2015 North American Junior Championships

8/14/2015 – This event was staged in the multicultural city of Kitchener, Canada from July 26 to 30, and attracted 65 players from around North America to compete in the open section and girls section. Neither of the top seeds placed with a medal. One of them, Qiyu Zhou, sent us a lovely report. We dug into her background and pulled up some inspiring material that left us speechless. | Photos: John Upper and Penny Yu

90th French Championship starts in style

8/13/2015 – The French Championship is now in its 90th edition, and much like the very appropriate saying 'like good wine, it only gets better with age', the massive event brings together no fewer than eight competitions with 597 players. In spite of the excellent lineups, it is not the numbers that warrant that description, but the lengths to which the organizers went to set a standard.

Superfinals: Goryachkina leads

8/13/2015 – Aleksandra Goryachkina, born 1998, is the number one on FIDE's August rating list for girls. At the Russian Superfinals she shows her talent. In round four she won against Anastasia Bodnaruk and now leads with 3.5/4. In the men's tournament Vladislav Artemiev won his second game in a row and now leads together with Evgeny Tomashevsky. Report and analyses.

The Max Euwe Center in peril

8/13/2015 – He was the only amateur chess player to become World Champion – the fifth in chess history. After his death in 1981 the city of Amsterdam established a Center with a museum and a modest library containing Euwe’s chess inheritance and books. Now, after 24 years, the city is threatening to withdraw it subsidy. World class players are protesting. Can the Max Euwe Center be saved?

Tomashevsky leads Superfinals

8/12/2015 – With a fine mix of quiet and aggressive play Evgeny Tomashevsky won against reigning champion Igor Lysyj in round three of the Russian Superfinals. He now leads the field with 2.5/3, half-a-point ahead of four players. In the women's tournament top seed Valentina Gunina showed her tactical skills and won her second game in a row. Report and analyses.

Magnus Carlsen proposes changes in WCh

8/12/2015 – Just over a week before the start of the Sinquefield Cup, Magnus Carlsen dropped a small bomb on his Facebook page when he commented, "I felt it important to share with you something I have been thinking about a great deal: the World Championship cycle format." He then follows by advocating a knock-out system as used in the past. What do you think?

2015 Russian Youth Team continues tradition

8/11/2015 – Although the higher echelons of chess are certainly more cosmopolitan nowadays, Russia still has a clear edge when it comes to breeding grandmasters faster than rabbits. This is very much due to the heavy investment in youth programs such as the all-Russian Youth Team championships, which included master classes by Alexander Nikitin, Garry Kasparov's former trainer.

The far-reaching bishop

8/11/2015 – 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!

Jonathan Hawkins is British Champion 2015

8/11/2015 – At the start of the tournament three-time British Champion David Howell was favorite. In the middle of the tournament Nicholas Pert and Daniel Gormally led the field. In the penultimate round everything seemed to be set for a play-off. But in the end Jonathan Hawkins emerged as the sole winner of the British Championship 2015. Report and analyses.

Things heat up in the Russian Superfinals

8/10/2015 – After a quiet first round things heated up in the Russian Superfinals. In round one Karjakin was the only player to win a game, in round two three games were decided, and now four players lead with 1.5/2. The players in the women's tournament were fiercer. In the first round three games were decided, in the second round four. Goryachkina and Girya lead with 2.0/2.

Turkish League hits midway point

8/10/2015 – After seven out of thirteen rounds, the Turkish Super League has reached the midway point and offers the only rest day of the tournament. Deniz Su Aquamatch, the team in which Wesley So plays, is leading with a perfect 7.0/7 followed by Besiktas, the team of Mamedyarov, just behind. This event also represents Wesley So's last games before Sinquefield.

Lake Sevan 2015: A player’s perspective (2)

8/10/2015 – In this final part of his articles Vidit Gujrathi tells us about his experience of playing at this exciting event. His favourite game was a crazy battle with 14½-year-old chess phenom Samuel Sevian! Vidit has annotated it with great enthusiasm, giving us insights into the thinking of 2600+ player. His report includes pictures, personal experiences and Bollywood music in this huge report.

