London, Rd. 3: Wesley So remains in the lead

12/11/2016 – It could have become the day of Levon Aronian who was close to winning against the tournament's leader Wesley So. However the American defended skillfully and kept his lead in the tournament as well as in the overall standing of the Grand Chess Tour - GM Michail Krasenkow annotates the game - his closest rival Hikura Nakamura scored against Vishy Anand though, the race is still open.

Advent calendar: December 11

12/11/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Advent calendar, door 11.

London, Rd. 2: Anand, So and Caruana

12/10/2016 – The London Chess Classic kicked off quite fast as today's 2nd round brought three decisive games. Anand showed good preparation against the Najdorf and didn't shy away when Maxime Vachier-Lagrave gave him the chance to sacrifice an exchange - notes by Krikor Mekhitarian. Wesley So nurtured a slight but nagging advantage against Adams until the Englishman collapsed. Topalov and Caruana played a rollercoaster game but in the end the star from the U.S. had the better of it.

Surprises and Frustrations - Carlsen vs Karjakin (2/3)

12/10/2016 – Before the World Championship match in New York almost everyone saw Magnus Carlsen as clear favorite. But Sergey Karjakin was a surprisingly difficult opponent and though Carlsen had very good chances in the first half of the match he failed to crack Karjakin's defenses. Carlsen was frustrated, the match became tense. Yasser Seirawan takes a look at games 1 to 6.

London Chess Classic, Day 1: It's not only the Super Tournament

12/10/2016 – See what happened on day 1: Children were allowed on stage to play on the seats of the superstars, the British Knockout saw GMs fighting to keep their seats and last year's winner of the Fide open has to try the Swiss Gambit: Report by Sabrina Chevannes...

Advent calendar: December 10

12/10/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Advent calendar, door 10.

London Chess Classic: Three decisions in round 1

12/9/2016 – Three decisive games - the London Chess Classic is on. Georg Meier shows how Vladimir Kramnik outplayed Veselin Topalov from the opening to score a quick and clean win. Hikaru Nakamura celebrated his 29th birthday but blundered in the opening and lost in 28 moves against Wesley So. Michael Adams also blundered and lost against Levon Aronian. Report, results, games...

When Chess meets Business: the Pro-Biz Cup in London

12/9/2016 – One of the many attractions of the London Chess Classic is the Pro-Biz Cup. It offers businessmen the chance to team up with top grandmasters and top grandmasters the chance to discuss strategy with non-chess-related strategy experts. This year's Pro-Biz Cup was again a lot of fun and very competitive!

The Pendulum is Swinging Towards Defense

12/9/2016 – The recent World Chess Championship match in New York was a different match than the ones we have come to know before because defense – a modern style of defense – played such a dominant role. Our author Andy Soltis contemplates modern defense.

Inside Team Carlsen: Q&A with Peter Heine Nielsen

12/9/2016 – Peter Heine Nielsen is the second of Magnus Carlsen. In an extensive interview he looks back on the World Championship match in New York, tells us about Carlsen's helpers, explains why it is difficult to prepare with White, how Carlsen felt after losing game eight and what mind-set is best for Magnus to play good chess. Q & A with Peter Heine Nielsen

Attack vs. defence

12/9/2016 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.

Mega 2017: Enjoying the updates

12/9/2016 – When looking at the flagship database by ChessBase, Mega 2017, it would be understandable to conclude that its asking price was buying you the 6.8 million games it comes with, not to mention the over 70 thousand commented games, but that is only part of what you get. When you purchase Mega 2017, you also get a professional 12-month service that will keep your database completely up-to-date. Here is a tutorial on how to activate and use it.

Advent calendar: December 9

12/9/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Advent calendar, door 9.

Kasparov: "Karjakin as Champion would have been a misunderstanding"

12/8/2016 – Of course, the match between Carlsen and Karjakin was closely followed by the Russian chess press. Karjakin lost narrowly but in Russia he is still a hero. Garry Kasparov, however, was blunt: "A World Champion Karjakin would have been a misunderstanding." Here are more reactions from the Russian press, including an interview with Sergey Karjakin.

Houdini 5's Tactical Mode: Releasing the Kraken

12/8/2016 – With the arrival of Houdini 5 many will be asking themselves: What makes it so special? Aside from unique characteristics that made Houdini the reference all others were compared to is a special function hidden away in its options you should definitely know about: Tactical mode. This feature turns Houdini 5 into a single-minded tactics hunter that will find combinations and winners far faster than normal. Read on to learn about Tactical Mode and a backdoor trick.

Advent calendar: December 8

12/8/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Advent calendar, door 8.

Tanisha Boramanikar: Very young and improving rapidly - Agony #31

12/7/2016 – Tanisha Boramanikar is one of the many talents from India. She is ten years old and rated just under 1400. But she plays much better. When she sent two "Agony and Ecstasy" games to Jon Speelman, the grandmaster was impressed.

ChessBase 14: It helps you to play better!

12/7/2016 – ChessBase 14 has a lot of nice little features that help you to get better. One of these features is the "Assisted Analysis". It sets your chess mind working and makes you focus on the board. What is and how to use "Assisted Analysis"?

Carlsen vs Karjakin: Missed opportunities

12/7/2016 – Having a World Championship in Manhattan, in New York, the financial and media capital of the world - this sounds like a dream come true. A golden opportunity to put chess into the limelight, to experience three weeks of chess fever and a chance to show the world why the game is so exciting. But in his first part of a three-part review of the Carlsen vs Karjakin match in New York, Yasser Seirawan critizes that a lot of opportunities were missed.

Ponomariov: "Carlsen has stopped making progress"

12/7/2016 – Post mortem: before the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin we asked experts for predictions and prognoses. Now we asked again and gathered views from von David Navara, Markus Ragger, Mikhail Golubev, Daniel King, Dorian Rogozenco, and lots of others. Some of them think that Carlsen deservedly won the match while praising Karjakin's defensive skills and his preparation. Ruslan Ponomariov, however, criticises the performance of the World Champion. He claims that Carlsen has stopped making progress as a chess player.

Advent calendar: December 7

12/7/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Advent calendar, door 7.

Match format: Sutovsky vs Seirawan

12/6/2016 – Yasser Seirawan does not like the current format of the World Championship and proposed a number of hotly debated changes. Now, Emil Sutovsky, President of the Association of Chess Professionals, counters. He offers an out-of-the box proposal and invites readers to make their opinion heard.

Barriers 2

12/6/2016 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!

Advent calendar: December 6

12/6/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Advent calendar, door 6.