Adolf Albin: Nothing wrong with a gambit

9/14/2018 – 170 years ago, September 14th, 1848, Adolf Albin was born. Statistics give Albin a historical rating of 2643 for August 1895 and with this rating he would have been the world's number 15 of that time. Today, Albin is mainly known as the namesake of an entertaining line in the Queen's Gambit, arising after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!? - the Albin Counter-gambit. Another gambit, which Albin liked to play, is named after Alekhine. | Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Chess960: Champions Showdown LIVE

9/14/2018 – Another spectacular chess event is ongoing at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Ten world-class players, including Garry Kasparov, compete in rapid and blitz matches in Chess960. Live video and commentary from 20:00 CEST (19:00 UT). | Graphic: Standings after Day 3 / Saint Louis Chess Club

San Francisco Bay Area International returns in the new year

9/14/2018 – The 2019 Bay Area International Chess Tournament which already has many strong players signed up and runs from Jan 1-7, 2019, in Burlingame, California, USA. The early registration deadline is tomorrow, September 15th.

Pickup service

9/14/2018 – Two rooks on the second rank plus mobile pawns and king on the fifth versus a lonely white king on g3 — Black's superiority in the diagram position is crystal clear. But there is only one winning line. Can you see the way for him to rake in the rook b4 by force?

World Juniors 2018 Round 9: Four Russians and an Uzbek

9/14/2018 – The Open section has ceased to be interesting from the gold medal point of view as GM Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran notched up another win, this time against Awonder Liang from America. Maghsoodloo is on 8½/9 and has a 1½ point lead over the field with a rating performance of 2944! In the Girls section, there is everything to play for as five girls are tied for the top spot with 7.0/9. Among the five, four are Russian and one is from Uzbekistan. It will be exciting to see who comes out on top — Maltsevskaya, Dordzhieva, Tokhirjonova, Assaubayeva or Potapova?

Girls in Chess Video

9/14/2018 – PRESS RELEASE: Young female players explain the powerful impact of chess in their lives and the challenges they’ve faced in the game in a short video shot at the 2018 KCF All-Girls Nationals in Chicago, Illinois. The project exemplifies the educational mission of the US Chess Federation: “Empowering people through chess, one move at a time.” | Pictured: Cerena, who is featured in the video saying, “Chess is like life for me,” plays against Jen Shahade, executive producer of the video and US Chess Women liaison. | Photo: Rachel Utain-Evans

Kasparov struggles in Chess960 return

9/13/2018 – After two days of Chess960 in St. Louis, Wesley So established the largest lead in his match against Anish Giri. Perhaps that why So says he prefers the variant over "normal chess". Or is it the other way around — preference breeds success? Garry Kasparov, on the other hand, is well behind in his match against Veselin Topalov. Elsewhere the rating favourites all lead, with the exception of Hikaru Nakamura vs Peter Svidler, which is tied at 6 points apiece. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/ Lennart Ootes, Austin Fuller

World Juniors 2018 Round 8: The unstoppable force called Parham Maghsoodloo

9/13/2018 – Parham Maghsoodloo has shown some tremendous chess at the World Juniors 2018. He is currently the sole leader with a score of 7½/8. He has a lead of one full point over his rivals. On 6½/8 we have Awonder Liang followed by ten players on 6.0/8. In the Girls section Maltsevskaya, Khomeriki and Dordzhieva are leading with 6½/8. They are being followed by five more players on 6.0/8. While Maghsoodloo is a clear favourite for gold in the Open section, nothing is clear in the Girls. Round eight report from Gebze, Turkey. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Documentation: The ChessBase account and more

9/13/2018 – With the ChessBase account you can train and improve, and follow live events. It's web-based, for use with a tablet, smartphone, iPad or PC. It's easy — here's a short manual (PDF) There's much more on our ChessBase download page.

Vienna vies for 2020 World Championship

9/13/2018 – The World Chess Championship 2018 is still two months away but some federations are already looking ahead to 2020. Depending on the winner of the forthcoming World Championship match in November in London, the USA or Norway may, of course, want to host the next edition. However, the Austrian Federation would also like to celebrate its 100-year jubilee with a very special event and recently received an official visit. | Pictured: Central Vienna | Photo: Public domain via Creative Commons

The Game of the Week

9/12/2018 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 20:00 CEST (19:00 UT, 2 pm EDT). On this week's show: Parham Maghsoodloo!

The Power Play Show

9/12/2018 – Wednesday at 19:00 CEST (17:00 UT) Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer, plus Daniel will be looking at a crazy attack in a new line of the Nimzo Indian. Puzzle and the live video...

NEW: Adrian Mikhalchishin: How Bobby Fischer battled the Sicilian

9/12/2018 – Bobby Fischer was a devoted Sicilian player. But the American chess genius and 11th World Champion was also a devoted 1.e4 (“Best by test” as he said) player, and his results against the Sicilian are remarkable. In almost all variations he came up with new ideas and developed systems of his own — such as 6.Bc4 (one of his pet moves) against the Najdorf, and the Rauzer. Fischer liked to play aggressive but basically sound lines against the Sicilian and many of his variations are still very much alive and a good choice for players of all levels.

