Gibraltar: Opening ceremony and drawing of lots

1/26/2016 – For the Financial Times the Tradewise Gibraltar Open "is the strongest and best-organised event of its kind in the world". The Masters tournament, in which players such as Vishy Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Yu Yangyi and many more strong players compete, begins Tuesday, 15.00 local time. The drawing of lots took place the evening before.

Taking care of the knight on the rim

1/26/2016 – 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!

Are Chess and Islam Incompatible?

1/26/2016 – Saudi Arabia’s top cleric recently issued a fatwa, or religious decree, against chess. But many Islamic scholars across the centuries said there is no reason to believe that the game violates the tenets of Islam. Jamaal Abdul-Alin, a Washington based freelance journalist, offers his in-depth opinion on the subject. We publish it in full, with the kind permission of the Agon Worldchess site.

Gibraltar starts with a simul

1/25/2016 – Tomorrow the first round of the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2016 begins. It is one of the strongest open tournaments of the year and top players such as Vishy Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and others will fight for an overall prize-fund of 185,000 pounds. Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Alina Kashlinskaya opened the Festival with a simultaneous exhibition.

Tour de France clashes with Biel

1/25/2016 – The 49. International Chess Festival Biel will start and end a week later than planned, and will now take place from 23rd July to 3rd August. The reason for the delay is another sporting event: the Tour de France. The 16th stage of the tour leads the cyclists and their followers to Bern and thus all hotels in the region will be fully booked. Press Release

Tata Steel R08: Navara vs Caruana

1/25/2016 – In round 8 David Navara played against Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen and Caruana were leading after round 7. In a Nimzoindian Navara ended up with an isolated double pawn on the c file after the opening. After exchanging a lot of pieces Navara improved his position from move to move in the endgame. Daniel King shows this game as his "Game of the day"...

Tata Steel Rd8: Carlsen leads after Caruana falters

1/24/2016 – Perhaps the first sign the round would not be ‘business as usual’ was when Carlsen chose the …g6 variation of the Ruy Lopez, eventually drawing Karjakin. Caruana seemed poised to take advantage, as he obtained a significant edge against Navara, only to get pushed off the board. Still, the biggest surprise was Eljanov failing to convert a dead won endgame against Adams. Report, pictures, analysis.

Saudi Chess Association replies on ban

1/24/2016 – It made the news around the world: Saudi Arabia’s top cleric declared chess “the work of Satan”, and issued a religious decree, a fatwa, forbidding the evil game. Obviously the consternation and worry on what that might behold for the game echoed around the world, and the Saudi Chess Association has published a letter to assuage concerns.

2016 Iranian Championship: Two kids and the no. 1

1/24/2016 – The Iranian Men’s championship, held in Tehran, Iran, has reached its midway point with a few surprises. At the top of the pecking order is Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, currently second, who has even held the world simul record, but leading is Alireza Firouzja, 12 years old, and in third is Aryan Gholami, 14 years old. At stake are spots on the Olympic team.

Looking back: at the Keres Memorial – ACP Open 2016

1/24/2016 – Earlier this week we brought you a retrospective report on the rapid chess event held in Talinn, Estonia, in honour of the 100th anniversary of their greatest chess playing son, Paul Keres. Today in part two we bring you a short interview with ACP President Emil Sutovsky and more instructive games, with positions for you to solve. What a great way to improve your chess skills.

Tata Steel Rd7: A day of big wins

1/23/2016 – How else to describe a round in which the leaders clashed and big results came of them? Magnus Carlsen was quick to pressure Pavel Eljanov and won a fascinating game after the latter sacrificed a piece for play. Quicker still, was Baskaran Adhiban who demolished his co-leader Alexey Dreev in 24 moves, while Caruana ground down Ding to share lead with Magnus. Large illustrated report.

Aeroflot Open 2016 – not to be missed!

1/22/2016 – This great open tournament is into its 13th edition, running on February 29 to March 10th. The Open will be held in three rating categories, so that practically anyone can take part. There are excellent discounts offered by the organizers and Aeroflot Airlines. And the exchange rate of the Ruble makes everything affordable. This article will give you nine good reasons why Aeroflot Open 2016 should not be missed.

