The Power Play Show

3/8/2018 – Thursday at 9pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. This episodes about Anand's success in the Tal Memorial Rapid. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

Gisbert Jacoby former ChessBase CEO, 1943-2018

3/8/2018 – Gisbert Jacoby was a chess aficionado and multiple Hamburg champion. As a national coach of the Hamburg Chess Federation, he later promoted many Hamburg talents. From 1988 to 1999, Jacoby was a Managing Director of ChessBase and set the course for the development of the young company. He was friendly with chess luminaries such as Garry Kasparov and Judit Polgar. Last Thursday he died in Hamburg.

Gamma Reykjavik Open: The first three rounds

3/8/2018 – Just two days in, already three rounds have already been played in Reykjavik. And only three players remain on a perfect score: Mustafa Yilmaz, Vaibhav Suri and Elshan Moradiabadi. Alina l'Ami, this time in front of the camera, started with two out of two but then lost to Moradiabadi. Gerd Densing reports. Game annotations by GM Daniel Fernandez | Pictured: Alina l'Ami | Photo: Gerd Densing

Play the Pirc like a Grandmaster Vol. 1 by GM Mihail Marin

3/8/2018 – The Pirc is an opening which can give White the false confidence of having the initiative. Black lets White build a huge central pawn structure, and then, like in a guerrilla warfare attacks those pawns, and the weak squares behind. Don't miss the chance to learn an opening which will deepen your understanding of many pawn structures! Davide Nastasio has the review.

The Candidates Tournaments 1950, 1953, and 1956

3/7/2018 – On March 10th, the Candidates tournament 2018 will begin in Berlin. In November, the winner of this tournament will play a match for the world championship against Magnus Carlsen in London. Candidates tournaments have always been special, providing memorable moments in chess history, with scandals, drama and, of course, brilliant games. In the run-up to the start of this year's tournament, it's a good time to take a look at some previous classics. | Photo: Herbert Behrens (ANEFO) (Cropped from GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL)) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Fier wins 10th Batavia Tournament

3/7/2018 – The dMP Batavia tournament (made possible by main sponsor De Melker & Partners), was won by Brazilian GM Alexander Fier, who flew to Amsterdam fresh off his success in the Brazilian Championship last month. Fier also won the blitz tournament for the second straight year. Tournament director and ChessBase contributor, IM Merijn van Delft, sent this recap. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

The surprising Sicilian: Shock your opponent with an early ...Qb6!?

3/7/2018 – In the modern game, a player has to be ready to play almost any opening variation at short notice. The plan is to interrupt the preparation of the opponent at every turn. A knowledge of dynamic and slightly unusual lines could well score many,many points for the resourceful player. The Kveinys Variation : 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6! is surprisingly little-played, yet gives Black excellent chances and on this new ChessBase DVD, Andrew Martin explains how the system works.

Run your own games and tournaments on the web

3/7/2018 – New: Start a private tournament in your browser! Chess clubs, schools, companies, or any other collection of players, can also offer chess online — on their own chess server — for free! It is simple and does not does require much of any technical skill. In fact, all it takes are a few mouse clicks. It's a powerful and completely free self-service tournament system in your web browser! Here's how to get started in a few easy steps! | Photo: Hamburger Schachclub
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The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

3/6/2018 – 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 continues his look at classic Candidates tournament games.

Reykjavik Open 2018 begins

3/6/2018 – The Gamma Reykjavik Open 2018 is all about Robert Fischer, who would have turned 75 this year. In Reykjavik he celebrated his greatest success, and he's also buried in Iceland. Among the participants are over 30 grandmasters. Richard Rapport and Pavel Eljanov lead the ranking list. Live games and commentary, plus a preview and photos by Gerd Densing.

A powerful queen

3/6/2018 – Who is stronger? The queen or two rooks? This (of course) depends on the concrete position. However, the queen is always happy if she gets help.

Endgame Magic with guest Yannick Pelletier

3/6/2018 – Yannick Pelletier is a Swiss Grandmaster and well known DVD author for ChessBase. He's in Hamburg to record a DVD. He's in the organising comitee for the Biel Chess Festival and still very active on the chess board. Today he joins Karsten to look at some fascinating endgames from recent tournament praxis! Live at 15:00 CET (9:00 AM EST)!

Unstoppable Sergey Karjakin, too hot to handle at the Tal Memorial Blitz!

3/6/2018 – 13 rounds of blitz is tiring. If you are not playing well you want to get over with it as soon as possible. But if you are winning like Sergey Karjakin was at the Tal Memorial Blitz 2018, you would want to keep playing forever! Sergey was in top-notch form as he mustered up 10.0/13 (+8,=4,-1) and finished 1½ points ahead of second-placed Nakamura. The American tried hard but couldn't keep up with Karjakin's pace. Third place was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi. We have the full coverage with interesting games, positions and lot of videos!

