The Power Play Show

6/11/2018 – Thursday at 8pm UK time 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. Puzzle and the live video...

Simon Says — Endgames

6/11/2018 – In this Simon Says we look at the final stage of the game. Important rules and endgame techniques are discussed. Join the action starting from 18:00 CEST (Noon EDT). | Photo: Alina l'Ami

NEW: Nadezhda Kosintseva - The Accelerated Dragon

6/11/2018 – After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6! leads to the so-called “Accelerated Dragon Defense” of the Sicilian, which is characterised by the idea to achieve the thematic central break d7-d5 in one move (in contrast to the “Dragon Variation”, in which Black plays d7-d6). On this DVD the Russian grandmaster and top women player Nadezhda Kosintseva reveals the secrets of her favourite opening. Kosintseva has played the Accelerated Dragon for many years and achieved a lot of success with it. You too can accelerate your opening – with this complete repertoire for Black against 1.e4!

"Nothing but respect" - Interview with Ju Wenjun

6/11/2018 – In May, Ju Wenjun played a fine match against Tan Zhongyi to become the Women's World Champion. She took the lead early on in the match and never let it go. Immediately after the World Championship, Ju Wenjun went to play the Chinese league. Niklesh Jain and Angela Franco sent a few questions to the World Champion and she was kind enough to share her thoughts on the match and much more. | Photo: Gu Xiaobing / china2018.fide.com

Shankland's amazing run continues in American Continental

6/11/2018 – Just like Caruana in Norway, Sam Shankland won his last two games to take sole first place in the American Continental Championship. This was his third tournament victory in a row, an incredible achievement that propelled him to the 27th place in the live ratings list. Diego Flores finished clear second and secured a World Cup ticket. | Pictured: Sam Shankland, Diego Flores and Pablo Salinas | Photos: Uruguayan Chess Federation

American Continental Championship LIVE

6/10/2018 – Some of the strongest players from the Americas are battling in Montevideo to get one of four qualification spots to next year's World Cup awarded in the American Continental Championship. Sam Shankland tries to extend his unbeaten streak and win another major event, tied for the lead at the start of final round action.

Young offenders sentenced to play chess in Canada

6/10/2018 – Courts have a range of different sentences for young offenders. Community service, custodial sentences and detentions are among the most frequent. A different approach is now being tested in Lethbridge, Canada, where a group of scientists created a program to use chess instead. The program is called "Chess for Life" and so far has been a success. | Pictured: The research team | Photo: Chess for Life

Sharing databases and working in the cloud

6/9/2018 – When training or preparing for a tournament it can be helpful to exchange databases and game annotations with another ChessBase user. A trainer can, for example, analyse the games of his students, annotate them and provide specific advice about mistakes. Frequently the relevant databases are sent and received by email, but there is a more elegant and effective way if the user has a ChessBase Accountand utilises the options afforded by the ChessBase Cloud services. We'll show you how!

The warlord enjoys himself

6/9/2018 – A few days ago, the 6th of June, happened to be the death anniversary of Viktor Korchnoi (1931-2016), the legendary player who strode the chess world like a colossus. The warlord simply loved playing, whatever the format, blitz, rapid or classical. He reveled in simultaneous displays. The public adored him and he, in turn, enjoyed their adulation. In such events his play was uninhibited and he moved pieces with fiery spirit and energy. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur goes down memory lane. | Pictured: Korchnoi in Hoogovens 1985 | Photo: Rob Croes / Anefo

Tune your tactics - Pawn Sacrifices

6/8/2018 – A solid tactical understanding is sure to help any chess player in critical situations. Whether it is a simple exchange or a mating attack, tactics are ubiquitous. Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your tactical understanding in this series with IM Oliver Reeh and Pascal Simon! (Normally) Friday's at 15:30 CET (9:00 AM EDT) it's all about Tactics!

Norway Chess: Caruana wins to stand above the rest

6/8/2018 – Tension to the end! After Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave drew early and Nakamura and Aronian followed the example a bit later, it was up to Caruana and So to decide if we would see a clear winner or a five-way playoff. So attacked bravely, but in a wild time-scramble, Caruana gained the upper hand and thus became tournament winner. Games annotated by GMs DANIEL FERNANDEZ and DANIEL KING | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

Three leaders in American Continental Championship

6/8/2018 – Some of the strongest players from the Americas are battling in Montevideo to get one of four qualification spots to next year's World Cup awarded in the American Continental Championship. Eight of the eleven rounds have elapsed and three players share the lead: Sam Shankland, Neuris Delgado and Diego Flores. The event will run until Sunday. | Photos: Uruguayan Chess Federation

Light summer mate I

6/8/2018 – Despite being down a rook, Black is just winning! But there is only one path to victory starting from the diagramed position. How would you continue?

