Nakamura supports chess talent in Africa

4/12/2018 – American Hikaru Nakamura, one of the world’s top chess Grandmasters, has shown his generosity by honouring a pledge he made earlier this year to assist two promising junior players from South Africa to further their chess careers. Hikaru identified the two young talents during his visit to South Africa in January while he was attending the South African Junior Chess Championships. Khanya Mazibuko (pictured), one of the selected players, was able to secure a win against his idol during the 100 player Simul in Johannesburg. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Meeting Yannick Pelletier

4/12/2018 – The unending stream of interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg, and frequenting our studio, continues. Often, we try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This time it was GM Yannick Pelletier who visited us in Hamburg in order to prepare a new FritzTrainer. Here's the latest, brief impromptu interview. | Photo: Pascal Simon (ChessBase)

Amatzia Avni: Different Thinking

4/11/2018 – A lot of chess writing is devoted to the thought process of players. Chess coaches direct their students to look for good, healthy, strong moves – not to search for beautiful ones. Problemists are quite different. For them beauty is a major goal. Composers search for extraordinary positions, which will bring the Aha! or OMG effect. In CHESS Magazine the well-known Israeli problemist examines some of the characteristics which separate those who play from those who compose and solve studies and problems.

EWICC: Dzagnidze and Cornette in the lead

4/11/2018 – After three rounds at the European Women's Championship, the number of perfect scores is down to two: Nana Dzagnidze and Diamante Cornette. They will face off today in round four. 21 players are in the chasing pack with 2½, among them the top seed Mariya Muzychuk and the German number one, Elisabeth Paehtz. WATCH LIVE (from 15:00 CEST) | Photo: Official site

The Tigress of Madras: Aruna Anand (part 3)

4/11/2018 – The final part of the interview with the Tigress of Madras Aruna Anand! While in the first two parts we got to know Aruna better, in the third part we turn up the heat with rapid-fire questions! For each question, Aruna has very little to time decide on her answer and this gives us some great insights into the mind of one of the greatest managers in the world of chess. India is lucky to have an icon like Vishy Anand and Vishy Anand is lucky to have a pillar like Aruna in his life! | Photo: Mandatory selfie with Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

Endgame Magic with guest Simon Williams

4/10/2018 – Simon Williams is an English Grandmaster and a well-known DVD author for ChessBase. He's in Hamburg to record a DVD follow up to his hit series on the London System. Today he joined Karsten to look at some fascinating endgames from recent tournament praxis! Watch on-demand!

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

4/10/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5 pm UK time, Noon EDT) 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 will have a look at games from the Grenke Open.

Grenke: Caruana clear first after clutch win

4/10/2018 – Fabiano Caruana strikes again! A win with black in the final round in Baden-Baden leaves him alone atop the GRENKE Chess Classic standings, with no playoff needed. Caruana defeated Nikita Vitiugov, while all other games ended in a draw. Magnus Carlsen finished the tournament in clear second place. Vitiugov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian finished with 5 points apiece, tied for third through fifth. | Photos: Georgios Souleidis, Macauley Peterson

Calculation training for advanced players

4/10/2018 – Calculating variations quickly and precisely is the basis for success in chess. Of course, modern chess engines calculate quicker and more precise than any human being. And Fritz 16 can help you to improve your calculation skills. An earlier tutorial focused on basic calculation training. Now we take a look at how more advanced calculators can take advantage of the tools in Fritz and the ChessBase account | Drawing: ChessBase
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China vs The World: China lifts the trophy

4/10/2018 – The final day of China versus the world match featured some amazing miniatures, inspiring comebacks and also a few incredible blunders! While the World team failed to overcome their two-point deficit on the final day, they came close and made sure the Chinese did not declare victory without breaking a sweat. Day 2 report and games.

Makropoulos declares candidacy for FIDE president

4/9/2018 – Last weekend the Belarus Chess Federation hosted the FIDE President meeting for the first quarter of 2018. The backdrop is the application of Belarus as host of the 2022 Chess Olympiad. In a blow to Kirsan Ilymzhinon, the Presidential Board called for his immediate resignation as president. After the meeting, Georgios Makropoulos announced his candidacy as FIDE president. | Photo: FIDE

Grenke LIVE: Caruana wins!

