Mega cool: The games update of Mega Database 2020!

12/12/2019 – What distinguishes the Mega Database from other databases? For one, it does not become obsolete and remains "up to date" with just a few clicks! Because the delivery of the Mega Database 2020 includes not only approximately 8 million games but also the weekly mega update service. Every week we provide you with a database of around 5,000 new games. (Plus, the included 85,000 annotated games alone corresponds to a set of over 1,000 or more chess books!) With a few clicks in ChessBase 15, your Mega Database will always be up to date. A "mega help" for every tournament player. Here's how...
More...
 20

Jerusalem GP: Eight draws on opening day

12/12/2019 – The fourth and final stage of the 2019 FIDE Grand Prix kicked off in Jerusalem. The first classical games of all eight single-elimination matches finished peacefully. The Israeli city sees the race to the Candidates coming to an end, with two spots still in contention at the series — theoretically, Alexander Grischuk can still be eliminated, although he is a clear favourite to get one of the two tickets. | Photo: Niki Riga

Game of the Week: Van Delft vs Janaszak

12/11/2019 – This week IM Merijn van Delft brings you his analysis of one of his own games from the recent German League weekend which he considers quite instructive. 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).

Vishy on Vishy gems!

12/11/2019 – Viswanathan Anand, who turns 50 years old today, is a legend who has played many masterpieces throughout his illustrious career spanning decades. At the end of Tata Steel Chess India 2019, IM SAGAR SHAH caught up with the chess virtuoso to discuss nine of his career-best games. In this interview Anand talks about old times, untold behind-the-scenes stories of the pre-computer chess era and much more. Chess fans are in for a nostalgic treat!
More...
 9

Monaco GP: Goryachkina and Humpy ahead

12/11/2019 – Both Goryachkina and Humpy won their respective games to stay in the lead with 5.0/7. Harika trails behind the leaders by a half point. She made a short draw with Anna. Pia Cramling, Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are tied at the fourth spot with 4.0/7 each. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Announcing the Aeroflot Open 2020

12/11/2019 – The International Chess Festival "Aeroflot Open 2020" will be held in Moscow from 18 February (the date of arrival) to 29 February 2020 (the date of departure). Details courtesy the organiser.

Decoding the Lightning Kid!

12/11/2019 – December 11th, 2019, is the 50th birthday of Viswanathan Anand, the subject of ChessBase's most recent Masterclass Vol.12. TANMAY SRINATH critically examines ChessBase's latest offering in this series, a foray into the mind of a chess genius who has influenced the game in countless ways. | Pictured: Anand and his wife Aruna in Kolkata. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

The Weekly Show at the London Chess Classic (2/2)

12/10/2019 – From London IM Lawrence Trent is on the scene at both the Grand Chess Tour Finals and the London Chess Classic ancillary events, and brings you his take in this Weekly Show. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's Black 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.

Opening training with Fritz 17: Creating content

12/10/2019 – The first part of the "Opening training with Fritz 17 Tutorial" showed how to create an opening repertoire in Fritz 17 by using the "Move-by-Move" principle. The second part of the tutorial shows how you can upload and edit games or previous analyses to the Fritz 17 Opening Trainer.

Vlastimil Hort publishes "My Chess Stories"

12/10/2019 – Vlastimil Hort is a charming and elegant story teller and likes to share his memories of past and present masters. Now he published a book with 64 chess stories: "Meine Schachgeschichten" (My Chess Stories). The book is in German but maybe Hort will one day publish an English version. Till then, the non-German speaking Hort fans can find consolation by (re-)reading Hort's stories on ChessBase!

The many faces of opposition

12/10/2019 – In chess, opposition means that the square around the kings has corners of the same colour. However, all four (or two) corners must have the same colour. Then the side which is not to move has the opposition.

Vladimir Kramnik proposes an exciting chess variant!

12/9/2019 – From lay fans to top grandmasters, more or less everyone in the world of chess feels upset today about the significant number of draws that take place in virtually every classical elite tournament. Too much theory reinforced by extensive engine work is seemingly rendering the game of chess sterile and lifeless. One alternative is Chess960 and FIDE sanctioned the first Fischer Random World Championship this year. Recently the legendary Vladimir Kramnik has also proposed a solution to the problem that is simpler and more efficient than the Fischer Random, and which he believes will ensure more than 50% decisive games in top-level play.

Simon Says: More Beautiful Studies

12/9/2019 – Studies are once again in focus this week with GM Simon Williams. Solving and analysis. 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).

