Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic Show #176: Rubinstein's rook endgame mastery

12/20/2021 – In the Endgame Magic Show #176 Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler take a look at fascinating rook endings. They start with the last game of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, and then focus on the game Spielmann vs Rubinstein, St. Petersburg 1909, in which Rubinstein worked his rook endgame magic. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

The vision of FIDE's Managing Director - Dana Reizniece-Ozola

12/20/2021 – A pre-requisite for an organization to become world class is to have competent people working for it in key managerial positions. This is exactly what FIDE has done by roping in Dana Reizniece-Ozola as the managing director. A look at her credentials and you can have no doubts about her competency. Dana is a former Minister of Economics of Latvia as well as its Finance Minister! She has a Masters in Business Administration, has been the head of space programs and her list of achievements is quite huge. To add to all of this, she is also a strong chess player - a WGM with an Elo of 2283. At the World Championship 2021 in Dubai, IM Sagar Shah met with Dana and had a detailed interview about her journey of life, becoming FIDE's managing director, her vision for FIDE and much more.

The Endgame Magic Christmas Calendar - Door 20

12/20/2021 – Only four more days and our beautiful endgame magic calendar is over. Could you find the move for the "King of the Umbrellas" yesterday? It was Ke6! Today we have an absolute classic in door 20. But who actually made this study?
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Understanding before Moving 58: "Hemmungsstrategie"

12/20/2021 – 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 58th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about Aaron Nimzowitsch and his famous "Hemmungsstrategie". | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Motylev is the new European Rapid Champion

12/20/2021 – At the European Rapid Championship in Katowice, three grandmasters finished level on points atop the standings: Alexander Motylev (Russia), Alexander Donchenko (Germany) and Paulius Pultinevicius (Lithuania), each with 9½ points after 11 rounds. According to the tiebreak criteria, Motylev was declared European Champion, Donchenko got the silver medal and Pultinevicius took home the bronze. | Photos: Michał Walusza

Jaime Santos dominates Salamanca Masters

12/20/2021 – The fifth edition of the Salamanca Chess Festival took place on December 14-18 at the Colegio Arzobispo Fonseca, a historical edifice built in 1519. The main event was an 8-player single round-robin rapid tournament which had living legends Veselin Topalov and Alexei Shirov as the top seeds. In the end, however, it was Jaime Santos who came out on top, as he scored 6/7 points to finish a full point clear of second-placed Romain Edouard. | Photos: Official website

Boxing in White City

12/19/2021 – The recent World Championship appears in hindsight to have been very one-sided, with Ian Nepomniachtchi’s collapse being dramatic but far from unprecedented. Thinking about collapses, star columnist Jon Speelman went back to the famous battle between Viktor Korchnoi (pictured) and Boris Spassky in Belgrade 1977!

Nabaty wins Israel Championship

12/19/2021 – The Israel Open Championship saw 102 players compete in nine Swiss rounds for the top honours as well as for the 80,000 NIS prize-fund. Quite a few of the country’s best junior players were among the participants. GM Tamir Nabaty, the highest rated participant, emerged winner despite an early defeat, ahead of GM Evgeny Postny and Israel’s best female player IM Marsel Efroimsky. Report by Yochanan Afek. | Photo: Ritvo photography.

The Endgame Magic Christmas Calendar - Door 19

12/19/2021 – In door number 18, "Zugzwang is the sharpest endgame weapon" with Ka2!!! In today's door we take a closer look at a game by Jan Timman and find out: "Not all rook ending games end in a draw" if the right move is found.
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Jan-Krzysztof Duda wins the European Blitz Championship

12/18/2021 – The European Blitz Championship took place on Friday in Katowice. Polish grandmaster and rating favourite Jan-Krzysztof Duda won the event after obtaining an 18/22 score. Duda finished a half point ahead of his compatriot Maciej Klekowski. Eight players scored 16½ points. | Photos: Official site

The Endgame Magic Christmas Calendar - Door 18

12/18/2021 – Sometimes there are endgame puzzles that end quite surprisingly. The move Kd4, was the interesting idea yesterday to secure the draw. But we couldn't upset the majority of all the participants. You know your endgames too well. But maybe with door 18? Once again, a very witty move that has to be found.
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From the evergreen tree

12/18/2021 – The diagram shows a position from a game that was played 90 years ago. White here found a combination that is a true classic, and particularly impressive was the quiet third move of the combination. Do you see what White can do here?

