A hearty chess gesture from the Czech Republic to the Indian state of Kerala

7/7/2021 – The state of Kerala, India found a pleasant gesture from a land faraway, the Czech Republic, when ‘Chess Train’ organiser Pavel Matocha organised a charity chess simultaneous display at Prague to help in its vaccination drive, with the raised money going to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund of the Kerala Government. The motive behind this hearty gesture was no more than the attachment felt with the state of Kerala and its people, when Matocha participated in the ‘Chess Houseboat’ event held during early 2020. The event received support from the top echelons of the Czech Government, as well as the Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic. | Photo: Prague Chess Society

Serbia Open: Kovalenko and Nihal in the lead

7/7/2021 – A very strong open is currently being held in Belgrade. Over 280 players are taking part in the Masters event, including over 30 grandmasters. One of the favourites to win the tournament is Nihal Sarin, who travelled from the Silver Lake Open to Belgrade with a group of Indian players.

How to stay updated with the latest games with one click

7/7/2021 – If you are a true chess aficionado, you will want to stay updated with the latest games from tournaments all over the world! ChessBase 16 lets you do that with a single click. You can see all currently running tournament games, with machine analysis, the important novelties that were played, and even the most interesting tactical shots that occurred in the latest games. IM Sagar Shah explains it all to you in this tutorial video. It is just five minutes long, but will save you hours of tedious searching and copying.

AlphaZero to analyse “no-castling” match of the champions

7/7/2021 – Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand will play a special 4-game match in Dortmund starting on July 14, as castling will not be allowed. The event will be supported by world-leading AI company DeepMind. Online audiences will get to experience novel AlphaZero insights first hand in the post-match commentary of the no castling tournament.

Mihail Marin: My most memorable game

7/7/2021 – A multiple Romanian champion, Mihail Marin’s first major international success was achieved in 1987, when he qualified to the Interzonal Tournament played in Szirák. A famed author, he was described by Jeremy Silman as “one of the world’s finest chess writers”. Marin shares with us his most memorable game, a fantastic win with the white pieces played at the 1996 Chess Olympiad in Yerevan.

The Weekly Show: A spectacular finish from the Russian Higher League

7/6/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent will take a look at the Russian Higher League. He analyses a highly entertaining victory by Maksim Chigaev, one that included a spectacular finish. | Lawrence's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Coaching from a top ten player

7/6/2021 – Let us assume you are a chess amateur, who in pandemic times have become obsessed with improving your game. Wouldn’t it be nice to have one of the top ten players in the world coach you? If that is what you want it is of advantage to be a leading stand-up comedian. But even if you are not, you can still profit from this charming little lesson Anish Giri, rated 2776, gave Biswa Kalyan Rath, 1600, on how to best use a bishop pair to win a game. Learn and enjoy.

New: Nicholas Pert: A Complete Black Repertoire versus the English, 1...e5

7/6/2021 – The English is becoming increasingly popular as White players avoid the heavy theory of 1.e4 or 1.d4 and hope to achieve a small advantage in a safe position. A lot of club players tend to focus on openings against 1.e4 and 1.d4 but neglect to study a response to the English. 1...e5 is a theoretically sound response with good chances of equality or better in all variations, and in this video series, Grandmaster Nicholas Pert provides a complete Black repertoire based on this move.

Boris Gelfand prevails in Leon

7/6/2021 – The 34th edition of the “Magistral Ciudad de León” took place online from June 30 until July 4. A 4-player knockout, the event saw Boris Gelfand beating Leinier Dominguez in the final match played on Sunday. Dominguez had defeated women’s world champion Ju Wenjun while Gelfand had knocked out Jaime Santos in the semifinals. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

A magic knight

7/6/2021 – Knights that fight against pawns can be clumsy but sometimes they can also work magic. In the diagram position, Black's a-pawn wants to queen but the white knight can still stop him. On the other hand it is hard to see how Black can stop White's e-pawn from queening. But Black can help her knight to do some magic and win. Do you have an idea how?

Bischwiller claim hat-trick of French club championship titles

7/5/2021 – Bischwiller claimed their third consecutive French club championship title by winning the 2021 edition of ‘Top 12’ in Chalons en Champagne. Led by French Grandmaster Etienne Bacrot, the club scored an impressive 10 wins and a draw in the 11-round event to claim 32 points, three ahead of the runners-up Asnieres. | Pictured: Marie Sebag (left) of Bischwiller defeated Pauline Guichard of Asnieres in their round-5 match

Levon Aronian convincingly wins the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament

7/5/2021 – Levon Aronian had a short day at the office on Sunday, as he scored back-to-back wins against Vladislav Artemiev to secure first place at the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament. Meanwhile, Ding Liren bounced back from his loss in the first set by remarkably beating Magnus Carlsen 3-0 in their second mini-match. However, it was the world champion who prevailed in the blitz tiebreakers to take third place.

