Tata Steel Chess Round 13 round-up

1/28/2018 – Magnus Carlsen won the 80th Tata Steel Masters which was decided in a blitz tiebreak over Dutch number one Anish Giri. The players contested two blitz games with 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move, with no sudden death Armageddon game needed. Vidit played solidly to earn a draw that was enough to win the Challengers, as Korobov could not manage to pull off a win with black on-demand. | Photo: Alina l'Ami TataSteelChess.com

Tata Steel Chess: "Tomorrow is the wedding night"

1/28/2018 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov made a quick draw with Gawain Jones in under 30 minutes. That gave both Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen an opening to grab the lead with a win, heading into the final round on Sunday. In the Challangers, Vidit got a critical win with black against Girya, and takes a half point edge into round thirteen. Analysis and commentary by GM Daniel Fernandez | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

Speelman's Agony #69

1/28/2018 – John turns his instructive gave to his own games this week, with two wins for Black, one for John and one for his opponent. Fancy Jon taking a look at your games? Send them in! If you appear in 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!

Tata Steel Challengers: Vidit has the edge

1/27/2018 – Korobov and Vidit have been the cream of the crop in the Tata Steel Chess Challengers tournament, and they have scarcely given their peers a chance to challenge the lead. We take a closer look at these two contenders with games annotated by GMs Mikhail Golobev and Daniel Fernandez. | Photos: Alina l'Ami TataSteelChess.com

ChessBase 14: How to study pawn structures

1/27/2018 – When using ChessBase 14, most players tend to focus on its most obvious functions, such as searching for a player, or just analyzing with an engine. However there are numerous powerful functions that can be great learning tools to accelerate your progress. One such tool is the Similar Structure function, and in this tutorial we will learn how to use it and some methods to work with it.
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Tata Steel Chess: Tied trio

1/27/2018 – A draw between co-leaders Carlsen and Mamedyarov did not change the basic calculation, as Giri had the unenviable task of black against Caruana, and also drew. Anand's win over a downtrodden Hou Yifan, gives him some momentum heading into the final weekend half point behind. Karjakin beat Kramnik, but both (along with Wesley So) still have theoretical chances, just a point back. Vidit and Korobov keep their edge with a safe draw in their head-to-head game. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

Remembering Karel Treybal

1/26/2018 – Karel Treybal was a strong Czech player but an amateur and a judge by profession. However, he could beat players such as Alexander Alekhine or Geza Marozy. In 1941 the Gestapo charged Treybal with illegal possession of firearms and executed him. Vlastimil Hort remembers a Czech patriot and a "chess gentleman". | Photo source: Jan Michalek

Security check

1/26/2018 – White cannot castle, but with his knight blocking the centre and the king ready to scarper to f2 his position seems just fine. Can you prove this evaluation wrong?

The Power Play Show

1/25/2018 – Thursday at 8pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. Daniel King will be discussing the game Carlsen-So from the Tata Steel torunament 2018. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

Tata Steel Chess: And then there were three (again)

1/25/2018 – Wins from Carlsen and Mamedyarov — the latter with the black pieces — re-established a three-way tie between the pair and Anish Giri, who drew with Sergey Karjakin. Kramnik also won to move within a half point of the leaders. Anand too notched a full point and is a full point back. In the Challengers no change at the top but newcomers Dmitry Gordievsky and Matthias Bluebaum improved to plus one scores with their victories today. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

Benko's Christmas problems solutions

1/25/2018 – Every year Pal Benko, grandmaster, former World Championship candidate, and one of the best problem composers in the world, sends our readers very special seasonal greetings. They come in the form of chess problems in which the pieces represent figures — this time a Christmas tree and candles. This year it was seven problems, one shaped like a tree and six like candles. Here the solutions — and some new and amusing problems to tickle your mind. | Photo of Benko: Diana Mihailova

IV Floripa Open: When it rains it pours

1/25/2018 – With wild weather and even wilder results on the board, rounds seven and eight at the 4th Floripa Open saw a series of 'zebras', as Brazilians put it (explained in the report). The leaderboard was finally reduced to a handful, and Vitor Carneiro, Leandro Perdomo and Alexandr Fier seized the podium. Then in a spectacular game, Alexandr Fier fell to Neuris Delgado in a brilliant mating combination with bishop and knight. Not to be missed! | Photo: Albert Silver

What is Garry up to?

