Women's Candidates: Gunina saves a half point

6/1/2019 – The 2019 Women's Candidates Tournament started on Friday in Kazan. All four games of round one were drawn, but a couple of them could have easily finished decisively. Valentina Gunina faltered in time trouble against Kateryna Lagno, but later showed great resourcefulness to save the half point, while Aleksandra Goryachkina missed a couple of chances against Alexandra Kosteniuk. | Photo: Anastasya Karlovich

Elisabeth Paehtz announces her resignation from the German National Team

5/31/2019 – For years Elisabeth Paehtz (born January 8, 1985) has been the clear number one chess player among German women. Since 1998 the World Youth Champion U18-Girls and World Junior Girls Champion 2005 has been playing for the German National Women's team, but in a press release from May 29 she announced her decision to quit, citing the "unequal treatment of women" compared to men in German chess and in the German Chess Federation. One day later the German Chess Federation replied. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

The Power Play Show: The Whisky Immortal

5/31/2019 – On the show today: GM Daniel King considers "study-like game" from the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars Tournament, held last weekend. Power Play is live most Fridays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, Noon EDT) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

Jones' jackpot

5/31/2019 – In the diagram White has just captured on d4. What do you make of this continuation — or rather the position arising 21...Nxd4 22.Bxd4 Bxd4 23.Rxd4 and now?

Informative and fun: the Online Playerbase

5/31/2019 – Who are the best players in the world? What ratings do they have? And what do they look like? The ChessBase Online Playerbase (players.chessbase.com) answers these and other questions. The database contains about 570,000 names and more than 40,000 pictures! You want to know the current Elo of an old friend or rival? Or find the best players of your age-group? Or games from the most promising juniors? Have a look! | Drawing: ChessBase
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Nabokov looks at chess as deception

5/31/2019 – Vladimir Nabokov was a fiction writer, a lepidopterist and a composer of chess problems, with his love for the royal game a transparent feature in his work. More than once, chess came up during his interviews and public appearances. With thanks to researcher Sergio Negri, we shed light on two of these appearances, when Nabokov gives some insights into his conceptualization of chess. | Picture: Graffiti of Vladimir Nabokov in Opatija, Croatia, via Wikimedia Commons. | Photo: Henry Kellner

Fast and Furious: Sicilian Taimanov with 5...a6

5/30/2019 – Today IM Robert Ris tackles an option in the Sicilian Taimanov on this Fast & Furious Thursday! The live show at 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT) 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.

Start of the Women's Candidates Tournament

5/30/2019 – Today is the official start of the Women's Candidates Tournament in Kazan. A press conference will be held and in the evening the opening ceremony will take place. The first round will be played on May 31st, starting at 2:00 pm CEST. With 200,000 euros, this is the most highly endowed women's tournament in history. | Image: Official site: fwct2019.com

Hort stories: Leonid Stein

5/30/2019 – During his peak the Ukrainian born Soviet Grandmaster Leonid Stein (November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was one of the best players of the world. He had a fantastic flair for the attack and was famous for his ability to demolish his opponents quickly. But fortune did not smile on him. Vlastimil Hort knew Stein well and shares memories. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

Nepomniachtchi wins Moscow Grand Prix

5/29/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi won the second tie-break game of the final match against Alexander Grischuk to claim first place at the Moscow leg of the 2019 Grand Prix Series. The tie-breaker began with a 37-move draw out of a Petroff Defence, while in the second 25'+10" encounter Nepomniachtchi got the upper hand from the white side of an Italian Opening and ended up winning the game — and the tournament — after 36 moves. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

Game of the Week: Grischuk vs Nakamura

5/29/2019 – The tiebreak of the FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Moscow was played today between Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi. IM Merijn van Delft looks at how Grischuk reached the final — a key win over Hikaru Nakamura. The live show 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. Merijn is live at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT).

Grand Prix Moscow Final: Nepomniachtchi wins Tiebreak

5/29/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi took the second game of the rapid tiebreak to win the final match over fellow-Russian Alexander Grischuk. Both classical games were drawn. Game two on Tuesday was a Ruy Lopez Berlin, which remained level until the players agreed to a draw on move 23. Game 1 of the all-Russian final was also drawn on Monday. The match will therefore be decided in a rapid and blitz tiebreak on Wednesday at 12:00 UTC (14:00 CEST / 8:00 EDT).

Bischwiller retain French club championship title

5/29/2019 – The defending champions led by Israeli GM Maxim Rodshtein were undefeated and skated past powerhouse Asnières Le Grand Echiquier featuring Maxime Vachier-Lagrave en route to victory in the 11-round event that was held in the city of Brest in western France from May 18th to May 28th. | Photos: French Chess Federation

Moscow GP Final: Tie-breaks it is

5/28/2019 – The first leg of the 2019 Grand Prix series will be decided on tie-breaks after Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi signed a 23-move draw in the second game of the final match. The tie-breaks will be played on May 29th, starting at 15:00 local time, with two 25+10 rapid games set to initiate the battle. The champion will earn eight points in the overall GP (plus all the extra points gained by not going to tie-breaks). | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

The Weekly Show: Carlsen in Scotland

5/28/2019 – On the show today, the Lindores Abbey tournament was a fun little show up in Scotland and Lawrence will have a look at a key game plus review the important chess action of the past week. Live beginning at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) 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.

Pioneering national chess education in Armenia

5/28/2019 – Armenia has the most ambitious school chess programme in the world. It recently hosted its third international conference and the first meeting of FIDE´s new Education Commission in the ressort town Tsakhkadsor. STEFAN LOEFFLER attended. | Pictured: The final of the Armenian Championship of Primary Schools took place in parallel nearby. | Photos: Armenian Chess Academy

Believe it or not, a fortress can hold

5/28/2019 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen once famously quipped that he doesn't believe in fortresses. But sometimes fortresses are strong enough to save a draw despite a heavy material disadvantage. White to play and draw...

Moscow GP Final: A Grünfeld, a draw

5/27/2019 – Alexander Grischuk had the white pieces in the first classical game of the final at the Moscow Grand Prix. Ian Nepomniachtchi played the Grünfeld and showed great preparation to equalize and even get some hopes of getting an advantage. Correct play by both sides, however, led to a 38-move draw. After the draw, a decisive result on Tuesday will put an end to the tournament. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

Magnus Carlsen wins his fifth title of the year at Lindores Abbey

5/27/2019 – Magnus Carlsen won the fifth tournament of the year 2019. But things were not so simple for the World Champion. He struggled quite a bit in this tournament and was losing against Karjakin as well as Ding Liren in rounds 5 and 6. Through sheer fighting spirit and hanging in there, he was able to win the first place with 3½/6. IM Sagar Shah who was present at the venue, brings you all the action.

NEW: Learn from the endgames of the World Champions

5/27/2019 – All world champions leave their mark on chess. Past champions had different styles but each and every one of them played the endgame exceptionally well. Steinitz laid the first foundations, Lasker embodied fighting spirit, Capablanca pure techique, Alekhine attack, Tal magic, Petrosian defence, Smyslov harmony. Let one of the greatest endgame experts, Karsten Müller, improve your endgame skills with this historical review — in 13 hours of interactive video lectures!

Understanding Le Système de Londres avec 2.Ff4

5/27/2019 – Chess players in the past spoke many languages to be able to travel to different countries, and to read chess literature, which in that time was scarce. Today, while some still do, with the advent of computers and a globalized age we've witnessed an expansion of English as a lingua franca, much like Latin in its day. However, ChessBase's production of DVDs in different languages (German, Spanish and now French) continues apace, so we can stir our curiosity for foreign languages, and eventually be able to follow a GM teaching a fashionable opening in his own mother tongue. Italian-expat in America DAVIDE NASTASIO tried just that with GM Christian Bauer's London System.

Romantic Steinitz

5/26/2019 – As is well known, Wilhelm Steinitz justified positional chess theory and thus ended the Romantic era. It is less well-known that Steinitz himself was previously a great chess romantic. A contribution by Stephan Oliver Platz. | Photo: Austrian National Library

Ding Liren and cold stand between Carlsen and Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019 victory!

5/26/2019 – Yes, you read that right! The two crucial factors that will make Carlsen's task difficult of winning the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019 are Ding Liren, who has fared excellently against Carlsen in recent times and the other being cold. The tournament is being played in a distillery and Magnus is feeling quite cold in there. After three rounds Carlsen and Ding Liren are leading with 2.0/3, Karjakin is on 1½/3 while Vishy is on the last spot with ½/3. A detailed day one report by IM Sagar Shah from the venue.

Moscow GP: Nepomniachtchi reaches the final

5/26/2019 – An all-Russian final will kick off Monday in Moscow, as Ian Nepomniachtchi will face Alexander Grischuk to decide the champion of the first leg of the Grand Prix. 'Nepo' defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek on tie-breaks, with a win in the fourth rapid game, after the first three encounters finished drawn. Curiously, Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi have the exact same live rating at the time. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess