Donchenko and Tomilova win ACP Knockout Tournaments

7/31/2020 – Alexander Donchenko won the ACP-ChessBase Knockout Tournament, which took place in the Emanuel Lasker Arena of the PlayChess server. In the final, the young German grandmaster defeated two-time British champion Gawain Jones 3:1. In the women’s section, penultimate seed Elena Tomilova from Russia stunned by winning the event after beating Anastasia Bodnaruk in the final.

Light squares, dark squares

7/31/2020 – Refuting White's 27.Rxf5 in the diagram position may take time, which Black in this (rapid) game simply didn't have and failed. Not pressed by the clock, can you do better?

Improve your openings skill

7/31/2020 – How would you like to learn to play the King's Indian Defence (KID)? How about a 1½-hour lesson by a 2765 rated super-grandmaster, the number 9 in the world? Azerbaijani GM Teimour Radjabov is one of the finest exponents of the KID in the world, and illustrates this interactive lesson with games from his stellar career.

GM Maurice Ashley on the Tim Ferriss Show

7/30/2020 – For a number of years now, bestselling author Tim Ferriss has hosted a very successful podcast. Chess is a reccurring theme, and people like “Wunderkind” Josh Waitzkin and Adam Robinson (a very close friend of Bobby Fischer’s) have been guests on the show. It is no secret that Tim and Maurice have been friends for a very long time. The podcast episode doesn’t disappoint at all, and we can learn a lot about top commentator and grandmaster Maurice Ashley.

This Saturday: Knighthood Online Blitz Open

7/30/2020 – This Saturday, 1st August, will witness the biggest ever Online Blitz tournament in the history of ChessBase India. The Knighthood Online Blitz will have a total prize fund of ₹1,50,000 and the first prize of ₹40,000! And guess what? All the entry fees will be used for a good cause — to promote and support specially-abled chess players of India. The tournament is sponsored by a chess lover named Sujit Varghese. What's more, India's no.2 GM Vidit Gujrathi is also involved in the event and will play a simul against the age-group winners and specially-abled players on the 2nd of August 2020.

Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Bishop's Opening

7/30/2020 – In this week's show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris gives all those looking for a simple repertoire with White against 1.e4 e5 a simple solution: to play 2.Bc4. The model games he presents, with Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja and Kasparov marshaling the white pieces, show how dangerous this opening can be. | "Fast and Furious" is available from 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST / 15:00 EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Legends of Chess: Svidler qualifies to the semifinals

7/30/2020 – Vladimir Kramnik still had a theoretical chance to get into the knockout stage of the Legends of Chess had Peter Svidler lost to Anish Giri — which he did — and he defeated Magnus Carlsen — in round 9 of the preliminaries. Kramnik could not beat the world champion in the end, which means Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Giri and Svidler are the semifinalists. The four-player knockout kicks off on Friday. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Biel: Wojtaszek wins triathlon

7/30/2020 – Radoslaw Wojtaszek won the 2020 edition of the Grandmaster Tournament, this year played as a triathlon, in Biel. The Polish grandmaster did it by losing one game in total across all three time controls (he played 28 games!). Pentala Harikrishna came in second place, after getting the highest score in classical chess, winning four games and losing none. Michael Adams finished third. | Photos: Simon Bohnenblust

Historical riddle: Hort vs. Fischer 1970

7/29/2020 – Bobby Fischer obtained an astounding 18½ out of 23 score to win the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca. In round 5, the American genius defeated Vlastimil Hort with black in an opposite-coloured bishops endgame, but it is not clear whether the ending was always winning or not! Endgame specialist Karsten Müller asks for your help.

Game of the Week: Kramnik plays a model game

7/29/2020 – In his “Game of the Week” show Merijn van Delft looks at an instructive win by Vladimir Kramnik. The former world champion showed marvellous understanding from the black side of a Carlsbad structure to defeat Peter Leko! | Merijn’s show is freely available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) for a limited time, and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Biel: Wojtaszek wins!

7/29/2020 – Radoslaw Wojtaszek won the 2020 Grandmaster Triathlon in Biel thanks to his strong performance in all three disciplines — the Polish GM won the Rapid, tied in first in the Blitz and was the second highest scorer in the Classical. Pentala Harikrishna finished in second place, despite getting by far the best score in the Classical (+4). It was his poor showing in the Blitz that prevented him from winning the event. Michael Adams came in third place.

Legends of Chess: Giri secures a spot in the semis

7/29/2020 – Round 8 of the Legends of Chess online tournament was played on Tuesday. Magnus Carlsen won his eighth match in a row, this time against second-placed Ian Nepomniachtchi. Vasyl Ivanchuk defeated Anish Giri in Armageddon, but the latter nevertheless secured a spot in the semifinals. Peter Svidler, in the meantime, beat Vladimir Kramnik in a crucial matchup. | Photo: FIDE

Biel: Three with chances

7/29/2020 – After yesterday's round, three players still have chances of overall victory in the Grandmaster Triathlon in Biel. In the Open it looks like a French one-two. Watch the final round live! Sebastian Siebrecht reports.

