1/9/2019 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET, 2 pm EST). On this week's show: Facing the Sicilian Dragon. 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.

1/9/2019 – Romain Edouard, a former member of 2700 club, became a grandmaster at 18 and has won numerous international events. A dynamic player, always striving for the initiative, he has pursued a very successful writing career, authoring and editing books, and contributing columns to some of the best chess magazines. In this interview with DAVIDE NASTASIO, Edouard answers many of the questions you always wanted to ask a GM. With training and improvement in mind, Davide punctuates the interview with exercises from Edouard's books. It's a chance to learn from a top GM as well as about one!

1/9/2019 – The early defeat of GM Le Quang Liem (pictured) against 12-year-old Christopher Yoo at the Bay Area International Open, January 1st to 7th, in California caused a stir, but the Vietnamese grandmaster recovered with a winning streak which saw him score 5½ points from the last six rounds, and finally manage to win the tournament jointly with the Russian GM Andrey Stukopin, who also reached 7 points. Christopher Yoo, slipped to 37th place but with the consolation of earning his third IM norm, which makes him the youngest American IM ever. | Photo: David Llada

1/8/2019 – Americans invade Mexico! At least to play some chess! Grandmaster ALEX YERMOLINSKY recounts his recent trip to a memorable tournament (with a memorable name) "south of the border", in an instalment of his ongoing travelogue featuring Latvian legend GM Alexei Shirov and GM Alex Shabalov and a photo tour of Chihuahua's central Plaza de Armas. | All photos: Alex Yermolinsky

1/8/2019 – IM Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments ever Tuesdays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST). This week he deals with the Hastings tournament. Free to watch on-demand for a limited time with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

1/8/2019 – Far advanced passed pawns are usually very strong. However, in the following case, they can be stopped. Black to move and draw.

1/8/2019 – “The best things in life are free.” This puzzle came to us by way of Joaquim Crusats of the Spanish Society of Chess Problemists (SEPA). It's a problem that, unlike money itself, you really can take with you. Perhaps you'd like to print it out and bring it with you to your next chess club meeting? We tweeted this out last week, but now present the solution.

1/7/2019 – About halfway between Milan and Venice lies Lake Garda, with the town of Arco at its northern end, once again the venue of a small but festive amateur tournament between the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The 9th edition of this tournament ended in a dead heat between four players but FM Alessio de Santis from Italy was the lucky winner in the end. Gerhard Bertagnolli sends these highlights — suitable for beginners — and photos from an attractive winter holiday destination.

1/7/2019 – He will always greet you with a smile, he is always high on energy and, in almost any conversation, you will see him adding some of the famous quotes of great personalities! The natural question to ask is: how does Adhiban Baskaran remain so positive all the time? What is the secret of his positivity, huge ambitions and a pleasant personality? Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal visited Adhiban's home in Chennai, immediately after Adhiban had won the tournament of Peace in Croatia in November 2018. Apart from discussing highlights from the tournament, you'll learn about Adhiban's workspace, his parents and his support system — all the secretes to what motivates him to do well!

1/7/2019 – The Horntye Park Sports Complex received the 94th edition of the traditional Hastings Congress. This year, the Masters section was extended from nine to ten rounds, but that did not prevent six players from tying at the top of the standings on 7 points. Daniel Gormally had arrived in the last round as the sole leader, but after drawing with White he was caught by Oleg Korneev, Sarunas Sulskis, Martin Petrov, Alexander Cherniaev and Conor Murphy. | Photos: Brendan O'Gorman

1/6/2019 – In his first Agony/Ecstasy column of 2019, GM JON SPEELMAN hears from a Turkish sociologist who focuses on the Queen's Gambit Declined. The games show why it's important to keep fighting, even when you fear a loss. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material 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!

1/5/2019 – Rating favourite Tamir Nabaty dominated the field in Stockholm as he finished the Rilton Cup on 8 out of 9, a whole point ahead of a three-player chasing pack — Tiger Hillarp Persson (second), Sergey Volkov (third) and Frode Urkedal gathered 7 points each. The champion would have taken first place with a draw in the last round, but anyway defeated American youngster Awonder Liang in style with the black pieces. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund