Svitlana's Smart Moves - Short's immortal king walk

8/10/2021 – Svitlana sets up a classic position between Nigel Short and Jan Timman. But before we start with the famous position, we derail a bit to the Alekhine Opening. It turns out, Svitlana Demchenko has a genuinely good score when playing the Alekhine Defense as Black. After the popular example, Svitlana shows us a similar technic from one of her own games, which she played in her chess club in Ottawa.

Highlights from Dortmund 2021

8/10/2021 – Chess tournaments in Dortmund, Germany, have a long and illustrious tradition. In 2021, the Sparkassen Chess Trophy continued this tradition. Vishy Anand won a "No Castling" match against Vladimir Kramnik, Pavel Eljanov won the "Deutschland Cup". Now, the organizers released a video that reviews highlights of this year's tournament. In a personal statement during the award ceremony, Carsten Hensel, former manager of Kramnik, and driving force behind the organisation of the tournament, had already explained why Dortmund 2021 was a real highlight for him.

Long may it last

8/10/2021 – The duel bishop against knight is often tricky. When defending, the side with the knight often tries to build a fortress to exploit the color blindness of the bishop. In the diagram position Black is two pawns down but built a fortress. However, will it hold? And, if so, how does Black make it last forever?

Grand Swiss tournaments to be held in Riga

8/10/2021 – The FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss will be held in Riga in the format and dates originally scheduled: from 25 October to 8 November 2021. The difficult decision to relocate the tournament from Douglas, its original planned location, was forced due to the strict COVID-19 restrictions still in place in the Isle of Man. | Photo: Diego Delso

Sun, chess & fun at Trafalgar Square

8/9/2021 – Britain’s first-ever outdoor chess festival, ChessFest, attracted 6,000 visitors at London’s Trafalgar Square, and featured a varied programme of fun activities, including live chess games with actors, grandmaster simuls, mass teach-ins and video shows. The organisers, Chess in Schools and Communities, say they would like to make ChessFest an annual event. Tim Wall reports. | Photo John Beardsworth

Karsten Mueller’s Endgame Magic #155 - with Abhimanyu Mishra, the world's youngest Grandmaster of all time

8/9/2021 – In the "Endgame Magic Show #155" Karsten Mueller talks with Abhimanyu Mishra about the endgame. In the old days people said that one should just go into the endgame against a young player which then would win itself. But Abhimanyu Mishra, the world's youngest Grandmaster ever, proves this to be wrong. He knows a lot about endgames, has watched all 154 previous "Endgame Magic" shows, and stuns Karsten again and again with insights and questions. In the current show the young Grandmaster proves his defensive skills in rook endings, but in some examples Abhimanyu is also attacking, when he is no less resourceful. | "Endgame Magic" is on air most Mondays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

Wesley So wins Chessable Masters 2021

8/9/2021 – A draw in the second set of the finals was enough for Wesley So to secure first place at the second edition of the Chessable Masters. The Filipino-born grandmaster thus obtained his third title in this year’s Champions Chess Tour. Le Quang Liem finished in a remarkable second place, while Vladislav Artemiev got the bronze after beating Levon Aronian in the match for third place.

Kieseritzky's Immortal Game

8/9/2021 – The game Adolf Anderssen against Lionel Kieseritzky, the "Immortal Game", played in London 1851, is arguably the most famous game in the history of chess. Anderssen won with a brilliant mating combination after sacrificing huge parts of his army. But his opponent Lionel Kieseritzky also played an "Immortal Game". Stephan Oliver Platz discovered this game and uses it as a starting point to take a close look at Kieseritzky's contribution to the King's Gambit.

Chessable Masters Finals - Wesley So prevails

8/8/2021 – The Chessable Masters is the eighth event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Sixteen strong grandmasters are set to play a preliminary stage lasting three days to find out who moves on to the quarterfinals. In the knockout stage, each encounter is decided over two days. The action kicks off at 17.00 CET (11.00 ET, 15.00 UTC).

Understanding before Moving 39: The Critical Move (2)

8/8/2021 – 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 39th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman takes another look at critical moves, this time with the help of a fine game by the young Garry Kasparov. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Chessable Masters: So on the attack

8/8/2021 – Wesley So convincingly won the first of the finals at the Chessable Masters by twice beating Le Quang Liem after launching successful sacrificial attacks. Meanwhile, Levon Aronian and Vladislav Artemiev drew the first set in the match for third place. | Photo: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour

World Cup Highlights - Part 2

8/7/2021 – The 2021 FIDE World Cup concluded on August 5 with Jan-Krzysztof Duda defeating Sergey Karjakin by a score of 1½-½ in the finals. Joshua Doknjas takes a look at five interesting games from the second half of the event, focussing on the performances of the two finalists. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Chessable Masters: Le and So in the final

8/7/2021 – Le Quang Liem and Wesley So made it into the finals of the Chessable Masters after eliminating Levon Aronian and Vladislav Artemiev respectively. Le’s match went to Armageddon, while So drew the second set after having won the first 4-game mini-match. Expert analyses by GM Karsten Müller. | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

Make it work!