The Best In - Armenia

7/28/2020 – Russia, India, USA or China are big countries with extraordinary good chess players. "The Best In..." series takes a look at some of the best players of countries which are far smaller by size and population. Some places are exceptional though, like Armenia. We had the chance to interview one of Armenia's best female players - Lilit Mkrtchian. | Photos: Lilit Mkrtchian

The Weekly Show: Vasyl Ivanchuk, chess genius

7/28/2020 – In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at a great win by Ukrainian star Vassily Ivanchuk, who defeated Ding Liren in style during the Legends of Chess tournament. Referring to Ivanchuk, Lawrence said: "He's one of the very true universal players in the world of chess, maybe the most universal player of all time — him and Spassky come to mind". | Lawrence' show is available at 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST, 13:00 EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / World Rapid Championship 2016

Biel: Fighting chess, four ways!

7/28/2020 – After the rest day, the grandmasters showed themselves to be in a fighting mood in the invitational tournament. Harikrishna won the top game of the day, while Vincent Keymer’s balance sheet reads like a binary code: 1 0 1 0 1. Sebastian Siebrecht reports. | Photos: Simon Bohnenblust, Sebastian Siebrecht

Riddle solved: Flohr was winning!

7/28/2020 – Coming from taking first place at the Soviet Chess Championship, Mikhail Botvinnik faced Salomon Flohr in a 12-game match played in Moscow and Leningrad. In one of the games, Flohr showed the chess world how to force a win in the 2B vs 2N endgame. But did he really, or did Botvinnik simply misplay it? We asked our readers to help settle the historical debate. And they helped endgame expert GM Karsten Müller to settle the question. | Pictured: Flohr and Botvinnik in 1935

The key winning king move

7/28/2020 – Pawn endgames always must be calculated carefully. | Endgame theory constitutes the foundation of chess. You realize this in striking clarity once you obtain a won endgame but in the end have to be content with a draw in the end because of a lack of necessary know-how. Such accidents can only be prevented by building up a solid endgame technique.

Legends of Chess: Anand and Ivanchuk strike

7/28/2020 – With two rounds to go in the preliminary stage of the ‘Legends of Chess’ online tournament, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi have already secured their spots in the four-player knockout phase. Anish Giri climbed to third place with a 2½:½ victory over Ding Liren, while, among the veterans, Vishy Anand and Vasyl Ivanchuk played enterprising chess to defeat Boris Gelfand and Vladimir Kramnik respectively. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Simon Says: Learn from Ulf Andersson

7/27/2020 – In this "Simon Says", Simon leaves the sharp tactics aside and focuses on simplicity. In order to do so, he analyzes four games by Swedish endgame virtuoso Ulf Andersson! | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST). | Pictured: Andersson playing Anatoly Karpov in 1983. | Photo: Rob Bogaerts / Anefo

Set up a coaching session on PlayChess!

7/27/2020 – Some might say chess is at its peak of popularity due to the coronavirus. People who have never played chess before are thinking, “There is no better time than now to learn how to play chess”. And they are right! I myself have been asked by a lot of friends if I could teach them how to play. Thanks to PlayChess.com I can teach more than one student at a time with ease. I quickly explain the steps needed to set up a coaching session in a short video!

Legends of Chess: Carlsen in charge

7/27/2020 – Magnus Carlsen leads the preliminary stage of the ‘Legends of Chess’ tournament after a smooth victory over Ding Liren. Ian Nepomniachtchi is in second place — the Russian defeated Viswanathan Anand in Armageddon on Sunday. Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler also won in the sudden-death decider, while Anish Giri got the better of Peter Leko 2½:1½. | Photo: Justin Kellar

Logic Riddles for Chess Players (6)

7/27/2020 – The main theme for this logic riddle is the world of Combinatorics. Although it requires some calculations, it is a lot of fun to try to correctly compare probabilities. Of course, we also have the solution for Logic Riddle #5 available!

Biel: Wojtaszek and Adams the strongest in Blitz

7/26/2020 – Blitz chess was played on Saturday at the Festival in Biel as part of the ‘Grandmaster Triathlon’. After 14 rounds, Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Michael Adams collected 11 points each. In this order, Wojtaszek ahead of Adams, are placed atop the overall standings of the triathlon — the Polish GM has a comfortable four-point lead. Vincent Keymer only scored 4½ points, which prompted him to drop from third to fourth place. Sebastian Siebrecht reports from Biel. | Photos: Simon Bohnenblust