Elo Rating System: how underrated are the kids?

4/10/2016 – An interesting phenomenon of the ELO rating system is that when examining game outcomes for a group of lower rated players, higher rated players tend to underperform relative to the theoretical ELO probability, and lower-rated players overperform. What are the causal factors explaining the inability of the ELO system to predict results? A study by Ganesh Viswanath.

Chess movie 'Queen of Katwe' is announced

4/9/2016 – Chess is on the rise, even in the world of motion pictures. Based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, a starving Ugandan girl living in the streets who learned chess at age nine while looking for food handouts and became the Ugandan Open junior champion (defeating the boys) at age 16, Disney will be releasing a film on her later this year starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o.

I am not afraid of Magnus!

4/9/2016 – On 29th of March, one day after the Candidates tournament came to an end, our editor Sagar Shah along with two other journalists met Sergey Karjakin at the Four Seasons Hotel for an interview. The Russian had hardly slept the night before, but looked fresh as a daisy! In this interview Sergey throws light on what helped him to win the Candidates and how he doesn't fear Magnus Carlsen. All this and much more in this Q&A session.

Fighting spirit at Accentus Young Masters

4/9/2016 – From 6th to 14th April the Swiss spa Bad Ragaz hosts the Accentus Young Masters tournament, a ten player round-robin with young talents from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Top seeds are M. Blübaum (2628) and I. Hera (2622), at the end of the ranking list are V. Keymer (2352) and G. Gähwiler (2359). In the first three rounds only one game was drawn.

Li Chao replaces Karjakin at the Norway Chess 2016

4/9/2016 – One of the strongest elite tournament for the year Norway Chess 2016 is scheduled to begin from the 18th of April. Just 12 days before the start of the event Sergey Karjakin withdrew his name, citing tiredness and preparation as reasons for his inavailability. Two days later the organizers have found a replacement in the form of world number 15 and China number two, Li Chao. Addendum to the Karjakin's withdrawal article.

2016 Asian Nations Cup: The Tiger and the Dragon

4/9/2016 – Organized by the UAE Chess Federation, the Asian Nations Cup 2016 was held at the Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bustan hotel with 20 countries competing for the right to represent Asia in the World Team Championship. The top two nations were China and India, dominating the top places and medals, and ChessBase India provided daily in-depth coverage. Here is a report with analysis.

Two ideas

4/8/2016 – 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.

Historical Chess Ratings – dynamically presented

4/8/2016 – There is always a certain fascination with comparisons between strengths of chess players. Who was the greatest of them all? Was Rubinstein in his day the equal of Korchnoi in his? Rod Edwards, Professor of Mathematics, has developed a rating theory based on a network of interactions between chess players over time. His results are remarkable, and a presentation made by youthful California programmer Cary Huang is truly mesmerizing.

Grand Chess Tour announces field for 2016

4/8/2016 – The Grand Chess Tour announced that the world’s top-ten ranked players will compete in the 2016 Tour. Nine of the top-ten will compete in all four tournaments: Rapid and Blitz in Paris and Brussels-Leuven, the Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic. World Champion Magnus Carlsen will compete as a wildcard in both the Paris and Brussels-Leuven stops. Press Release...

Wojtaszek and Socko win Polish Championships

4/7/2016 – Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Monika Socko were the rating favorites at the Polish Championships in Poznan and they both lived up to their roles. Wojtaszek won the "Lotto Men's Championship" with 6.5/9, half a point ahead of Kacper Piorun. Monika Socko won the "Budimex Women's Championship" with 7.0/9, a full point ahead of her closest rival Jolanta Zawadzka.

Asian Nations Cup: Gold for India and China

4/7/2016 – The Asian Nations Cup was played from 28th March to 5th April in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. India won the gold medal in the open tournament, silver went to China, bronze to Kazakhstan. In the women's tournament top favorite China won gold despite some setbacks while Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan won silver and bronze. Games and results...

