The Game Bobby Remembered – Part II

3/18/2018 – Our fascination with Bobby Fischer never ends. When ChessBase mentioned an unknown game that came to haunt him for decades, one of our readers was quick to identify the encounter and send us on a memorable journey into the past. In the first part of the article our columnist recreated the drama surrounding that game, and here he unravels the mystery with inputs from GM Michael Bezold and Leonard Barden. | Photo of Pyotr Romanovsky: chesspro.ru

Candidates trials and tribulations

3/17/2018 – The fifth round of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin brought the first round of all draws, but Levon Aronian missed a huge chance against Alexander Grischuk. Friday was a day full of surprises: Vladimir Kramnik overplayed his hand against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and was dealt a painful loss, while Wesley So managed a fantastic comeback against Aronian, whose confidence looks shaken. Fabiano Caruana played a double-edged game against Grischuk and now shares the lead with Mamedyarov. | Photo: World Chess

The Tigress of Madras: Aruna Anand

3/16/2018 – When 26-year-old Vishy Anand got married to Aruna, his career was at a very delicate juncture. He was one of the top chess players in the world, but had not yet become a world champion. If the marriage didn't suit him well, he would have bled a lot of rating points. However, the marriage worked like a charm. Within a few years Vishy not only reached the number one ranking in the world, but also became multiple time World Champion. If there was one person who would get the major credit for all of Vishy's successes, it has to be his wife and manager Aruna Anand. Today being the Women's day, there could be no better time to acquaint you with the Iron lady of Indian chess, the Tigress of Madras - Aruna Anand.

Endgame tablebases: A short history

3/16/2018 – One of the keystones to improving our understanding of the endgame is the endgame tablebase, a sort of oracle that first came into existence over 40 years ago. This revolutionary technology, that first saw light in the chess world thanks to computer scientist and pioneer Ken Thompson, has evolved a great deal since then. Here is a look at its beginnings and what each generation brought.

Three attackers, one goal

3/16/2018 – Black's king has the queen at its side, while the knight c8 is also ready to join the defence. And yet in the diagram position the case is crystal clear: White to play and win!

Adhiban wins Reykjavik Open

3/15/2018 – The strong "Reykjavik Open Robert Fischer Memorial" was won by the Indian grandmaster Adhiban Baskaran. The 13-year Nihal Sarin gave Indian fans even more to cheer about: he made his second GM norm. The best woman in the field was Deimante Cornette. | Photo: Gerd Densing

Strike like the world champions

3/15/2018 – The outstanding players in the history of chess were dominating their eras in their very individual styles, which was also reflected in the way they tactically concluded their games. Now you have the opportunity to follow in the world champions’ footsteps - with this unique collection of combinations!

Caruana and Aronian score

3/14/2018 – The fourth round of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin brought some serious drama. Kramnik vs Caruana was a wild back-and-forth battle. Caruana was much better, then Kramnik was close to winning before finally blundering it all away on move 59. Grischuk missed a killer chance against Ding Liren and played to a draw. Aronian won with Black thanks to good preparation against Karjakin, and Mamedyarov and drew an unspectacular game against So. Caruana is now in the sole lead with 3.0 / 4.

Vlastimil Hort: Memories of Bobby Fischer (2)

3/14/2018 – 75 years ago last Friday, on March 9, 1943, Robert James Fischer was born. His chess was clear, logical and powerful, but his behaviour off the board was erratic and irrational and later in his life he was mentally ill. A lot has been written about Fischer but he still remains a mystery. Vlastimil Hort knew the American chess genius personally and shares memories of Bobby.

ChessBase Magazine Extra 182

3/14/2018 – 47.383 games played between December 2017 and February 2018. The Paulsen Variation in the Sicilian continues to be very popular. In one of the main lines – see the position in the diagram – Adrian Mikhalchishin suggests 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Qd4 (instead of 9.Na4). The Ukrainian top trainer analyses the game Wei Yi-Karthikeyan, Liaocheng 2017, which took a favourable course for White.

The Candidates Tournaments 1959 and 1962

3/13/2018 – Candidates tournaments have always been special tournaments. After all, the winner of the candidates becomes the challenger the reigning world champion and, possibly, new world champion. The candidates tournament 1959 was won by a brilliant Tal, the candidates tournament in Curacao 1962 caused a scandal. | Photo: Mihail Tal

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

3/13/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CET (5 pm UK time, Noon EST) 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 the game Aronian-Kramnik from the Candidates as well as games from the Reykjavik Open and the Bundesliga.

