Speelman's Agony #58

8/6/2017 – This week's pair of games are by Rodolfe Prevot a Frenchman in his mid fifties. who is currently rated 1867. Rodolfe writes: “I am 55 years old. After a life as a French teacher, I have decided to become a chess trainer (you can see two of my pupils from Blois on the photo above) and to improve my level of play (that shouldn't be too difficult!). Always in love with chess, I like to play, learn and teach!”

British Championship: Playoff

8/6/2017 – Games and commentary from the 4-way playoff at the 104th British Championship in Llandudno, July 28th – August 6th, 2017 | Photo: Phil Makepeace

Faroes Open – More than a chess tournament

8/6/2017 – Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan needed a change from his routine. When he was invited to play in the Faroes Open 2017, he was thrilled with anticipation, yet a little skeptical. The pictures painted a mesmerising impression. Yet, questions lingered: How would the real thing turn out to be? Will it be like online dating? Breaking through the incertitude, he decided that he had to give it a go. | Photos: Hanna Ólavsdóttir Jacobsen/Jógvan Martin Joensen

Sinquefield Cup: Round 3 - Five Draws

8/5/2017 – It was a calmer day in St. Louis with all games in Round 3 ending in draws. Still plenty of interesting chess, as the tournament heads into the weekend. The main attention was on Anand-Carlsen. | Photo: Austin Fuller

Study of the Month: Dancing queens

8/5/2017 – There is a six-minute long crazy mix of music genres, recorded for fun by a musical idol, which became — against all warnings of the people working at the record labels — a megahit. It was “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the band was Queen. And then there is there is a fast-paced pop song about a 17-year-old girl, providing a great performance. So one has to “see that girl, watch that scene.” ABBA called her the Dancing Queen. Today we are going to watch her on the chessboard.

Sinquefield Cup: Round 2 - Carlsenomics

8/4/2017 – The Sinquefield Cup continues to delight the spectators and chess fans, with its indomitable fighting games and typical drama. The second round too saw three games ending decisively and near-complete effort from all the players. | Photos: Lennart Ootes (Grand Chess Tour)

Bobby Fischer in Iceland – 45 years ago (7)

8/4/2017 – After the first two traumatic games World Champion Boris Spassky was leading 2-0 in the Match of the Century. But then Fischer started to play and struck back: in the next eight games he scored 6½ points, chalking up a 6.5-3.5 lead. Games 8, 9 and 10 were quite spectacular, and are the subject of today's report. Younger players will also learn about "adjournments" and how exactly "sealed moves" were handled. Some were born after these practices were abandoned.

Only move parade

8/4/2017 – In the diagram position Black has just attacked the white queen in the c-file with 26...Nc4-e5, initiating a forced sequence of captures which finally lead to... well, that's for you to work out!

August 2017 FIDE ratings: The rise of the prodigies

8/4/2017 – It was a remarkable month for ratings, with notable results all over. A few standouts are 18-year-old Wei Yi, who is now no. 14, 14-year-old Alireza Firouzja poised to become a GM at 2518 FIDE, and 13-year-old WFM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who flew to 2421 and will get her IM title soon. If that's not enough, Magnus Carlsen has now opened an 80-Elo gap in the Blitz ratings. Still, the nod must go to Teimour Radjabov, the second youngest player ever in the Top 100, for his win at Geneva.

Jobava extraordinary in Xtracon

8/3/2017 – The Xtracon Open and it's forbearer the Politiken Cup is a strong annual open tournament north of Copenhagen. This year fan favorite Baadur Jobava took first place clear with an impressive 8.5 / 10. Krishnan Sasikiran and Marin Bosiocic were second and third. IM David Midema was on the scene in Elsinore | Photo: Sigfred Haubro

Sinquefield Cup: Round 1 - Creativity and Precision

8/3/2017 – Aronian’s creativity, Karjakin’s precision in an advantageous position, and full-fledged fights in all the boards were the talking points of the first round at Sinquefield Cup which started today at Saint Louis, USA, the 4th leg of the Grand Chess Tour. So Wesley fell for the time immemorial classic zeitnot tragedy when he blundered on the 40th move and lost to Vachier-Lagrave from a difficult position. | Photos: Lennart Ootes (Grand Chess Tour)

Exercises in Style: From Wilhelm Steinitz to Magnus Carlsen (3/4)

8/3/2017 – Tigran Petrosian had a unique style. But do you recognize his games if you just see the moves? Have a try! Part 1 and 2 of the "Exercises in Style" presented games by Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Aljechin, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal, now follow games by Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer and Karpov. Do you know which World Champion played which game?

