Surprise winner at the Italian Championship

12/9/2018 – The city of Salerno, south of Naples, was the venue for this year's individual championship in Italy. 12 participants fought for the title of Italian Champion in a classical round-robin tournament. The winner was not one of the favourites, but rather IM Lorenzo Lodici, the surprising but not undeserved winner of last year's under-20 national championship. | Photos: FSI

Anand recaps Carlsen vs Caruana (2)

12/8/2018 – Ten days on from the end of the World Championship and the match is still very much in the news. In a previous report, we presented a 31-minute interview with five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand and his take on the games played in London. Sagar Shah of ChessBase India transcribed the highlights of his commentary which we’ve converted to a ChessBase interactive game viewer, so you could easily replay and analyse while listening to Vishy. Today we continue with games 7–12. Learn and enjoy.

Vladislav Artemiev is 2018 European Blitz Champion

12/8/2018 – Macedonia's political, cultural and economic centre, Skopje, is hosting the European Rapid and Blitz Championships. Unlike other events, in this case the blitz section takes place first. After eleven double-rounds, Vladislav Artemiev emerged as the clear winner with an astounding 18½/22 score. Ivan Cheparinov and David Navara finished in clear second and third places, respectively. IVA VIDENOVA sent a complete report, which includes a selection of top-level blunders. | Photos: Patricia Claros Aguilar

In Focus: Alireza Firouzja

12/7/2018 – Everyone talks about the Indian "wunderkinder" Nihal Sarin or Praggnanandhaa, but it's also increasingly possible a future world chess champion will come from Iran. Alireza Firozja is the world's highest rated player born in 2003 (he turned 15 in June), and his style is reminiscent of a famous "magician" from Riga. THORSTEN CMIEL shares this extensive portrait and GM IVAN SOKOLOV explains to SAGAR SHAH why he is reminded of a young Vishy Anand. | Photo: All-Indian Chess Federation

The Power Play Show - AlphaZero

12/7/2018 – Friday at 18:00 CET (17:00 UT) Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer, plus Daniel will be looking at the AlphaZero games vs Stockfish. Puzzle and the live video...

Chess fever in Norway

12/7/2018 – In 1925, people in Moscow were so seized by chess fever as a result of an international chess tournament that the famous movie of the same name was created. In Norway, it was almost the same during the World Championship match Carlsen-Caruana. Holger Blauhut reports on a memorable tournament in Fredrikstad. Plus, for your next trip to the capital Oslo, be sure to hit up the new chess-themed bar known as The Good Knight.

Tit for tat

12/7/2018 – After 21.Nh4 in the diagram position Black's queen and knight are under fire. What do you make of that — or rather of the liquidation sequence starting with 21...Qxf2+ then? Happy calculating!

Inside the (deep) mind of AlphaZero

12/7/2018 – It was a long time coming, but the wait is over. After nearly a full year, being ping-ponged from one peer reviewer to the next, the final paper on AlphaZero is out, shedding light on a number of hitherto unknown or misunderstood elements in its construction, not to mention some clarifications and corrections. These include sample code to help implement their work and all the games of the match against Stockfish, of which 20 were specially chosen by GM Matthew Sadler. | Graphic: Deep Mind

Celebrate winter with some Barcelona sun

12/6/2018 – The Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival returns next week for a 5th edition in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain from December 13th to the 23rd. There are still a few places available in the tournament which is rapidly becoming one of the strongest open events in the chess world, and this year will feature Russian GM Dmitry Andreikin, Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk and Indian super-talents GM Nihal Sarin and GM R. Praggnanandhaa. | Photo: Sharath Elumulai

12 draws: not really exciting

12/6/2018 – The world was watching, but some people saw the spate of draws differently. Does the World Championship need reform? This is a debate that will continue for a while, perhaps until the next World Championship match in 2020. Contributor STEPHEN OLIVER PLATZ offers his opinion on Carlsen vs Caruana match as well as the World Championship format. The thesis? Blame the rules. | Photo: World Chess

A sizzling Saint Nicholas Day present

12/6/2018 – In northern Germany children last night were polishing boots and setting them outside their front doors, expecting gifts from Saint Nicholas on December 6th. As a northern German company we want to participate in this tradition: today we offer a wonderful new 60 Minutes course by IM Lawrence Trent, The Sizzling Scotch Gambit, to our readers. Just go to the ChessBase Shop and download the course. Today it is fully free of charge!

Anand recaps Carlsen vs Caruana (1)

12/6/2018 – The World Championship Match 2018 ended recently, to mixed reviews: Many thought the match was dull and boring, while other called it one of the best World Championships in terms of quality of play. When it comes to opinions, there can be no one better than five-time World Champion Vishy Anand. The legend has played innumerable matches for the highest title — he has been there and done that! Anand did a 31-minute video interview, in his house in Chennai, with IM SAGAR SHAH, who transcribes the key passages with live diagrams.