Goryachkina, Harika and Humpy lead Monaco GP

12/9/2019 – Kosteniuk held Humpy to a draw after missing a half chance in the opening. Goryachkina and Harika scored fine victories to join Humpy in the lead with 4.0/6 before heading to the rest day of the tournament. Kosteniuk and Anna Muzychuk are just a half point behind the leaders. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

Ding Liren is the 2019 Grand Chess Tour Champion

12/9/2019 – Ding Liren defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the match for the title at the Grand Chess Tour in London. The Chinese star dominated the confrontation from start to finish, securing first place after the rapid stage. In the battle for bronze, Magnus Carlsen got the better of Levon Aronian despite blundering mate in the first encounter of the day. The world champion was the biggest earner in this year's tour nonetheless, collecting a little over USD 300,000 throughout the series. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

CBM 192: Caissa has the last word

12/8/2019 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The current issue offers a bird’s eye view of three major events, the 7th Sinquefield Cup Tournament, the 72nd Russian Championship Superfinal and the FIDE World Cup. In a previous article, NAGESH HAVANUR analysed the performance of Ding Liren, who figured prominently in the magazine. Here he examines the performance of others. This issue includes 1949 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training; games annotated by Anand, Anish Giri and Peter Heine Nielsen, just to mention a few. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

London Chess Classic Live

12/8/2019 – Ding Liren won the 2019 Grand Chess Tour final match against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave by taking the first rapid game and drawing the second. The Chinese ace won their second classical game on Saturday to take a sizeable lead into the final day. World Champion Magnus Carlsen finished in third place after closing out his match against Levon Aronian in blitz! Live games and commentary from 14:00 UTC (15:00 CET, 9:00 EST).

Monaco GP: Goryachkina misses the chance to catch up

12/8/2019 – Humpy had a quiet draw with Kateryna Lagno to maintain her sole lead. Pia Cramling had an uneventful draw with Nana Dzagnidze. A further pair of draws, plus two decisive games leaves five players — Cramling, Dzagnidze, Goryachkina, Harika and Kosteniuk — on 3.0/5, a half point behind the leader. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

GCT Finals: Carlsen's streak still alive

12/8/2019 – Magnus Carlsen's last classical game of 2019 almost ended in defeat, as he was about to lose his (now) 107-game undefeated streak against Levon Aronian in the match for third place of the Grand Chess Tour finals. Meanwhile, in the fight for the title, Ding Liren obtained a nice win with White over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The British Knockout Championship took place alongside the GCT finals — Michael Adams won the event after beating David Howell in the final. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Nankai wins in Nankai!

12/7/2019 – The Winner of the World Prestigious University Chess Invitational Went to Nankai University Team 1! Headed by Wang Yue (2710), the team performed amazingly against many strong universities. University tournaments are no joke, with many GMs and IMs competing in Nankai over a four day period. | Photo: Yi Liu

Monaco GP: Humpy escapes with a draw

12/7/2019 – Tournament leader Humpy maintained her lead after surviving quite a few missed opportunities by her opponent Nana Dzagnidze. Anna Muzychuk arguably had the most interesting game of the round against Kateryna Lagno after almost a five-hour long game. Pia Cramling finally managed to convert advantage into a victory after her opponent Elisabeth Paehtz blundered and made a few inaccuracies under time pressure. Valentina Gunina's tough luck at the tournament continues as this time she made a huge error in the opening against Zhao Xue after which she could not recover for the rest of the game. Goryachkina beat Harika, after the latter made a wrong exchange which resulted in an isolated pawn and advanced king for her opponent. Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk made a grandmaster draw in just 23 moves. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

The (open) European Blitz for Lysyj and Rapid to Sargissian

12/7/2019 – In the Estonian capital Tallinn, the European Championships in Rapid and Blitz Chess were held from Thursday to Saturday. The new Rapid European Champion with 10½/13 was Armenian Gabriel Sargissian (pictured) ahead of Rauf Mamedov (Azerbaijan) and Alexander Riazantsev (Russia) on tiebreak. The European Blitz Championship went to Igor Lysyj (Russia) with 17.0/22 on tiebreak ahead of the tied Zaven Adriasian (Armenia) and Andrey Esipenko (Russia). | Photos: ECU / Alon Shulman

GCT Finals: Carlsen wins, Vachier-Lagrave escapes

12/7/2019 – Two long and exciting games kicked off the final stage of the Grand Chess Tour in London. Ding Liren had a large advantage but could not convert it into a win against a resilient Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Magnus Carlsen defeated Levon Aronian with the white pieces to get ahead right out of the gate in the match for third place. The duels continue on Saturday, starting two hours earlier than usual. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Opening training with Fritz 17: Creating a repertoire

12/6/2019 – Fritz 17 helps you to learn and memorize your opening repertoire. But first you have to create an opening repertoire that Fritz 17 can help you learn. This is done with the "Move-by-Move" principle and the following short tutorial shows how to enter moves or previous material to create such a repertoire.