10/3/2018 – The Dutch (1.d4 f5) is known as a very aggressive and unbalanced opening, resulting in the lowest percentage of draws among the most common replies to 1.d4 . The opening became popular during the 1951 World Championship match, where both players tried it successfully. Today, players known for spectacular attacking chess are using the opening as a dangerous, surprise weapon.

10/3/2018 – It was perhaps the most hard-fought round of the tournament. Nine out of the first ten matches ended decisively in the open section. We now have a sole leader — USA in the open section. The US team managed to beat Azerbaijan in a thrilling match. In the women's section, Ukraine managed to beat overnight leaders Armenia to take the top spot. They are joined by the Chinese girls. With three rounds to go this Olympiad is excitingly placed with the biggest match today being USA taking on Poland in the open section. Report from Batumi by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

10/3/2018 – Last month the Association of Chess Professionals endorsed him with high praise, saying "it's time for a change" and in Batumi, Arkady Dvorkovich has been making a strong final push to woo delegates and players alike. The latter group don't get to vote, but here's why they ACP says they support him. | Pictured: The Kazakhstan Women's team of Assel Serikbay, Guliskhan Nakhbayeva, Dinara Saduakassova, Gulmira Dauletova, Zhansaya Abdumalik | Photo: David Llada

10/2/2018 – "Georgios Makropoulos, the person who has ruled chess for almost three decades, has barely given any interviews," starts a new interview profile of the FIDE presidential candidate on the new American Chess Magazine blog. Indeed, while ChessBase has previously published long conversations with Makropoulos' running-mate Malcolm Pein, as well as Makropoulos' rivals, self-proclaimed "insurgent candidate" GM Nigel Short and Russian economic policy expert Arkady Dvorkovich, the incumbent has declined other interview requests. We run down the topics and key quotes with kind permission of ACM. | Photo: David Llada

10/2/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. The is streamed live, free for all, and will be available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders. This week Lawrence's focus is the Chess Olympiad!

10/2/2018 – Endgames with opposite-colored bishops are often drawn. But one should keep in mind that connected passed pawns are always dangerous.

10/2/2018 – With just four rounds to go, we are now closing in on the last lap of the 43rd Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018. The seventh round of the women's event saw the lead change hands. Armenia beat the USA and are now the sole leaders. In the men's section, Poland and Azerbaijan drew their games to stay at the top but are now joined by the USA. Armenia is standing solely on the second position with 12.0/14 in the open section. Read on for some instructive positions, exciting pictures and videos that tell you more details about the matches. | Pictured: It was the first time that all the three Polgar sisters (L-R: Judit, Sofia and Susan) were commentating together | Photo: Amruta Mokal

10/2/2018 – Later this week, delegates to the African Chess Confederation will vote on a new presidential administration following the FIDE General Assembly in Batumi. Three candidates, each a veteran of African chess politics, will face off in a race which in some ways mirrors the larger FIDE election campaigns. Ogunsiku Babatunde, CEO of Africa Chess Media, endeavoured to arrange an in-person debate to allow delegates to hear from each of the three candidates. As of late Monday, two of the three candidates have confirmed participation in the debate to be held Tuesday between 7 and 9 pm local time. Mr. Lewis Ncube is expected to give a response Tuesday morning. There has already been a preliminary debate-like discussion, however, held via the group chat application WhatsApp, and we share that with you here.

10/1/2018 – In this Simon Says, Simon takes a look at the most interesting games from the Olympiad so far. Simon is live this week, so tune in at 18:00 CEST (16:00 UT / Noon EDT) for free access to this popular ChessBase show, or try a Basic ChessBase account for on-demand replay. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

10/1/2018 – All eyes are on Batumi and the Chess Olympiad which is sure to radically shake up the top rating lists, but that will only happen in November. October ratings are therefore a bit less useful as a snapshot in time than other monthly updates from FIDE. Nevertheless, we take a brief look at what's new and notable. The main events of the month, driving rating changes were the Russian Championships (Open and Women) and the World Junior Championships (Open and Girls) | Photos: Eteri Kublashvili / Russian Chess Federation

10/1/2018 – Watch Round 7 LIVE! After six rounds we are still trying to find a sole leader in the open section. We now have Poland and Azerbaijan, both the teams on 12.0/12 facing off against each other. The Polish team beat Ukraine, while Azerbaijan were just too strong for Czech Republic. In the women's section, USA maintained its lead but were joined by Armenia who got the better of Russia. In this report you will find analysis of the key encounters and also a lot of videos and excellent pictures.

10/1/2018 – Playing a chess tournament in an almost mystical wine cellar. Impossible you say? Not quite: in the wine village of Kaltern in South Tyrol an unusual tournament will be played next month for the third time. Appealing ambience and of course wine tasting included. A brief preview.

9/30/2018 – The FIDE Ethics Commission ruled this afternoon that the Serbian Chess Federation President is guilty of selling his vote as a delegate to the FIDE Congress. However, there was "absence of sufficient proof" linking the money to the Dvorkovich campaign. The case was seen as an important prerequisite to the October 3rd election at the General Assembly. Had Dvokovich been found guilty, he could have been suspended from the race, with no time to appeal to the Court of Arbitration and Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. | Pictured: Ethics Commission chair Francois Strydom (left) and member Ion-Serban Dobronauteanu at a hearing on September 28th | Photo: Niklesh Jain

9/30/2018 – We have a sole leader in the women's section of the Batumi Olympiad 2018. Team USA has won all of their five matches and are now on 10.0/10 match points. They are being followed by six teams with a score of 9.0/10. In the open section, Czech Republic were able to create the upset of the round by beating the super strong Chinese team. Poland beat France and USA was unable to get past Israel. Everything related to this exciting round has been covered in this report which is filled with photos, videos, game analysis and much more. | Pictured: Jiri Stocek | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/29/2018 – A new round of Fischer and Capablanca Memorial tournaments took place in Anogia, Crete from September 11th to 19th. Grandmaster DANIEL FERNANDEZ was there and has annotated nine games for your enjoyment. | Photo: Tango7174 (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

9/29/2018 – Our study expert SIEGFRIED HORNECKER continues his look at the legacy of Czech master František Josef Prokop (pictured). Part 1 presented story and studies from the first half of the 20th century for you to enjoy at your leisure. This month he explains the "Prokeš manoeuvre", and presents a whopping eight annotated studies for your edification.

9/28/2018 – Round four of the Chess Olympiad in Batumi brought a number of interesting games. Particularly amazing was how the Lithuanian grandmaster Sarunas Sulskis creatively outplayed Baadur Jobava by coming up with one incredible sacrifice after the next. | Photo: Sarunas Sulskis by Andreas Kontokanis from Piraeus, Greece, via Wikimedia Commons

9/28/2018 – The Olympiad in Batumi witnessed its most exciting round as India took on USA. While this was the biggest encounter, the match turned into something pretty one-sided as Fabiano Caruana beat Vishy Anand and took home the match with the score of 2½:1½. The real action was witnessed in the match between Poland and Russia, as the Poles managed to beat the mighty Russian team. The two decisive wins were scored by Jacek Tomczak, who beat Kramnik, and Kamil Dragun, who got the better of Dmitry Jakovenko. A report filled with pictures, videos and GM analysis.