Interview with Hou Yifan

4/2/2016 – In March Hou Yifan, number one on the women's ranking list, regained the world title, which she had lost when she did not take part in the knock-out World Championship the year before. In an interview with Dagobert Kohlmeyer the World Champion criticises the mode of the Women's World Championship and reveals that her proposals for a different system were made in vain.

Candidates closing ceremony revisited

4/2/2016 – The closing ceremony of the Candidates 2016 was held at the Central Telegraph building on March 29, with prominent Russian political leaders like Igor Levitin, Alexander Zhukov, Pavel Kolopkov in attendance. Sergey Karjakin was awarded the medal, trophy, €95,000, Beluga Vodka and toy BMW car! In this report we bring you more exclusive pictures from the venue that give you the feel of the festivities in Moscow.

Hillary Clinton: looking for Irina Krush

4/1/2016 – It happened in the Steve Harvey Show. Recently the TV host had Democratic front runner in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton, as a guest, and in one segment the former First Lady and Secretary of State had to identify a "female groundbreaker" who was concealed between two imposters. The groundbreaker was Irina Krush, first and only US female grandmaster. Watch the video.

A BMW i8 super-car for Sergey Karjakin

4/1/2016 – As you have probably registered by now, Sergey Karjakin won the Candidates Tournament in Moscow, and went home richer by €95,000. But he also received a special prize from the car manufacturer (and Candidates transport sponsor) BMW: the super sports car BMW, a plug-in hybrid that sells at around $140,000 and has a top speed of 250 kmh (= 155 mph). He can use it to cruise the Russian highways.

Pal Benko's April entertainment

4/1/2016 – Our loyal friend, Hungarian GM and problemist Pal Benkö, who at the age of 87 is still composing wonderfully imaginative problems and studies, has sent us four very unusual (and tricky!) puzzles to solve on this auspicious day. We present them to you without solutions, so you have a few days to try and find the hidden subtleties and traps. One thing is certain: Benko never ceases to delight.

CBM 170: A symphony on board and unheard melodies

4/1/2016 – ChessBase Magazine #170 has 1737 recent games, of which 180 are annotated in depth. Particularly interesting for reviewer Prof. Nagesh Havanur was the encounter between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Li Chao from the Qatar Open. A game for anthologies! He also makes special mention of a new concept in a Sicilian - on the second move! Review...

Dividing knights

4/1/2016 – 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.

April 2016 ratings: Superb Karjakin and Ding Liren

3/31/2016 – The star of the newest ratings list is without question Sergey Karjakin, who gained 19 Elo after winning the Candidates Tournament with a point ahead. However, one should not discount the incredible result by Ding Liren who gained 140 Blitz Elo and is now world no.3. Also of note is the drop in 2700 players, now matching the number from 2010. Feast on the numbers!

NYT: Masters of Chess, Not Self-Promotion

3/31/2016 – In an interesting piece on the recently held Candidates tournament, the New York Times discusses the various issues involving the promotion of chess for corporate sponsorship, from the broadcast exclusivity demanded by AGON to magazine photoshoots with the players. Accompanying the write-up is an excellent gallery of images by James Hill. Well worth a look.

Huffington: It’s Karjakin vs. Carlsen...

3/31/2016 – ... for the World Chess Title. Karjakin’s one point victory margin at the Candidates seems large, but the tournament’s finishing stage was dramatic and exciting, with veteran Anand playing a key role in determining the winner. Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek looks back at the final phase of the event and points out to some interesting tidbits from the rich history of the Candidates.

Grandelius gains entry to Norway Chess

3/31/2016 – On 18th April one of the strongest tournaments of the year will begin: the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament 2016. M. Carlsen, V. Kramnik, A. Giri, L. Aronian, M. Vachier-Lagrave, V. Topalov, S. Karjakin, P. Eljanov and Pentala Harikrishna were invited, the tenth participant was established in a qualifier. Which Swedish GM Nils Grandelius managed to win.

Chess instruction in schools: A quantitative review

3/31/2016 – Does chess in school make children smarter? In this review of the available evidence, Giovanni Sala and Fernand Gobet show that chess instruction in schools provides some moderate effects, especially in boosting children’s cognitive and mathematical skills. Ultimately, it is shown that while providing measurable benefits, the more one studies the greater the results.