The Gashimov Memorial returns with Anand, Caruana and Karjakin

12/17/2021 – The 7th edition of the Gashimov Memorial was officially inaugurated today in Baku. The tournament in memory of Vugar Gashimov, who died at an early age, will be contested by eight players — including Vishy Anand, Fabiano Caruana and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Unlike previous editions, it will be played as a rapid and blitz tournament. The first round will be played on Saturday.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - Positional sacrifices with Anand's help

12/17/2021 – Sometimes, it is not about attacking the king, or winning a piece, but getting an overwhelmingly strong position. And this can be achieved in several different ways. Svitlana picked out a way of gaining advantage through positional sacrificing. The 18-year-old coach, shows us two examples of Botvinnik, and Anand. Viswanathan Anand's game against Levon Aronian is an example of pure beauty.

Nakamura beats Ding in Armageddon, will face So in SCC final

12/17/2021 – In the second semifinal of the Speed Chess Championship knockout event, defending champion Hikaru Nakamura had to work extra hard to defeat Ding Liren, as the match was only decided in Armageddon. The Chinese grandmaster drew the online blitz and bullet specialist both ‘in regulation’ and in the 4-game tiebreaker. Nakamura will face Wesley So in Sunday’s final match.

Chess as sport and culture: The Chess Festival in Salamanca

12/17/2021 – The Chess Festival Salamanca combines chess sport and chess culture and emphasises gender equality. Four top male and four top female players compete in a tournament. After three rounds, Jaime Santos is in the lead. | Photos: Tournament page

The Endgame Magic Christmas Calendar - Door 17

12/17/2021 – In yesterday's door it was a matter of finding Anand's move. g5+! Queen and knight do the rest, as they are stronger here than queen and bishop. Today, the king has four moves to choose from. A tricky puzzle, and a clever idea.
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"Never run away from data!" - A review of the ChessBase Opening Encyclopedia 2021

12/17/2021 – Jon Edwards is a passionate chess player, a passionate chess teacher and one of the world's best correspondence players. He knows how important it is to study openings and to study them with the right tools. In the current issue of the "American Chess Magazine" Jon Edwards had a look at the ChessBase Opening Encyclopedia, a tool he uses "every day".

European Blitz Championship - Live!

12/17/2021 – The European Rapid and Blitz Championships will take place on December 17-19 at the Spodek Sport and Entertainment Centre in Katowice, Poland. Local hero Jan-Krzysztof Duda (pictured) heads the list of participants in the blitz tournament which is played on 17 December. Follow the games live! | Photo: Duda at the World Cup 2021 | Photo: Eric Rosen

Throwback Thursday: Ivanchuk scores 9/10 on the Rock

12/17/2021 – For no fewer than 18 years, the Gibraltar Chess Festival was organized at the Caleta Hotel. Now that the hotel is about to close and a new format will be used in 2022, we look back at a memorable edition of the Masters Tournament. Ten years ago, in 2011, Vasyl Ivanchuk was the rating favourite on the Rock. The Ukrainian lived up to the expectations and won the event with an astounding 9/10 score and a 2968 rating performance.

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A fascinating concept for White in the Pirc Austrian Attack

12/16/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris looks at a promising line that White may try against the Pirc. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Battle of the Sexes in Gibraltar

12/16/2021 – For the past eighteen years the Gibraltar International Chess Festival has been held in the Caleta Hotel. But the organisers have found an ideal replacement: Gibraltar’s historic Garrison Library. The 2022 event, #GibChess, is entitled "Battle of the Sexes Match-Tournament" and takes place from Monday 24 January until Thursday 3 February 2022.

Preview: European Rapid and Blitz Championships

12/16/2021 – The European Rapid and Blitz Championships will take place on December 17-19 at the Spodek Sport and Entertainment Centre in Katowice, Poland. Local hero Jan-Krzysztof Duda heads the list of participants in the blitz section. The tournament serves as a warm-up for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships which will kick off a week later in Warsaw.

Judit Polgar recaps the World Championship match 2021

12/16/2021 – Judit Polgar followed the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi in Dubai particularly closely. She was in Dubai and commentated the match live. In an interview with Sagar Shah after the match she talks about criticial moments of the match, claims that it is sometimes good to be a "bad boy", and reveals what it takes to win a match against Carlsen. | Photo: Screenshot from the interview