Czech Extraliga: 102 match streak comes to an end

12/5/2018 – It was quite a series: 102 matches in a row without a loss by the team of Novy Bor in the Czech League (the 'Extraliga'). Last Sunday, this incredible series ended in defeat. Aneta Vignerova, Miss Czech Republic 2009, opened the competition Moravská Slavia vs Labortech Ostrava. | Photos: Vladimir Jagr

Game of the Week: A dynamic Catalan

12/5/2018 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 20:00 CET (19:00 UT, 2 pm EDT). On this week's show: A Catalan from China's Yu Yangyi. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders. To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows.

Uzbekistan tops World Youth Olympiad

12/5/2018 – Following the example of the massive bi-annual Chess Olympiad, an Under-16 youth version was held in Konya, Turkey, a 9-round Swiss team tournament which took place from November 25th to December 2nd, 2018. The Uzbek team won with 16 points ahead of India and China. Iran's top board, Alireza Firouzja scored 8.0/9 for a performance rating of 2736! | Photo: Official site

World Rapid and Blitz 2018 in St. Petersburg

12/5/2018 – FIDE has finally announced the venue and regulations for the 2018 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. The dates are the same, but the venue, as was widely expected, has changed. It will take place from December 25th (arrival) to 31st (departure) in St. Petersburg, Russia. Magnus Carlsen will play, but it remains to be seen how much of the world elite will join him on short notice. | Pictured: The Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange, Rostral Columns from across the frozen Neva river | Stanislav Kondratiev (Unsplash.com)

A tribute to the ‘friend of Penang chess’

12/5/2018 – The 10th edition of the Penang International Chess Open has just kicked off in the Malaysian state of Penang. EDWIN LAM pays tribute to Dato’ Tan Chin Nam, a key instigator of the tournament, who died in October. | Pictured: Dato’ seen here having a game of chess against FM Ignatius Leong. Next to them were FM Geoffrey Borg playing Black against WIM Li Ruofan at the 2007 Malaysia Open | Photo: Edwin Lam

Strong fields set for Tata Steel 2019

12/4/2018 – The field is complete for the 81st Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee which takes place from January 11th to 27th, 2019. The organisers have announced the final participants — qualifiers from the Association of Chess Professionals. In the top 'Masters' group, World Champion Magnus Carlsen is back and will be fighting to keep his World Number 1 spot against fellow-2800 players Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ding Liren. The 'Challengers' includes World Junior Champ Parham Maghsoodloo, and other young up-and-comers Praggnanandhaa, Andrey Esipenko and Vincent Keymer. | Photos: Alina l'Ami

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

12/4/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. Lawrence is LIVE this week and free for ChessBase Basic account holders for a limited time! (Why not register for FREE in 30 seconds if you don't already have an account?) This week Lawrence looks at the Bundesliga.

Traveling knight

12/4/2018 – An extra piece usually wins. However, with reduced material the win is often difficult.

All about the Aeroflot Open 2019

12/4/2018 – The International Chess Festival "Aeroflot Open 2019" will be held in Moscow from 18 February (the date of arrival) to 1 March 2019 (the date of departure). General information about the festival including all the details on travel and accommodation packages available from the organisers.

Simon Says — Puzzle hour

12/3/2018 – The aim of this Simon Says is to spot the tactic! A range of positions will be looked at, are you capable of finding the correct continuation? Simon is live this week at 18:00 CET (15:00 UTC). If you miss the show, you can watch it in the archive with a ChessBase Account. Don't have an account? You can register a free 90-day account to watch!

The first three World Championships in London

12/3/2018 – The match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana was the fourth World Chess Championship which took place in London. The contest was previously played in the English capital in 1986, 1993 and 2000. We take a brief pass through the history of World Championship matches between Kasparov and Karpov, Kasparov vs Short and Kasparov vs Kramnik. | Photo: Ben Bartels

NEW: Robert Ris: Extreme Calculation Training

12/3/2018 – After the success of the first volume on Calculation Training, Dutch IM Robert Ris continues with “Extreme Calculation Training” — a wide range of new aspects which have to be mastered to become a great calculator at the board! The topics discussed in the original series (candidate moves, method of elimination & imagination) are certainly useful when studying the content of this new video series. Special attention will be paid to intermediate moves, quiet moves, sacrifices on empty squares, mating patterns, ignoring opponent threats, calculation in defence and methods of comparison. On top of that, more practical advice for training is recommended, for instance how to handle your time management and how to visualise the position in your mind during the calculation process. After going through the 13 examples from the theoretical section, it’s time to switch the brain to active participation and your calculation skills will be tested seriously! The frequent request for more puzzles has been granted, as Ris has selected no less than 50 games with multiple questions. After all, training your calculation abilities is an activity which never ends; it takes continual practice to stay sharp at the board!