Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Giri and Nepomniachtchi pull ahead

3/19/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So are favourites in their semifinal clashes against Ian Nepomniachtchi and Anish Giri at the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. But they are both behind after the first set. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Petra Korchnoi dies at 93

3/19/2021 – It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Petra Korchnoi – Petronella Leeuwerik before her marriage to the two-fold World Championship Challenger. She was a remarkable personality and a great friend, and will be sorely missed. The pink framing of her obituary picture has a reason: it was promised to her a few years before her passing.

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: Toppling the Berlin wall

3/18/2021 – In this week’s show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at a remarkable game in which Ian Nepomniachtchi found a brilliant idea to take down Hikaru Nakamura’s Berlin Defence. Have fun and enjoy! | “Fast and Furious” is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

CBM Jubilee: Opening videos

3/18/2021 – Improving one’s opening repertoire is the top priority for many chess fans. Of course, ChessBase Magazine takes this into account and provides over 10 opening articles and 3 videos with each issue — in other words, lots of new ideas for the initial phase of the game that are just waiting to be tested by you (and hopefully converted into full points!). As part of the CBM anniversary, we have put together a small selection of opening videos. Take a look!

A mad rook rampage

3/18/2021 – Round seven of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. In the game between Jorden van Foreest and Taimour Radjabov the latter had outplayed his opponent and was clearly on his way to victory. But the Dutch GM used a well-known trick to conjure up a problem for his opponent, one he was unable to resolve. Watch the exciting live commentary during the game. It's entertaining and instructive.

Let's Talk about Chess... with Elshan Moradiabadi

3/18/2021 – In a new episode of his "Let's talk about Chess..." podcast Eric van Reem talks to GM Elshan Moradiabadi. Eric and Elshan talk about chess in Iran, his work as a coach and author and the upcoming Candidates Tournament. And why does Elshan like to wear hats? | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Quick wins

3/18/2021 – It was a short day at the office for the quarterfinalists of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, as three out of the four mini-matches lasted three games each, while in the only contest to go to game 4 Anish Giri beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in only 20 moves. Giri will face an in-form Wesley So in semis, while Magnus Carlsen will fight for a spot in the finals with Ian Nepomniachtchi. | Photo: Niki Riga

British Chess Magazine interviews FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich

3/17/2021 – The March issue of tBritish Chess Magazine includes an interview with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, by its Editor Milan Dinic. Dvorkovic talks about the effects the coronavirus crisis had on chess, the future of over-the-board and online tournaments, and the potential sponsors chess might attract.

Carlsen, Giri, So and Nepomniachtchi reach semis of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational

3/17/2021 – Magnus Carlsen will face Ian Nepomniachtchi and Anish Giri will play Wesley So in the semifinals of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational to be played on Thursday and Friday. | Replay the games or relive the commentary webcast by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal from ChessBase India. Full report to follow shortly.

Game of the Week: A fascinating approach against the Sicilian

3/17/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes a look at the relatively new and highly fascinating 7.g4 variation that Grandelius came up with against the Sicilian. | Merijn's show is available at 16.00 UTC (17:00 CET, 12:00 EDT) and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational QF: Decisive games

3/17/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So got off to winning starts in the quarterfinals of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, as both of them scored 2½:½ victories on Tuesday. The first mini-matches in Anish Giri v Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura v Ian Nepomniachtchi finished drawn. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Seeing is not believing...?

3/17/2021 – That is how the saying goes doesn’t it? Doctored photos are anything but new, so much so that the program called Photoshop has now become an actual verb in the English language, much like Xerox in its heyday. However, while advanced modified videos were once the domain of special effects studios and the technically gifted, now free mobile apps are available so that even Morphy, Carlsen and Anand can sing with just a pic and a click.

