Poland best in attack and defense at NATO Chess Championships

9/6/2016 – The NATO Chess Championship is the greatest military chess tournament in the World. It is hosted by a different NATO country every year and for 2016 it was the turn of the United Kingdom. A challenging task, and the chess was played out at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham from the 22-26 August. Poland won the team event, FM Finn Pedersen was Individual Winner. Carl Portman reports.

2016 Baku Rd4: Russia succumbs to Ukraine

9/5/2016 – Round four was the first true clash of the titans, as Russia squared off against Ukraine. The match was more than just a sports confrontation as the two nations have been bumping heads in no uncertain terms these last years. After an opening loss, Ukraine rallied back and took it 2.5-1.5 in a spectacular comeback. No less impressive was Hou Yifan getting trampled over-the-board by Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Latvia’s Minister of Finance! Here is the report with photos, videos, and GM commentary.

Lesson in strategy: knowing your classics

9/5/2016 – In the third round of the Baku Olympiad 2016, Evgeny Tomashevsky was playing Iordachescu. In their game, the Russian had a dominating knight on d4 against his opponent's sick-looking bishop on e6, yet he captured the bishop with his knight in what seemed to be a positively paradoxical move. Had he blundered? Or was there a hidden reason behind this choice? The answer lies in a classic game played exactly 31 years ago by Anatoly Karpov!

Baku Chess Olympiad: First Impressions

9/5/2016 – Three of eleven rounds are played at the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku. Still too early for decisive encounters but time to settle in and to get a feeling for the hotel, the venue and the surroundings. Hours before the fourth round Manuel Weeks, captain of the Australian team, gathered first impressions and speaks about the simple things that make an Olympiad successful, the worries of the strong players and the ambitions of his Australian team.

Daniel King: Highlights of the Olympiad

9/5/2016 – 180 teams take part in the Open Section of the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, 140 in the Women Section, and every round brings a wealth of interesting games. After each round Daniel King selects highlights of the round and analyses them. His highlight of round three is the game Andrey Volokitin vs Daniel Fridman, a short, dramatic encounter with an entertaining king hunt.

2016 Baku Rd3: China held to draw by Vietnam

9/4/2016 – After three rounds, there are still 16 teams in the Open section still with perfect scores, and 13 in the Women's section. If this seems a lite, it bears remembering how many teams there are in the overall event. There were few surprise results in the Open section as far as matches go, at least on paper, but the games had promised something else in some cases. The real surprise of the day (aside from Nakmaura's brush with defeat) was China's draw against Vietnam in the Women's section in spite of a dominant Hou Yifan Report, photos, and GM analysis.

Jamaica celebrates Olympia

9/4/2016 – For the top teams the Chess Olympiad is a serious affair. They battle for points, prestige and medals. But the Olympiad is also a festival to celebrate the joys of chess and this is what Jamaica does. With a rating average of 2166 the Jamaican team are are ranked 115 of 180 teams but that does not diminish their joy of being in Baku. Ian Wilkinson, President of the Jamaica Chess Federation, sends an enthusiastic report about the start of the Olympiad.

Engine chess on rural fields

9/4/2016 – The province of Guadalajara is one of the least populated areas of Spain. Most of the 288 municipalities are villages with populations less than 250. Hinojosa is one such village. But the farmers in Hinojosa seem to like chess: they invited two juniors to play a game of chess and then replayed the moves with tractors and other agricultural machines on a field, creating a unique game.

Russia dominated European Youth Championship

9/4/2016 – Even though the current World Champion is from Norway and the current Women's World Champion is from China, Russia is still a superpower in chess. And the European Youth Championship that finished last week in Prague showed that Russia still has a seemingly inexhaustible pool of talented young players: Russia won no less than 15 of 36 possible medals. The remaining 21 medals were shared among 16 different nations. Results and games.

2016 Baku Rd2: the climb steepens

9/3/2016 – Round two of the Baku Olympiad already saw a number of stiff matches with far more balanced opposition. Still, although there were some close calls in the Open section, with isolated upsets, the favorites still held all the way down to table 29 where the teenage Iranian team managed to hold the much higher rated Georgian team to 2-2. In the Women’s section however, the Filipinos pulled off a huge upset by actually defeating the 4th seed Georgian team, who outrated them by almost 350 Elo. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

Zoltan Sarosy, chess master, turns 110 years old

9/3/2016 – It is tempting to think that must be a typo. 110 years old? Or that the description is a generous exaggeration to link this supercentenarian (the official term for anyone reaching 110) to the noble game, but neither is the case. Zoltan Sarosy, born in Hungary in 1906, is the oldest man living in Canada, and was a professional chess player with titles from the 1920s to the 1980s, winning the Canadian Correspondence Championship three times. Here is a look at a man who has literally played chess for 100 years.

