Fast and Furious: The current state of the Two Knights

12/19/2019 – In the last Fast & Furious show of 2019, IM Robert Ris tackles the current theoretical state of the Two Knights defence. Tune into the live show at 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET / 1 PM EST) which is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. In the diagram, it's Black to play!

Chess and Luck

12/19/2019 – Rumour has it that the attraction of chess stems from its appeal to the intellect — the player is in control — and luck plays no role. If so, how to explain blunders and mistakes and players’ reference to luck. RUNE VIK-HANSEN explores factors beyond our control favourably influencing the outcome, debunks a few myths about chess playing and aspires to show how luck in chess differs from "lottery luck." With luck a possible part of chess, what might be the implications? Can the human ego handle the blow? Will it reduce the status of the royal game? Will it deepen our understanding, perception and appreciation of chess and ourselves or will we (GASP!) quit chess? Or…might luck even come to our rescue in our darkest moments?

Jerusalem GP: Candidates suspense continues

12/19/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi drew Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in their semi-final rematch encounter to reach the final of the Jerusalem Grand Prix. The Russian is now one match win away from securing a spot in the Candidates, as Vachier-Lagrave is still leading the overall standings of the Grand Prix by a single point. David Navara and Wei Yi signed another draw, which means the winner will be decided in tiebreaks. | Photo: Niki Riga

Shirov leads in Arica

12/18/2019 – Arica is a lively port city on the Pacific coast of Chile, not far from the Atacama Desert. An Open with international appeal has been played here for a few years. Alexey Shirov tops the ranking list and started with 5 out of 5. | Live games and video of Round 6 from 19:30 UTC (21:30 CET / 3:30 PM EST)

Game(s) of the Week: Sharp fights from Dutch house mates

12/18/2019 – This week IM Merijn van Delft once again brings you his analysis of one of his own games, from the recent Dutch League weekend this time, which he considers quite sharp. Plus a bonus "experimental rook sacrifice"! The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

Your Spanish is Fab!

12/18/2019 – Looking for a holiday gift for your chess-fan friend or relative? The current World No.2, being a 1.e4 player his entire life, has shared his deep knowledge about the Ruy Lopez in a 3-DVD series, acclaimed by amateurs and professionals alike. In 2018, Fabiano Caruana achieved one of the most prestigious honours in the history of the game: he qualified for a match for the World Chess Championship. He lost, but left many surprised as to how he out-prepared and out-played Magnus in the classical portion of the match. TANMAY SRINATH takes a closer look in this comprehensive review.

Jerusalem GP: Advantage Nepomniachtchi

12/18/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi obtained a crucial victory over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in their first encounter of the semi-finals in Jerusalem. The Russian needs a draw to reach the final and get a step closer to next year's Candidates Tournament. For Vachier-Lagrave, this surely brings back bad memories, as he fell just short of qualification in the previous cycle. Meanwhile, Wei Yi and David Navara signed a 52-move draw. | Photo: Niki Riga

Midway though the Sunway Sitges Open 2019

12/17/2019 – The Sunway Sitges Open started on the Catalonian coast south-west of Barcelona over the weekend. The starting list was led by Parham Maghsoodloo and there are also several other strong grandmasters in the field. After five rounds, Anton Korobov and Narayanan S.L share the lead. | Photos: @SunwayChessOpen on Twitter

The Weekly Show: Sunway Sitges Open

12/17/2019 – Back on the road, but playing this time, IM Lawrence Trent is reporting from Sitges, Spain for this Weekly Show. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's White to move! | Lawrence is on-demand this week beginning at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / Noon EST) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

Welcome to Portugal

12/17/2019 – Europe's westernmost country does not have as rich a chess tradition as Spain and has so far been under the radar of chess lovers who like to combine tournaments and tourism. That is now changing thanks to the Portugal Chess Tour, an annual series of classical and rapid tournaments, especially the Portugal Open in Lisbon at the end of January 2020. STEFAN LOEFFLER explains. | Photos: Portuguese Chess Federation

The art of stalemate

12/17/2019 – "All rook endings are drawn", is a well-known witticism that contains more than a grain of truth. One reason for the drawish tendencies of rook endings is the fact that even a single pawn often draws against the enemy rook.

