1/27/2020 – Fabiano Caruana continued his astounding run at the second half of the Tata Steel Masters by grabbing the only win of the final round to end the event — a remarkable first out of 14 with a 10/13 score. Magnus Carlsen ended up in sole second place two points behind the American, while Wesley So, who drew the world champion in round thirteen, finished third. In the meantime, David Anton qualified to next year's Masters event by grabbing clear first in the Challengers. Expert analysis by GMs SAM SHANKLAND and DANNY KING. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/26/2020 – The second edition of the Prague Masters and Challengers round-robin tournaments are set for mid-February. The tournaments, which are modelled after the Tata Steel Chess Master and Challengers, aim to find a permanent home on the chess calendar, positioned as the second major round-robin event of the year, following these traditional Wijk aan Zee tournaments. | Photo: Vladimír Jagr

1/26/2020 – The 82nd edition of the chess festival in Wijk aan Zee takes place from January 11-26. By beating the previously undefeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Fabiano Caruana scored his third straight win to secure first place at the Masters with a round the spare. Starting with his victory over Daniil Dubov last Saturday, Caruana showed why he has maintained his second place in the ratings list for so long. The final round starts an hour and a half earlier, at 11:00 UTC (12:00 CET / 6:00 AM EST) with live games and commentary by GM Peter Leko and IM Sopiko Guramishvili | Photo: Alina l'Ami / TataSteelChess.com

1/26/2020 – By beating the previously undefeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Fabiano Caruana scored his third straight win to secure first place at the 2020 Tata Steel Masters with a round the spare. Starting with his victory over Daniil Dubov last Saturday, Caruana showed why he has maintained his second place in the ratings list for so long. In hindsight, there was some luck involved in the American's path to victory, as things could have gone very differently had Vishy Anand beaten him from a superior position in round eight. Expert analysis by IM MICHAEL RAHAL and GM YANNICK PELLETIER. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/25/2020 – Those who follow the column know that due to the high amount of Czechoslovakian chess composers a tongue-in-cheek subseries “Check Czech Chess” was created. We paused it for a while so as not to overload readers, but believe that there are a few more composers with interesting studies you will enjoy. While he might not be the most well-known composer, you might have seen the name “Dedrle” above a diagram or two in some endgame book, most likely the one pictured.

1/25/2020 – The Gibraltar Chess Festival is one of the strongest open tournaments in the world but only after three rounds did we see the GMs begin to separate from the pack, five of whom maintained a perfect score. After four rounds the five dropped to one: Ivan Cheparinov. The festival also has an interesting program of side events. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, currently number eight in the world, gave a masterclass (pictured) after round two, which you can relive at your leisure. | Photo: Niki Riga

1/25/2020 – Fabiano Caruana scored 4½ points in the last five rounds of the Tata Steel Masters to go into the final two days of action as the clear favourite to take the title, a full point ahead of second-placed Magnus Carlsen. In round eleven, Caruana defeated Vladislav Kovalev, Vladislav Artemiev took down Jorden van Foreest and Vishy Anand inflicted Alireza Firouzja's third defeat in a row. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, David Anton continues to impress, collecting his fourth straight win to also get a full-point lead. Do not miss the round-up video by GM YANNICK PELLETIER. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/24/2020 – The 2020 Women's World Championship came to a dramatic finale on Friday with a four-game rapid tiebreak. After a pair of draws, Ju Wenjun struck first with a win in the third game. But unlike in the final classical game, Goryachkina was not able to equalize the score and force the tiebreak into the blitz phase. Ju hung on for a draw, winning the tiebreak, the match and thereby retaining her title as Women's World Champion. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/24/2020 – Today Grandmaster Daniel King tackles highlights from the games of a popular newcomer to the elite circle, Alireza Firouzja. Power Play is live most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST) 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...

1/24/2020 – In the diagram Black is threatening ...e5 and ...Nd4, so White must not hesitate. Four power moves in a row, and he will have a won position. That's your call!

1/24/2020 – The Women's World Chess Championship was decided by tie-breaks! Ju Wenjun won the third of four rapid games which was enough to retain her World Champions title. The final regulation game was a must-win for the challenger Goryachkina and she delivered, sending the match to rapid tiebreaks in Vladivostock tomorrow at 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST) with commentary by GM Nigel Short & GM Hou Yifan. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/23/2020 – In case you ever wondered, the ChessBase Shop has over 1,000 titles! You can find something on almost every topic. But how, you ask? Well, you might start with the Shop Assistant! With the new search filters you can find anything and everything that is of interest to you: search by openings, middlegame topics, language, operating system (now including Macintosh!), skill level and more. You can even search for titles simply by entering the desired opening moves on the chess board.

1/23/2020 – With one regular match game to be played the momentum was very much on the side of current World Champion Ju Wenjun, who won back-to-back points in games 9 and 10 then easily made a draw in game 11. Her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina came into game 12 in Vladivostock knowing that she had to win at all costs. And she delivered! With the match now tied at 6:6, the World Championship will be decided in a tiebreaking series of rapid (and even blitz) games on Friday starting at the same time: 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST) with commentary by GM Nigel Short & GM Hou Yifan. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/23/2020 – CBM 193 Extra contains the latest game updates, with over 35,000 new games, plus start analysis from the red-hot Alireza Firouzja and Magnus Carlsen second Peter Heine Nielsen, plus opening videos from GM Mihail Marin and must more.

1/23/2020 – Fabiano Caruana inflicted Alireza Firouzja's second straight loss to remain in the sole lead of the Tata Steel Masters prior to the third and last rest day of the event. Magnus Carlsen stands a half point back after scoring his third consecutive victory. The world champion was not the only one getting a third straight full point, as David Anton grabbed the lead in the Challengers with an impressive win over former co-leader Pavel Eljanov. Expert analysis by GMs CONSTANTIN LUPULESCU and DANIEL KING. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/22/2020 – Once again live from the Wijk aan Zee studio, IM Merijn van Delft tackles the game from the Masters that was hotly anticipated: the first classical chess battle between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and rising phenom Alireza Firouzja. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

1/22/2020 – Straight from Gibraltar, IM Lawrence Trent looks at his own first round clash with super-GM Le Quang Liem. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's White to move! | Lawrence is on-demand this week beginning at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / Noon EST) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

1/22/2020 – The presentation of new opening ideas is one of the main focuses of ChessBase Magazine. In the current issue, eleven opening articles are waiting for you. A mix from Scandinavian to Najdorf and Catalan to King Indian. There is something for every taste! IM Renato Quintiliano's article on the Traxler Variation from the current issue #193 ends this small series.