Reykjavik Open: Rapport in the lead, Lenderman wins Chess960

3/13/2018 – After seven rounds in the Reykjavik Open, Richard Rapport and Baskaran Adhiban lead with 6 points apiece. Young Nihal Sarin is having a breakout performance, and was leading after five rounds, and still maintains a tournament performance rating of 2767. Games annotated by GM Daniel Fernandez Watch round eight live! | Pictured: Alexandr Lenderman (centre) was the winner of the rest day rapid tournament celebrating Bobby Fischer | Photos: Gerd Densing

Tactics and technique

3/13/2018 – "Chess is 99% tactics" is an often quoted statement that emphasises how important it is to keep an open mind for tactics. Even when only a few pieces are left on the board.

Meeting Matthias Wüllenweber

3/13/2018 – ChessBase was founded in 1986 and back then no one talked about "start-ups". But 30 years later ChessBase still feels like a start-up, and between shelves full of ChessBase DVDs and lots of computers new ideas are tossed around day after day in the ChessBase office in Hamburg, where new software is developed with cheerful enthusiasm. As ever, Matthias Wüllenweber, ChessBase founder, associate and chief developer is the driving force. We asked him what makes him tick. | Pictured: Matthias (left) in a meeting with Hou Yifan | Photo: Frederic Friedel (ChessBase)

Candidates Round 3: Kramnik wins brilliancy

3/12/2018 – The big winner of round 3 of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin is Vladimir Kramnik. With a powerful and brilliant attack, he won a crucial game with Black against Levon Aronian. The other three games of the round ended in a draw. With 2½/3 Kramnik is now sole leader. Tuesday is the first rest day in Berlin. The tournament resumes on Wednesday at 15:00 CET (10:00 AM EST) | Photo: World Chess

The importance of knowing endgames

3/12/2018 – Can you play rook and pawn vs rook? It is one of the most common endgames, and your ability to win it, when it is winnable, or draw it when that is possible, will bring you a fair number of rating points. The endgame expert André Chéron did pioneering work in this field, and Milos Pavlovic, grandmaster and chess trainer, gives us some vital tips, based on Chéron's work. It's all in the latest edition of the UK-based Chess Magazine.

German League, Round 11-12: Solingen stumbles

3/12/2018 – This weekend most German chess fans focused on the Candidates Tournament that started in Berlin. But the German League also played over the weekend and the current season promises an exciting finish: two teams play for the title, five against relegation.

Candidates, Round 2: Grischuk wins against So

3/12/2018 – Round 2 of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin brought one win and three draws. Alexander Grischuk bounced back from his loss against Vladimir Kramnik in round 1 and won an energetic attacking game against Wesley So. Mamedyarov and Aronian, Kramnik and Karjakin, and Ding Liren and Caruana all drew their games. | Photo: André Schulz

Analysing with Fritz 16

3/11/2018 – Today, in the time of strong engines, analysing chess games seems to be easy: fire up the engine and let the computer work out the lines. This is useful but does not help your chess as much as analysing actively. ChessBase offers a lot features that help to analyse, from entering games to analysing professionally. | Drawing: ChessBase
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Candidates come out swinging

3/11/2018 – An unusual start to the Candidates tournament in many respects. Three winners, three losers, and several players troubled by their first-round experience in the "Kuehlhaus" Berlin. The good news is, the first round games were great, amid many teething problems. Fans and professionals alike are eagerly awaiting round two to see how the situation develops. | Photo: Frederic Friedel

Nabokov, chess composer

3/11/2018 – He faced the process of writing as a "literary chess problem", and considered the composition of chess problems to be comparable to poetry. Vladimir Nabokov was one of the most celebrated creators of bridges between art and chess. | Pictured: Nabokov in 1973 | Photo: Walter Mori

Final 2018 GCT participants

3/10/2018 – The players for the next Grand Chess Tour circuit have been announced, settling the question of whether or not Magnus Carlsen would return to defend his 2017 win — he won't. The demanding schedule of the GCT was too much to commit to fully during a World Championship match year. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Candidates: Opening moves

3/10/2018 – And so it begins. The eight candidates were presented on the ground floor of the Berlin "Kuehlhaus" last night to a crowd of assembled guests including the keynote speaker, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Highlights from the opening press conference and party, along with live games of round one starting at 15:00 CET (9:00 EST). | Photo and drawings by World Chess