Candidates Rd12: Young guns forge ahead!

3/25/2016 – The comeback man, to the chagrin of a billion fans, has been beaten back – Anand was defeated in only 26 moves by Nakamura. Now Karjakin is staging a comeback by defeating Topalov. Meanwhile FIDE President Ilyumzhinov has hinted that the World Championship in November might take place in the Trump Tower in New York! Here is the full report with pictures, videos, and analysis.

Plug & play

3/25/2016 – 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.

Historic chess sets auctioned at Sotheby's

3/25/2016 – When discussing expensive chess sets, the reason for their premium value usually falls into two categories: unusual materials and workmanship, or precious metals and gems. Next month, the famous auction house Sotheby’s will be offering rare and old chess sets and pieces expecting to fetch top prices, such as ivory pieces carved during the Samanid Empire more than 1,000 years ago!

Candidates R11: Vishy Anand, the comeback man!

3/24/2016 – A billion fans are cheering: Anand defeated Sergey Karjakin in brilliant manner (ask Garry!) and changed the tune in the Candidates. Prior to the round, Karjakin was leading, together with Fabiano Caruana, both at 6.0/11. With Anand’s victory the five-time World Champion has now joined Caruana at the top. You will find pictures, comprehensive ananlysis and exclusive postgame interviews in our round eleven report.

Today in Chess from Saint Louis

3/24/2016 – Got a couple of hours to spare? Well, about seven hours for a start. Then you can watch a new video show set up by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, currently covering the Candidates Tournament in Moscow (rounds 8, 9 and 10). Initiator is Maurice Ashley, anchors are Alejandro Ramirez and Yasser Seirawan (whose birthday is today) – all ChessBase authors. Have fun with their new show.

Candidates R10: Caruana wins, joins lead

3/23/2016 – Specifically Fabiano Caruana ripped open his kingside with a piece sacrifice to beat Viswanathan Anand and catch Sergey Karjakin, who drew against Anish Giri, in the overall lead. Peter Svidler and Hikaru Nakamura drew in a strategic battle. Levon Aronian vs Veselin Topalov was a long manouvering draw. Here are pictures and analysis, and revealing video interviews conducted immediately after the games.

Computer predictions, simulations and scenarios

3/22/2016 – One can never have too much data as any Wall Street analyst will tell you. In this latest report on the Candidates based on simulations with weighted statistics, we not only see what the winning chances are for the various players, but also what games will have the biggest impact in the next rounds, and even what games have the biggest impact on Anand's winning chances.

Speelman on the Candidates final sprint

3/22/2016 – It has been a fascinating event as one would expect, with chances taken, chances missed, and chances grabbed. After nine rounds of competition, the veteran former World Champion Vishy Anand has elbowed and kicked his way to the top to join Sergey Karjakin in the lead. Anything still goes, and reviewing the results and stats, here is the assessment and prognosis by Jon Speelman.

Candidates R09: Anand beats Aronian

3/22/2016 – Hikaru Nakamura vs Sergey Karjakin was a Queen’s Indian Defense that ended in a draw after 44 moves. Veselin Topalov and Peter Svidler fought a dramatic battle but drew in 47, Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana played the longest game – 96 moves. In the only decisive game Anand beat Aronian and joins Karjakin in the lead. There are lots of pictures, extensive analysis and postgame interviews in our round nine report.

When being cornered is bliss

3/22/2016 – 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!

Troitzky: In Memoriam

3/21/2016 – Endgame studies are without a doubt that area of chess where the lines between science and art are blurred. While they offer great beauty as an art form, they are also prime tools to develop imagination and calculation. This month marks the 150th birth anniversary of Alexey Troitzky, a great pioneer of the modern endgame study. Here is a brief biography and selection of his work.

ChessBase Account - Video overview of Playchess

3/21/2016 – Whether you are watching a live broadcast on multiple boards , or playing a game, the web app for Playchess offers the complete experience. You can play a quick bullet game to scratch that chess itch, watch some top players play, or open up eight boards or more all directly in your browser, even running an engine! Here is a video overview.

