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.

Karpov Poikovsky LIVE

6/5/2018 – Dmitry Jakovenko is 'in the clubhouse' with 6½ after a last round draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi. Gelfand's draw brings him even with 'Nepo' on 6 points. Live from 12:00 CEST | Photo: Official site

Winning a won game

6/5/2018 – Having a material plus in the endgame is sometimes not enough. Especially if only a few pawns are left on the board. How can Black win this position by carefully maneuvering his knight?

Speelman's Agony #77

6/5/2018 – A Canadian immigrant from the former Yugoslavia provides this week's contribution which includes more games than usual, including one reminiscence from Speelman's past. Just a reminder — 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!

Makropoulos announces election ticket

6/4/2018 – Georgios Makropoulos circulated an email announcing his team for the upcoming FIDE Presidential elections on Monday afternoon. There were no real surprises, as nearly the entire slate has run alongside him in prior elections, and the only new name, English Delegate IM Malcolm Pein, was widely expected to be in the running for Deputy President. | Photos: 'FIDE Forward'

Simon Says — Beautiful studies

6/4/2018 – In this Simon Says, the Ginger GM sporting a new haircut, it seems, presents some of his favourite positions from chess studies that could (or did) occur in real games! Amazing moves, positions and games to help you in your chess training. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

Karpov Poikovsky: Jakovenko is the sole leader

6/4/2018 – Only two players remain in contention for the title at the Karpov Poikovsky International: Dmitry Jakovenko and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Scoring back to back wins in the sixth and seventh rounds, Jakovenko emerged as the tournament's sole leader. Ian Nepomniachtchi, after his quick draw in round seven, is half-a-point behind with 5/7. Besides the two, Gelfand might have an outside chance of catching up for the first place if some results work in his favour. | Photo: Vasily Papin

Norway Chess: Carlsen's unfortunate bishop

6/4/2018 – Wesley So showed his usual modesty when he declared that he had "caught Magnus on a bad day", after defeating the World Champion for the first time in his career. Carlsen was not at his best today — his light-squared bishop looked particularly tragic, as it spent most of the game stranded on the b1-h7 diagonal. The remaining games ended in a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Yermo's Travels: Land of Sky

6/3/2018 – The Land of Sky is a traditional tournament in Ashville, North Carolina. ChessBase contributing Grandmaster ALEX YERMOLINSKY made the treck, and (belatedly) tells the tale as part of his ongoing "travelogue" series of stories. A figurative snapshot of open tournament life in the USA, plus an actual snapshot of the 'Yermomobile', Yermolinsky's car!

Norway Chess: Caruana's turn

6/3/2018 – Ding Liren is expected to make a full recovery following surgery on Friday for a fractured hip after a fall off a bicycle. But his need to rest following the injury trumps his need to play chess and he has bowed out of the tournament in Stavanger. The three draws he has made will not count for score and the tournament continues with his remaining opponents getting a rest day. Fabiano Caruana was the beneficiary in round four, and he returned to the board with a vengeance on Saturday, scoring the day's only win. Report and games by ALEX YERMOLINSKY. | Photo: Lennart Ootes