4/9/2018 – From March 31st to April 9th, the Grenke Chess Classic takes place in Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, Germany. Ten grandmasters play a single round-robin, headed by World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, the winner of the 2017 tournament, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Viswanathan Anand. Live games and commentary webcast. | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Meeting Erwin l'Ami

4/9/2018 – As we are privileged with so many interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg and frequenting our studio, we often try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This time it was GM Erwin l’Ami who visited us in Hamburg in order to prepare a new training DVD. Here's a brief (off-camera) impromptu interview. | Photo: ChessBase

Grenke: Caruana, Carlsen, or Vitiugov

4/9/2018 – On a gorgeous Spring day in Baden-Baden there was another series of five draws in the eighth round. Magnus Carlsen tried to will his way to victory over Nikita Vitiugov, in the longest game of the round, but in the end, had to settle for a draw. Both remain a half point behind Caruana. It will be one of those three emerging as the GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 winner. Vitiugov, with White against Caruana in the final round (WATCH LIVE) has a chance to make a bold statement. For Magnus Carlsen, he'll have to try to win with black against Viswanathan Anand. Naiditch vs Anand is annotated by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson. | Photos: Macauley Peterson

The strength of weak pawns

4/9/2018 – "Better is the enemy of good" is proverbial advice against unhealthy perfectionism. But in chess — and particularly in endgames with reduced material — good is often not good enough. In this case it's better to strive for something better.

China vs The World: The Dragon Dominates

4/8/2018 – From April 7th to 9th, China's National team is taking on five representatives of the 'Rest of the World' in a ten round match with a rapid time control of 10 mins + 10 seconds. At the conclusion of Day 1, Team China finished with a two-point lead over the World scoring three wins, a draw and two losses. There were plenty of interesting games and we bring you a report on all the action from Liaocheng, China.

Grenke: Shakeup! Caruana and Carlsen to the top

4/8/2018 – In the GRENKE Chess Classic, standings shuffled dramatically after the seventh round. Fabiano Caruana managed a convincing win against his former co-leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces, to take the sole lead in the standings. World Champion Magnus Carlsen also won with Black, against Arkadij Naiditsch, and moved up to second place. Georg Meier missed chances to add to Viswanathan Anand woes. GM Daniel Fernandez annotates all five games | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Vlastimil Hort: Memories of Bobby Fischer (3)

4/8/2018 – 75 years ago, March 9, 1943, Robert James Fischer was born in Chicago. He was genius and madman. In 1972 he became World Champion after winning a dramatic match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, and he is still considered as one of the greatest players of all time. Vlastimil Hort knew the 11th World Champion personally and shares memories of "Bobby". If you haven't already, read Part 1 and Part 2...

How do I get new games into my Mega Database?

4/7/2018 – The Mega Database with over 7 million games is indispensable for tournament players and professionals! And it stays up-to-date all year, with 5,000 games every 2 weeks. But what do you have to do on your computer so that these games are automatically pumped into your mega? Very easily! We show you how to set up the game updates in ChessBase 14! Let's go! | Drawing: ChessBase
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Grenke: Bluebaum beats Anand

4/7/2018 – The sixth round of the Grenke Classic tournament lasted no less than seven hours today. Fabiano Caruana suffered long and hard against Yifan Hou but finally came to a happy draw. Matthias Bluebaum celebrated a great success against Viswanathan Anand, while Arkadij Naiditsch won against Georg Meier | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Gareyev grabs O2C Doeberl Cup

4/6/2018 – The strongest open tournament in Australia, the Doeberl Cup, has been held annually for 56 years in the capital city, Canberra. This year saw a new winner from Uzbekistan who represents the USA, GM Timur Gareyev, who edged out Australian IM James Morris on tiebreak score. The "Blindfold King" also swept the field by winning 10-0 in a blindfold exhibition prior to the tournament and had a perfect score in the 2018 Doeberl Cup Lightning. A successful trip to the land down under by Gareyev, but also for our reporter IM Irene Sukandar, who won the prize for the best woman. | Photo: O2C Doeberl Cup

Rustam Kasimdzhanov: A lifetime repertoire: play the Nimzo Indian!

4/6/2018 – This DVD provides everything you need to know to be able to play one of the most classical openings with Black, the Nimzo-Indian, arising after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4. Nearly every World Championship and top tournament features the Nimzo-Indian. It is a well trusted “lifetime“ choice for players all around the globe. The former FIDE World Champion, Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov, gives you both the concrete variations, with many novelties to catch your opponent by surprise, and the positional nuances to enhance your understanding of the opening and of the game in general.

On the origins of chess (1/7)

4/6/2018 – In September 2017, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sergio Negri, a researcher specialized in chess of Argentine origin, completed an epic treatise on the origins of chess. Thoroughly detailed, and thought-provoking, we bring it to you in a new series of articles over the coming weeks. This first part introduces the topic and discusses the first of several theories: a Persian origin. | Photo: "Zereshk" (Own work) CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Grenke: Five draws in round five

4/5/2018 – On April 5th, the 5th round of the "GRENKE Chess Classic", now in Baden-Baden was the first in which all five games ended in a draw. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana and Nikita Vitiugov thus continue to lead the standings; a half point behind are Levon Aronian and World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Against Georg Meier, Carlsen was on the verge of losing shortly before the time control, but the German grandmaster missed the win! Another game was nearly decisive: Arkadij Naiditsch stood much better against Matthias Bluebaum, but here it was the young German, who somehow managed to survive a devastating attack and fight back in the endgame. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis