Moscow Grand Prix R06: Two is company, eight is a crowd

5/18/2017 – Since the leaders failed to reassert their authority, even the new ones, this opened the way for more to close in and try to stake their claims. It was not for lack of trying as Ding Liren failed to convert a winning advantage against MVL. In the meantime, veteran Gelfand beat Harikrishna in his vintage style, while Nakamura played a fine piece of preparation changing Nepomniachtchi's Najdorf into a Classical Sicilian. Some fantastic analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky.

Nunn again! Victory after 38 years.

5/18/2017 – In 1979 the East Devon Congress was won, with a 4½/5 score, by a young student with long curly hair and a brown corduroy jacket. 38 years later it was won, again with a 4½/5 score, by the same player, now sporting shorter grey hair. We bring you an interesting report from the British chess magazine CHESS, which also contains a piece on a new variant of the game that is gaining popularity: Duck Chess.

Asian Continental Rd.1-6: China and Vietnam dominate in Chengdu

5/17/2017 – The Asian Continental Championship 2017 has begun in Chengdu, China with most of the brightest stars of Asia in contention for the five World Cup spots in the Open and the Women's section. China's Wang Hao has managed to edge ahead of the rest of the pack but has a tough task ahead if he plans to maintain the crown. Two Vietnamese players are leading the women's section. Illustrated Report.

Moscow Grand Prix R05: Six crowd the podium

5/17/2017 – For the fans hoping for a top board slugfest between Ding Liren and Mamedyarov, they will leave disappointed as a 15-move non-game was shook upon. However, this is not to say that was the tale of the day. Sharing 2nd and 3rd, Peter Svidler and Teimour Radjabov also drew, allowing Alexander Grischuk and MVL both winners in round five against Hou Yifan and Saleh Salem respectively, to draw level, leaving four players just half a point behind the leaders. Report with analysis by GM Tiger Hillarp Persson.

Moscow Grand Prix R04: Mamedyarov wins and is 2801

5/16/2017 – It was another great round with tons of fighting chess. No sarcasm or irony in that statement either. All the players came ready to fight, and though the day ended with three decisive games, it could easily have been more since Ding Liren and Grischuk were both winning but drew in the end. Radjabov had not shown much fight for a while beat Vallejo but the game of the day was Mamedyarov's big win over Salem. Illustrated report with analysis by GM TIger Hillarp Persson.

Oparin's surprise

5/16/2017 – Endings with opposite colored bishops often end in a draw even though one side is one or two pawns up. However, these endings often contain hidden tactical surprises. And don't miss: Today on the playchess server, 4 pm, Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller.

An Interview with Simon Williams - Grandmaster, ChessBase author and attacking expert

5/16/2017 – English Grandmaster Simon Williams is a popular commentator and author who recently published a DVD about the London System with 2.Bf4. In an interview with ChessBase he explains why this seemingly quiet line is dangerous and also talks about effective opening study and reveals why it is sometimes a good idea to break rules.

Jobava & Grandelius win Sigeman 2017

5/15/2017 – Tepe Sigeman & Co concluded yesterday, with all the final round games ending in draws. But this was a tournament of missed opportunities for the top seed Pavel Eljanov and also Nigel Short. Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius and Georgia's Baadur Jobava scored 3.0/5 each making them joint winners of the tournament. Erik Blomqvist and Pavel Eljanov shared the third and fourth places with 2½/5. Indian star Dronavalli Harika shared the last place with Nigel Short. Report with grandmaster analysis

Moscow Grand Prix R03: Plenty of Excitement!

5/14/2017 – The players came to round three with their fighting spirit reignited. Five decisive results and many hard fought games were seen in today's round in Mocsow. The most important for the standings, Ding Liren beat his compatriot, Hou Yifan, to take the early lead. He is followed by three of today's winners: Svidler, Salem and Mamedyarov. Results, analysis and interviews here...

Moscow Grand Prix R02: Chinese lead

5/14/2017 – The draw virus is still latent in Moscow, but at least the number of decisive games doubled from yesterday! Nepomniachtchi came back with a vengeance after his loss yesterday to defeat Hammer with the black pieces. Ding Liren played an exemplary game against Ernesto Inarkiev and ties with Hou Yifan at the lead. We have analysis of those games, and of course, the short draws...

Moscow Grand Prix R01: Yifan sole winner

5/12/2017 – Round one of the Moscow Grand Prix left spectators with mixed feelings. While Jon Hammer and Harikrishna fought for 92 moves, Salem and Grischuk played an 11-move ‘miniature’. The day’s saving grace was Hou Yifan who scored the only win of the day over Ian Nepomniachtchi. All games with analysis...

Sigeman Rd.2: Erik the Victorious!

5/12/2017 – Round two of TePe Sigeman & Co. Chess Tournament saw the reigning Swedish Champion Erik Blomqvist bounce back from yesterday's loss and defeat the top seed Pavel Eljanov. Baadur Jobava is now leading the tournament after a super-charged victory against Nigel Short. India's Harika Dronavalli signed peace with Nils Grandelius after missing a couple of chances to win. Report with grandmaster analysis.

Knights in Bangkok

5/12/2017 – A move like 17.Qh6! in the diagram position is as clear as day: The queen appears in front of the open black king and takes f6 under fire. Unsurprisingly, after 17....Qd8 White has a forced win. Have you spotted it already?

Russian Team Championship: Siberia-Sirius and Yugra win

5/11/2017 – The Russian Team Championship ended predictably in a clean sweep for Siberia-Sirius, winning all its matches with its unparalleled lineup (Kramnik, Giri, Mamedyarov, etc). The Women’s event was a far tighter affair, won by Yugra (Ushenina) over ShSM Legacy Square Capital (Kosteniuk), coming down to their individual match. Here is a large illustrated report by Alex Yermolinsky.

Sigeman: 'One doesn't need Viagra after a finish like this,' says Nigel

5/11/2017 – With a brand new sponsor, the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess tournament is back! The five-round event is being held in Malmo, Sweden. The tournament features a strong contention in the form of Nigel Short, Pavel Eljanov, Baadur Jobava, Nils Grandelius, Erik Blomqvist and Harika Dronavalli. And Short is off to a 'dream' start as he explained in his one-line tweet after the game. Report with grandmaster analysis.

Nihal's problem: how the b-pawn mates

5/11/2017 – When the 12-year-old Nihal Sarin visited ChessBase in Hamburg in April it was not just his incredible chess skills and understanding that impressed us all. The lad is blessed with a fair deal of humour, and sprouts entertaining chess puzzles at every turn. Like the series of problems that took advantage of an imprecise definition of the castling rules. Or one, which we passed on to our readers: "A game ends on move four with a b-pawn giving mate." We got a lot of feedback, and the winner has been drawn: the prize, a Fritz 15 program signed by three World Champions, goes to...

Wei Yi wins third straight Chinese Championship

5/10/2017 – Wei Yi won his third consecutive Chinese title, making it three in a row at the tender age of 17. The field was missing his fellow 2700 players, making it easier, and he came through immaculate with 8.5/11. In the Women’s championship, Lei Tingjie took sole first with 9.0/11, outpacing Tan Zhongyi and Wang Jue in spite of a loss. Both events were hard fought, with plenty of fireworks.

Master Shifu of Indian chess: R.B. Ramesh (2/3)

5/10/2017 – Indian chess is growing at a fervent pace thanks to some of the best chess minds in our country. One of them is India's super coach GM R.B. Ramesh. In the second part of his interview he speaks about the mindset that trainers and parents must have, how to make chess more popular, why having a super tournament in India is important and much more.

Using your home chess engine anytime, anywhere

5/9/2017 – Recently, a grandmaster was explaining that one of the biggest problems when travelling was that analyzing on his laptop would eat up his battery in an hour or two at most. When asked why he didn’t just connect to his desktop, he said he was not a ‘computer whiz’ like some. Do you sympathize with him? If so, learn how incredibly easy it is to set this up with Fritz or ChessBase so you can access your personal desktop anytime, anywhere.
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Karstedt's draw

5/9/2017 – Most chessplayers have at least a basic knowledge of opening theory. But how about the endgame? Knowing a little bit of endgame theory can help a lot. Karsten Müller has an example.

Returning to Rekyjavik

5/8/2017 – There is clearly something that works in the formula of the Reykjavik Open, which continues to attract a wide range of players every year, from the world's elite such as Giri, Andreikin, and Jobava this year, to rank amateurs who pack the venue. Looking back at the tournament and locale is Alina L'Ami in her report with games, quiz positions and of course high-res photos!

Jon Speelman's Agony Column #51

5/8/2017 – Fresh from the World Senior Team Championship, where he once more sat alongside mates Nigel Short and John Nunn, Jon Speelman takes a look at the two games sent by Andrew Medworth. Andrew is a software engineer working for Google and splits his time between London and Hong Kong. He enjoys chess, and sent detailed notes on his impressions and feelings during the game, now complemented with the grandmaster's expert eye.

Blind chess school is surprise winner in Bangladesh

5/7/2017 – It would have been a nice, but fairly normal chess initiative that would never have been reported here were it not for the highly unusual result. The Chittagong District Sports Association (CJKA) organized for the first time a school team chess tournament named the CJKS Nails and Wood Inter School Team Chess Tournament 2017. Open to all, with boys teams and girls teams, the unbeaten champion was the Chittagong Government School for the Blind.

FIDE Ethics issues 3-month ban to Zhukova

5/7/2017 – Readers may recall the astonishing accusations leveraged against Mihaela Sandu during the 2015 European Championship, after her great start, in which 15 players filed a letter of petition accusing Sandu of cheating, and requesting her games alone not be broadcast. Needless to say, computer analysis in no way backed their claims, and Sandu filed an official complaint against her accusers. The FIDE Ethics Commission has published its results.