Wrong timing

8/4/2015 – 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!

Master Class Vol. 04: José Raúl Capablanca

8/4/2015 – Can you learn from the classics? Well, all trainers worth their salt agree that one can and one should. Especially from José Raúl Capablanca, who was known for his clear, apparently simple style, and his endgame skills. The Fritz-Trainer Master Class DVD about the Cuban chess genius offers a good opportunity to take a fresh look at Capablanca and his games.

KCF Africa winners going to Las Vegas

8/4/2015 – The third and final KCF Africa sponsored Millionaire Chess satellite tournament concluded in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday 20th July. The series of African satellite tournaments came about as a result of a unique collaboration between the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa and Millionaire Chess and has had a massive impact as a development initiative on the African continent.

Howell and Gormally lead 2015 British Ch

8/3/2015 – The 102nd British Championships are being held in the University of Warwick, Coventry from the 25th of July to 8th of August 2015. That's right, the tournament is in its 102nd edition! With a rich history and champions from Sultan Khan to Nigel Short, John Nunn, and more, a win here is to join that rarefied roster. Enjoy this midway report chock full of positions, games, and videos.

Adams plays in London Chess Classic 2015

8/3/2015 – In 1999 Michael Adams became England's number one and 16 years later he still is England's number one. Now he gets the wildcard for the London Chess Classic, the top tournament that ends this year's Grand Chess Tour series. The tour began with the Norway Chess tournament and will continue with the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis in August. Press release...

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual - ChessBase edition

8/3/2015 – In the ChessBase catalogue, it is understandable to be attracted and curious about the latest and greatest products, but some items, even many years old, just never lose their luster or value. The biggest problem is knowing what those are. Among them, one of the absolute greatest is the ChessBase version of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, a book that is rightly considered a modern classic.

Czech king walks into chess history

8/2/2015 – Remember the breathtaking king march executed by Prague-born David Navara in the Biel Chess Tournament recently? The first official world chess champion Wilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague, based his gambit in the 1860s on a magical stroll of his king. Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek, who was also born in Prague, provides extensive analysis of Navara's incredible game.

US Junior Championship: winner's impressions

8/2/2015 – The US Junior Closed Chess Championship is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the United States – next only to the US Championships. The ten-player round robin event, open to best juniors younger than 21 years, was won by 15-year-old Akshat Chandra – who often writes for our news page. Today he tells us in his captivating style what it is like to play and win such a prestigious event.

August 2015 ratings: Ding Liren in Top Ten

8/1/2015 – After huge successes in his match against Gelfand, and in the Chinese League, Ding Liren became the second Chinese player ever to break into the Top Ten. This was bad for Levon Aronian who is now demoted to world no. 11. August also signaled a welcome return to form for Fabiano Caruana who is once more in the 2800 club. Still, don't miss the results of the amazing John Burke!

China vs Russia: Yu Yangyi cannot stop Karjakin

8/1/2015 – Sergey Karjakin is on a roll. In the China-Russia match in knock-out format, in which one player plays against the other team till he loses, Karjakin eliminated four of the five Chinese. After winning against Wei Yi, Ding Liren, and Ni Hua, he also beat Yu Yangyi, once again showing his skills in blitz. The match will be resumed in December.

FIDE Trainer: a treasure of articles

7/31/2015 – FIDE has certainly undergone a number of changes over the years, some good, and some less so, but certainly one of the best has been the creation and structuring of the FIDE trainer, allowing chess teachers of all levels to earn official accreditation. A separate section exists with the expected information, but did you know there is also a large selection of free chess lectures?

Karjakin vs China: 3-0

7/31/2015 – The knock-out format of the Russia - China match currently underway in Hei Xiazi is a refreshingly new idea. However, maybe some players will have no chance at all to show their skills. In the first three rounds Sergey Karjakin, Russia's board one, eliminated Wei Yi, Ding Liren and Ni Hua. On Saturday Karjakin will play against Yu Yangyi.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda wins Lake Sevan 2015

7/31/2015 – The annual “Lake Sevan 2015” tournament was held in Martuni, Armenia. The ten player round-robin event had an average Elo of 2617, with most of the players very young and still in their developing phase. It was won a 17-year-old Polish GM with a score of 6.0/9 and a 2736 performance. We bring you an extensive multi-part report with indepth analysis of some very exciting games..

