Endgame Riddle Botvinnik vs Pachman - Solution

11/7/2021 – A few weeks ago, Karsten Müller treated ChessBase readers to another endgame riddle. Charles Sullivan had come across an interesting endgame with opposite-coloured bishops that occurred in Botvinnik vs Pachman, Chess Olympiad Leipzig 1960, and Charles was curious whether Pachman had a draw with best play. The ChessBase readers came up with more than one answer.

Grand Swiss: Firouzja beats Howell

11/7/2021 – Alireza Firouzja beat David Howell to reclaim the sole lead in the open section of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. Two players stand a half point back before the last round — Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin. Lei Tingjie secured tournament victory in the women’s section with a round to spare. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Carlsen's new idea in the Sicilian with 3.Bb5+

11/7/2021 – In his first opening video for ChessBase Magazine Markus Ragger takes up an idea that the World Champion tried out at the FIDE World Cup this summer. In the Moscow Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4) White almost always recaptures the d4-pawn with the queen. Carlsen played 5.Nxd4 against Wojtaszek instead and answered 5...Nf6 with the remarkable 6.0-0. In the new ChessBase Magazine Markus Ragger explains the potential of the new concept in a half hour video. From simple stumbling blocks (why can't Black just win the pawn with 6...Sxe4?) to tricky double attacks and positional exchange sacrifices, everything is possible! Here's an excerpt from Ragger's analysis.
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Romanishin, the romantic

11/6/2021 – In the diagram position, Black's has just played 16...Qg4, threatening 17...Nxg2+ while preventing 0-0-0. So, White's king is in a fix, and in the game it ended up getting checkmated on ... a5! Enjoy!

Grand Swiss: Three co-leaders as Caruana beats Firouzja

11/6/2021 – In an exciting twist, Fabiano Caruana beat former sole leader Alireza Firouzja in the open section of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss to set up a thrilling final weekend in Riga. Now Caruana and Firouzja are sharing the lead with David Howell, while no fewer than ten players are standing only a half point back — the fight for the two spots in the next edition of the Candidates has heated up considerably! Meanwhile, Lei all but secured tournament victory in the women’s section, as she incredibly collected a fourth win in a row by beating Alexandra Kosteniuk with the black pieces. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Thirty years! Happy Birthday Fritz (1)

11/5/2021 – In November 1991 ChessBase launched its first chess playing program for PCs. It was a modest start, but one that went on to completely change the chess world. Today, we start retracing the steps that led to the development of a fledgling chess program that went on to become one of the most powerful entities that has ever played the game – one that top players consult when preparing for their next tournament or match.

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: A key attacking move

11/5/2021 – In this week’s show, GM Daniel King re-examins a classic, the game Keres vs Smyslov, Zuerich 1953. Smyslov won this crucial game and went on to win the tournament and challenged Botvinnik for the title. But what do modern computers have to say about his defensive play? The attacking ideas in this game are very much worth investigating and can be applied in other situations. | 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.

Trent's Tactics - Discovering creative check-mates

11/5/2021 – Lawrence takes us on a ride to discover how creativity can be used for tactical patterns. The more often we repeat the exercises, the better we understand the tactics. Furthermore, Lawrence and Arne try to achieve over 2100 rating points in the ChessBase training section.

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A positional pawn sacrifice

11/5/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at a an interesting positional pawn sacrifice in the Flohr-Mikenas Attack (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 b6 8.c5!?), which Jorden van Foreest used to beat the strong Indian Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly at the Grand Swiss in Riga in just 32 moves. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Grand Swiss: Lei and Firouzja on a roll

11/5/2021 – Alireza Firouzja and Lei Tingjie have a full-point edge over their closest chasers in the open and women’s sections of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss taking place in Riga. Both sole leaders won in round 8, with Firouzja beating Krishnan Sasikiran and Lei scoring her third consecutive victory by defeating Alina Kashlinskaya. Rating favourite Fabiano Caruana joined a 10-player chasing pack in the open section, and will face Firouzja on the top board in Friday’s ninth round. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Oxford vs Cambridge, rowing and chess

11/4/2021 – At the end of October, the 139th "Varsity Match" Oxford vs Cambridge was played at the Royal Automobile Club in London. All in all, Cambridge is slightly ahead in matches, but this year Oxford won 5.5-2.5. The match was a real event, with dinner and music by the famous pianist, composer and chess fan Jason Kouchak. | Photo: Jason Kouchak and Victor Vasiesiu, captain of the Oxford team | Photo: John Saunders

