studded line-up of 16 top talents from every corner of the country.

Trent's Tactics - The insurance

3/29/2022 – Lawrence has found a position, which looks familiar to many of us. We just have to calculate, as good as we can, how to win the game. The important lesson is, that many variations can lead to a position which is slightly better, but not clearly won. A so-called insurance. We can put this variation in the back of our head, and keep on finding a better way to win. If everything fails, we use the variation with the small advantage.

European Championship: Strong juniors

3/29/2022 – After two rounds 41 players with 2.0/2 share the lead at the European Individual Championship. One of them is the 15-year old strong junior Aydin Suleymanli (pictured) from Azerbaijan who defeated Anton Korobov in round two. | Photos: SZS/Luka Rifelj

Retreat to advance

3/29/2022 – Rook endings have a large drawish tendency and in this case I thought that White can hold with a study-like defense. But ChessBase reader Frits Fritschy proved me wrong.

Berlin GP: Nakamura in the Candidates

3/29/2022 – All results in round 6 of the Berlin Grand Prix favoured Hikaru Nakamura, as he won pool A and secured a spot in the Candidates Tournament after beating Andrey Esipenko with the black pieces. The four players who could have leapfrogged the US grandmaster in the overall standings of the series had they also reached the semis were knocked out on Monday — i.e. Levon Aronian (also from pool A), Leinier Dominguez, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri. The one other player who made it to semis was Amin Tabatabaei, who got a convincing victory over Giri to win pool D. | Photos: World Chess