Tata Steel Rd6: Carlsen leads with Caruana and Ding

1/22/2016 – It was a fascinating round, dominated early on by the speed with which Carlsen took apart Tomaschevsky, invading the 7th and wrapping it up a few moves later. Anish Giri was the second of the day, defeating Mamedyarov, while Hou Yifan almost joined the lead after outplaying Wei Yi in an endgame, only to stumble and draw at the end. Report with analysis by IM Sagar Shah.

Top Saudi cleric calls for ban on chess

1/22/2016 – The game originated in India around the 6th century AD. "Chaturanga", or "Shah!" in Persian, was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Southern Europe – for which we are thankful. Now (once again we may add) there is an effort to ban it for religious reasons. The fatwa by a one of Saudi Arabia's top clerics has led to hundreds of broadsheet articles and a Twitter storm, including some famous chess players.

Houdini?

1/22/2016 – 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.

ChessBase Account: Event Organizers and the Cloud

1/21/2016 – It is normal for a tournament organizer to enter the games played in an event, and often to have several people doing so on different computers. Having copies of ChessBase 13 on all machines may not be feasible, but there is a solution if at least one copy is installed on a machine. The secret is using the ChessBase Account web app My Games Cloud. Here are step-by-step instructions.

Tata Steel Masters Rd5: Carlsen scores gutsy win

1/21/2016 – The fifth round of the Masters was a highly combative one, with gritty chess on all boards. Ding Liren defeated Sergey Karjakin to join Fabiano Caruana in the lead after the latter drew Hou Yifan. Mamedyarov also scored versus Adams, but the cliffhanger of the day was Magnus Carlsen’s gutsy win with black over Van Wely, sacrificing a piece. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

Miguel Sánchez: Capablanca: A Chess Biography

1/21/2016 – In 1976 the Cuban writer Miguel Angel Sánchez published "Capablanca, leyenda y realidad", which the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba elected as best biographical book of the year. During the next thirty-seven years Sánchez continued to search all over the world for new material about the Cuban. He now published his findings in an exciting new book. A review...

Looking back at the Keres Memorial – ACP Open 2016

1/21/2016 – It’s been ten days since this rapid chess event ended. But the tournament had so many nice moments and games that we decided to have a look at them in a two-part retrospective report. In it you will find some beautiful games of the great Paul Keres, and some very instructive games from the Memorial tournament for you to enjoy. An excellent way to improve your chess.

Tata Steel Challengers Rd5: Adhiban and Dreev lead

1/20/2016 – For many fans, Wednesday was a rest day at the Tata Steel tournament, with Carlsen and Co. taking a day off, but this was really only for the Masters, as the Challengers steamed ahead for round five. Thursday will reverse these roles. As to the rest day, it was filled with football mayhem and fun with the VIPs, all captured in photos by Alina L’Ami.

Wazir - Bollywood thriller with chess

1/20/2016 – It is always interesting to see a film not simply include a chess board or scene, but use it as a key element. An Indian film was just released, classified by IMDB as “Crime/Thriller” in which a ‘grief-stricken cop and amputee grandmaster are brought together by a peculiar twist of fate as part of a wider conspiracy that has darkened their lives.’ Trailer and review.

New: Deal of the Week!

1/20/2016 – ChessBase will be selling a number of DVDs at half price - every week. Maybe you want to "Play it safe [and] play the Petroff" or know more about the "Giuoco Piano"? Or do you want to explore "Chess Highways" with GM Dejan Bojkov or find out how to win with the "Power of Tactics" presented by Rustam Kasimdzhanov? Then don't miss the Deal of the Week...

82nd Brazilian Ch: Mekhitarian gold, Barbosa silver

1/19/2016 – It needs to be said that the finale of the event was somewhat anti-climatic, even if the competition itself remained a fun and qualitative step forward on several levels. The final round saw Mekhitarian assure his victory as his opponent failed to show up, securing gold with 10.0/11. In the Marcel Duchamp Memorial WIM Marisa Zuriel scored her WGM norm. Large photographic report.

Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016 starts in a week

1/19/2016 – “The Tradewise Gibraltar Open is the strongest and best-organised event of its kind in the world," says the Financial Times. Anyone who knows the moves (and pays the entry fee) can take part, and perhaps face top participants like Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave or Vishy Anand. The event lasts from January 25 to February 4, the The total prize sum is £185,000. Press release.