March 2016 ratings: Vachier Lagrave is world no. 5

2/29/2016 – France has been a top chess nation for some time now, with numerous players in the 2700 stratosphere, but Maxime Vachier Lagrave has set a new mark by climbing to the world no. 5 spot, the first player since Spassky, who emigrated there, or Alekhine himself. Naturally, one cannot overlook Magnus Carlsen's superb fifth win at Wijk aan Zee, reasserting his domination.

Women's World Championship starts tomorrow

2/29/2016 – Ukrainian GM Mariya Muzychuk is the current title holder, having won the 2015 Knockout Women World Championship in Sochi. The Challenger is Hou Yifan of China, former World Champion 2010-2012, 2013-2015 (who did not participate in Sochi). The venue is Potocki’s Palace in Lviv, Ukrain – a city that has 30 GMs. The opening ceremony is on Tuesday, round one on Wednesday. Preview.

Short wins Bunratty Masters

2/29/2016 – There are many good reasons to play in the Bunratty Chess Festival, particularly if you believe that Guiness is indeed good for you. After all, Bunratty's pub is one of Ireland's oldest. But whatever his approach to beer, Nigel Short definitely likes the chess in Bunratty. After winning the event he called the festival "the Rolls Royce of chess weekenders".

Enjoy the joys of Correspondence Chess

2/29/2016 – Correspondence chess is a challenge and offers the chance to explore chess in real depth. And modern correspondence chess is not a battle between engines but a battle in which humans use modern engines to play strong and correct chess. If you like to analyse deeply and if you like to search for the truth, then it might be time to try correspondence chess.

Newsletter #02 from ChessBase India

2/29/2016 – Chess in India, with Vishy Anand at the helm and a large number of talents behind him, has a bright future – in fact India is an emerging chess superpower. But the infarstructure of information and reporting has been somewhat lacking. That is all set to change, with a web portal dedicated to Indian tournaments and players. ChessBase India brings you quality chess content at an unparalleled level.

Tehran WGP Final: Ju Wenjun is gold, Sara is silver

2/28/2016 – The final rounds of the tournament were no less thrilling than the rest, with a new leader taking over: Ju Wenjun, and taking gold. It was a fitting result as she was also the only undefeated player. In second was the Cinderalla story wth Iranian IM Sarasadat "Sara" Khademalsharieh, the lowest rated by far, who took a fantastic silver. A large illustrated report.

Kamsky wins Cappelle la Grande Open

2/28/2016 – The open tournament in Cappelle la Grande in France has a long and vibrant tradition. Its 32nd edition attracted 538 players, among them strong grandmasters such as Kevin Spraggett or Artur Jussupow. With a rating of 2667 US-Grandmaster Gata Kamsky was top seed and did not disappoint: With 7.5/9 he became sole and convincing tournament winner.

Five new players in the Hall of Fame

2/26/2016 – An induction ceremony in April will recognize five exceptional players for a places in history as members of the World and U.S. Chess Halls of Fame. FIDE has selected David Bronstein, Sonja Graf­Stevenson and Howard Staunton. The trustees of the U.S. Chess Trust selected grandmasters Maurice Ashley and Gata Kamsky to join the other 55 players currently in the U.S. Hall of Fame. Press release.

Do women play more beautiful chess?

2/26/2016 – Azlan Iqbal, senior lecturer at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional in Malaysia, has been working for years in the field of Artificial Intelligence, trying to program machines to evaluate aesthetics. After making the Chesthetica software that is able to create an unlimited number of problem-like chess constructs he has turned his attention to gender-based playing style. Here are first results.

Versatile rook

2/26/2016 – 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.

Kasparov in Delhi – Reading an opponent's mind

2/25/2016 – Last Friday Garry Kasparov was in the Indian capital and delivered an interactive talk to entrepreneurs at the Regional Interaction Event, Zinda Dilli 2016. The legendary World Champion discussed a wide range of topics like chess politics, his approach to chess, the future of the game and his invaluable insights to chess and life. You don't want to know what he said about US Presidential Candidate Trump. From ChessBase India.

ACP Grand Survey on chess

2/24/2016 – After months of hard work ACP has published its Grand Survey. It has 60 questions and it includes topics like Rules of Chess, Time Controls, Draw Offers, Anti-Cheating, World Championship Cycle and a lot more. You are invited to take part and make your opinion count! We will report on the results once the data has been evaluated. The survey, in English and Russian, will run until March 15 and is open to everyone.

Azlan Iqbal: Recomposition contest result

2/24/2016 – Over Christmas we showed you an interesting problem: say you have found some moves somewhere, in coordinate notation without piece names – is it possible to reconstruct the original supposedly meaningful position to which they apply? The author, who has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence, tried to do it, but with modest success. A reader presented a more plausible solution and won a valuable prize

Adhiban: From Challenger to Master – part two

2/24/2016 – In the first part Indian GM B. Adhiban took us on a journey where, through powerful play, he was able to wrest the sole lead in the Challengers’ Group of this year’s Tata Steel tournament. In the second half things were not at all easy for the Indian youngster, as he grovelled to make a draw in many inferior positions. The second half showed Adhiban's real character – tough, strong with a never-say-die spirit.

Bishops without space

2/23/2016 – 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!

Dzagnidze stumbles, Zhao advances

2/22/2016 – With four decisive games round 9 was again combative. And it saw remarkable changes at the top: Nana Dzagnidze lost with Black against Pia Cramling and was caught up by Zhao Xue who won with Black against the former leader, Natalija Pogonina. Sarasadat Khademalsharieh obtained her first GM norm by defeating Antoaneta Stefanova with White. Report by Alina l'Ami.

Carlsen's 70-board simul in Hamburg

2/22/2016 – Germany's very prestigious news weekly, Die Zeit, have just chalked up seventy years of publication. As part of the anniversary celebration they invited the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen to play a seventy-board simultaneous exhibition. A number of prominenten opponents took part, and a number of fairly strong players. The event took six hour and ended in a veritable massacre.

Better than an engine: Leonardo Ljubicic (1/2)

2/21/2016 – Leonardo Ljubicic is the 28th World Champion in Correspondence Chess. In an extensive interview he talks about his way to the title and reveals how he prepares for his games. He talks about his openings and what is important to play successful correspondence chess and explains how humans use engines to play better than engines - an art and a science.

Tehran WGP Rd8: Nana Dzagnidze takes command

2/20/2016 – The high number of decisive games persisted in round eight. The pivotal result was Nana Dzagnidze's win with White against Harika Dronavalli, making the Georgian sole leader with a margin of a full point after Antoaneta Stefanova defeated former leader Natalija Pogonina in a dramatic game that plummeted the Russian to a shared 2nd-4th. Here is the report by Alina L'Ami.

"Die Zeit" interviews Magnus Carlsen

2/20/2016 – "Die Zeit" is one of the most prestigious German weeklies. The first edition was published on 21st February 1946 in Hamburg, and to celebrate the jubilee, the "Zeit" hosts a number of cultural events, among them a 70 board simul with the World Champion. "Zeit"-journalist Ulrich Stock spoke with Carlsen about the Candidates, chess and islam, and how he motivates himself.

Tehran WGP Rd6-7: Nana Dzagnidze joins lead

2/19/2016 – The sixth and seventh rounds offered great action, with a slew of decisive games, enough to satisfy any fan. After catching up with Natalija Pogonina, Nana Dzagnidze is now first be virtue of tiebreak, hoping to take over the lead. The youngest player in the competition, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, is in full ascension as she scored two win. A large illustrated report.

Adhiban: From a Challenger to a Master!

2/19/2016 – For the Challengers section at the Tata Steel Tournament the biggest attraction was the winner qualifying for next year's Masters. The winner in a thrilling finish was Indian GM B. Adhiban. The 23-year-old has sent us some superb game annotations that will give you an insight into the mind of one of the best emerging talents in the world – and perhaps get you 50 rating points, if you study his quiz questions carefully.

Coldblooded defense

2/19/2016 – 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.

Maurice Ashley: trash talk chess in NYC park

2/18/2016 – In Washington Square Park, to be precise, where masters set up chess boards and clocks to play people at $5 a game. Traditionally the master trash talks the opponent – deprecation and humiliation are part of the experience. But what if the hustler inadvertently challenges a grandmaster? It was recorded as part of a "Tim Ferriss Experiment” and is a great pleasure to watch.