Basics of Winning Chess 2.0

8/10/2015 – Have you ever wondered at the words "and the rest is a matter of technique" as if there were some magical formula that will take a winning position and inexorably end it in your favor? We often think of these words as applying only to top players, but IM Andrew Martin disagrees with this and proposes to not only show what technique is about, but how to develop it at all levels.

Album 61 - An intimate award-winning documentary

8/9/2015 – The year was 2010. Boris Gelfand had ascended the massive world championship ladder to earn the right to battle Vishy Anand for the title. His entire life had been dedicated to making this moment possible. A camera crew followed him throughout the match, filming the drama involving not only him and his team, but all those who helped him prepare the way. A fascinating documentary.

Russian Superfinal begins

8/9/2015 – On 8th August the Russian Superfinals began in Chita. Men and women play in two groups of 12 players each. All players in the men's group have a rating of 2600 or more, five of them have 2700 or more. Elo-favorite is Dmitry Jakovenko. Elo-favorite in the women's group is Valentina Gunina. But she began the tournament with a loss against Aleksandra Goryachkina.

Breaking records in blindfold tandem chess

8/8/2015 – In 1934 Alexander Alekhine and George Koltanowski set this world record for Tandem Blindfold Chess, playing six opponents with a score of +3 =2 –1. Last week in Germany two blindfold experts, GM Timur Gareev and Marc Lang broke this 80-year record by playing seven opponents. Together they won five games and drew two,making them the new wonder twins. Report by Jennifer Vallens.

Turkish League starts with stars

8/8/2015 – The Turkish league is currently underway in Kocaeli, Turkey, and will run from August 4-15 with thirteen rounds of action in the eclectic team event. Though the ratings and players range from Top Ten to weak amateur, there are a good number of elite players such as Wesley So, Harikrishna, Mamedyarov, and Moiseenko to cite a few. There has been plenty of action so far.

Chess adventures in Luanda (2/2)

8/7/2015 – As a result of the quickly evolving city of Luanda, the tournament is often a contrast in what some might expect of an event on the African continent, but the top prizes are more than enough to attract players from abroad, and will no doubt bring more in the years to come. This transition period also brings enormous contrasts seen everywhere and captured in this pictorial.

Markus Ragger wins Politiken Cup

8/7/2015 – The Politiken Cup in Helsingor, Denmark, was a strong open. Very strong. 431 players started, among them a number of grandmasters. The decision was close: after ten rounds ten grandmasters shared first place with a score of 8.0/10 each. Markus Ragger, Austria's number one, had the best tie-break of this group and became official tournament winner.

Dynamic trade

8/7/2015 – 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.

Lake Sevan 2015: A player’s perspective (1)

8/6/2015 – In our previous report this event we brought to you analysis, pictures and an interview of the winner Jan Krzysztof Duda. Now we have the talented Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi (2643) tells us what it was like being a defending champion, how he prepared for the event – and how he blundered into a shocking mate in one in a better position, but came back to win the next round!

Chess adventures in Luanda (1/2)

8/6/2015 – Already in its thirteenth edition, the Luanda Open took place once more in the heart of Angola, a country growing very quickly thanks to oil-properity. This is seen in business and streets (and prices!), as well as the modernizing skyline that expands every year. The tournament held both a men's and women's event, won by GM Adly Ahmed and IM Alina L'Ami, who brings her colorful report.

Dinara Saduakassova – the Kazakh prodigy

8/5/2015 – Sometimes life makes it easy by making it clear to a person where their biggest talent lies, and sometimes it does not. Imagine being gifted with skills to compete in artistic gymnastics meets, musical talent to aspire to be an artist, or chess, and no doubt others that were never explored. Here is a portrait of the lovely multi-talented prodigy from Kazakhstan.

Aravindh and Vaishali Indian Junior Champions

8/5/2015 – In its 45th edition the Indian Junior and Girls Chess Championship 2015 was open to the Indian juniors younger than nineteen years of age. The open section was won by GM Aravindh Chithambaram with 9.5/11, a full point ahead of the field, and the Girls section by R. Vaishali, with 8.5/11. Aravindh is fifteen and Vaishali is fourteen! She has annotated one of her games for us.