Position recognition in chess

6/8/2018 – The recent article by Qiyu Zhou on pattern recognition was very well received — by our readers and in academic circles. At the end of the article, Frederic Friedel asked readers if anyone could locate footage from a science documentary he had produced 38 years ago, in which similar experiments were conducted. Unfortunately nobody apparently could, and so this promised follow-up article will have to make do with vivid descriptions and black and white photos. | Pictured: A teenage Nigel Short, a subject of Friedel's chess experiments

Norway Chess round-up shows

6/7/2018 – Magnus Carlsen made a quick draw against Vachier-Lagrave in the final round, aiming to take his chances in a tiebreak with one or more of his colleagues, but Fabiano Caruana had other ideas...GM King takes a last look at Altibox Norway Chess 2018. ChessBase Premium members can catch up on the action, on-demand, with videos by two of your favourite contributors: GM Daniel King and IM Lawrence Trent. Here are all shows at a glance.

A jubilee: Dawid Janowski 150th birthday

6/7/2018 – Today, 150 years ago, on June 7, 1868, Dawid Janowski was born, one of the world's best players at the beginning of the 20th century. Janowski was an inspired and dangerous attacking player who was strong enough to challenge Lasker to a World Championship match. | Photo: St. Petersburg 1914, from the "Neue Wiener Schachzeitung"

Altibox Norway Chess 2018 LIVE

6/7/2018 – Magnus Carlsen made a quick draw against Vachier-Lagrave in the final round, aiming to take his chances in a tiebreak with one or more of his colleagues. And indeed, we looked to be heading to a five-way playoff after draws from Nakamura (vs Aronian) and a win from Anand (over Karjakin), while Caruana-So looked to be also heading for a split point. But in a dramatic turnaround right after the time-control, Wesley So blundered, and Caruana went on to win and take the Altibox Norway Chess 2018 title! Replay the games and commentary!

Norway Chess: American trio challenges Carlsen

6/7/2018 – Fabiana Caruana defeated Viswanathan Anand today with his dangerous Petroff Defence and Hikaru Nakamura also scored — his first full point came at a crucial moment against Sergey Karjakin. Thus, before the last round, Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura all lead the bottom half of the field. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

Europe's best kept secret is back

6/6/2018 – In a rugged archipelago situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic, a different world lingers. Lush green valleys, basalt cliffs, treeless moorlands, refreshing atmosphere, and the warmth of the people beckon. A place truly unspoiled, unexplored and unbelievable. Faroe Islands! Faroes Open 2018 takes place from July 7-14 2018 in Sandavagur. The line up features 7 GM’s in a total of 28 players, lead by GM Gawain Jones. With a lineup 25% filled up with GM’s and 15 titled players out of 28, the tournament aside from being nature’s delight, also promises to be a norm fest. An unforgettable experience awaits those who visit the Faroe Islands. | Photo: Hanna Ólavsdóttir Jacobsen

Karpov Poikovsky: Jakovenko takes the title

6/6/2018 – Having taken sole lead in the seventh round, Dmitry Jakovenko inched slowly but steadily towards the towards the title. Securing short and safe draws against Vladislav Kovalev and Ian Nepomniachtchi in rounds eight and nine, he finished clear first with a score of 6½/9. In the interim, Vidit Gujrathi, Boris Gelfand and Victor Bologan also scored some fine wins. An illustrated report with games and analysis. | Photo: ruchess.ru

Norway Chess: Anand gets his first win

6/6/2018 – Leader Magnus Carlsen was without a game Tuesday and therefore watched from the Norwegian TV2 live broadcast studio to see if Wesley So would overtake him by defeating Mamedyarov. So only managed a draw, alongside two other boards. The one decision of the day was Viswanathan Anand's win with black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave which brings Anand to join the leaders. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

Bischwiller dominate French Team Championship

6/6/2018 – The Top 12 French Team Championship finished on Tuesday, but the champions were already known on Sunday. Bischwiller took the trophy with a perfect score, leaving Clichy a distant five match points behind in second place. Bois Colombes seized third place despite losing their final round match. | Photos: French Chess Federation

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

6/5/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. Today, Lawrence will have a look at games from the French Team Championship.

The Reti Opening - An evergreen repertoire for White

6/5/2018 – Richard Reti was a very original player who brought us interesting ideas in the openings, as well as beautiful endgame studies. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO explores Victor Bologan's video series, as Bologan explores the different transpositions the Reti (1.Nf3) can lead us to. The goal is to make our opponents play chess from the word 'go', and side-step their theoretical opening preparation.