1/24/2018 – Kasparov has been making the media rounds as he does, but lately he's been fielding questions on chess rather than the subjects that are more often in his sights: Russia, politics, and AI. He's recently been featured in a serious conversation with conservative commentator Bill Kristol, a not-so-serious Q&A session with Twitter users published by Wired Magazine, and a wonderful mini-history lesson for The New Yorker magazine. | Photo: WIRED YouTube

An amusing problem composed by Zukertort

1/24/2018 – Johannes Zukertort (1842-1888) was a student of Adolf Anderssen and one of the world's best players of his time. In 1886 he played a match against Wilhelm Steinitz which was the first official World Championship match in chess history. Zukertort was also a prolific chess publisher. Stephan Oliver Platz presents an amusing chess problem by Zukertort.

Tata Steel Chess: Giri makes his move

1/24/2018 – Giri grabbed a chance after an oversight from Maxim Matlakov and notched an important win heading into the homestretch of this year's Masters tournament. With all other games drawn, there remain several players within striking distance, including Magnus Carlsen. GM Daniel Fernandez is back with the play-by-play. The Challengers has been status quo for several rounds, with Vidit and Korobov at the top by a safe margin. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

IV Floripa Open: Tales of war

1/23/2018 – The IV Floripa Open is now in full swing, and many an adventure has taken place in the first six of ten rounds. From heroic battles to ignoble defeats, and many a dream on the line still. In spite of the accelerated pairings to force true fights earlier, eleven players share first with 5.0/6, with Alexandr Fier at the top after a thrilling game against Andrés Rodrigues. | Photo: Albert Silver

The king is a strong piece

1/23/2018 – Steinitz often emphasised the strength of the king. Of course, kings are particularly strong in the endgame because they are less vulnerable with fewer pieces on the board. But even if you can no longer mate the enemy king, you should keep a good eye on him.

How God plays chess

1/23/2018 – In the early 1980s Ken Thompson, working at the Bell Laboratories, generated one of the world’s first chess endgame databases — king and queen vs king and rook. At the time he explained to Frederic Friedel how this revolutionary new technology worked. He did it in the form of a parable: God calculating the 32-piece endgame and playing chess. It is an amusing thought experiment that has gained interesting relevance at the current time.

The Beasty Botvinnik in the Semi-Slav!

1/22/2018 – It is one of the most fascinating and at the same time difficult variations of all, and anyone playing it needs to put in hours of thorough preparation before using it in tournament games. The simplest way: sit back and listen to Erwin l'Ami, whose enthusiasm is clear throughout this ChessBase DVD. The Dutch GM offers a full repertoire against 5.Bg5, promising only the sharpest responses for Black and paying particular attention to the range of manoeuvres and sacrifices available to both sides. Review in Chess Magazine by Sean Marsh.

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

1/22/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CET (5pm 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. This week features Trent's games from recent Gibraltar editions.

Master class with David Llada

1/22/2018 – To create a work of art requires great hard work and dedication. David Llada has done exactly that with his book "The Thinkers". David is one of the best chess photographers and his 208 pages of The Thinkers resonates his quest for perfection. Each picture is meticulously captured and edited to bring to you the beauty and intensity of the game of chess. When one of India's ace chess photographers Amruta Mokal met David in Delhi, the duo sat down and discussed the book in great depth. This article not only contains David's best photographs from the book, and some pearls of wisdom, but also 32 minutes of this conversation with Amruta in video format. | Photo: Arizmendi for Diario Vasco

Tata Steel Chess: A three horse race

1/22/2018 – A tumultuous day in Wijk aan Zee as Anish Giri won his head-to-head with Mamedyarov and Magnus Carlsen recovered from a huge blunder, as the three players are now in a dead heat heading into the second rest day. GM Mikhail Golubev annotates the game that stole the show more than any other. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

4th Floripa Open: a massive start

1/21/2018 – The 4th Floripa Open held in Florianópolis, Brazil, has grown into one of the pre-eminent swiss open tournaments, not just in Brazil, but in all of Latin America. Each year the organizers have striven to improve it with better conditions, prize money and more, and the field has now grown past 400 players. Here is a large report with many high-res photos. | Photo: Albert Silver

Tata Steel Chess: Carlsen gets it going

1/21/2018 – 'Shak' Mamedyarov won again — his third straight and took a full point lead through the half-way mark of the Masters. Vladimir Kramnik put a big dent in Anand's tournament by winning with black against his successor to the World Champion title. Sergey Karjakin got his first win of the week, breaking his drawing streak and dealing Fabiano Caruana his third loss. And Magnus Carlsen handed Hou Yifan her fifth loss, as the World Champ moves up into a four-way tie for second place. GM Mikhail Golubev annotates all the decisive games of the round. Meanwhile, the Anton Korobov train keeps chugging along in the Challengers, as he drew with Black against Mikhail Krasenkow, keeping his full point lead over Vidit. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel