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.

Another world record: Navara and Movsesian play a simul

12/5/2016 – Timur Gareyev used the weekend to set a new world record in Las Vegas by playing 48 games blindfold simultaneously, and David Navara and Sergei Movsesian spent the weekend in Prague to also set a new world record in simultaneous chess: they played 12 games against each other - at the same time. Navara won 8.5-3.5.

Ju Wenjun wins Grand Prix series

12/5/2016 – Ju Wenjun won the Fide Women's Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk, the last tournament of the Grand Prix series 2015/2016. By winning this tournament Ju Wenjun also won Grand Prix series and now has the right to challenge the next Women's World Champion for the title. The next Women's World Champion will be established in February, in a knock-out tournament in Tehran.

Timur Gareyev breaks blindfold record

12/5/2016 – On December 3, at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas Timur Gareyev made an attempt to break the world record in blindfold simultaneous play. Without seeing the board Gareyev played against 48 opponents at the same time, more than any player before him. With a mask before his eyes and on an exercise bike. 35 wins, 7 draws, and 6 losses later Gareyev could say: "Yes, world record."

Advent calendar: December 5

12/5/2016 – 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 5.

New: Houdini 5 - stronger than ever

12/4/2016 – Robert Houdart, creator of Houdini, has worked for three years to develop a new version of Houdini. Which can boast of a remarkable increase in strength: thanks to a number of new and improved functions the Houdini 5 is 200 Elo points stronger than its predecessor. Which shows. A not yet fully developed version of Houdini 5 came second at the "Top Chess Engine Championship" (TCEC, Season 9) with 56.0/62 - 50 wins, 12 draws. Impressive...

Advent calendar: December 4

12/4/2016 – 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 4.

Carlsen vs Karjakin: After the match

12/3/2016 – The most beautiful move of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin was the last. In the regular games the World Champion was often better but was unable to convert his advantages to a win. But at the tie-break he clearly played better. Again and again he put Karjakin under pressure - on the board and on the clock. After three games he was 2-1 ahead and then he won the last game and the match with a nice queen sacrifice. Newsblog 2016-12-04...

Yasser Seirawan: “A Radical Solution - Redux"

12/3/2016 – During the World Chess Championship match, Yasser Seirawan's article "A Radical Solution" was causing reactions from all sides. In a second article, the grandmaster is addressing his audience for a second time and specifies his criticism - regarding the format of the match. "A Radical Solution - Redux"...

Advent calendar: December 3

12/3/2016 – 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 3.

Taken for granted

12/2/2016 – 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.

Advent calendar: December 2

12/2/2016 – 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 2.

The new Fide ranking: Carlsen is number one, Caruana second

12/1/2016 – On December 1, one day after the end of the World Championship match, the Fide published its new ranking list. Magnus Carlsen lost 13 points in New York but with 2840 is still the world's number one, 17 points ahead of Fabiano Caruana. Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun lead the women's ranking list, Richard Rapport and Wei Yi are the best juniors, Lei Tingjie leads the girls' ranking list. The lists...

Tie-break time: We have a Champion

12/1/2016 – Maxim Dlugy did not want to miss the tie-breaker that was to decide the World Championship match between Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen. On Wednesday he visited the Fulton Market Building again and saw an exciting finish of a tough World Championship match. However, blitz specialist Dlugy wondered about Karjakin's handling of the clock.

Jon Speelman's Agony Column #30

12/1/2016 – Some attacks in chess are brutal, displaying a firework of sacrifices and tactics, others are more subtle, showing a fine mix of determination and patience - which is often a pleasure to watch. In his Agony Column #30 Jon Speelman presents a nice example of an attack by amateur Fabrice Fiol (photo) that is at once determined and calm.

The new ChessBase Magazine arrived!

12/1/2016 – There are many reasons why the new issue of the ChessBase magazine is so attractive: Olympiad winner Wesley So analyzes a crucial game from Baku 2016, Vladimir Kramnik shows how to play against the King's Indian and Igor Stohl deals with the latest trends in the Benko. Find out what premature resignation is and watch how David Navara discovered another fantastic king march. Have a look!