Annotating in ChessBase: The Basics

10/18/2021 – Knowing the ins and outs of annotating a game in ChessBase is one of the most fundamental and useful skills to have in it. It is vital so you can prepare openings, review your games, and more. Before stating you know all this, ask yourself: can you easily add text before a move, add symbols such as 'with attack', and add a '!' without a mouse? Let's start mastering the tools!

Monarchs and ubersprogs

10/17/2021 – Star columnist Jon Speelman looks at the next generation of chess stars, presenting games from Aleksandra Goryachkina, Andrey Esipenko and Nihal Sarin. Speelman notes that “the interesting thing with young players is not only how well they can play at their peak, but also, and no less important, howe well they can play at their ambient level”. | Pictured: Andrey Esipenko and Zhansaya Abdmualik at this year’s World Cup in Sochi. | Photo: Anastassia Korolkova / FIDE

Challengers Chess Tour Finals - Pragg wins

10/17/2021 – The knockout Finals of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour are taking place on October 14-17. The 8 top qualifiers from the previous “Challenge” events are participating. Each match consists of four rapid games, with 10 minutes per player for each game plus a 5-second increment. | The action kicks off daily at 16.00 CEST (10.00 ET / 19.30 IST)

Understanding before Moving 49: The beginning of an attack

10/17/2021 – 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 49th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman shows how White conducts a typical attack in the Sicilian. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Challengers Tour Finals: Pragg and Yoo make it through

10/17/2021 – It was a rather short day at the office for the semifinalists of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour Finals, as Praggnanandhaa and Christopher Yoo only needed three games to knock out Vincent Keymer and Awonder Liang respectively. After an astounding win by Pragg, Vladimir Kramnik was full of praise for his play, even comparing him with Magnus Carlsen. “He’s playing almost like a real world champion, not a future one”, said Kramnik.

Disaster on the diagonal

10/16/2021 – Once you worked out why Black should refrain from opening the diagonal of White's bishop on a2 with 20....cxd3??, you should also know how to refute the move played in the game: 20...Qd7??. Enjoy!

Iniyan clinches La Nucia Open

10/15/2021 – Iniyan Panneerselvam scored an unbeaten 7/8 to win the La Nucia International Open 2021. He had to miss the eighth round game due to his commitments towards the CoinDCX Chess Super League, and still managed to win the tournament in just eight games. He won a trophy and €2.500 as a prize. Iniyan annotated his favourite game from the tournament. | Photo: Valencian Chess Federation

Challengers Tour Finals: Keymer and Liang in semis

10/15/2021 – Vincent Keymer and Awonder Liang made it into the semifinals of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour Finals after beating Leon Mendonca and Nodirbek Abdusattorov respectively. Keymer, who finished the preliminary stage — consisting of four tournaments — atop the overall standings table, had to work hard to take down Mendonca.

New: Trent's Tactics - Back-rank checkmate

10/15/2021 – Our beloved IM from London returns, but not with the "News Review" show. Lawrence's "Trent's Tactics" is teaching us about the world of tactics. In this episode, Lawrence will show us different tactics about the back-rank mate. And even though we know the motif now, some of the examples which Lawrence picked are still very challenging! In the last ten minutes, we start from basically "zero" and raise the rating to over 2000, in the ChessBase training section.

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: A satisfying conclusion

10/15/2021 – In this week’s show, GM Daniel King, following Magnus Carlsen’s brilliant win in a bishop endgame, looks at more of the same. Even at one of his own games... | 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.

Bundesliga live: Round 12

10/15/2021 – In the Bundesliga everything seems to be headed for a showdown in round 14 when the two leaders Hockenheim and Baden-Baden will meet. At any rate, in round 11 both teams won their matches smoothly: Hockenheim defeated Dresden 6-2 and Baden-Baden won 6-2 against Augsburg. Round 12 starts at 17:00 CEST (9:00 ET, 15:00 UTC). Follow the games live.