8/7/2021 – In the diagram position 23.Nxf6! gxf6 leads to a winning advantage for White. Knowing this, can you remove possible obstacles on the way?

Northern California beats Texas

8/6/2021 – By a score of 23–22, Northern California triumphed over Texas at the national tournaments of state chess champions held July 31–August 3. Each state could send five representatives, and each representative played six games. Individual champions were also crowned. Woman International Master Alexey Root reports from the Cherry Hill, New Jersey site, which also hosts the U.S. Open. | Photos: Alexey Root

News Review - Fedoseev's Karma, the importance of chess leagues, and Carlsen's masterpiece

8/6/2021 – Messi left Barcelona, Grealish is going to Manchester City for 100 million pounds, but how is a "transfer" working for chess players, and does playing in a chess league grant you a enough income? Lawrence Trent states, the coronavirus was troublesome for many chess players, relying on playing league games. What about Duda, winning the World Cup and receiving 110000 dollars? Besides the money business, Trent takes a close look at the two last World Cup games, and obviously Carlsen's game against Fedoseev, shouldn't be missed by anyone.

Chessable Masters: Le wins first set against Aronian

8/6/2021 – In the first set of the Chessable Masters semifinals, Le Quang Liem and Wesley So took the lead in their matches against Levon Aronian and Vladislav Artemiev respectively. Le won twice with the white pieces, while So scored a single victory against his Russian opponent. Expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller. | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Tactics from the Chessable Masters and the genius of Magnus Carlsen

8/6/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King takes a look at games from the Chessable Masters Tournament and enjoys and admires the genius of Magnus Carlsen. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

Biel Chess Festival 2021: All winners

8/6/2021 – Gata Kamsky won the Grandmaster Triathlon of the Biel Chess Festival. But there were many more winners: the Master Open was won by Salem Saleh in a photo finish. The best woman player was Vaishali. In the Amateur Open, the juniors dominated and the youngest on the podium was eleven-year-old Neeraj Harish from the USA. On the rest day, the players got insights into parts of life in Switzerland. | Photos: Schachfestival Biel

Update in the Sicilian Four Knights Variation

8/6/2021 – In ChessBase Magazine #201 (May/June 2021) IM Robert Ris presented an interesting line in the Sicilian Four Knights Variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4 Qc7 9.f4 and now 9...Rb8. The rook move is an interesting alternative to the deeply analysed main line 9...Qb6. Meanwhile, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in particular has tried 9...Rb8 in a number of games, and Levon Aronian recently came up with an entirely new move: 9...Bb7. In the current issue of ChessBase Magazine Extra #202 Robert Ris analyses these new developments on a video. Take a look!

Jan-Krzysztof Duda wins the 2021 FIDE World Cup

8/6/2021 – Thanks to a 30-move victory over Sergey Karjakin, Jan-Krzysztof Duda was crowned champion at the 2021 FIDE World Cup in Sochi. The Polish grandmaster had an undefeated performance in the 24-day event and knocked out none other than world champion Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals. Carlsen, who had high praise for Duda, beat Vladimir Fedoseev for a second day in a row to claim third place. | Photos: David Llada

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: Winnning on demand - with the King's Indian Attack

8/5/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look how Sergey Karjakin won a must-win game in spectacular fashion against Sam Shankland at the FIDE World Cup - with the King's Indian Attack as a surprise weapon. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Istvan Csom (2 June 1940 - 28 July 2021)

8/5/2021 – Last week, on 28 July 2021, the Hungarian Grandmaster Istvan Csom died at the age of 81. In the 1970s he was one of Hungary's best players and he was part of the Hungarian team that sensationally won gold ahead of the heavily favoured Soviet team at the Chess Olympiad 1978 in Buenos Aires. | Photo: Obuda Media

World Cup Final - Duda wins

8/5/2021 – Sergey Karjakin and Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew their first game of the final at the FIDE World Cup in Sochi — Duda has the white pieces in game 2. Meanwhile, Vladimir Fedoseev (pictured) needs to win with black to level the score against Magnus Carlsen in the match for third place. Follow the action live with expert commentary starting at 14.00 CEST (12.00 UT, 08.00 ET). | Photo: David Llada