Now you can get ChessBase news in Hindi!

9/2/2016 – The ChessBase India newspage started in September 2015. It's been a year now that we have been providing comprehensive coverage of the Indian chess scene – tournaments, achievements and promoting deserving players. It was time to take it a step further: ChessBase in Hindi! Starting with the Baku Olympiad we will be providing you with all the updates not only in English but also in the national language.

2016 Baku Rd1: Bulgaria held to draw by Sudan

9/2/2016 – The 2016 Baku Olympiad certainly lives up to its name with no fewer than 180 teams ranging from Russia to Djibouti in the Open section, and 140 teams in the Women's section. The opening round saw results that reflected the huge rating disparities, with the occasional heroic result, but the greatest surprise was without a doubt Bulgaria's draw against Sudan, in which two of the Bulgarian fell prey to their Sudanese opponents. Big report with GM commentary.

Olympiad in Baku: Impressions from the opening ceremony

9/2/2016 – The 42nd Chess Olympiad is the most lavish in the history of chess. The budget for the tournament is said to be 13.3 million Euros. The playing venue is the Chrystal Hall in Baku, and yesterday, 1st September, the splendid opening ceremony showed how high the standards of the organisers are. President Ilham Aliyev was present at the event but it was not allowed to take pictures of him. Impressions...

Ready to jump

9/2/2016 – 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.

New Replayer function: training with Fritz

9/1/2016 – As the apps in ChessBase Account expand in functionality so does the ecosystem and their synergy with each other. The much modernized replayer that was recently introduced with powerful new features such as running an engine, maximizing the board and testing variations, now brings a new option: a one-button click to open the position in Fritz Online where you can play against it and practice your skills. Here is an introduction to this new function.

September 2016 ratings: Americans on the rise

9/1/2016 – American chess fans had a lot to cheer about this last month with significant results all over the board. At the very top was Wesley So's sole win at the elite Sinquefield Cup in front of an all-star field, but his was not the only one. Sam Shankland followed up a strong result in Edmonton with a superb victory at the Biel Open, facing every top player in the field. Finally, one cannot forget young Jeffery Xiong who took the World Junior title by storm. These, and many more results are in the September ratings list report.

Strong knight on the rim

9/1/2016 – 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.

A Tempo for your Thoughts

9/1/2016 – Consider this scenario. You are all geared up to play a chess game against a strong opponent and you are well prepared in the various opening variations he or she uses. As you await the seemingly inevitable 1 e4 or 1 d4, he flicks in ever so slightly, 1 a3 or 1 h3. Chances are, you will be miffed at the disrespect shown to you, to say the least. In CHESS Magazine Junior Tay shows us games (one by Carlsen!) where this strategy worked.

FIDE Congress - New chess laws, championships and more

8/31/2016 – The Olympiad in Baku is about to start, and naturally all eyes in the chess world will turn towards this huge event. However, the team competition is not the only noteworthy event taking place, there is also the very significant FIDE Congress held near the end. Here is a preview of what will be covered, from the proposed change to allow challenges for the title, to the Chief Arbiter report of the Candidates, and even changes in the Laws of Chess.

ChessBase en Français

8/31/2016 – Chessbase annonce ses premiers articles en Français. Vous pourrez nous suivre sur Facebook, Twitter et YouTube. Vous y trouverez des informations sur le monde échiquéen Francophone avec des traductions des informations et articles les plus importantes du site Anglais. Dans l’avenir, nous lancerons aussi des Fritztrainer, ou CDs d’entraînement, en Français.

World Championship 2016 – Sponsorship agreement with PhosAgro

8/31/2016 – The 2016 World Championship will take place from November 11th to 30th in the Fulton Market Building in New York. Now AGON, is the official partner of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and owner the World Chess brand as well as commercial rights holder to the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle, has announced that a green Russian fertiliser manufacturer has signed a strategic partnership with AGON to finance the match. Press release.

Final preparations for the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku

8/31/2016 – Tomorrow is the opening ceremony, on Friday the captains' and arbiters' meetings, and at 3 p.m. local time Round 1 of the Olympiad. A team of 400 artists, choreographers, composers and support staff is conducting the final dry runs for the Opening. The chess competitions will see a record-breaking 181 teams from 176 countries in the Open section, and 142 women’s teams. ChessBase will cover the event extensively, here is part two of our preview.

Jon Speelman: Agony Column #17

8/31/2016 – Mating your opponent with a scintillating queen sacrifice at the end of a fine attack is deeply satisfying. Being a queen up after strong play is also nice. And being a queen down while attacking your opponent ferociously is a fine though rather rare experience that helps to forget many agonising losses. Which Jon Speelman shows in his Agony Column #17.