A clear attacking plan against the Rubinstein Variation

11/4/2021 – The Rubinstein Variation of the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4) often proves difficult for White to crack. Sure, you have a lot of space, but Black's position is very solid. After the main moves 4...Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6, White has so far mostly tried 7.c3 or 7.Bd3. In the new ChessBase Magazine #204 Martin Lorenzini presents a new idea with 7.Be3!? which could prove to be a worthwhile alternative to the well-known theoretical variations. Curious? Here's an excerpt of his article.
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Grand Swiss: Lei keeps on winning, Firouzja reclaims the lead

11/4/2021 – Both sections of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss have sole leaders going into round 8 (out of 11). Alireza Firouzja made the most of a slight edge in an endgame against Evgeniy Najer to reclaim the sole lead in the open section, while Lei Tingjie got the better of Nino Batsiashvili to collect her fifth victory of the event. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Game of the Week 488: D. Dubov vs I. Saric

11/3/2021 – This week, Merijn van Delft takes a look at the game Daniil Dubov vs Ivan Saric from the Grand Swiss tournament in Riga. It's instructive, complicated and a lot of fun! | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities

11/3/2021 – The 4th FIDE World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities will be held online by Dresdner Schachfestival E.V. under the auspices of FIDE from November 4-14, 2021. To date, 162 players from 37 countries have registered. On its website the FIDE introduces some of the participants. | Photos: FIDE

Grand Swiss Highlights – Part 1

11/3/2021 – The 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss in Riga, Latvia has featured many exciting new opening ideas and double-edged games, as the world’s best players fight for spots in the World Championship cycle. Canadian FM and opening expert Joshua Doknjas analyzes five interesting games from the first half of the event. | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Fabiano Caruana talks about Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi and the World Championship

11/3/2021 – In a recent interview for chess.com Peter Doggers asked Fabiano Caruana about the upcoming World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, about World Championship matches in general, and about Caruana's own match against Carlsen in 2018. In an amazingly open and honest interview Caruana reveals a lot about his match-strategy against Carlsen, his feelings during and after the match, and gives insight into chess on the highest level.

When technique matters - Endgame analyses from Riga

11/2/2021 – Endgame specialist Kasten Müller continues to find instructive examples from the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. The players are having a rest on Tuesday, so it is a good opportunity to find answers to a few technical questions: when to exchange down into a winning pawn endgame, how to defend with a bishop against a rook or how to handle an ending with bishops of opposite colours. | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Garry Kasparov discusses chess, AI, business strategy, politics, and truth

11/2/2021 – Patrick Bet-David, CEO of Valuetainment, sits down with Garry Kasparov, in what was easily one of the best interviews by the former world champion in years. He candidly discusses topics such as chess today compared to his day, AI and why it is not the boogeyman, politics, Putin, the US, and truth. "I'm not a politician, I'm not running for office; I won't waffle, I won't duck." And he didn't.

A crazy position!

11/2/2021 – One highlight of each issue of the ChessBase Magazine is "The Analysis", a deeply analysed, particularly interesting game, selected from the many annotated and interesting games in every issue. Not an easy task - just take a look at the list of authors who contributed analyses to CBM #204: Anton Demchenko, Romain Edouard, Viktor Erdos, Alireza Firouzja, Daniel Fridman, Anish Giri, Nils Grandelius, Niclas Huschenbeth, Maxime Lagarde, David Navara, Peter Heine Nielsen, Alexey Sarana, Ivan Saric, Hedinn Steingrimsson, Rasmus Svane and Vidit! This time, the game Mamedov-Lagarde from the European Individual Championship 2021, was chosen. Take a look at the diagram position after 14...Ke6, and you will know why! How could that position arise on the board? And how did the game continue? Curious?
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The right way

11/2/2021 – Pawn endings are often tricky and must be calculated carefully. In the diagram position it is Black to move and he can win with precise play. How should he proceed?

Grand Swiss: MVL and Sasikiran win, join the lead

11/2/2021 – After six rounds, the participants of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss will get a rest day on Tuesday. In the open section, five players are tied atop the standings on 4½/6 points, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Krishnan Sasikiran (pictured) the latest to have joined the leading pack. Among the women, Lei Tingjie reclaimed sole first place by beating Jolanta Zawadzka. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic #168: Pawn races

11/1/2021 – Pawn races are often fun because every tempo counts and such pawn races can often turn into a mating attack when the pawn queens. In the Endgame Magic Show #168 Karsten and Arne look at some recent examples of entertaining pawn races. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

The new rating list: Carlsen is the only 2800+ player

11/1/2021 – The FIDE published its new rating list. Magnus Carlsen remains number one and is now the only player with 2800+. Fabiano Caruana lost a couple of points in the US Championship and is now below 2800 and the world's number three, behind Ding Liren. Hou Yifan does not play often but remains the world's best women. Best junior is Alireza Firouzja, best girl Polina Shuvalova.