4/16/2016 – After an unusually long period away from competition, Alina L'Ami explains she broke her fast from tournament play with a flurry of events one after the other, starting with the Karpos Open held in the charming and culturally rich city Skopje in Macedonia. Whether enjoying the unique partying on April 1st, or the many sites to see, there was never a dull moment.

4/15/2016 – In three days, on 18th April, the Altibox Norway Chess tournament will begin. With World Champion Magnus Carlsen as favorite. Before the tournament Klaudia Prevezanos interviewed Carlsen for the "Deutsche Welle" and Carlsen talked about computers, his preparation for the Norway Chess tournament, the World Championship, and his relationship to Sergey Karjakin.

4/15/2016 – Wesley So won his game in 28 moves in the first round of the US Championships 2016 against Gata Kamsky. Was it some amazing bit of home preparation or poor opening play by Gata? After our analysis we have come to the conclusion that Kamsky was unprepared and would have fared much better if he would have had a look at ChessBase's DVD on the Breyer. Pavel Eljanov suggests two antidotes for Black which give the second player a fine position. High quality recommendations.

4/15/2016 – With Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So three of the world's best player take part in the US Championship 2016. They all started well into the tournament and showed their class by beating their first round opponents in textbook fashion. In the women's tournament the favorites Krush and Zatonskih started less convincingly.

4/15/2016 – In round six of the Bangkok Open Dutch Grandmaster Loek Van Wely conceded his first half point by drawing against GM Francisco Vallejo Pons from Spain. This allowed German Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson, who won a fine game against Nie Xinyang from China, to catch up with Van Wely. After six rounds the Dutch and the German grandmaster share the lead with 5.5/6 each.

4/15/2016 – 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.

4/14/2016 – The Governor of the state, a Bollywood super-star, eminent sports personalities and more than 600 fans gathered to felicitate the pride of Indian chess Viswanathan Anand, who was feted with the Hridaynath Award. There were some highly entertaining speeches and Q&A session of 20 minutes with Anand. We have beautiful pictures by Amruta Mokal plus speeches and videos that give you an overall feel of how things transpired.

4/14/2016 – The first article in the series asked the question, "Who was Bobby’s real father?" Here you have the answer. It’s a story that begins with a whiff of romance and moves on to trials and travails of motherhood. This part of Bobby’s saga appears on the inaugural day of the U.S. Championship, an event that he dominated like no other. Revelations from personal letters and telegrams.

4/13/2016 – Seven time Dutch Champion Loek Van Wely has become the sole leader of the Bangkok Chess Club Open, the strongest tournament ever held in Thailand, by beating the 17-year old Indian Grandmaster Narayanan Sunilduth with Black in round five. After five rounds Van Wely is the only player with 5.0/5. Half a point behind follow five players with 4.5/5 each.

4/13/2016 – The 3rd International Chess Festival of Ortisei will be held from 4th to 11th of June 2016 in the ‘Luis Trenker’ cultural center in Ortisei. Ortisei is located in the Valley of Gardena (‘Val Gardena’) situated between the peaks of the Dolomites in the south of the Alps. A good opportunity to play a strong tournament in idyllic surroundings.

4/13/2016 – French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave achieved a personal milestone in March by breaking into the top five of world rankings for the first time. He continues to maintain his high ranking in the April Fide ratings. In an exclusive interview the 25-year-old speaks about his breakthrough to the top five, his prospects at Norway Chess and the Candidates tournament. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/13/2016 – 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!