The Weekly Show: Highlights from Sitges

12/22/2020 – In his “Weekly Show” IM Lawrence Trent looks at a couple of games from the over-the-board tournament taking place in Sitges, paying special attention to the remarkable victory obtained by 17-year-old Hans Niemann over Matthieu Cornette in round 6. | 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. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Airthings Masters with Carlsen, So and MVL to kick off Saturday

12/22/2020 – The second event of the Champions Chess Tour — an online series of tournaments organized by the Play Magnus Group — will kick off on December 26. Unlike the Skilling Open, which was a ‘Regular’ event and included 16 players, the Airthings Masters will have 12 players in its lineup, as it is the first ‘Major’ in the schedule. The tournament will run until January 3.

Finding novelties with ChessBase 16

12/22/2020 – Remember what it was like to find new ideas and opening novelties in the past. First you had to go through a pile of books, making notes on lines of interest. When ChessBase was launched (over 30 years ago) you could do it on a computer – but it still took hours and days to find a powerful weapon for your next tournament. Now ChessBase 16 has reduced the search to a few clicks of the mouse. Let Sagar Shah tell you how to use this powerful feature to dramatically improve your results in the next tournament.

The Fritztrainer Christmas Calendar - Door 22

12/22/2020 – This year we are launching our "Christmas Fritztrainer Calendar". For the next 24 days, you can open one of our Fritztrainer doors daily, and guess: Which Fritztrainer is this? If you send us the correct answer by email, you are participating in a raffle to win plenty of prizes, including our big Christmas surprise packages!
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Music and Chess – GM identity revealed!

12/22/2020 – Recently music brought a critic and a guest together in a conversation about Bach, Beethoven: she a journalist of the New York Times, he a relatively well-known chess grandmaster. Each participant suggested a single piece of music for the other to listen to ahead of the chat, where they vigorously discuss classical music. Your task was to guess, from snippets of the conversation, who the grandmaster was. | Photo: alto

The right time

12/22/2020 – Rook endings have drawish tendencies and being one or even two pawns up does not guarantee a win. However, having a theoretically drawn position on the board does not guarantee a draw in practice. Precision is required. What should Black play in the diagram position?

Sunway Sitges: Moussard and Cheparinov share the lead

12/21/2020 – Eight out of ten rounds have been played at the over-the-board tournament in Sitges, a town located about 35 kilometres south-west of Barcelona. Ivan Cheparinov and Jules Moussard are sharing the lead on 6½ points. A five-player chasing pack stands a half point behind. Cheparinov will have the white pieces against Moussard in Tuesday’s top clash. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

The Guardian: Are computers killing the mystery of chess?

12/21/2020 – For long-time chess fans this might already sound like a tiring question. But for newcomers and those still invested in finding out how far computers can go in terms of solving the game, this remains to be a fascinating subject. British daily newspaper The Guardian recently published a 6-minute video — featuring Garry Kasparov, Maurice Ashley, Daniel Gormally and Alexandra Botez — exploring the issue.

Gawain Jones wins European Online Blitz Championship

12/21/2020 – The European Blitz Championship was played as an online tournament during the weekend. An 11-round Swiss open served as a qualification event, with 16 players moving on to the knockout phase. In the end, Gawain Jones took first place after beating Alexei Shirov in the final. Matthias Bluebaum defeated David Navara to get the bronze medal. | Photo: Alina l’Ami

The Fritztrainer Christmas Calendar - Door 21

12/21/2020 – This year we are launching our "Christmas Fritztrainer Calendar". For the next 24 days, you can open one of our Fritztrainer doors daily, and guess: Which Fritztrainer is this? If you send us the correct answer by email, you are participating in a raffle to win plenty of prizes, including our big Christmas surprise packages!
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Festive violence

12/20/2020 – “I couldn’t easily decide on what to do for the last column of this very difficult year and eventually fell back on some cheerful ultra-violence”, writes Jon Speelman. Our star columnist analyses the two most famous games by Rashid Nezhmetdinov and presents a couple of studies by French composer Henri Rinck. | Speelman’s photo: David Llada

Understanding before Moving 6: Paralyzed

12/20/2020 – 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 sixth part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman demonstrates ways to break through your opponent's paralyzed position. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

European Online Blitz Championship: Live!

