9/9/2016 – With the field at the top winnowed down to a handful the matches of the day were of paramount importance. The big match between Holland and India was epic: The Dutch started strong on all boards, but the Indians rallied and emerged victorious. The Ukrainians, who had shared the lead, faced Team USA, and it was Caruana's victory over Eljanov that decided their fate. The Women's event was no less dramatic as the Ukrainians squandered a sure win to draw with Russia, while China was held to a draw by Romania. Here is the report with instructive notes by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

9/8/2016 – After five gruelling rounds at the Olympiad 2016 comes the rest day. And the Indian team used it to be together and having a nice time. AICF President Venketrama Raja took the teams out for a lunch. We have some very candid and interesting pictures and also videos showcasing the physical strength of the Indian players! We have videos of their feats, and there is also a chance for you to win the latest Master Class Vol.07: Kasparov DVD as a prize!

9/8/2016 – He used to be a very strong chess grandmaster, one of the 40 best in the world. But at eighteen he abandoned chess to study economics, and went on to become a leader in the field. We met Kenneth Rogoff over a year ago in Munich, Germany, where he and GM Helmut Pfleger exchanged chess memories. Ken also delivered a remarkable lecture on the curse of paper currency. Today his book on the subject has been released – to keen world-wide attention.

9/7/2016 – Most chessplayer wonder, at least occasionally, how good they are. Of course, rating offers an answer but this answer often seems wrong. Indeed, sometimes you play far worse than your rating indicates, sometimes you do much better. The latter games should encourage you as they indicate what you are able to do. You "only" have to play such games more often, more consistently. Which might lead to less agony and more ecstasy.

9/7/2016 – Chess booms in the US. The US team is one of the favorites to win the Open Section of the Olympiad in Baku and the US American juniors achieve success after success. In the Wall Street Journal GM Alejandro Ramirez analyses this phenomenon, concluding that "the new model for U.S. chess success is a uniquely American recipe: private sponsorship combined with school programs and a dollop of vintage Soviet chess know-how". See article in the Wall Street Journal.

9/7/2016 – Maybe on day six of the Olympiad the players have firmly settled in and feel more and more inspired by the Olympic spirit, or they decided to try particularly hard before the free day after round five, or they were looking forward to the legendary Bermuda Party that invited players on Tuesday evening - but whatever the reason, round five in Baku brought many brilliancies. Daniel King presents three of them.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.