Jerusalem GP: Nepomniachtchi and Vachier-Lagrave to meet in semis

12/17/2019 – Two of the three players that arrived in Jerusalem as favourites to get the remaining spot in the Candidates will face-off in the semi-finals. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave went through by defeating Wesley So and Dmitry Andreikin in the first pair of rapid games during Monday's tiebreakers. The other winner of the day was Wei Yi, who knocked out Sergey Karjakin. | Photo: Niki Riga

'Women’s Chess' and equal footing

12/16/2019 – As Honorary Director of the London Chess Conference, which had the theme in 2019 of Chess and Female Empowerment, Grandmaster Judit Polgár wrote, “I make a point of never separating girls and boys, nor awarding special prizes for girls...Meanwhile, national federations use their resources, and public subsidies are creating more female-only competitions. It is high time to consider the consequences of this segregation — because in the end, our goal must be that women and men compete with one another on an equal footing.” WIM ALEXEY ROOT responds.

Simon Says: Recent and great games

12/16/2019 – GM Simon Williams goes hunting for recent tournament games and brings in a handful, great enough to remind him of a Karpov classic. | Watch live for free (or on-demand for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

Jerusalem GP: Navara ousts Jakovenko

12/16/2019 – David Navara was the first player to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Jerusalem Grand Prix, as he got a clean 37-move victory over Dmitry Jakovenko. The rest of the games finished drawn, which means three match-ups will be decided in Monday's tiebreaker rounds: Vachier-Lagrave v Andreikin, So v Nepomniachtchi and Wei Yi v Karjakin. | Photo: Niki Riga

Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky: the man who beat Lasker and Rubinstein

12/16/2019 – Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky is a chess legend. After all, at the great international tournament in St. Petersburg 1909 he won against both winners, Emanuel Lasker and Akiba Rubinstein. This success later helped him in a rather precarious situation. VLASTIMIL HORT knows more.

Speelman's Agony: Big battles

12/15/2019 – This week's games are from an expert-rated club player who sent GM JON SPEELMAN a pair of annotated games for a Grandmasterly review. | Send in your own games! Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Alexandra Kosteniuk wins Monaco GP

12/15/2019 – Alexandra Kosteniuk had a fairytale ending as she defeated Elisabeth Paehtz in the final round to finish at 7.0/11. For her winning the tournament, the most anticipated match between Humpy and Goryachkina needed Humpy to win and fortuitously that's what happened, resulting in Humpy finishing runner-up and Goryachkina claiming the second runner-up position. Kosteniuk won her third consecutive tournament in a row. Humpy still leads the GP points table. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Jerusalem GP: Short draws

12/15/2019 – The first classical games of the quarter-finals at the FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem all ended in short draws. The longest game of the day lasted 23 moves and a little over an hour and a half. In the key encounter between Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi, it was the American who conceded a draw with the white pieces. | Photo: Niki Riga

Alberto David wins Italian Championship 2019

12/14/2019 – GM Alberto David is new Italian Champion, winning his third title after an exciting tournament. The championship was played in Padua and for the first time a woman started in the Absolute Championship: Marina Brunello. Elina Sedina became Women's Champion and Gabriele Lumache won the U20 Championship. | Photos: Romualdo Vitale for the Italian Chess Federation

Women's Grand Prix in Monaco - a trio at the top

12/14/2019 – The final round started with Aleksandra Goryachkina as the sole leader, a full point ahead of Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk. But Humpy had her fate in her hands as she had white against Goryachkina and came through with a clutch victory. Kosteniuk also won, leaving a trio at the top with 7.0/11. Games and commentary.

Monaco GP: Advantage Goryachkina

12/14/2019 – Anna Muzychuk held Goryachkina to a draw. Goryachkina takes a full point lead to the final round where she faces Humpy. Pia Cramling held Humpy to a draw. Kosteniuk checkmated Harika and now she is tied at the second place along with Humpy. Lagno made a short draw with Paehtz. Cramling, Harika, Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are at the tied fourth place for now. The final round will determine the winner of the Monaco GP. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Jerusalem GP: Mamedyarov out of contention

12/14/2019 – The pairings for the quarter-finals of the Jerusalem Grand Prix are now set, after seven round-one match-ups were decided in Friday's tiebreaks. Out of those with serious chances to get the remaining spot in the Candidates, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was the one leaving the race early on. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is still ahead in the overall standings, but Ian Nepomniachtchi or even Wesley So could overtake him in the coming rounds. | Photo: Niki Riga

Magnus Carlsen makes it to the Top Ten of the Football Fantasy League

12/13/2019 – About seven million players worldwide have joined the Football Fantasy League to try their luck as virtual managers of a virtual English Premier League team. They play on the internet but the Premier League games in the real world define how good they are. Magnus Carlsen is very good: on Sunday, December 8, the World Champion and his fictitious team Kjell Ankedal were number 6 on the world's ranking list. Which made headlines. | Photo: Magnus Carlsen at the Tata Steel Chess India Tournament | Photo: Lennart Ootes