Final result: 2-2!

5/15/2020 – This is a pleasantly tricky position! After 19...Bxe4 20.fxe5 Black needs to calculate precisely: two key lines win for Black, two key lines win for White. Can you find these lines and do you see how Black can win?

New York: Dr. Lasker leads at halftime

5/15/2020 – After 11 of 22 rounds Emanuel Lasker leads the New York Tournament 1924 with 7½ points out of ten games. But the eleventh round was not a Lasker-round. Emanuel had some trouble against Frederick Yates and could be happy about a draw while Edward missed a trick against Frank Marshall and lost. Otherwise, everybody else here is talking politics. | Photo: Edward Lasker (with White) and Frank Marshall

Grischuk wins "Play for Russia" charity event

5/15/2020 – Alexander Grischuk won the three-day online "Play for Russia" charity tournament after beating Vladimir Kramnik and Evgeny Tomashevsky in the knockout phase. Kramnik, the main initiator of the event, showed he still has what it takes to face strong active grandmasters by clearly winning the round-robin section and only losing to Grischuk in the Armageddon tiebreaker of the semi-final.

Darkness on the Horizon (1)

5/14/2020 – Take a look at the position in our picture. How can White draw? Impossible, of course: you capture the knight, the black king moves to d4 and then the pawns win the game. However, against early computers there was a way to save this position. In our first historical article, describing the early days of chess programming, you will learn how computers could fall into the horizon trap.

The $1m Magnus Carlsen Tour: A new era for chess

5/14/2020 – In a press release World Champion Magnus Carlsen today revealed his $1 million vision for a new online chess tour designed to cement the game’s future in the public eye. Four super-tournaments culminating in a Grand Final in August will become the new "majors" for online chess, the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. It follows the breakout success of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational which shattered all records for online viewership and now serves as the first leg of the Tour. Carlsen believes carrying the momentum into an online Tour presents the opportunity to establish chess permanently as a mass media sport.

New York 1924, Round 10: Lasker crushes Reti

5/14/2020 – Two clear wins, three draws and many missed chances - that was the result of round 10 in New York. Emanuel Lasker crushed Reti and Bogoljubow made short work of Yates, but Capablanca squandered the advantage he had easily secured against Marshall. Tartakower, too, had chances against Janowsky and Alekhine was lucky not to lose to Edward Lasker. | Photo: Emanuel Lasker

On the origins of chess (3/7)

5/14/2020 – In September 2017, in the city of Buenos Aires, Sergio Negri, a researcher specialized in chess of Argentine origin, completed a thoroughly detailed and thought-provoking treatise on the origins of chess. We now present part three, which focuses on the theories that consider that chess originated in China. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The old riddle of Fischer vs Taimanov

5/13/2020 – The endgame of the fourth game of the famous candidates match Vancouver 1971 is very instructive. But one question has remained puzzling. Was the adjourned position already lost or was Taimanov's 42nd move a decisive mistake? Once again we invite you to debate this question with leading endgame experts, including our own GM Karsten Müller. With the help of chess engines you can win the analytical duels and show them where history needs to be corrected.

Game of the Week: Yu Yangyi vs Wesley So

5/13/2020 – In this show Merijn van Delft takes a look at one of the best and exciting games from the FIDE Nations Cup: Yu Yangyi vs Wesley So. | Merijn's show is available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Getting the most out of ChessBase 15: a step-by-step guide #2

5/13/2020 – "What is the best advice for getting the most out of my ChessBase 15 software?" This is a question that is often asked. And the first two answers are always the same: "Read The Manual" and "Update the Program". Here Nick Murphy shows you step-by-step how to do both.

Brainwashed

5/13/2020 – We recently had a chess film quiz with stills from movies before the 60s. One of them was the German drama film Brainwashed (1960) by Gerd Oswald. Based on one of the most famous chess books ever written, "Die Schachnovelle" (The Royal Game) by Stefan Zweig, the film itself wasn't very popular. We took a closer look at the game featured in the film and also in the book, which was originally played by Alexander Alekhine against Efim Bogoljubov in 1922.

New York 1924, Round 9: Capablanca convinces, Lasker is lucky

5/13/2020 – With four draws and a loss World Champion José Raúl Capablanca started badly into the tournament in New York, but he now seems to be back in shape, and in round 9 he defeated Efim Bogoljubov with a fine positional performance. But sole leader remains Emanuel Lasker, who allowed himself a couple of bad moves against Frank Marshall but still managed to escape with a draw. Meanwhile, Richard Reti showed the advantages of "hypermodern" chess. | Photo: José Raúl Capablanca (Archive)

Grischuk leads "Play for Russia" charity tournament

5/13/2020 – The one-of-a-kind "Play for Russia" tournament is taking place from Tuesday to Thursday this week, with eight strong Russian grandmasters playing blitz online to raise funds for their country's regional hospitals and health workers fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. After seven rounds, played on Tuesday, Alexander Grischuk is leading the standings table. He is closely followed by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik.

