Christmas puzzles with Pal Benko

12/25/2016 – Another year passes, and we end it with our traditional Christmas puzzles – this year for the seventeenth time. Over the holidays we try to give you something unusual: puzzles that cannot be easily solved with a computer, tasks which require you to think all by yourself. And once again, as happened frequently in the past, we received three wonderfully entertaining problems from the great composer Pal Benko, who wished us and our readers a Happy Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

12/25/2016 – ChessBase wishes all chess friends and readers a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Schachkalender: Who am I? Solution

12/24/2016 – Every year the German "Schachkalender" challenges its readers to a quiz. Under the heading "Who am I?" the "Kalender" gives biographical hints and asks for the name of a well-known chessplayer. This year we offered an English version of the quiz and searched for a player who once had been the number one of his country, had a famous student and was a professional in another sport. A lot of readers took part in the quiz, three won an issue of the ChessBase Magazine. Solution...

Advent calendar: December 24

12/24/2016 – 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. Behind the door, the door of December 24, waits an opening video. One of the world's greatest opening experts shows a line that might prove useful. Advent calendar, door 24.

Wei Yi vs Richard Rapport: The Armageddon Decides

12/24/2016 – Only ten rating points separate Richard Rapport (2717) and Wei Yi (2707), the world's two best juniors. And the match they played from 20th to 23rd December in Yancheng, China, was close. A 2-2 tie after four classical games required a blitz-tiebreak. After two blitz-games and another 1-1 tie, an Armageddon game decided the match in favor of Rapport.

The London Chess Classic closes in style

12/23/2016 – After an exciting ten days of chess, it almost feels like an anti-climax when the London Chess Classic ends, as there’s no standard prizegiving for the players. What many don’t realise is that there is an official dinner after the event for some special guests. Take a sneak peek into what goes on at the private dinner…

Advent calendar: December 23

12/23/2016 – 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. Behind door 23 hides one of the best and fastest players in the history of chess. Advent calendar, door 23.

2016 Christmas Buyer's Guide: Champions and ChessBase

12/23/2016 – Concluding the suggested 2016 Christmas Buyer’s Guide, here are fine selections of great games collections by top players with names such as Anand and Kramnik, as well as Master Classes on world champions that now extend to Karpov and Kasparov, two names who dominated chess for 40 years, and of course the flagship programs that have helped make ChessBase what it is, as well as new ones that open a world of possibilities.

Theoretical victory

12/23/2016 – 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.

Who is the world's best junior? Wei Yi vs Richard Rapport

12/22/2016 – Wei Yi and Richard Rapport are the world's top two juniors and both are known for their entertaining and uncomprosing attacking chess. From 20th to 23rd December they play a match in Yancheng, China. Wei Yi won the first game, Rapport the second, the third was a draw and this leads to a current score of 1.5-1.5. Analyses and photos.

Workshop: The Engines and Caruana's Queen Sacrifice

12/22/2016 – Caruana's positional queen sacrifice in his game against Hikaru Nakamura at the London Chess Classic fascinated the public particularly. But are modern engines able to evaluate such a queen sacrifice and its consequences correctly? Arno Nickel grandmaster of correspondence chess took a close look at the critical phase of that game.

Advent calendar: December 22

12/22/2016 – 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. Behind door 22 you can find out more about a match between two World Champions that began 90 years ago. Advent calendar, door 22.

Chess adventures in China

12/21/2016 – China is chess superpower but for a long time open tournaments have been rare in the country. But the chess scene in China flourishes and the 1. Hainan Dhanzou Open attracted a lot of strong players. Dutch GM Jan Werle also travelled to Hainan and was impressed by the strength of the Chinese juniors and the superb performance of Yu Yangyi who finished clear first with 8.0/9.

"It happens to the best...": Jon Speelman's Agony Column #33

12/21/2016 – Every chess tournament has its share of errors, mistakes, blunders, no matter whether amateurs or the world's best players try their skills. Jon Speelman takes a look at agonizing moments from the London Chess Classic.

Wei Yi draws first blood in four game match against Richard Rapport

12/21/2016 – Richard Rapport started well in the first round of his four-game match against Wei Yi, getting a nice advantage in an offbeat line of the French. But Wei Yi took his chances in an unbalanced position to win the game with an impressive attack.

Advent calendar: December 21

12/21/2016 – 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. Behind door 21 waits a tricky endgame. Advent calendar, door 21.

Riazantsev and Andreikin are new European Rapid and Blitz Champions

12/20/2016 – With 7.0/7 Alexei Shirov had the best start in the rapid tournament of the European Rapid and Blitz Championships that were played from 15th to 17th December in Tallinn, Estonia. But then Shirov lost steam and Alexander Riazantsev won the tournament on tie-break. The blitz tournament was dominated by Dmitry Andreikin: he scored 22.0/26 and did not lose a single game.

Advent calendar: December 20

12/20/2016 – 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. Behind door 20 waits a report about a remarkable match. Advent calendar, door 20.

2016 Christmas Buyer's Guide: From start to finish

12/20/2016 – While openings are unquestionably important, even a winning advantage can be squandered if the middlegame and endgame skills are lacking. There is no lack of top-notch courses to help you, ranging from beginner tactics to advanced strategic motifs, not to mention numerous exemplary works on the endgame. In this Buyer’s Guide you will find all you need on learning to play chess, mastering the middlegame, and converting the endgame.

Lubomir Kavalek: Nailed to the chessboard for 50 years

12/20/2016 – His graduation from National Master and International Master to full GM took just seven months and happened 51 years ago. “A grandmaster title is like a driver’s license,” an experienced colleague told him. “You don’t yet know how to drive well, you learn on the go.” In his Huffington Post column Lubos Kavalek looks at memorable players – Flohr, Spassky, Petrosian, Fischer – and games from that time. His article is historically and didactically interesting.

Young generation triumphs in Israeli Championships

12/20/2016 – The Israeli Championships took place in the ancient city of Tiberias but at the board youth triumphed over experience: 25-year old Tamir Nabaty won the Open section and 17-year old Michal Lahav became new Women's Champion of Israel. Report and results...

Bodychecks and blows

12/20/2016 – 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!

Three lead at the Sunway Sitges 2016

12/20/2016 – The Sunway Sitges 2016 is currently taking place in Spain from the 16th to the 23rd of December 2016. The tournament is extremely strong with 28 grandmasters playing in the field of 117 participants. Gata Kamsky and Sasikiran are the top seeds with a rating of 2661. However, the most impressive thing about the event is the beautiful setting. IM V. Saravanan, who himself is playing at the event, sent us an impressive pictorial report

Advent calendar: December 19

12/19/2016 – 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. Today a former World Champion shows a little opening trick. Advent calendar, door 19.