11/28/2018 – Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik is one of many grandmasters and chess fans crestfallen at the string of twelve draws we have witnessed over the past three weeks. He thinks Magnus Carlsen is still the favourite in the tiebreak (60%/40%) but that Caruana has won over a lot of fans, and if he has a good tiebreak match strategy worked out in advance, and makes use of his chances, he can win. | Photos: World Chess

11/28/2018 – In honour of the Centenary of Romania's Unification Day, the ROMGAZ Kings Tournament organised an event that included some of the strongest players from the country and the country's diaspora. Viorel Iordachescu and Alina l'Ami won the men's and women's tournaments, respectively. Each event combined rapid and blitz formats with four players in each category. In both cases, there was a close fight for first place. | Photos: Official site

11/28/2018 – The 2018 Championship ended last Friday, with Chinese GM Ju Wenjun winning the 64-player knockout tournament to retain her title. In the meantime FIDE had revised the system, and surprised the chess world with a comprehensively revised new format. It consists of an eight-player double round robin Candidates Tournament to be held in the first half of 2019, with the winner playing the reigning Women's World Champion at the end of the same year. Here are the details of the whole cycle.

11/27/2018 – 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 'Tournament of Peace' in Zagreb.

11/27/2018 – For a change, Simon takes a look at some of his own recent games in this episode, including highlights from the Isle of Man open and 4NCL tournament. Simon is live this week. 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!

11/27/2018 – The first part of the tutorial about the new "Replay Training" function in ChessBase 15 explainded how to use this function. The second part explains how to optimize your training and how to save the results of your replay sessions. Try it, have fun, get better! | Drawing: ChessBase

11/27/2018 – Rook and knight are not always in harmony. Coordinating them properly often requires precision.

11/27/2018 – Two years after Magnus Carlsen openly went for a draw with White in the last classical game of his match against Sergey Karjakin, the World Champion offered a draw in a playable — slightly superior — position to take the struggle to rapid tiebreaks. Fabiano Caruana understandably agreed to split the point and now everything will be decided on Wednesday, when four rapid games — and blitz and Armageddon if the tie is not broken — will determine the champion. Guest analysis by GM WESLEY SO and GM ERWIN L'AMI. | Photos: World Chess

11/26/2018 – Did you catch the world-class blitz at the Tata Steel tournament in India? For the vast majority the venue, like with so many other events, was just too far away. Thankfully Sagar Shah, who set up ChessBase India, was there and filmed the most interesting games from the best possible angle. You can watch the action at close range, see the players think and react to the opponent's moves, and even analyse on the replay board with engine support. It's highly enjoyable — just ask 1.3 million viewers on YouTube you have watched Praggnanandhaa vs Anand!

11/26/2018 – Chess enjoys the reputation of being a rational game in which chance plays no or only a very limited role. However, one of the sponsors of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in London is "Unibet", the Swedish company that provides an internet platform for sports betting and online gambling. Thorsten Cmiel looked at odds, betting and possible manipulation in chess. | Photos: World Chess

11/26/2018 – One of the laudable goals of World Chess has been to attempt to forge ties between the chess community and the wider world by highlighting working creatives who are inspired by the game. Three chess fans who are eager to share their passion through their primary mode of expression have been among the guests in London over the past weeks: Pianist and composer Jason Kouchak, singer/songwriter Juga, and designer Daniel Weil. Each brings a unique musical style but shares a common aim — to generate excitement around the sport and reach new audiences.

11/25/2018 – And then there was one! The World Championship match is headed to a dramatic conclusion after Magnus Carlsen could not score a goal in his last White game. Game 11 ended up as one of the shorter and least interesting draws of the match although it started promisingly enough. The previous Challenger Sergey Karjakin was the surprise guest making the ceremonial first move and he got a smile out of both players by starting with 1.b4 for Magnus. Carlsen opted not to take Karjakin's suggestion to heart and played into a critical line from the Petroff preparation of Caruana — a line shown in the training video accidentally leaked before Game 4. Guest analysis by GM BORIS GELFAND and IM LAWRENCE TRENT. | Photos: World Chess