2/27/2018 – The largest Irish Open, and arguably the "best weekender in the world" attracted 362 players across four tournaments, including a strong Masters Open won by GM Sergei Tiviakov. Tiviakov last visited Ireland 19 years ago when he won the 6th edition of the tournament back in 1999. Gawain Jones (pictured beer in hand), himself a two-time winner, tied Tiviakov on points with 5.0 / 6, but lost a two-game blitz tiebreak. A look at this fun-filled fixture on the international calendar. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

2/26/2018 – OSG Baden-Baden has been dominating the German League for more than a decade — in the last eleven years, Baden-Baden won ten times, one time they came second. This season, the star-studded team is again favourite to win — but in round ten they stumbled against Solingen. The match winner for Solingen was ChessBase author Erwin l'Ami. | Photo: Pascal Simon

2/26/2018 – The sixth round of the Aeroflot Open was tactics galore. While Vladimir Fedoseev went for broke to rip open his opponent's king in his game against IM Amin Tabatabaei, Krishnan Sasikiran caught Aryan Tari's king in a mating net after the latter gave up a piece for three pawns. Besides, the tournament saw yet another leader dethroned as Kovaleyev defeated Artemiev on the top board to take the sole lead himself. An illustrated report.

2/26/2018 – What do you look for when you choose to play in an international event? 1. Strong field, 2. A good place to visit, 3. Affordability. What if we said that all of this is possible if you play at the HD Bank Open 2018 in Vietnam. With the top seed being 2737 and close to 100 titled players expected, this is a perfect tournament for you to gain exposure/norms. Apart from this Hanoi is a beautiful city in Vietnam with a lot of tourist attractions. Ha Noi city is located on the banks of the Red River, visiting the river shore will surely be a pleasant experience! | Photo: www.tripadvisor.com

2/25/2018 – The Aeroflot Open 2018 has passed the half-way mark, and Russia's talented young grandmaster Artemiev Vladislav is now the only player with 4½ points at the top of the table. On Saturday, he showed his class to outplay the experienced Moldavian, Victor Bologan, taking advantage of small inaccuracies to convert the full point. It will be exciting to see if Fedoseev, Vidit and Andreikin can make a comeback in the second half of the event. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

2/25/2018 – Many people claim that chess is their passion, but how many have thought deeply about the reasons why they love chess so much. It takes an IIT graduate and the head of an engineering college to think objectively about this intense subject! Prof. Lakshmi Narayana breaks it down point by point, understanding how rich the game of chess is. "Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe!" There is something in this game for everyone, right from a philosopher to an illiterate! | Photo: Robert Couse-Baker CC BY 2.0

2/24/2018 – The tournament has almost reached halfway stage at the Aeroflot Open. However, none of the 2700s are among the tournament leaders. The lead currently rests in the hands of Bologan, Petrosian and Artemiev. Meanwhile, the bottom-most seed of the tournament, IM Eesha Karavade brought down GM Rinat Jumabayev and is now tied for second. With five more rounds to go, it will be interesting to watch the top seeds fight their way to the top.

2/24/2018 – Tables are the heart of tournament reports. Who won, who lost, who is currently first, who finished finally first, who played how against whom? But the new ChessBase tables offer much more than pairings and results. They also offer photos of and information about players, Elo-charts, games to replay, and more.

2/23/2018 – Two traditional tournaments, known for their social scene as much as their strong fields, kick off today, with anniversary editions. In Amsterdam, the Batavia tournament is in its 10th year, while in Bunratty, Ireland, the Bunratty Chess Festival is celebrating its 25th edition! Top seeds are GMs Ivan Sokolov and Nigel Short respectively, and both tournaments are carried on live.chessbase.com. Photo: Simon Williams pre-Bunratty selfie with Blair Connell, via Twitter

2/23/2018 – A solid tactical understanding is sure to help any chess player in critical situations. Whether it is a simple exchange or a mating attack, tactics are ubiquitous. Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your tactical understanding in this series with IM Oliver Reeh and Martin Fischer! Friday at 15:30 CET (9:00 AM EDT) it's all about calculation training!

2/23/2018 – Openings sometimes have curious names. The King's Indian is called King's Indian because Black fianchettoes his king's bishop, the Queen's Indian is called Queen's Indian because Black fianchettoes the queen's bishop, and Nimzowitsch-Indian is called Nimzowitsch-Indian because...Nimzowitsch played it. But there's another move that Nimzowitsch hardly ever played which nevertheless also bears his name: 1.b3, the so-called Nimzowitsch-Larsen opening. | Pictured: (left) Aron Nimzowitsch (right) Bent Larsen | Photo: Hans Peter

2/23/2018 – The A group of Aeroflot Open is one of the most keenly contested open tournaments out there. There are 32 GMs above the rating of 2600 and all of them are vying for the top spot which not only earns them a hefty prize fund, but also a chance to play in the Dortmund super tournament. After three rounds we have only two players on 100% score Viktor Bologan and Tigran Petrosian. Bologan's victory over Korobov was a beautiful game and it is analyzed in great depth in this report. ChessBase India's Niklesh Jain brings you all the updates from Hotel Cosmos in Moscow.