"Good news for French players!"

7/5/2021 – For a long time, the Classical Variation in the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6) has been considered as slightly dubious for Black. But recently Black found new possibilities and the line became attractive again. In the new ChessBase Magazine #202, opening expert Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows the latest developments of this variation. The French expert uses the game Alekseenko-Grischuk from the Candidates Tournament 2020/2021 as a starting point. Take a look at an excerpt of his video analysis!

Remembering Yury

7/5/2021 – It was a great shock to wake up and learn that Yury Dokhoian had died, at the age of just 56, struck down by the accursed virus that has immobilized the world. Yet another reminder that we are not over it, yet. It is still going to take friends and loved ones. Frederic Friedel shares some memories of his friend Yury, with whom he spent a great deal of time. | Photo: Wiki, Porto Carras, 2011

A few reflections more (and a cocktail of Caissists)

7/4/2021 – Star columnist Jon Speelman reactivates his “mirror”, a potent if imaginary artefact intended to reflect the best chess players ever. This week, a couple of games by Garry Kasparov, “an (un)caged tiger who revels in violent conflict”. | Pictured: Kasparov with ChessBase’s Matthias Wüllenweber

Leon Masters Final: Gelfand vs Domínguez - Games and results

7/4/2021 – Boris Gelfand defeated Jaime Santos and is facing Leinier Domínguez in the final of the “Magistral de León”. Gelfand beat Dominguez in the final match. A 2-2 tie in the rapid games meant it would all come down to the blitz tiebreakers. After a draw in the first 5-minute game, Gelfand managed to convert a rook vs bishop endgame to get tournament victory. | Replay the games with computer analysis.

Aronian triumphs, Karsten Müller analyzes

7/4/2021 – It was a rather quick victory by Levon Aronian in the finals of the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament. The Armenian won the first set on Saturday and scored back-to-back wins in the second mini-match to make it impossible for Vladislav Artemiev to equalize the score and take the match to tiebreaks. Karsten Müller analyzes two endgames in which Aronian showed his excellent technique with the black pieces.

Goldmoney Asian Rapid Finals - Aronian first, Carlsen third

7/4/2021 – Levon Aronian had a short day at the office, as he scored back-to-back wins against Vladislav Artemiev to secure first place at the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament. Meanwhile, Ding Liren bounced back from his loss in the first set by remarkably beating Magnus Carlsen 3-0 in the second mini-match. However, it was the world champion who prevailed in the blitz tiebreakers to take third place. | Full report to follow shortly.

Understanding before Moving 34: The priniciples of Dick Van Geet

7/4/2021 – 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 34th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about the chess principles Dutch International Master and chess thinker Dick Van Geet, advocate of 1.Nc3. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Yury Dokhoian (1964-2021)

7/3/2021 – The chess world mourns the passing of Yury Dohkoian. The successful coach and long-time second of Garry Kasparov died on July 1 in Moscow due to a Covid-19 infection. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / Russian Chess Federation

MVL: I aim to get back into the top 10 very soon

7/3/2021 – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has had a roller coaster 2021. A faltering start after resumption in the Candidates Tournament meant Maxime could never catch up with the eventual winner Ian Nepomniachtchi. The disappointment of the Candidates was compounded by a drop in rating points. In an exclusive interview, the French Grandmaster touched upon these topics and much more. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

Goldmoney Asian Rapid: Artemiev and Aronian mount incredible comebacks

7/3/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren were leading in their matches against Levon Aronian and Vladislav Artemiev before Friday’s second day of play in the semifinals of the Goldmoney Asian Rapid. But in both matches, Thursday’s winners lost the second set and were eliminated in the tiebreaks. | Photo: Maria Emelianova

The decisive detail

7/3/2021 – In the diagram position Black seems to be able to win a pawn with 20...Rxa4?? 21.Rxa4 Rxa4. But taking this pawn leaves Black's back rank unprotected which White can exploit. How?

French Team Championship "Top 12" - Bischwiller leads

7/3/2021 – The French Team Championship is a 12 team round robin event in which some of the world's best players support their French clubs. After 9 rounds, Bischwiller is leading the standings table, with Clichy and Asnieres in shared second place. Round 10 starts at 14:15 CEST (8:15 ET, 12:15 UTC). Follow the games live.