Nakamura makes cameo appearance in "Billions"

5/12/2020 – "Billions" is an Award-winning and critically acclaimed TV series about power and politics in the world of New York high finance. In the second episode of the fifth season, "The Chris Rock Test", Hikaru Nakamura has a cameo appearance. It is the first time a top player appeared in an Award-winning American network show since Magnus Carlsen's was part of "The Simpsons" three years ago. | Photo: Hotstar Stream

The Weekly Show: The Final of the FIDE Nations Cup

5/12/2020 – In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at the crucial final round encounter of the FIDE Nations Cup today between the USA and China, and analyses the game Yu Yangyi vs Wesley So. | 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 (Archive)

Humans and computers solving Djaja

5/12/2020 – Can computers handle perpetual check? Could they do so ten years ago. And more relevantly: can humans? Even those with super-GM titles? Well, a 2351 player was able to do it better than his brother, who was rated 400 points higher. We have told the story before, but since our readers spent the weekend working on the Djaja problem, it may be of interest to remember how Aronian, Navara, Gashimov, Mamedyarov and Kasparov fared.

New York 1924, Round 8: Lasker keeps the tempo high

5/12/2020 – Former World Champion Emanuel Lasker, at 55 years of age the second-oldest player in New York seems to be in splendid shape in New York. In round 8 he defeated Efim Bogoljubow with persistence and good endgame technique. In the second top encounter of the round Alekhine won against Reti, while World Champion Capablanca only drew against Maroczy. Lasker now leads with 5.5/7, half a point behind is Alekhine with 5.0/7. | Photo: Emanuel Lasker (Archive)

Passed pawns and missed chances

5/12/2020 – Endgames with bishops of opposite colours are often drawish but with passed pawns on both sides things are rarely easy. And as always: precision is required!

Daniel Fridman wins German Internet Championship

5/12/2020 – The German Chess Internet Championship 2020 (DSIM) on the Playchess server ended this weekend with the victory of Grandmaster Daniel Fridman (2nd from right). After a total of four preliminary rounds and one intermediate round, 14 players had qualified for the final round, which was played as a round robin tournament with 3+2 Blitz games. After an exciting tournament, Fridman won with 10.5/13, ahead of Vincent Keymer (9.5/13) and Georg Meier (9/13).

Fischer on "60 minutes", three months before becoming world champion

5/12/2020 – "What Rod Laver is to tennis, what Jack Nicklaus is to golf, that's what Bobby Fischer is to chess" are Mike Wallace's first words in the April 9th, 1972 edition of "60 Minutes", the highly influential CBS-TV news magazine. Three months prior to his "Match of the Century" against Boris Spassky, Fischer looks as confident as can be, not fearing to call himself the best chess player in the world. A look back at a revealing profile of the infamous American genius.

Simon Says: Recent games

5/11/2020 – In this Simon Says we will take a look at some high-level recent games that were played in FIDE chess.com online Nations Cup. | Watch 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).

Iepe Rubingh, 1974 – 2020

5/11/2020 – He was one of the more interesting personalities in and around chess – but not just there. "Iepe the Joker" was a Dutch artist, entrepreneur, innovator and storyteller. For us his most relevant enterprises was chess boxing, which he initiated and popularized in a way nobody foresaw. On Sunday he was found dead in his bed – how and why we do not yet know. Frederic Friedel has written a obituary with description of his interactions with a dear friend.

Getting the most out of ChessBase 15: a step-by-step guide

5/11/2020 – ChessBase is a powerful program that helps you to enjoy your chess more and to play better. Still, for some even installing the ChessBase 15 can appear daunting at first glance, but it's actually an exceptionally simple process. Here Nick Murphy takes you step-by-step through the process. Tested and approved by his 6-year-old niece and 82-year-old father!

New York 1924, Round 7: Strong bishops, strong knights and a modern game

5/11/2020 – In round 7 of the New York Tournament World Champion Capablanca showed Yates what knights can do while Janowsky showed Bogolyubov the strength of bishops and Emanuel Lasker won a very modern game against Maroczy. Reti also played in modern fashion, but won with a classic motive: the dim knight on the rim. Alekhine and Marshall played the only draw of the round but showed some fascinating tactics. | Photo: Modern parking in New York