Mikhalevski and Shvayger are the 2021 Israeli champions

3/16/2021 – The Israeli Championships came to an ended on Monday in Haifa, the country’s third-largest city. Soviet-born GM Victor Mikhalevski was the clear winner of the open section. The veteran obtained a 7/9 score and finished a half point ahead of Ido Gorshtein and Tamir Nabaty. This was Mikhalevski’s second title, as he also won the event in 2014. Yuliya Shvayger dominated the women’s section, winning the event with an 8/9 score. | Photo: Dorit Ritvo

Wins for Carlsen and So at the Magnus Carlsen Invitational quarterfinals

3/16/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So got off to winning starts in the quarterfinals of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. | Replay the games or relive the commentary webcast by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal from ChessBase India. Full report to follow shortly.

The Weekly Show: A beautiful display by Wesley So

3/16/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent will look into arguably the best game of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational preliminary stage — an astounding win by the very talented Wesley So. | Lawrence's show is available at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 12:00 ET) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Carlsen wins prelims, Aronian barely qualifies

3/16/2021 – Half the field moved on to the knockout stage of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational after three days of preliminary action. Carlsen himself won the round robin after scoring 3/5 points on day 3 to finish atop the standings a half point ahead of former sole leader Anish Giri. Levon Aronian was the last player to secure his spot in the knockout — the Armenian will face the world champion in quarterfinals. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Emil and the Detectives

3/16/2021 – Capablanca was twelve when he played his first famous game, Fischer, Kasparov, and Carlsen were teenagers. Of course, they stand out with the benefit of hindsight. It is impossible to predict the future, but in his article, study composer Gady Costeff presents some of the first notable work of six promising teenagers, taking their first steps in chess composition.

Powerful pawns

3/16/2021 – Far advanced passed pawns can be powerful. In the diagram position Black's passed pawns are powerful enough to cope with the white bishop and a potentially strong white pawn on the a-file. Black is to move and he can draw the game - do you see how?

Rapport leads St. Veit to first Austrian League victory

3/15/2021 – The Austrian Bundesliga came to an end on Sunday with SV “Das Wien” St. Veit winning the title for the first time. A 3:3 draw in the last round was enough for the team from Carinthia, led by Hungarian star player Richard Rapport, to finish in sole first place, ahead of SV Raika Rapid Feffernitz. The league ran with modifications due to the coronavirus crisis. Instead of the usual twelve, only seven teams participated. All rounds were played on two 3-day meets in Graz. | Photo: Misty Pine / cca.imsa.cn

Bludgeoning and Bromancing - Giri on the go!

3/15/2021 – Anish Giri has been in tremendous form at the Magnus Carlsen Invitational event. In the first 10 rounds, he has scored 6 wins and 4 draws. It was not just about the fact that he won his games, he did so by showing very interesting chess. Although he has beaten strong players like Aronian, Wesley So and others, Anish's win against Magnus Carlsen stands out. After beating the World Champion, the Dutch no.1 joined the ChessBase India livestream commentary and broke down the game for us.| Photo: Lennart Ootes

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: On the brink of elimination

3/15/2021 – Anish Giri, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So all scored 4/5 points on day 2 of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational preliminaries. Giri thus kept his spot as leader of the event, with Carlsen still a half point behind in sole second place. The last five rounds of the preliminary stage will be played on Monday, when half the field will be eliminated before the knockout stage kicks off the day after. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Understanding before Moving 18: The bad bishop

3/14/2021 – 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 18th instalment of his ChessBase show “Understanding before Moving”, Herman demonstrates how to play against a passive bishop. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

The European Chess Club Cup will be played online this year

3/14/2021 – The European Chess Club Cup will be played online on March 27-31. So far, 47 teams have registered to participate, with Novy Bor, 4NCL Guildford, Clichy Eches 92 and Poland Hussars the top seeds. Over forty 2600+ rated players will be playing.

Magnus Carlsen Invitational: Giri starts strong

3/14/2021 – Anish Giri is the sole leader of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational preliminaries after finishing day 1 with three wins in a row, including one over Wesley So and one over the world champion. After five rounds, Levon Aronian and Carlsen are sharing second place, a half point behind the Dutchman. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit