Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Frank Marshall's Octopus Knight

1/15/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King takes a look at game by Frank Marshall (1877-1944), U.S. Champion from 1909 to 1936, and a legendary attacking player. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 13:00 ET). All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

Donchenko playing in Wijk!

1/15/2021 – Despite the corona pandemic, the Tata Steel Tournament 2021 in Wijk aan Zee is an over-the-board tournament, where the top players face each other live. But the safety measures are strict, and corona stopped Daniil Dubov from taking part. The Russian Grandmaster who is famous for his creative attacking chess, had to cancel after someone close to him was tested positive for Covid-19. But the organisers found a last-minute-replacement: the young German Grandmaster Alexander Donchenko (pictured). The tournament will begin tomorrow, Saturday, January 16, and last till January 31. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Fireworks

1/15/2021 – In the diagram position White just played 21.Nf6+!, which gives him a winning attack. There are some most beautiful variations to discover, the highlight being a checkmate in ... 14! Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday: Carlsen’s first title in Wijk aan Zee

1/14/2021 – The 83rd edition of the traditional Wijk aan Zee tournament is about to begin, with the first round scheduled to take place on Saturday. Seven-time winner Magnus Carlsen will be leading a 14-player field which includes world number 2 and latest World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen won the “A tournament” for the first time thirteen years ago, when he shared first place with Levon Aronian. | Photos: Frits Agtenderbos / ChessVista

A trip to Lexington with Beth Harmon and Walter Tevis

1/14/2021 – The lives of Walter Tevis and his literary character Beth Harmon have a number of similarities. Both of them experienced a childhood marked by drug addiction, and later, alcoholism, both "lived" in Lexington, Kentucky. And both of them found their salvation in chess. A hunt for clues in Lexington.

Let's talk about chess... with Jeroen van den Berg

1/14/2021 – For more than twenty years Jeroen van den Berg has been running the tournament in Wijk aan Zee as director, and he has enormously contributed to the ongoing success and attraction of this event, which each year is an absolute highlight in the chess calendar. In his latest "Let's talk about chess..." podcast Eric van Reem talks to Jeroen van den Berg about the long and colourful history of the tournament, about fantastic games played in Wijk, and, of course, about this year's tournament, which will start on Saturday - under special conditions but still as an over-the-board tournament. | Photo: Grenke Schach

Grand Chess Tour 2021

1/14/2021 – The Grand Chess Tour 2021, a series of five top tournaments (two with classical time-controls, three in rapid and blitz mode) announced the ten players that will compete as full 2021 tour participants: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk, Levon Aronian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teimour Radjabov, and Anish Giri. Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura decided not to take part as full tour participants in 2021. The first Grand Chess Tour 2021 event will be the Superbet Chess Classic, in Bucharest, Romania, from June 3 - 15, 2021.

Chess in film: Kola Kwariani - wrestler, chess player, actor

1/14/2021 – Stanley Kubrick is widely considered as one of the greatest directors of all time. But he was also a passionate chess player, and when he lived in New York, he often visited the "Flea House", a well-known and rather notorious meeting place for chess players and gamblers. In his film "The Killing" from 1956 Kubrick paid homage to this institution and one of its regular guests: the wrestler, chess lover, and actor Kola Kwariani. | Picture: Kola Kwariani (left), Stanley Kubrick (center) and Sterling Hayden (right), Cover of "Chess Review", March 1956

Game of the Week: A brilliancy by Max Warmerdam

1/13/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes a look at a brilliant game Max Warmerdam played at the Vergani Open. A game that was not only a piece of art but also helped Warmerdam to win the tournament and to become a grandmaster. | 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. | Photo: Alina l'Ami (Archive)

"The Hollywood Reporter" portrays Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy

1/13/2021 – The success of the Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" made Anya Taylor-Joy, who played the main character Beth Harmon in the series, a star. "The Hollywood Reporter" talked to Anya Taylor-Joy about her career, the series, why she fell in love with Beth Harmon, and how she learned to play chess to understand her character better. | Photo: Netflix

New: A Black Repertoire versus the Anti-Sicilians - Nicholas Pert

1/13/2021 – The Sicilian is the most popular opening against 1.e4 because it is theoretically sound but offers Black double-edged play at the same time. Whilst you must know how to handle the main line (2. Nf3 and 3.d4), sidelines are also very important. In this video series, Nicholas Pert gives a strong and practical Black repertoire against these sidelines such as the Bb5 Sicilian, the Grand Prix Attack, the Alapin and many more, from his years of experience playing the Sicilian.

Franz Kafka, the pawn of a pawn

1/13/2021 – You do not need to know the rules of chess to understand the metaphors of the game. In one of his many letters to his confidante and platonic friend Milena Jesenská (1896-1944), Franz Kafka made an excursion into the realm of chess to bare his soul and heart. Sergio Negri had a closer look.

Chess in Spanish prisons

1/12/2021 – The Club “Magic Extremadura Deportivo-Social” sponsors a social program called “Nuestro ajedrez reinserta” (“Our chess reintegrates”) in Extremadura, Spain. The club works in two prisons, each of them located in the capitals of the two provinces of Extremadura, Badajoz and Cáceres. Juan Antonio Montero, psychologist, director of the program and director of the Club Magic Extremadura Deportivo-Social sent us an illustrated report.

Dante Alighieri and chess

1/12/2021 – Dante Alighieri's work "The Divine Comedy" (written 1307-1321) is a classic of world literature and was the basis for today's Italian written language. Dante died in Ravenna in 1321 - this year marks the 700th anniversary of his death. Dante was a passionate chess player and owned a personal chess set. But what happened to it?, asks Adolivio Capece. | Picture: Fresco of Domenico di Michelino in Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence 1465

Congratulations! Vlastimil Hort celebrates his 77th birthday!

1/12/2021 – Today, January 12, Vlastimil Hort celebrates his 77th birthday. Congratulations! To mark the anniversary, the former World Championship candidate and great chess connoisseur gives the chess community another - albeit somewhat macabre - story.

Racing rook pawns

1/12/2021 – Usually, in a race of passed pawns it is better to have a bishop than a knight. After all, bishops are long ranging pieces while knights can easily become short of breath. But there are exceptions, this position for example. White to play and win.

Playchess - A step closer to reality

1/12/2021 – Playing chess with a friend in these weird times is not as easy as it used to be, and nothing compares to a "real" played game over the board. But Playchess still has a beautiful alternative, which every premium member can use in less than a couple of minutes. I wanted to play a friend, and surprised him on Facebook by inviting him to play a game on Playchess to try out the video and audio options.

Paul Keres "special" in ChessBase Magazine #199

1/11/2021 – 105 years ago, on January 7, 1916, Paul Keres, one of the best chess players of all time, was born. On the occasion of the anniversary, the new ChessBase Magazine #199 dedicates a "special" to the Estonian grandmaster: 18 players present and annotate their favourite Paul Keres games - 18 wonderful games and 18 stories that show how chess players from all over the world still admire this extraordinary player and personality.

French Blitz Team Championship on Playchess: Nizza and Mulhouse win preliminaries

1/11/2021 – On Saturday the preliminaries of the French Online Blitz Team Championship were played on Playchess. The two groups with four teams each were named after famous French chess masters of the past. In the group "Philidor" the team from Nice with GM Christian Bauer (pictured) won smoothly; as did the team of Mulhouse (Mulhouse) with Jean-Noël Riffin in the group "de La Bourdonnais".

Understanding before Moving 9: Hunting the king - Part I

1/11/2021 – 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 ninth part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman shows how important it is to develop your pieces. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

David Howell dominates Hastings online tournament

1/11/2021 – Already closing on a hundred editions, the Hastings International Chess Congress was organized this year despite the pandemic. Sponsored by Caplin Systems for a second time, the tournament was played online on Saturday and Sunday. In the end, David Howell won the event with a commanding performance, scoring seven wins and four draws to finish 1½ points ahead of second-placed Luke McShane. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / London Chess Classic

Grandmaster Chef: Kirill Alekseenko

1/10/2021 – Grandmaster Kirill Alekseenko is the youngest participant in the 2020 Candidates Tournament. National Master Mike Walder prepares a dish that Alekseenko might like and annotates one of Alekseenko’s draws from the Candidates. WIM Alexey Root tells why Kirill Alekseenko is a Grandmaster Chef honoree. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Yannick Pelletier: My most memorable game

1/10/2021 – A six-time Swiss chess champion, Yannick Pelletier is only one of three Swiss players to have defeated a reigning world champion — he beat Magnus Carlsen with the black pieces in 2015. In his most memorable game, Pelletier looks at a fine win he obtained over Ruslan Ponomariov in his home town of Biel, back in 2004.

Taking on Leon in Playchess

1/10/2021 – He's a 14-year-old lad, mischievous and full of fun. For a full year now Leon and his father Lyndon, who hail from Goa, India, are stuck in Europe, due to severe Covid restrictions. But Leon, aged 14, used this exile wisely: to gain his grandmaster title. Today at 3:30 p.m. CET you can challenge him on Playchess. But do be gentle with him – he is rated just 2538! | Photo: Amruta Mokal