New: ChessBase Magazine 179

8/3/2017 – The new ChessBase Magazine arrived! Issue #179 is packed with games and reports from current tournaments, analyses by top players such as Levon Aronian and Ding Liren, endgame training, tactics and middlegame training, plus lots of hints, tipps and advice to improve and sharpen your opening repertoire. A must for the serious player!

Austrian chess legend Andreas Dückstein turns 90

8/2/2017 – Andreas Dückstein is living proof that chess keeps you young. In his long career he played against the world's best and won against Euwe, Botvinnik and Spassky. Today he turned 90 and still loves to play chess. And he is still strong!

50th Biel: Historic win for Hou Yifan

8/2/2017 – One could hardly imagine more exciting final round pairings! Hou Yifan and Pentala Harikrisha both had White against their closest pursuers, Nico Georgiadis and Etienne Bacrot respectively. Bacrot benefitted from a one-move blunder, to reach 6 points, which meant Hou was in a must-win situation. But win she did! | Photos: Pascal Simon

Paleochora Open 2017 - where the entire town celebrates chess!

8/1/2017 – It's one of the most southern points of Europe. The town of Paleochora has barely a population of 2000, yet it hosts one of the most popular tournaments in Greece. How did a town with absolutely no chess background become the central hub for the game? We bring you the story of how chess in Paleochora began and also take you on a tour of the entire city. Surely you will be as enchanted by its beauty, as our authors Amruta and Sagar were! | Photos: Amruta Mokal

50th Biel: Round 8 - Harikrishna and Hou out in front

8/1/2017 – Alexander Morozevich and Hou Yifan both won again, but so did Harikrishna, and so he and Hou will take a half point edge into Wednesday's final round. But Morozevich, Etienne Bacrot and Nico Georgiadis are all withing striking distance.

Helpless knights

8/1/2017 – Basically, chess is a logical and just game. However, some things still astonish. For example the fact that two knights and a king cannot mate the enemy king. But this paradox sometimes offers the defender unexpected possibilities.

Alex Yermolinsky wins US Senior Open

8/1/2017 – After years of eligibility to participate in the US Senior Open, GM Alex Yermolinsky finally 'caved in' and added his name to the roster when it coincided in date and location with a summer chess camp he was teaching at. This event came down very much to him and coleague GM Dmitry Gurevich, as they dueled for the title, but they were not alone. Still, it was not just a chance to compete, but also to catch up with old friends.

As sharp as it gets: the McCutcheon Variation of the French Defence

7/31/2017 – In the McCutcheon Variation of the French Defense (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4) Black sharpens the play very early and indicates his wish to win. Opening expert Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows how best to do so. Our reviewer Christian Höthe was impressed.
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50th Biel: Round 7 - Four winners, four leaders

7/31/2017 – Round 7 saw a stark reversal of fortune for tournament leader Etienne Bacrot whose loss to Hou Yifan, coupled with a win by Morozevich, infuses new drama into the 50th Biel Chess Festival's GM tournament. Half the field now has chances to win!

Match of Millennials: World smashes USA

7/31/2017 – The Match of the Millenials was astonishing to say the least. On paper, the US under-17 team had such an Elo advantage that some bemoaned the lack of stronger foreign juniors to make it more ‘competitive’. Instead they had already lost a full round in advance, as had the under-14. A great result for the World team, winning 30.5-17.5, and a tribute to their team spirit and their captain. Full illustrated report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Stupak, Nikolov and Bernadskiy win the 10th Paleochora Open 2017

7/31/2017 – ChessBase authors Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal are on their European journey, which they usually undertake in the summer each year. This time the first tournament they visited was the Paleochora Open in the island of Crete south of the Greek mainland. The small peninsula is perhaps the most picturesque spot you can imagine for a chess tournament. The event was a strong one with 15 grandmasters fighting for the first prize of €1800. Kirill Stupak, Momchil Nikolov (below right) and Vitaliy Bernadskiy (center) won the event with 7.5/9. Part one of our report. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

British Championship Round 2

7/30/2017 – Games and commentary from Round 2 of the 104th British Championship in Llandudno,July 28th – August 6th, 2017 | Photo: Phil Makepeace