9/30/2016 – The World Youth Championships U14, U16 and U18 are played from 20th September to 4th October in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. More than 400 players travelled to the Siberian city, accompanied by more than 260 parents and coaches. David Koetsier is coach of the Australian team and sends a report about the adventures of the Australian team that reflects on the unique atmosphere of youth tournaments.

9/30/2016 – Judit Polgar was a chess prodigy and is the only woman who has ever made it to the top ten in chess. After the Chess Olympiad in Tromso 2014 Judit Polgar retired from tournament chess but of course remained faithful to the game she loves. At the Chess Olympiad in Baku 2016 she was captain of the Hungarian team that played in the Open and she is the driving force behind the Global Chess Festival in Budapest, a fine celebration of chess. Manuel Weeks spoke with the "first lady of chess".

9/29/2016 – During the Chess Olympiad 2016 in Baku the General Assembly of FIDE made two important decisions which concern major tournaments. FIDE decided to play the Chess Olympiad 2020 in Khanty-Mansiysk and to let the Iranian Chess Federation organise the Women's World Championship 2017. This decision caused furious protests because in previous tournaments in Iran the women participants were forced to wear a headscarf.

9/29/2016 – A relatively bloody day in Moscow, as three white victories significantly change the standings. All of them came in very different ways: Mamedyarov annihilated Gelfand with a powerful attack, Nepomniachtchi was able to defeat Kramnik with excellent positional maneuvers while Giri ground down Tomashevsky in an extremely long endgame. Report, GM commentary and even a transcript of Vishy's analysis!

9/29/2016 – French chess trainer Xavier Parmentier was a passionate and caring coach. He helped many young chess players in difficult situations to find a way to develop self-confidence and to have success in chess and in life. Thanks to his help the 12-year old Fahim Mohammad, an immigrant from Bangladesh, was able to become French Champion U12 and later World Champion of his age group though he was forced to live as a homeless illegal in France. In April this year Xavier Parmentier died at the age of 52. Now a foundation continues his work.

9/29/2016 – Many foreigners wait for a chance to visit India. Filled with diverse landscapes, historic and cultural background, various cuisines and landmark structures – a trip to India can be a life transforming experience. If you are a chess player, here's some good news for you: you not only get to play in three back to back strong tournaments with a hefty prize fund, but you get to see the country. And if you are an IM or a GM you get some excellent conditions.

9/24/2016 – Online playing has been one of the true wonders for chess. The possibility to play a game against someone at any time of the day, anywhere in the world, is a joy and addictive. As of this writing, no fewer than 666 million games have been played on Playchess, from the most casual unrated game to grudge matches between top GMs. Learn about the many options you have to play games, including filters, the fancy 3D boards, and participating in the tournaments organized around the clock.

9/24/2016 – Fide Master James (Jim) Eade has been a chess player, chess organizer, chess politician, and chess publisher. In 2016 he was honored by The University of Texas at Dallas as “Chess Educator of the Year.” Still, while certainly laudable, he is perhaps best known as an author, particularly for his best-selling Chess for Dummies, now in its fourth edition. His book has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide, and has been translated even into Russian. Alexey Root interviewed the best-selling author.

9/23/2016 – Playchess is an incredibly rich online server, with tons of options for playing, watching, or simply hanging out. You can also enjoy live lectures, simuls, have private lessons, watch live commentary (and ask questions), watch live and past video shows, and even test yourself with the tactics trainer. You can even set up a private chess club page with special events inside! If you are new to Playchess, or a bit unclear on it, check out this first tutorial.

9/23/2016 – The Cray-1 was the most successful supercomputer in history. It was built in 1975 and cost eight million dollars. Soon a chess program was ported to it, and "Cray Blitz" proceeded to win the Computer Chess World Championship twice in a row. So how fast exactly was the Cray, and how much progress we have made in four decades. Are today’s consumer computers faster, and if yes by what factor? Ten? You are not going to believe this.

9/23/2016 – 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.

9/21/2016 – On 22nd September, 11.30 EST, Magnus Carlsen is ready for another challenge. In a handicap simul in New York the World Champion will play against ten users of his "Play Magnus App" and guests of the Liberty Science Center. Each of Carlsen's opponents will have 30 minutes on the clock, just as Carlsen, who, however, has 30 minutes for all his games. You can follow the simul live on the ChessBase website.