US Championships: Yip scores third win in a row

10/15/2021 – For the first time in this year’s US Championship, a round finished with all six games drawn, which means Wesley So, Sam Sevian and Aleksandr Lenderman are still sharing the lead going into the second rest day of the event. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Carissa Yip kept the sole lead by scoring her third consecutive victory. Katerina Nemcova is in second place, a half point back, as she also won her round-8 encounter. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Challengers Tour Finals: Pragg dominates, Lei falls just short

10/15/2021 – Praggnanandhaa and Christopher Yoo advanced to the semifinals of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour Finals after knocking out Volodar Murzin and Lei Tingjie respectively. While Pragg obtained a commanding 3-0 victory, Yoo was inches away from losing more than once in a match that was decided in blitz tiebreaks. The other two quarterfinal matches will be played on Friday.

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: The Benoni Fianchetto

10/14/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris shows how White can use the Fianchetto System to fight for the initiative against the Benoni. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - A winning mind set

10/14/2021 – Svitlana is fascinated about the psychological aspects of chess. But the more chess is discovered, and theory knocks in, the more the things like the daily mood, or a posture for the next game are important. The Canadian WIM with the FIDE rating of meanwhile 2285 (2089 when we started), shares a personal story about the winning mindset, and how it improved her games. Furthermore, we dive into a decisive game between Xiong and Nakamura.

US Championships: Sevian and So join the lead

10/14/2021 – Three decisive results in round 7 left Wesley So, Sam Sevian and Aleksandr Lenderman in the shared lead of the US Championship. Former co-leader Ray Robson was beat by Fabiano Caruana, who bounced back from two painful consecutive losses. In the women’s championship, Carissa Yip beat Anna Zatonskih to grab the sole lead. Irina Krush and Katerina Nemcova stand a half point behind. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Superfinals: Vitiugov beats Andreikin to grab the lead

10/14/2021 – After taking down former leader Kirill Alekseenko in round 4, Dmitry Andreikin was defeated by Nikita Vitiugov on Wednesday. Vitiugov thus grabbed the sole lead on 3½/5 points. In the women’s section, Valentina Gunina is now sharing first place with Evgenija Ovod, who scored back-to-back wins in rounds 4 and 5. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

From Thursday to Sunday: Finals of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour

10/13/2021 – The knockout Finals of the ground-breaking Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour kick off on Thursday with German chess prodigy Vincent Keymer favourite to be crowned champion, though he will face stiff competition from the likes of Praggnanandhaa and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. At stake is $12,500 for the winner and a regular spot in next year’s elite Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

Game of the Week 484: Fighting the Dragon

10/13/2021 – This week, Merijn van Delft shows a theoretically interesting game from the US Championship, in which Daniel Naroditsky tried the Dragon with Black against Darius Swiercz but soon had to defend an unpleasant endgame. It was a game that makes you wonder whether the Dragon is still playable. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

US Championships: Time pressure

10/13/2021 – After drawing their direct encounter, Aleksandr Lenderman and Ray Robson remain in the shared lead of the US Championship. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana lost a second game in a row, this time against Sam Sevian. In the women’s event, Katerina Nemcova is now sharing the lead with Carissa Yip and Ashritha Eswaran. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Endgame Studies app - fun, beauty, and wonder (with video!)

10/13/2021 – Most players look at endgame study as a necessary evil, akin to taking a very bitter medicine, that may yield results, but is boring. However, what if your study of endgames was punctuated at every corner and turn by fireworks and wondrous moves? This can be achieved, at least partially, thanks to the Studies app from ChessBase Account, making your study of endgames much more fun!

The Weekly Show: A brilliant bounceback performance

10/12/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent talks about the US Championships, looking a close look at the game J. Xiong vs S. Shankland, a brilliant bounceback performance from Xiong who had a horrid start to the tournament. Lawrence will also discuss the Russian Superfinals. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

US Championships: Naroditsky beats Caruana

10/12/2021 – Rating favourite Fabiano Caruana was defeated by Daniel Naroditzky in round 5 of the US Championships and is currently a full point behind the co-leaders. Ray Robson drew to remain atop the standings, except he now shares first place with Alex Lenderman, who showed great tenacity to beat Sam Sevian after 140 moves. Katerina Nemcova is the sole leader in the women’s event. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Chess passion: Mark Ozanne's novel "Chess Fever"

10/12/2021 – Stefan Zweig's "The Royal Game" and Vladimir Nabokov's "Lushin's Defence" are the best-known novels about the destructive power chess can have. In "Chess Fever", a fine novel about youth, growing up, creativity and lots of chess, the English author Mark Ozanne describes the passion for the game in less sinister fashion, but much funnier and much closer to the mind of a chess player.