Tata Steel R8: Esipenko stuns Carlsen, Firouzja grabs the lead

1/25/2021 – Alireza Firouzja grabbed the sole lead at the Tata Steel Masters by beating Pentala Harikrishna with the black pieces, but remarkably this was not the most shocking development of round 8 as Andrey Esipenko defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in their first-ever confrontation in classical chess — Carlsen played aggressively with the black pieces and was duly outplayed by the 18-year-old. With his win, Esipenko joined the four-player chasing pack which also includes Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana and Jorden van Foreest. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Understanding before Moving 11: Pattern Recognition

1/24/2021 – 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 eleventh part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman explains how important it is to learn and to remember typical patterns. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

Tata Steel R7: Four leaders

1/24/2021 – It was an eventful seventh round in Wijk aan Zee, as five out of seven games finished decisively, including Anish Giri beating former sole leader Nils Grandelius with the white pieces. Giri, who was sharing second place before the round, was not the only player from the chasing pack to win on Saturday though — Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja and Jorden van Foreest also scored full points to become co-leaders. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

A Chess Story

1/23/2021 – Irina Bulmaga is a Woman Grandmaster, an International Master, and a chess professional. She discovered her passion for chess when she was still a child, and in a short story she looks back to the start of her chess career and remembers the beginning of a life-long love affair.

Tata Steel R6: Firouzja and Van Foreest score

1/23/2021 – Two decisive results in round 6 left Nils Grandelius still as the sole leader and increased the number of players chasing him a half point behind to six. Jorden van Foreest and Alireza Firouzja won on Friday and are now part of the massive chasing pack on 3½ points. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen failed to find a winning move against Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Fabiano Caruana tried hard but could not take down the leader. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Wijk aan Zee Storytellers (2) - Vishy Anand

1/22/2021 – Eric van Reem, host of the "Let's talk about chess" podcast, continues his "Wijk aan Zee Storytellers" series. In the first episode he talked to Dutch GM John van der Wiel, now he talks to Vishy Anand, five-time World Champion and five-time winner in Wijk. Anand shared a lot of stories about this fantastic tournament and obviously enjoyed these memories. | Photo: Vishy Anand at his home in Kotturpuram, Chennai | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Carlsen, Firouzja and a typical pawn sacrifice

1/22/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King takes a look at Magnus Carlsen's win against Alireza Firouzja from the first round of the Tata Steel Tournament 2021 in Wijk aan Zee, in which Carlsen brought a typical pawn sacrifice to initiate a dangerous - and finally successful - attack. | 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: Jurriaan Hoefsmit

Tata Steel R5: Grandelius beats MVL’s Najdorf, retakes the lead

1/22/2021 – Round 5 of the Tata Steel Masters saw Nils Grandelius retaking the lead after beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the white pieces in the only decisive game of the day. Grandelius showed excellent preparation and managed to convert a position a pawn up against the ever-resourceful Frenchman. Exciting draws were seen in most of the remaining gamess, with David Anton v Aryan Tari a particularly thrilling encounter — Karsten Müller took a closer look at the endgame. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

A missed chance

1/22/2021 – Yes, White's king is on f4! Which Black could have exploited. But this was a rapid game, and in time-pressure Magnus Carlsen, who was playing with Black against Ian Nepomniachtchi, did not find the win. Can you do better?

Throwback Thursday: Russia vs The World 2002

1/21/2021 – Dubbed the Match of the New Century, the third confrontation between Russian and The World was played in Moscow on September 8-12, 2002. Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a number of players from ex-Soviet countries represented The World. The match was staged over ten boards using a Scheveningen System with a rapid time control. The match ended in an unexpected 52:48 victory for the World team. | Photos: Anna Dergatscheva

Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: A Tribute to Lubomir Kavalek (1943-2021)

1/21/2021 – In this week's show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris pays tribute to the legendary Grandmaster and writer Lubomir Kavalek, who passed away January 18, 2021, at the age of 77. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Let's talk about chess... and Wijk aan Zee!

1/21/2021 – The Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee has a long tradition, reaching back to 1938. To hear more about this tradition and to share stories from this famous tournament, Eric van Reem, host of "Let's talk about chess", invited a number of "Wijk aan Zee Storytellers" to his podcast. In the first episode he talks to GM John van der Wiel (1959) from The Netherlands, who participated no less than 28(!) times in the Wijk aan Zee tournament.

