10/14/2016 – It had really seemed ‘written in the stars’ as Gawain Jones had managed to combine strong play with exceptional good fortune to reach the knockout phase unscathed. He then overcame Zhou Jiangchao to meet Polish player Darius Swiercz, but that is when everything went wrong, and in a dramatic final he lost. There was no shortage of big winners though, as every section saw players leaving off with big paychecks. Jeffery Xiong also became the youngest ever American player in the Top 100.

10/14/2016 – 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.

10/13/2016 – The Global Chess Festival organised by Judit Polgar can be described in many ways but the main feeling when you enter the glorious venue used, the Castle Garden Bazaar on the Danube in the center of Budapest is “fun”. There is an abundance of colour and music and noise that immediately attacks your senses. As a child you have a huge variety of activities to choose from, that is the idea: to show chess as an enjoyable activity that can be shared around the world as a common language. Enjoy this illustrated report.

10/13/2016 – How about sitting in the comfort of your living room and challenging a player anywhere in the world to play a game with you, on a "real chess set"? Sound's impossible right! With the world's smartest chess board, "Square Off", it no longer is! This article deals with the journey of how a revolutionizing chess technology was created. After years of hard work and innumerable prototypes, the final product is now ready. And you can be the proud owner of the Square Off chess set by supporting their campaign on Kickstarter.

10/12/2016 – It might seem like a needle to the great Dutch player, but consider that Timman and Karpov have a rivalry that now spans over 100 classical games, with their first match taking place 26 years ago. In this time, Jan Timman had never been able to best the 12th World Champion, Anatoly Karpov in a match, and it was not for lack of trying. At long last, he can finally cross off that item on his bucket list that had to seem was written in permanent ink: 'beat Tolya in a match.' Illustrated report.

10/12/2016 – This week's pair of games are by Michael Bacon from Lavonia, a small city in Georgia. He learned chess in his twenties, and made a living for many years from backgammon, also playing other games including poker, bridge and latterly Go on the Internet. Michael was champion of the city of Atlanta from 1974-6. The two games he sent, a victory against a strong opponent and then a heavy defeat against a less formidable opponent, are a fine encapsulation of the Agony and Ecstasy of chess in a microcosm.

10/11/2016 – As a chess fan, what's your daily schedule like? If you are a student, you will probably attend classes and work on assignments, then follow chess games online, play a ton of blitz. But whatever you are doing right now, put it on hold! Hou Yifan, the Women’s World Champion, is in Hamburg, at the ChessBase HQ. And at 7 p.m. CEST on Wednesday she will be doing an interaction session with everybody, via Playchess and ChessBase’s Official Facebook and Twitter handles!

10/11/2016 – 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. Today on the playchess server, 4 pm: Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller and Vidit Gujrathi!

10/10/2016 – The rounds five to seven were among the most intense, as they meant the cutoff for those who would get to see a big payday on Millionaire Monday, and those who would be left fighting the last two 'normal' rounds. After the dust settled in round seven, every section saw playoffs needed to choose the qualifiers. It wasn't just about the very top GMs in the Open section, as even players rated under 1200 will fight for thousands of dollars!

10/10/2016 – Two words really summarize the last round of the Isle of Man International: brilliancies and tragedies, and there were plenty of both to go around. Pavel Eljanov concluded his brilliant campaign with a final draw against Wesley So, securing first place. Fabiano Caruana managed to level with him after beating Michael Adams in a big game, but came second on tiebreak. Read the tales of joy and woe with GM analysis.

10/9/2016 – In the last round of the Isle of Man International 2016 world's youngest IM, R. Praggnanandhaa, was up against Axel Bachmann. The Paraguayan GM started with an offbeat opening that soon turned into an opposite side castling. The 11-year-old was on top of his game has he started playing with great energy and imagination, and the value of each move became very high in this sharp battle. That's when Bachmann went wrong and Praggnandhaa was all over the white king, scoring a win with the black pieces in 18 moves against a 2645 opponent!

10/9/2016 – In this report you will learn how grandmasters above 2700 Elo are able to make short draws which somehow we, normal players, are never able to! You will also see Shirov's attacking flair, Naiditisch's tactical acumen and last but not the least you will learn the technique of how to mate with a bishop and knight. Hou Yifan got that position and the reigning World Champion didn't face any problems! Sagar Shah tells you how it is done – in an important instructional video.