12/20/2020 – The European Blitz Championship is taking place online on December 18-20. An 11-round Swiss tournament, played on Friday, served as a qualifier for the knockout to be played on Saturday and Sunday — 16 players from the Swiss event will get a spot in the knockout. The action kicks off at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 13:00 ET).

Riddle solved: Smyslov could have drawn!

12/20/2020 – In game 14 of the 1958 World Championship match between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov, Botvinnik played what he called “maybe his most subtle rook ending”. Endgame specialist Karsten Müller asked our readers to help him find any mistakes that might have been made in the game. The verdict? Smyslov could have drawn!

The Fritztrainer Christmas Calendar - Door 20

12/20/2020 – This year we are launching our "Christmas Fritztrainer Calendar". For the next 24 days, you can open one of our Fritztrainer doors daily, and guess: Which Fritztrainer is this? If you send us the correct answer by email, you are participating in a raffle to win plenty of prizes, including our big Christmas surprise packages!
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FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2021 announced

12/19/2020 – The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has signed a contract with IOM International Chess Limited to organise and host the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and the inaugural FIDE Chess.com Women’s Grand Swiss in 2021. The open event is returning to the island after a successful first edition held in 2019, while the women’s tournament will feature 50 of the strongest female players competing for a prize fund of USD 125,000.

Grandmaster trends 1972-2020

12/19/2020 – What does it take to become a grandmaster? Can it be almost anyone with enough willpower as U.S. president Calvin Coolidge argued, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence… Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent”. Or does it require much natural talent, including a high IQ score, and extensive practice? Robert Howard takes a deep look. | Pictured: Frank Marshall

Sunway Sitges: A feel-good atmosphere in Catalonia

12/19/2020 – If you want to play a chess tournament in December with sunshine, spring-like temperatures and a Mediterranean atmosphere, you will get this — and much more — at the Sunway Open in Sitges. Sebastian Siebrecht is having a good time! | Photos: Lennart Ootes

KCF University Cup to be played online in February

12/19/2020 – The KCF University Cup, which will take place online, February 6-7, 2021. The tournament is open to teams from colleges and universities from all over the world. It will be a nine-round team, Swiss system tournament to taka place over the two days, with a rapid time control. | Pictured: Michael Khodarkovsky and Garry Kasparov with a group of young talents at KCF’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan

The Fritztrainer Christmas Calendar - Door 19

12/19/2020 – This year we are launching our "Christmas Fritztrainer Calendar". For the next 24 days, you can open one of our Fritztrainer doors daily, and guess: Which Fritztrainer is this? If you send us the correct answer by email, you are participating in a raffle to win plenty of prizes, including our big Christmas surprise packages!
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Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Deadly Nepo

12/18/2020 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King takes a look at a powerful victory by Ian Nepomniachtchi, who recently won the Russian Championship in Moscow. Daniel also sets up another mate-in-two for you to solve, this time by André Chéron, a three-time French champion who was also an endgame theorist. | 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. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

CBM 198: From Kasparov to Carlsen

12/18/2020 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess, and it also provides an arsenal for the tournament player. This issue offers coverage of two major events, the Carlsen Chess Tour Final and the FIDE Online Olympiad. 5759 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training. It also includes games annotated by Wesley So, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Peter Heine Nielsen, just to mention a few. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look. | Photo: Frederic Friedel

New van der Heijden studies database

12/18/2020 – Dr Harold van der Heijden composes chess studies, but for decades he has also been collecting (and meticulously documenting) them. Just before his 60th birthday, he has released the latest version of his studies database, the largest in the world. You guess how many studies it contains, and how long it would take you to play through all of them.

This weekend: European Online Blitz Championship

12/18/2020 – The European Blitz Championship will be played online on December 18-20, with over 200 players already registered to participate. An 11-round Swiss tournament, played on Friday, will serve as a qualifier for the knockout to be played on Saturday and Sunday — 16 players from the Swiss event will get a spot in the knockout. A press conference was held on Monday at the International Congress Centre in Katowice, with the participation of Poland’s number one Jan-Krzysztof Duda. | Photo: Official site