Indian success in Iceland

3/20/2016 – The Reykjavik Open has finished, and the big delegation of Indian, comprised of exactly two players, was incredibly successful! Abhijeet Gupta crowned himself as the winner of the 2016 edition of this prestigious open, on top of Andreikin and Cheparinov. Meanwhile Tania Sachdev obtained not only the best woman's prize, but also her second grandmaster norm. Report from Iceland!

Candidates R08: Caruana is back!

3/20/2016 – Levon Aronian drew Anish Giri, while Veselin Topalov got into a bit of trouble against Vishy Anand but managed to draw. Fabiano Caruana beat his compatriot Hikaru Nakamura when both players launched attacks against the enemy kings. The game between the two Russians, Peter Svidler and Sergey Karjakin, was the most interesting of the day. We have pictorial and video impressions in our round eight report.

Candidates R07: Nakamura beats Topalov

3/19/2016 – It was the last round of the first half of the tournament, and the pairings were surprisingly very evenly matched based on the standings – the two leaders Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin faced off against each other and so did the two tail-enders Hikaru Nakamura and Veselin Topalov. We had one decisive game and three draws. On show today was really high class opening preparation by the players. Round seven report with postgame video interviews.

Proposal for new forms of correspondence chess

3/18/2016 – The increasing strength of computer engines is a challenge for correspondence chess. And challenges can provoke productive and creative responses. Arno Nickel, chess book editor and International Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, has a lot of ideas to react to the challenging computers. He wants to introduce elements of classical chess into correspondence chess.

Jon Speelman: The Candidates after round six

3/18/2016 – Six rounds are played at the Candidates Tournament 2016 in Moscow, eight more are left. L. Aronian and S. Karjakin lead with 4.0/6, V. Anand is half a point behind with 3.5/6, while F. Caruana and A. Giri follow with 3.0/6. Will Karjakin and Aronian keep their nerves and will Giri or Caruana start a run? And what will Anand do? Jon Speelman takes a look.

What's up?

3/18/2016 – 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 - Guided tour of Videos

3/17/2016 – Of all of new web apps in ChessBase Account, the one that undoubtedly offers the greatest value would be the Videos section. Available only to Premium subscribers, it literally offers hundreds of hours of viewing material with dozens of commercial videos from the ChessBase Shop available for free. To see what goodies there are, watch this video guided tour.

Candidates R06: Anand beats Svidler, Aronian wins

3/17/2016 – The sixth round finally saw more than one decisive result in a round. Anand knocked out Svidler in a fast paced kingside attack. Caruana had Karjakin on the ropes but the Russian escaped thanks to some tenacious defending. Topalov and Giri drew. The last game to end Aronian-Nakamura had a lot of action in it – the touch-move rule coming into the picture and Aronian’s entertaining press conference.

Kids interview Magnus Carlsen

3/17/2016 – In February Magnus Carlsen was in Hamburg, Germany, to play a simul. Henrike and Luis, two young chessplayers were invited by "Dein Spiegel", a magazine for children between the age of 8 and 14, to interview the World Champion. They used the chance to ask unusual and open questions, e.g. whether Carlsen cries after losing a game or why chess is better than the gameboy.

Computer predictions of Candidates after round five

3/17/2016 – Readers will no doubt recall the fascinating statistics produced on the Candidates with millions of simulations and weighted data, to get a feel as to the statistical favorites, the probable score needed to win, and more. Five rounds have passed, and you might wonder how the numbers will have changed. Here are the updated results of the computer simulations.

ChessBase Account - Tactics Solver video tutorial

3/16/2016 – In this video tutorial, you will learn about the Tactics solver, designed to allow you to test and work your tactics, and raise your game to a higher standard. It will keep track of your results, give you a rating, and adjust the difficulty to your performance. It has been used extensively by amateurs and top players. Learn all about it in this video presentation.

Candidates R05: Fabiano’s Benoni!

3/16/2016 – All games of round five of the Candidates Tournament 2016 ended in draws. Anand vs Nakamura was a dull draw, Giri and Topalov had chances against Svidler and Karjakin respectively, but their opponents defended quite well. The game of the day was surely Aronian’s attack against Fabiano Caurana’s Benoni! Yes you read that right, not the Berlin – the Benoni! Report with pictures, videos, analysis and more!