Looking back: Abhijeet Gupta in Reykjavik 2016

3/30/2016 – With more than 230 participants and many top grandmasters the Reykjavik Open boasted a strong field. The Harpa Hall, where the tournament was played, was another attraction: the summer smile of GM Abhijeet Gupta and IM Tania Sachdev in the inconsistent cold of the Icelandic capital. In this first part of our in-depth round-up, we bring you an illustrated report with the comments of Abhijeet himself.

Matthias Blübaum wins GRENKE Chess Open

3/30/2016 – 587 players used the Easter holidays to play in the GRENKE Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany. The huge open attracted five grandmasters with a rating of 2700+ and 21 2600+ grandmasters. But in the end the young German GM Matthias Blübaum (Elo 2605) left all favorites behind. With 7.5/9 he shared first place with five other players and won on tie-break.

Speelman: How will Karjakin fare against Carlsen?

3/30/2016 – After a fortnight and a bit of ferocious combat we can now congratulate Sergey Karjakin on becoming Magnus Carlsen's next challenger. It's been a roller coaster ride of wildly swinging emotions and will certainly merit much examination in retrospect. GM Speelman looks at it not only from a historical point of view, but also from personal experience as a player and as a second.

Wang Hao - Profile of a chess prodigy (2/2)

3/29/2016 – In this second part of the profile of Wang Hao, the 26-year-old player shares his dire predictions of the future of classical chess, and his opinion of Magnus Carlsen's play. He also goes into detail on his passion for Manga, and his recommendations, as well as eclectic reading tastes from modern fantasy such as The Witcher to literary giants like Yukio Mishima.

ChessBase Account - How-to video of Cloud (1)

3/29/2016 – One of the most powerful tools in the ChessBase Account feature set is MyGames Cloud, a comprehensive database and game editor. If you are seeking to create and maintain databases directly online, or enter and annotate games from a browser to save in a cloud database, this is where you have it all. In order to get started, and covering the basics, here is a video tutorial.

Magnus – the chess movie

3/29/2016 – We are having such a great time following the Candidates. But there was one thing missing in Moscow – Magnus Carlsen! For chess fans who are experiencing withdrawal here's some good news: The film "Magnus" will be aired at the prestigious TriBeCa festival in New York mid April. The 76-minute documentary has been compiled from more than 500 hours of footage shot over a decade. For now we have the trailer.

Sergey Karjakin is the new Challenger!

3/28/2016 – Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana went into the final round of the Candidates tied for first, with Caruana needing to win with black to qualify. That was not to be – Sergey defeated his opponent in a Sicilian Rauzer in 42 moves. With this win he became the Challenger for the World Championship in November against Magnus Carlsen. We have a detailed report from Moscow including pictures, analysis and lots of video interviews.

Rocket horse

3/28/2016 – 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!

Wang Hao - Profile of a chess prodigy (1/2)

3/28/2016 – Every prodigy has their story, how they started, what took them to chess, and more. In this profile and interview, the elite Chinese player Wang Hao is revealed to the readers, from his first steps as a youngster in a country where western chess is a distant third to Go or Chinese Chess, to his fantastic leaps as he became a grandmaster almost overnight. | Photo: Wang Hao's personal archive

Candidates R13: It's Karjakin or Caruana!

3/27/2016 – Hikaru Nakamura played a solid Queen’s Gambit Declined against Veselin Toplaov, equalized quickly, won a pawn the game in 40 moves. Viswanathan Anand vs Anish Giri was a draw in 52 moves. Sergey Karjakin managed to draw in a dangerous position against Levon Aronian in 101 moves, while Caruana-Svidler turned into a 50-move-rule drama that ended on move 116 in a draw. Full report with postgame interviews and indepth analysis.

Women and beautiful chess – a response to critics

3/27/2016 – "I write for ChessBase because, as a kind of ‘community service’, we academics are expected to convey our research to the public in more palatable and widespread forms than just technical papers," writes Dr Azlan Iqbal. Unfortunately some readers interpreted his last article to be misogynistic, having “gratuitous sexist content”. The author replies to his critics and describes the application of the scientific method to an area as nebulous as aesthetics in chess.

Pictorial report from Candidates 2016

3/26/2016 – Amruta Mokal is in Moscow for the Candidates 2016 and sends us beautiful pictures every day. Today we have a compilation of her photos which doesn’t include any of the eight candidates on the chess board. Here are pictures of spectators and famous personalities who visited the tournament hall and also the organizers who have made this event possible. Enjoy this pictorial.