2/27/2018 – Knights are tricky and can bring kings, queens, rooks and bishops into trouble. But knights are afraid of outside pawns - with good reason!

2/27/2018 – Amin Tabatabaei might have had a bad start to the tournament but ever since his first round loss to IM Eesha Karavade, the teenaged International Master from Iran has been on the rise. Scoring four wins in a row, he is now jointly leading the event with besides having scored a GM norm with two rounds to spare. With just two rounds to go, this young IM is definitely someone to watch out for. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

2/27/2018 – 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. Today, Lawrence takes a brief look at a highlight from the Aeroflot Open, alongside his pursuit of classic Candidates tournament games.

2/27/2018 – The largest Irish Open, and arguably the "best weekender in the world" attracted 362 players across four tournaments, including a strong Masters Open won by GM Sergei Tiviakov. Tiviakov last visited Ireland 19 years ago when he won the 6th edition of the tournament back in 1999. Gawain Jones (pictured beer in hand), himself a two-time winner, tied Tiviakov on points with 5.0 / 6, but lost a two-game blitz tiebreak. A look at this fun-filled fixture on the international calendar. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

2/26/2018 – OSG Baden-Baden has been dominating the German League for more than a decade — in the last eleven years, Baden-Baden won ten times, one time they came second. This season, the star-studded team is again favourite to win — but in round ten they stumbled against Solingen. The match winner for Solingen was ChessBase author Erwin l'Ami. | Photo: Pascal Simon

2/26/2018 – The sixth round of the Aeroflot Open was tactics galore. While Vladimir Fedoseev went for broke to rip open his opponent's king in his game against IM Amin Tabatabaei, Krishnan Sasikiran caught Aryan Tari's king in a mating net after the latter gave up a piece for three pawns. Besides, the tournament saw yet another leader dethroned as Kovaleyev defeated Artemiev on the top board to take the sole lead himself. An illustrated report.

2/26/2018 – What do you look for when you choose to play in an international event? 1. Strong field, 2. A good place to visit, 3. Affordability. What if we said that all of this is possible if you play at the HD Bank Open 2018 in Vietnam. With the top seed being 2737 and close to 100 titled players expected, this is a perfect tournament for you to gain exposure/norms. Apart from this Hanoi is a beautiful city in Vietnam with a lot of tourist attractions. Ha Noi city is located on the banks of the Red River, visiting the river shore will surely be a pleasant experience! | Photo: www.tripadvisor.com

2/25/2018 – The Aeroflot Open 2018 has passed the half-way mark, and Russia's talented young grandmaster Artemiev Vladislav is now the only player with 4½ points at the top of the table. On Saturday, he showed his class to outplay the experienced Moldavian, Victor Bologan, taking advantage of small inaccuracies to convert the full point. It will be exciting to see if Fedoseev, Vidit and Andreikin can make a comeback in the second half of the event. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

2/25/2018 – Many people claim that chess is their passion, but how many have thought deeply about the reasons why they love chess so much. It takes an IIT graduate and the head of an engineering college to think objectively about this intense subject! Prof. Lakshmi Narayana breaks it down point by point, understanding how rich the game of chess is. "Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe!" There is something in this game for everyone, right from a philosopher to an illiterate! | Photo: Robert Couse-Baker CC BY 2.0

2/24/2018 – The tournament has almost reached halfway stage at the Aeroflot Open. However, none of the 2700s are among the tournament leaders. The lead currently rests in the hands of Bologan, Petrosian and Artemiev. Meanwhile, the bottom-most seed of the tournament, IM Eesha Karavade brought down GM Rinat Jumabayev and is now tied for second. With five more rounds to go, it will be interesting to watch the top seeds fight their way to the top.

2/24/2018 – Tables are the heart of tournament reports. Who won, who lost, who is currently first, who finished finally first, who played how against whom? But the new ChessBase tables offer much more than pairings and results. They also offer photos of and information about players, Elo-charts, games to replay, and more.

2/23/2018 – Two traditional tournaments, known for their social scene as much as their strong fields, kick off today, with anniversary editions. In Amsterdam, the Batavia tournament is in its 10th year, while in Bunratty, Ireland, the Bunratty Chess Festival is celebrating its 25th edition! Top seeds are GMs Ivan Sokolov and Nigel Short respectively, and both tournaments are carried on live.chessbase.com. Photo: Simon Williams pre-Bunratty selfie with Blair Connell, via Twitter