Nihal Sarin wins Gazprom Brilliancy Prize

1/21/2021 – In the past, many tournaments offered brilliancy prizes for particularly beautiful games, but unfortunately this fine custom has gone a little out of fashion. But the FIDE Online Cadet and Youth World Championships 2020 paid respect to this tradition and awarded a brilliancy prize. It was donated by the Russian company Gazprom, and it was won by 16-year old Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin for an impressive game full of sacrifices and unexpected moves. | Photo: Nihal Sarin (ChessBase India)

Game of the Week: Caruana vs Duda

1/20/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes a look at a the fascinating encounter between Fabiano Caruana and Jan Jan-Krzysztof Duda from round 3 of the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. A game with stunning tactics and fierce attacks and counterattacks. | 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)

Tata Steel R4: Missed opportunities

1/20/2021 – On the fourth day of play in Wijk aan Zee, all games finished drawn. In a number of games, especially the players with the black pieces had better positions but could not convert their advantage into full points. In Aryan Tari vs Alireza Firouzja, both players missed chances to win. Wednesday is a rest day. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Erwin l’Ami takes a look at the games of Beth Harmon

1/20/2021 – Frank Scott's "The Queen's Gambit" with Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon is the most successful Netflix series of all time, and despite small inaccuracies it convincingly shows how exciting and fascinating chess can be. In fact, the games Beth Harmon plays in the series were almost all taken from actual tournament or matches. But which games found their way into the series? In New in Chess Magazine 08/2020 Erwin l'Ami took a closer look. | Photo: Beth Harmon's most crucial game | Photo: Screenshot from the series

FIDE approves hybrid competitions valid for rating

1/20/2021 – A few weeks ago, the FIDE Council approved a new set of rules to be applied to official online chess competitions. The document also established the framework for "hybrid" events, a format where the games are played online, but the participants are physically present in a public place like a club, federation headquarters, hotel, et cetera. In this format, all games are played under the supervision of an arbiter present on site.

Lubomir Kaválek, 1943-2021

1/19/2021 – Lubomir Kavalek was born in Prague in 1943. He left his country in 1968 and found a new home in the USA. In the 1970s he was one of the world's best players and also successful as a second and coach, including helping Bobby Fischer in Reykjavík. He was also a prolific writer, with dozens of well-read chess columns, including one he shared on ChessBase over the years. Kavalek passed away on January 18 at the age of 77. He will be sorely missed.

King against pawns

1/19/2021 – Pawn endings require precise calculation. Here, Black's king is stronger than White's outside passed pawn. Black to play and win.

Tata Steel R3: Five leaders as Harikrishna beats Grandelius

1/19/2021 – An exciting third round in Wijk aan Zee left five players sharing the lead on 2/3, as Pentala Harikrishna defeated former sole leader Nils Grandelius from the black side of a French Defence. Fabiano Caruana would have become the sole leader had he made the most of his chances against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but the latter’s resourcefulness allowed him to save a draw in a messy position. Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja beat David Anton from a slightly better endgame. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Chess in Singapore

1/18/2021 – The recently founded Yuhua CSC Chess Club wants to promote chess in Singapore - with beginner classes, weekly blitz sessions, tournaments, lectures and simultaneous exhibitions by the nation’s top masters. To get things going the club organised the "Kickoff 2021 - 1st Yuhua Community Sports Club Online Speed Chess Championships", a huge blitz-tournament. In a large illustrated report Kevin Goh and Junior Tay present highlights of this tournament. | Photo: Aerial Marina Bay Singapore | Source: Aerial Marina Bay.

Understanding before Moving 10: Hunting the king - Part 2

1/18/2021 – 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 tenth part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman continues to explore ways to hinder the opponent's development. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

How to get the most from ChessBase 16

1/18/2021 – Everyone knows the situation: you get some impressive new software, work happily with it for a year – and then suddenly discover that it can do way more than you thought. Why not find out straight away what it has to offer. ChessBase 16 has some incredible functions, designed to rapidly improve your playing strength and add to your Elo rating. Let a consummate power user show you how they work.

Tata Steel R2: A second win for Grandelius

1/18/2021 – Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius is the first sole leader of this year’s Tata Steel Chess tournament. Grandelius grabbed his second win in as many games by defeating Jan-Krzysztof Duda with the black pieces on Sunday. The only other winner of the day was defending champion Fabiano Caruana, who got the better of Alexander Donchenko, also with black. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021