NEW: ChessBase Magazine #171 (April/May)

4/7/2016 – The best moments from Wijk aan Zee, Gibraltar and Zurich with high-class analysis, e.g. from Carlsen and Caruana. Plus 13 opening surveys with various ideas to enhance and improve your repertoire, e.g. Bronznik: Enormous potential of the Chigorin Defence (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Nc3 e6). Have a look at Karsten Müller's intro video of the new issue! More...

2016 Arnold Classic Brasil: bonanza of fun (2/2)

4/7/2016 – The Arnold Classic is nothing if not democratic. All sports are welcome, and participation is encouraged to all. Efforts were visibly made to promote Arnold Schwarzenegger's vision of inclusion of everyone into a sports and fitness lifestyle, starting from the very young. With sports events galore, fitness models and companies, here is a massive pictorial.

Chess Festival Le Marais

4/6/2016 – Le Marais is one of the oldest quarters in Paris, combining old world charm with modern day functionality. Over the Easter weekend, from 26th to 28th March, it also was host to a charming chess festival, played in the elegant City Hall of the fourth Parisian district. 400 players took part to enjoy the tournament and the unique atmosphere of this part of Paris.

Blindfold king Timur Gareyev on tour

4/6/2016 – In 2016 Timur Gareyev wants to break the world record in blindfold play by taking up 47 opponents simultaneously. In March he played a 35 player blindfold simul in Santa Clara, California. Gareyev lost one game, drew two and won 32. As Gareyev believes that physical fitness and mental excellence go together he spun a stationary bike for over 9 hours during the simul!

2016 Arnold Classic Brasil: bonanza of fun (1/2)

4/6/2016 – For the fourth time, the Arnold Classic Brasil took place in Rio de Janeiro, and once again the sports and health bonanza attracted record numbers for the South American edition, with over 80 thousand visitors, 8500 competing athletes in 37 sports events. It would not be complete without Arnold Schwarzenegger’s presence, who once again reaffirmed his love of the royal game.

Polish Championships in Poznan

4/5/2016 – This year the Polish Championships offer particularly attractive prizes: the winners of the men's and the women's championships both receive 4,700 Euros, and the top two in each tournament earn a spot on the national teams that will play in the Olympiad in Baku later this year. No wonder both tournaments attracted the best players of the country.

An interview with Daniel Gormally (1/2)

4/5/2016 – Insanity, passion and addiction: A year inside the chess world is a book by Grandmaster Daniel “Danny” Gormally which just came out. His previous work focused on chess improvement but Insanity is deeply personal. In an interview with WIM Alexey Root, Gormally talks about his experiences with the chess world and what made him write such a candid memoir.

Knight shield

4/5/2016 – 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!

Shogi - the Japanese form of chess

4/4/2016 – Shogi is the Japanese variation of chess. In Shogi you can use the pieces you captured from your opponent to strengthen your own army. An idea bughouse fans might find appealing. Thanks to the internet Shogi is becoming more and more popular in Europe and in March beginners and experienced players tried their skills in the Open German Championships.

Newsletter #03: ChessBase India

4/4/2016 – India is an upcoming chess super-power. The ChessBase India web portal is dedicated to the Indian chess tournaments and news. It is making a big impact in Indian chess circles, with content that can only be termed humongous. We bring you a summary of all the important events and tournaments that ChessBase India covered in recent months, with links to the articles. Take a look.

Short, Izzat and Cheng win 50th Ballarat Begonia

4/3/2016 – The 50th Ballarat Begonia chess tournament was held in the state of Victoria from the 12th-14th of March 2016. All the best players from Australia along with the super strong GM Nigel Short and talented Azerbaijani IM Kannan Izzat took part. It was a tensely fought event which ended in a three way tie between Short, Izzat and Cheng. We have an illustrated report filled with pictures, analysis by the Ballarat Chess Club President.

April Fool: it was the Trump problem

4/3/2016 – Our two fake April Fool's stories – Benko's bafflers and Karjakin's BMW – were perfectly legit and true in every respect. And most of the Hillary report: she did appear on a show seeking to identify the real Irina Krush; Bernie Saunders did play in a simul; and Ted Cruz did send the picture of a badly set up chessboard to Senator Mike Lee. Only Trumps four-move composition – that was made up.

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.