Reykjavik Open 2017: For the love of chess

4/22/2017 – The Reykjavik Open is one of the highlights of the year's chess calendar with amazing scenery, top notch organization, and chess for all. It is now underway with hundreds of players, including names such as Anish Giri, Dmitry Andreikin, Jobava Baadur, as well as budding talents such as Liang Awonder, Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin. Enjoy this report with tactics to solve and gorgeous photos by Alina L'Ami.

Gashimov Memorial 2017: So falls to Mamedyarov

4/22/2017 – As the Grenke Chess Classic wraps up, another Super GM tournament has just started to fill the gap: The Gashimov Memorial, the 4th edition of the event in tribute to Vugar Gashimov, taken away at the much too young age of 27. Playing in it are players such as Wesley So, Kramnik, Karjakin, Mamedyarov, Topalov, and more. The first round already brought in the shocker as So lost with white to Mamedyarov. Here is the report with detailed analysis by GM Aleks Lenderman.

Grenke Classic 2017: Levon Aronian wins all the marbles!

4/22/2017 – What do you get when you ad one plus one plus one plus one? You get first place at Grenke! Levon Aronian has been unstoppable, and in round six he clinched clear first with a round to spare when his potential rivals Carlsen and Caruana drew their respective games, while he won his fourth in a row, beating Hou Yifan. This took his tally to 5.0/6, a full 1.5 points ahead. Read the report by GM Elshan Moradiabadi with analysis by GM Krikor Mekhitarian.

Backup idea

4/21/2017 – Major pieces love open files. That's why White has just played 13.g5! (diagram position) because he has seen a speedy way to line them up against the black king following 13...hxg5 14.hxg5 Qxg5 - all three of them! How this?

Grenke Classic 2017: Magnus scores; Levon leads

4/21/2017 – Round five saw Magnus Carlsen finally score as he soundly defeated Georg Meier with black. He still remains a full point behind the leader since Levon Aronian also won, beating Arkadij Naiditsch in an inspired performance. After sacrificing an exchange to keep Naiditsch's king in the center, he entered a pawn up into an opposite-colored bishop he handled superbly. Read the report with the highly instructive analysis by Tiger Hillarp-Persson.

ChessBase Broadcast: now with live chat!

4/20/2017 – Grenke Chess Classic, Reykjavik Open, Karpov Poikovsky, Chinese League. You can start watching the games with a single click, here in your browser. And if you have been using our Live Broadcast service you will have noticed that it is being constantly upgraded. We have engine analysis and advanced cloud functions, and now also chat in the browser, where your attention is drawn to interesting things that are happening in the games. You can jump to games in other tournament when people point to them – and that with single click in the chat.

Grenke Classic 2017: Levon takes the lead

4/20/2017 – Without a doubt, round four brought in a number of dramatic moments for those watching the games live. The one ‘letdown’, if one may, was the uneventful draw between Carlsen and Caruana on top board. Naiditsch and Meier had a crazy game that drew in the end, while Aronian defeated Bluebaum very cleanly to take the lead after Hou Yifan lost to MVL in a tough endgame that is annotated in detail by GM Krikor Mekhitarian.

Nihal Sarin in Hamburg (2): fun with chess

4/19/2017 – Two weeks ago one of the youngest IMs in history, all of twelve years old, and now with one GM norm under his belt, came to visit us in Hamburg. We told you how impressed everyone it the ChessBase office was, by his tactical vision and his deep understanding of positional aspects of the game. But also by his obvious love and enjoyment of the game. Nihal entertained everyone with humorous chess puzzles, of which we bring you a small selection. You can solve two and win a valuable prize.

Speelman's Agony #49

4/19/2017 – The Agony and Ecstasy column offers readers a unique chance to have their games analysed by one of the greats, who was once world no.4, not to mention a prolific author. As if that weren’t enough, you get a free one-month Premium subscription to ChessBase Account. This month, Jonathan Speelman dissects one of his own recent painful losses, to share his Agony with you as well as what he learned.

Vidit Gujrathi: The Fashionable Caro-Kann

4/18/2017 – Are you looking for a tricky opening with Black? Something that offers dynamic play based on a strong strategic foundation? Let Indian grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, currently rated 2673, show you the lines he personally prefers and has employed successfully in practice (recently against Vachier Lagrave, Radjabov, Jobava and Anand). Total running time 4½ + 3¾ hours of invaluable instructions.

Kortchnoi Zurich Challenge: Nakamura scores a hat trick

4/18/2017 – They were tied for first in the New Classical games but the battle went in a different direction in the final blitz phase. Nakamura played good, fast chess and dominated the proceedings while Nepomniachtchi finished with a loss. We have beautiful pictures by Eugeny Atarov and grandmaster analysis by Srinath Narayanan.

Storming the fortress

4/18/2017 – "I don't believe in fortresses", said Magnus Carlsen during his World Championship match against Sergey Karjakin in New York 2016. This skepticism has a reason: a lot of fortresses look stronger than they are.