What engines calculate

3/5/2018 – Nodes, and lots of them! When you analyse with an engine do you understand all the data in the engine window? Fritz calculates with 2317 kN/sec and a cloud engine with 121 MN/sec? Sure, this has to do with the speed and the performance of the engine but what exactly are nodes? | Photo: Nadja Wittmann (ChessBase)
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I know what I did last weekend

3/5/2018 – Bunratty's 25th Anniversary is over, but it's still on the mind of ChessBase photographer Alina l'Ami, who sends this retrospective from her own (quite successful) visit to the Irish hamlet. Fun for all and all for fun! | Pictured: A sampling of the 362 players | Photos: Alina l'Ami

Tal Memorial 2018 in Moscow: LIVE

3/5/2018 – In memory of Mikhail Tal, the 11th Tal Memorial takes place in Moscow from March 2nd-4th, with a blitz tournament on March 5th. The venue is the Museum of Russian Impressionists in Moscow. Participants are Mamedyarov, Kramnik, Svidler, Nepomniachtchi, Anand, Dubov, Nakamura, Gelfand, Karjakin and Grishuk. Watch live with video updates and more from the venue by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

The secret of Vishy Anand winning the Tal Memorial Rapid 2018

3/5/2018 – Chess is considered as a young man's game, but a 48-year-old gentleman from India is changing that perception! Vishy Anand seems to be on a mission - to win just about every rapid event that he plays. Gold at the World Rapid Championship 2017 was difficult, but winning the Tal Memorial Rapid was tougher. The field had some of the best rapid players on the globe and Vishy simply cruised to the finish line with 6.0/9, one point ahead of the rest. In this article we try to analyze the reason for his spectacular performance. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Speelman's Agony #71

3/4/2018 – This week's games are from David Lovejoy who lives in Mullumbimby, in northern New South Wales, Australia. 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!

Tal Memorial 2018: Anand joins Mamedyarov at the top

3/4/2018 – We are heading towards an exciting final day at the Tal Memorial 2018. Vishy Anand won his sixth round game against Hikaru Nakamura and came back to the lead along with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with 4.0/6. Two players: Kramnik and Grischuk follow them on 3.5/6. In this report, you can find a wealth of instructive content including videos, analysis, interviews and much more. We also discuss the question of whether chess in museums is a good idea or not? Report from Moscow by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

"Beating top players is a part of my destiny"

3/3/2018 – Positivity, ambition, a never say die attitude and an enterprising style of play make Adhiban Baskaran one of the best and most loved chess players in India today. Recently, at the Indian National Team Championship, he proved his mettle yet again. After a rather dismal performance at the Tata Steel Masters which concluded a few weeks ago, Adhiban made a strong comeback scoring an unbeaten 8.0/9. In this interview, he talks about how he keeps himself motivated, his first ever head to head encounter with his idol Vishy Anand, his recent gold medal-winning performance at the National teams and a lot more!

9 games out of 15 end decisively on day one of Tal Memorial 2018

3/3/2018 – The Tal Memorial 2018 is turning into one of the most exciting super tournaments. The rapid format is forcing the players to err and we had 9 out of 15 games end decisively. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored 2.5/3 and is the sole leader. He is followed by Vishy Anand, Alexander Grischuk and Hikaru Nakamura on 2.0/3. Few things that you will get to witness in this report are Dubov's brilliant opening prep, Kramnik's piece blunder, Mamedyarov's excellent endgame play and Vishy Anand's powerful start. Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah bring you all the updates from Moscow.

Dior couture: surrealism and chess

3/3/2018 – Chess has been presented in various art forms throughout the centuries. The chess surreal, mysterious quality has been embraced in the visual arts, literature, music and particularly the fashion. Our own chess queens (and sometimes kings, cavalry and soldiers), often make fashion statements with chess-themed garments and accessories. Diana Mihajlova explores the Spring-Summer collections and their chess inspiration. | Pictured: The interior stage, with chess patterns and hanging body parts, accentuated House of Dior's chosen theme: surrealism

Tune your tactics: Open Games with ...Nxe4 and ...exd4

3/2/2018 – 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 Martin Fischer! Friday at 15:30 CET (9:00 AM EDT) it's all about calculation training!

Now it's easy

3/2/2018 – An only move is usually not so difficult to find — provided one has enough time and knows that there is one, of course! In the diagram position, White fired away with 19.Rxd7 Qxd7 20.Nf6+ gxf6 21.Bxf6, ripping open the enemy king position and threatening checkmate on the dark squares. How did Black prove him wrong?