Rubinstein Memorial: Shevchenko and Navara tie for first

8/24/2021 – The 57th Rubinstein Memorial was again held as a big chess festival in Polanica Zdroj, Poland. Kirill Shevchenko and David Navara finished the GM tournament tied on points (6 out of 9). Shevchenko was declared the tournament’s winner since he had the better tiebreak score — direct encounter. Kacper Piorun and Pawel Teclaf finished a half point behind. | Photos: Rafał Siwik

Hidden resources

8/24/2021 – When defending difficult positions you often have to decide whether to search active counterplay or to hope for the best with passive defense. Often, this is a difficult choice and even the very best can go wrong. In the diagram position, which is from a game A. Firouzja vs M. Carlsen, Black is in trouble but has a way to draw. What should Black play?

EU Youth Chess Championships in Kouty nad Desnou

8/23/2021 – The 19th edition of the European Union Youth Chess Championship took place on August 14-22 at the Hotel Dlouhe Strane in Kouty nad Desnou, Czech Republic. Boys and girls in each category played in the same tournament. Once the event came to an end, girls were evaluated separately to find the winners in the girls’ categories. | Photos: Official site

Sinquefield Cup: Xiong beats Caruana, MVL bounces back

8/23/2021 – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is again sharing the lead at the Sinquefield Cup after beating Dariusz Swiercz in Saturday’s fifth round. MVL tops the standings together with Wesley So and Leinier Dominguez. Fabiano Caruana, who went into round 5 as a co-leader, was defeated by Jeffery Xiong (pictured). | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Karsten Mueller’s Endgame Magic #157 - with Ivan Sokolov

8/23/2021 – Two years after visiting Hamburg to film his middlegame FritzTrainers, Ivan Sokolov visits the ChessBase office once again. The experienced grandmaster discusses instructive endgames with Dr. Karsten Müller in the latest instalment of the Endgame Magic show. | Endgame Magic is on air most Mondays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

The FIDE Online Chess Olympiad has started

8/22/2021 – The 2021 FIDE Online Olympiad is taking place from August 20th to September 15th. It is a national teams event in which all federations affiliated to FIDE have the right to participate. Teams consist of six players, with a minimum of three female players and two junior players. Played online on chess.com, the event features two main stages: the Divisions stage, and the Play-offs stage. All games are played with a 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move time control.

Understanding before Moving 41: The Critical Move (4)

8/22/2021 – 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 41st installment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman takes another look at critical moves, this time with the help of Judit Polgar. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Sinquefield Cup: Dominguez joins the lead

8/21/2021 – Leinier Dominguez was one of four winners in Friday’s fourth round at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. Dominguez beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s Najdorf Defence to join Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So in the lead of the standings. Meanwhile, Richard Rapport, Sam Shankland and Dariusz Swiercz all scored their first wins of the tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Elina Danielian wins the European Women’s Championship

8/21/2021 – The European Women’s Championship came to an end on Friday, with Armenia’s Elina Danielian winning the title as the only player who collected 9/11 points in Iasi, Romania. In the final round, Danielian clinched clear first place by beating Estonian WIM Mai Narva on top board. Draws were seen on boards 2 to 6. Iulija Osmak (Ukraine), who had been at the top of the standings table for several rounds, had to settle for second place. | Photos: Official site / Eropean Chess Union

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: The h-pawn mating net

8/21/2021 – In this week's show, GM Daniel King takes a look at a fashionable move out of an Anti-Gruenfeld, 3.h4. That pawn plays a decisive role in the game Vachier-Lagrave vs Svidler from the Sinquefield Cup. | 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.

Mate in 5!

8/21/2021 – In the diagram position it is Black to play - and the title says it all! Gather ideas, calculate lines and enjoy!

European Women’s Championship, 11th and last round - Live

8/20/2021 – Today, 20 August 2021, the European Women's Championship in Iasi/Romania comes to an end, and with one round to go five players still have chances to win: Elina Danielian and Juliya Osmak lead with 8.0/10 each and three players with 7.5/10 each share places three to five: Olivia Kiolbasa, Mai Narva and Nataliya Buksa. In the eleventh and final round Danielian plays with White against Narva, Osmak has White against Bela Khotenashvili and Kiolbasan plays with White against Buksa. The round starts at 13:00 CEST (7:00 ET, 11:00 UTC). Follow the action live.

Sinquefield Cup: Sharp chess

8/20/2021 – A particularly exciting round saw four players winning with the white pieces at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are leading the standings on 2½/3, with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (pictured) and Leinier Dominguez currently a half point behind. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A crushing attack in the Cambridge Springs

8/19/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at the Cambridge Springs Variation in the Semi Slav 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 and how White might be able to generate fast and furious play against this seemingly solid line. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

The Guildford Chess Club celebrates its 125th anniversary!

8/19/2021 – The Guildford Chess Club is one of the leading chess clubs in England, and it is also one of the oldest chess clubs in the country (and the world). On 11 September the club celebrates its 125th anniversary with a huge 125 board simul that is free for all. | Photo: The home of the Guildford Chess Club - since 1896

Sinquefield Cup: So beats Swiercz

8/19/2021 – The second round of the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis was played on Wednesday. Wesley So was the only winner of the day. The Filipino-born star inflicted Dariusz Swiercz’s second loss in a row. So thus joined Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Leinier Dominguez in the lead of the event. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Remembering Evgeny Sveshnikov (11 February 1950 to 18 August 2021)

8/19/2021 – Today, the Sveshnikov Variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5!? is one of the most popular lines of the Sicilian. It is named after the Russian Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov, who discovered its potential in the 1960s and helped to make it popular. Yesterday, on 18 August 2021, Sveshnikov died at the age of 71. | Photo: Thorsten Cmiel

Game of the Week 477: F. Caruana - S. Shankland, Sinquefield Cup 2021

8/18/2021 – This week, Merijn van Delft takes a look at Fabiano Caruana's fine attacking win against Sam Shankland in the first round of the Sinquefied Cup 2021. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Endgame Riddle: Reti vs Rubinstein, Gothenburg 1920

8/18/2021 – At the height of his career Akiba Rubinstein (1 December 1880 - 15 March 1961) was considered a possible challenger for World Champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker, but the two never played a World Championship match. Rubinstein was considered to be particularly strong in the endgame, and Rubinstein's victory over Richard Reti in the tournament in Gothenburg 1920 is regarded as a typical example of his endgame skills. Karsten Müller has now taken a closer look at this endgame to find out whether and when the position was actually won for Black. And invites ChessBase readers to join him in his search for the truth about this fascinating endgame. | Photo: Deutsche Schachzeitung 1908

Sinquefield Cup: Caruana’s brilliant win

8/18/2021 – Exciting chess continues to be the norm in Saint Louis, as the Sinquefield Cup kicked off with a number of thrilling games on Tuesday. Fabiano Caruana, Leinier Dominguez and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won their first-round games and are the early leaders of the event. Caruana’s victory over Sam Shankland was particularly attractive. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

New - Mihail Marin: The Catalan vs. the Semi-Slav, Chebanenko and Triangle

8/18/2021 – The Semi-Slav, the Chebanenko system and the Slav triangle are solid and flexible weapons for Black against 1.d4. On this DVD Mihail Marin offers players with White a repertoire that meets these systems in a provocative way that promises White the initiative and a lot of play.

The Weekly Show: Rapid and Blitz in Saint Louis

8/18/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent will take a look at the action from the St Louis Rapid and Blitz. The featured game will be Caruana-Svidler from round 19. | Lawrence's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

John G. White Collection of Chess and Checkers

8/17/2021 – The John G. White Collection of Chess and Checkers is the largest and most comprehensive collection of printed material on chess. While its physical location is Cleveland, Ohio, chess researchers and aficionados may also view parts of the collection online. On July 21, 2021, Woman International Master Alexey Root visited the Cleveland Public Library, which houses the collection. | Photos: Alexey Root

Fortress building

8/17/2021 – In the diagram position White is a pawn down and Black's king is threatening to enter White's position. However, White can hope to save a draw if he manages to build a solid fortress. In the diagram position it is White to move - what would you play?