World Juniors 2018 Round 7: The advantage of having the first move!

9/12/2018 – It is generally agreed that White has a small edge going into the game because he has the first move. At the top level, Black more often than not equalizes. Yet, at the seventh round of the World Juniors 2018, we had a pretty unique case where all six games, the top three in boy's section and the top three in girl's section, all of them ended in the white player winning the games. In this article, we show you all the games along with analysis. Apart from this you also have pictures by Amruta Mokal and videos by IM Sagar Shah.

First Summer Chess Festival in Belgrade (Part 2)

9/12/2018 – The Serbian capital, Belgrade, is recovering from 20th century conflict, and DIANA MIHAJLOVA takes us on a brief photo tour, following the chess tournament (part 1). | Pictured: Saint Sava Temple with a statue of Karadjorgje, the founder of modern Serbia. He led the First Serbian Uprising of 1804–1813 fighting for independence from the Ottoman Empire. Saint Sava and Karadjorgje (Karađorđe) epitomize the Serbian national identity. | Photos: Diana Mihajlova

Diving Chess in London

9/12/2018 – There is another "World Championship" in London this year — the fourth edition of the "Diving Chess" World Championship took place on August 27th at the Third Space Gym in London. Four rounds decided the winners — FM Rajko Vujatovic took gold after scoring 3½/4, while Etan Ilfeld and William Taylor finished second and third on 3/4. In this curious chess variant, each player can think as long as he or she can hold their breath underwater. | Photo: Reuters

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

9/11/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com for a free live show dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. This week Lawrence covers highlights from the World Junior Championship! Afterwards the show will be available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders.

World Juniors 2018 Round 6: 12-year-old Javokhir Sindarov sizzles!

9/11/2018 – He 12 years and 9 months old. He hails from Uzbekistan and already has a live rating of 2500+ Elo points and one GM norm. Meet Javokhir Sindarov, the big sensation at the World Juniors 2018. The boy has beaten two GMs already and today he crushed a Norwegian IM in brutal style. In the Girls section, WIM Nino Khomeriki from Georgia is dominating the field with 6.0/6 score. She has a full one point lead. Here's the round six report by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal from Gebze in Turkey.

Knight or pawns?

9/11/2018 – Knights are tricky. They are versatile, they can be quick, and if they are lucky they can fork queen, king and rook. However, sometimes even a pair of pawns is too much for them.

Sam Shankland and Zhu Chen visit Hong Kong

9/11/2018 – The ActiveKids Chess Academy in Hong Kong hosted two strong events with outstanding players. First, 2722-rated GM Sam Shankland gave a lecture on strategic positions, and then former Women's World Champion Zhu Chen gave a simultaneous exhibition. August has been a busy month for the Hong Kong young chess talents. It was, undoubtedly, a great learning experience. | Photos: Official website

Simon Says — Nezh the great, with white

9/10/2018 – (Live today at 21:00 CEST — so three hours later than usual). In this episode of Simon Says, Simon uncorks the great victories of "one of the greatest attacking players" ever: Rashid Nezhmetdinov. Enjoy!

First Summer Chess Festival in Belgrade (part 1)

9/10/2018 – Aside from celebrating the tennis victories of Novak Djokovic, Serbia is steadily reviving the country’s old chess glory, etched in chess history by the likes of Gligorić, Ljubojević, Matanović, Matulović and Ivkov, to name a few. Now, three grandmaster friends and colleagues, having shared many years of happiness and tribulations as chess professionals, are creating a platform for chess promotion in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and further afield in the country. DIANA MIHAJLOVA takes a look in this extensive photo report. | Pictured: Among the winners, IM Umut Atakisi and WIM Sandra Djukic | Photos: Diana Mihajlova

Endgames of the World Champions

9/10/2018 – The real reason one should study endgames, is not only related to the possibility those endgames actually appear on the board (they seemingly never do!), but to the gain of confidence we need in order to convert a game where we have a material advantage, or a more active position, into a won game. In fact, lately we have witnessed the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, playing many games which seem drawn, and yet when he reaches the endgame, it turns into an almost magical win. In this review by DAVIDE NASTASIO, you can practice many interesting endgame positions against the engine which stem directly from the games of all these great champions. No excuses! Getting some training done today!

Carlsen vs Caruana: Looking back and looking ahead

9/9/2018 – The World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in London will begin in exactly two months on November 9th, and their last direct encounter before the match in London was at the Sinquefield Cup 2018 in Saint Louis. Together they won the tournament along with Levon Aronian. They drew each other, although Carlsen was close to winning. What does that mean for the World Championship in London? CONRAD SCHORMANN looks for answers, and you can have your say in our poll! | Graphic: World Chess