Good ideas?

7/31/2015 – 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.

Biel Final: MVL wins again!

7/30/2015 – MVL and Wojtaszek went into the last round with the lead. MVL took care of Rapport without any problems: after only 20 moves the Frenchman was up a pawn and had a better position. Wojtaszek was thrashing Navara's position, his passed pawn crushing his opponent. Navara was lost, but in time pressure... he survived! MVL wins the tournament! In the last game, Eljanov suicided against Adams.

Granda Zuniga supreme in Andorra

7/30/2015 – 48-year-old Julio Granda Zuniga recorded one of his strongest tournament results ever by winning the 2015 Andorra Open with the fantastic score of 8.0/9, including wins over his main rivals and a last round win over GM Adrien Demuth ensuring he would not share first. With this result, he earns a neat 27 Elo, and shows that age is just a number.

Chess goes Go in China

7/30/2015 – A few days after one match between Russia and China ended, they play the second. This time they try a new format for team competitions: a knock-out system which is rather popular in Go competitions in China but has hardly been tried in chess. In the first round Karjakin won against Wei Yi. Zhang Jilin reports from the very far east.

NEW: ChessBase Magazine #167

7/30/2015 – The best moments from the top tournaments. With analyses by Nakamura, Yu Yangyi, Jakovenko, and other top players. Enjoy the brilliancy Wei Yi - Bruzon Batista: rook sacrifice, king hunt, and a lot of quiet moves! Play like Anish Giri in „Move by move“ with GM Simon Williams. Discover a comfortable way to counter the Sicilian with 1.e4 c5 2.b3. And much more...

Biel 09: MVL leapfrogs Navara

7/29/2015 – Another exciting round in Biel, this time with two more black wins. MVL demolished Navara in the nice side of an English, baiting the Czech player with a "free" pawn that turned out to be rather poisoned. MVL crushed his opponent's activity and now is tied with Wojtaszek in the lead, who drew Adams. Rapport lost yet again, this time agains Eljanov, and is last by 2.5 points...

David Howell dominates in Leiden

7/29/2015 – Just before the start of the British Championship GM David Howell proved to be in splendid form. He smoothly won an open in Leiden in the Netherlands that took place from 18th to 26th July with 8.5/9. With this result Howell for the first time in his career has more than 2700 elo in the live rating list. But at the start of the tournament he really had to sweat.

Biel 08: Navara, Wojtaszek lead

7/28/2015 – The super tournament in Biel is coming to a close, but the fighting continues in strong fashion. Two decisive games were seen today, and the one draw could easily have been a win for Eljanov in his duel against Wojtaszek. The Pole survived and shares the lead against Navara, who simply wiped Rapport off the board. MVL put the positional pressure on Adams, who eventually cracked.

Politiken Cup: 15 players share lead

7/28/2015 – The Politiken Cup is a chess festival with a great tradition and a strong and big open. This year the tournament is played in Helsingør and the open attracted 430 players, among them a number of strong GMs. After four rounds 15 players share the lead with 4.0/4. One side-event is a ChessBase seminar that teaches you how to get the most out of your programs.

Welcome to Abu Dhabi Masters 2015

7/28/2015 – The European continent is a hotbed of strong open events taking place throughout the year. What are the other options for participating in a good tournament? The perfect location for players all around the world to participate is the Middle-East, perhaps in the 22nd Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival which will take place from the 23rd to 31st of August 2015.

Master Class vol.5 - Emanuel Lasker

7/28/2015 – It is interesting that the World Champion of 27 years, Emanuel Lasker, is also one of the hardest to define. In the fifth volume of the Master Class series, the topic is not only the breakdown of all the individual features of his play, from openings to endgames, with all the videos and games you could hope for, but a remarkably deep investigation of the secret of his success.