Grenke Classic 2017: A feast of fighting chess

4/18/2017 – It is impossible to predict how a tournament will pan out, whether quiet or all-out war. Round three at the Grenke Classic has definitely put it in the latter category. For the second straight day, three of the four games ended in decisive results, and although Carlsen drew against Hou Yifan, he got into trouble! Caruana, who won in style, has now played nine straight games ending in decisive results! Here is the large illustrated report with GM commentary.

Korchnoi Zurich Chess Challenge: Nakamura supreme

4/17/2017 – After having shared first in the New Classical games, both Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura fought to confirm their place under the sun in the final blitz phase. Here it was all Nakamura as he dominated proceedings, taking clear first, with Anand in second. The combined overall standings gave Nakamura clear first with a point lead, ahead of Nepomniachtchi in second, and Anand in third. Express report.

Kortchnoi Zurich Challenge: Nakamura, Nepo take pole position

4/17/2017 – At the end of the ‘new classical’ part of the tournament, Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniatchi are on top with 10 points each. They’ll have the edge, as play moves on into the blitz phase. In the blitz phase, however, we move back to the conventional scoring system. Illustrated report with grandmaster analysis.

Grenke Classic 2017: Hou Yifan is queen for the day...again!

4/17/2017 – What can one say, except: wow. Of the four games in round two, three ended in decisive results, and Levon Aronian's escape from Magnus Carlsen was a small miracle. Round one's losers Fabiano Caruana and MVL struck back with enormous determination to get back to 50%. The exception was Hou Yifan who broke past Georg Meier with a mating attack with black to now lead with 2.0/2! Here is the illustrated report by Elshan Moradiabadi with detailed analysis by Aleksandr Lenderman.

Daniel King's Games of the Round at Zurich

4/16/2017 – With so much great chess, and it is hard to keep up. As you probably know already, Daniel King has been providing live commentary of the games in Zurich. What you may not know, is that he has also been producing a commented Game of the Round video. Short and sweet, here are the first five. Enjoy!

Fagernes International: Nihal Sarin announces his arrival

4/16/2017 – Nihal Sarin has announced his arrival and how! It is true that he had already started making a name for himself as a dangerous 12-year-old boy who could crush you if you give him one small opportunity. But the TV2 Fagernes GM International saw the 12-year-old genius score his first GM norm, stay undefeated, smash a 2600 GM on the way, tie for second (take fourth place on the tiebreak), and play breathtaking chess. We have a report with grandmaster analysis of Nihal's games.

Kortchnoi Zurich Challenge: Survival of the fittest

4/16/2017 – Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand was struggling to get going in the first two days, but the third day saw him regain his flow as he disarmed and destroyed Grigoriy Oparin and Boris Gelfand like the Vishy of the lore. Hikaru Nakamura also was at his peak as he won both the games today to join Peter Svidler in the lead. Illustrated report with grandmaster analysis.

Grenke Classic 2017: Surprise, surprise!

4/15/2017 – After what seemed likely to be another hiatus of super tournaments, the Grenke Chess Classic is back after skipping 2016. This year’s edition has a great blend with massive opens, and an elite round-robin with the Magnus Carlsen no less! The first round saw many surprises such as Hou Yifan beating Fabiano Caruana! Enjoy this report flush grandmaster analysis and exciting chess.

Dubai Open 2017: Gawain Jones wins

4/15/2017 – The annual Dubai Open is a regular affair for many grandmasters and talented youngsters. This time, about 214 players were competing for USD 50,000. Surprisingly, 91 of these players were Indians. We bring you an illustrated report with grandmaster analysis. Tip: Alexander Fier of Brazil who finished eighth in the tournament has annotated his final round game in wonderful depth that you just should not miss—the analysis is a work of grandmaster art.

Kortchnoi Zurich Challenge: No heroes in time trouble

4/15/2017 – The match-ups on show in the second and third rounds of the 'New Classical' were all interesting and full of 'time-trouble' miracles. While Svidler's incredible ...Nf5 not only saved him from defeat but even won him the game against Hikaru. Vladimir Kramnik was a piece up against Ian Nepomniachtchi but the latter, armed with an irritating passer, fished out a draw! But that was not all—Gelfand missed a win against Kramnik as well! Report and grandmaster analysis.

Motif with a twist

4/14/2017 – Tactical strikes often pass by unnoticed, especially in blitz or rapid server games which you don't bother analysing with a computer. And yet this can be very rewarding as this example shows. In the diagram White's knight c4 is attacked. Can you see why all retreats run into something nasty?

Kortchnoi Zurich Challenge: Vintage Kramnik

4/14/2017 – As in the blitz, Yannick Pelletier and Peter Svidler were put under serious pressure, on the board as well as on the clock. While Peter managed to bring about a rearguard, not without some generosity from Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura gave his opponent no such chance. Vladimir Kramnik scored a trademark victory over Viswanathan Anand. Report with grandmaster analysis.