12/14/2016 – One of the great things about the London Chess Classic is that it is not just a tournament for the elite, but a chess festival… a chesstival, if you wish. People of all backgrounds travel from far and wide to this event. Whether they are playing or just following the events, there is always something for them to do.

12/14/2016 – 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 14.

12/14/2016 – There is little question the most impressive feature of Mega 2017 is the staggering number of commented games: around 70 thousand. One obvious question is “how good are they?” While some contain light notes, you will also find thousands of games commented in great depth by legendary players through time. Don’t take our word for it. See for yourself a small sample of early games by great masters of the past with in-depth annotations by Botvinnik, Tarrasch, Fine, and more!

12/13/2016 – Round 5 of the London Chess Classic brought four draws and one win. The only winner of the round was Michael Adams who defeated Veselin Topalov with an inspired attack - Nadezhda Kosintseva annotates the encounter. The other games ended in a draw but were very exciting. Vishy Anand came up with a novelty, Caruana missed good chances and Vladimir Kramnik showed amazing defensive skills.

12/13/2016 – Magnus Carlsen won the World Championship match against Sergey Karjakin by winning the tie-break convincingly 3-1. The last move of the match was a stunning queen sacrifice. Carlsen retained his title and it is easy to forget how close Karjakin was to becoming new World Champion. Yasser Seirawan takes a look at the second part of the match and all its drama.

12/13/2016 – After playing their games and attending the press conference, the Grandmasters in London usually come to the VIP room for some refreshments and to unwind. Yesterday, a few mums started discussing who the best-looking chess player in the Classic is! It was interesting to hear the views of those who were not affected by rating, or what openings they played...

12/13/2016 – 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, 3.45 pm: Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller and Yannick Pelletier

12/13/2016 – Three weeks ago ChessBase 14 was released, the new version of the most powerful tool for chess training. The Q&A on Youtube is packed with lots of information, hints and practical tips on ChessBase 14. Matthias Wüllenweber was live on air, showing you how to get the most out of ChessBase 14.

12/13/2016 – 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 13.

12/12/2016 – In round four of the London Chess Classic Hikaru Nakamura scored his second win in a row. He won a wild and inspired game with Black against Veselin Topalov. Wesley So was close to a win against Anish Giri but the dutch player defended stubbornly and saved the draw - Georg Meier shares his impressions about this encounter. The other three games also ended in a draw, but they were also entertaining. See our report.

12/12/2016 – How to play World Championship matches? Yasser Seirawan did not like the 12 game format in Carlsen vs Karjakin and proposed a "Radical Solution". Now Maurice Ashley disagrees. After asking the top players for their opinion and looking back at previous matches he concludes that 12 games and a rapid tiebreak are enough!

12/12/2016 – Tiberias is an ancient city with a rich history. Founded by the Romans it is mentioned in the New Testament and considered to be one of the four holy Cities of Judaism. Currently, chess is also an attraction of Tiberias. The city is host to the Championships of Israel and used the opportunity to show how much it supports chess.