1/17/2016 – No need to google: after the Australian Championship the 150-year celebrations of the Melborne Chess Club continue with the 2016 Australian Women's Masters, a ten-player WIM-norm round robin which lasts from January 14-22. After three rounds Gu Xiaobing is outright leader with 3.0/3, with Deimante Daulyte snapping at her heels with 2.5/3. Illustrated report from Melbourne.

1/16/2016 – The Brazilian Championship, held in the traditional Guanabara Chess Club, seemed set to establish a new record at its onset, or so the numbers appeared to dictate. The competition has instead been a two-man show, led by GM Krikor Mekhitarian and IM Evandro Barbosa right behind, and has not been short of entertainment. An illustrated report.

1/16/2016 – The first round of the Tata Steel Tournament 2016 in Wijk aan Zee saw interesting games and three wins in the Masters group: Wesley So outplayed Anish Giri, Ding Liren showed good opening knowledge, inspired ideas in the middlegame, and technical skills in the endgame to win against Michael Adams. Fabiano Caruana won a fine attacking game against Pavel Eljanov. The other four games were drawn. The players in the Challengers were less peaceful - they did not play a single draw.

1/16/2016 – The top players are there, in the Masters at Wijk. But it is worthwhile taking a look at the Challengers, where traditionally plenty of exciting chess battles take place. Of the 14 players in this group, five are from the host nation, while Russia and Azerbaijan have two players each, and USA, Germany, Georgia, India and China one player. Three women will be seen in action. Here's an overview.

1/15/2016 – The first New Zealand Chess Championship was played in 1879. The 123rd edition took place from 2nd to 10th January in Devonport, an idyllic town close to Auckland. After nine rounds English GM Gawain Jones emerged as sole winner with 7.5/9, half a point ahead of Ju Wenjun, Ma Qun, and Nigel Short. IM Deimante Daulyte sends a large pictorial report.

1/15/2016 – 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.

1/10/2016 – With a strong finish Igor Kovalenko became sole winner of the Keres Memorial - ACP Open in Tallinn. He started the last day with 6.5/8, sharing second place with four other players. But after winning against Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Peter Svidler he only needed a draw against Boris Gelfand in the final round to take sole first place with 9.0/11.

1/9/2016 – Chess legend Paul Keres was born on 7th January 1916. To celebrate his 100-year jubilee a strong rapid tournament is played in Tallinn, in which world class players such as P. Svidler, Boris G. or P. Eljanov take part. But after eight rounds the English GM David Howell leads the field with 7.0/8. Half a point behind follow Duda, Svidler, Kovalenko and Gelfand.

1/8/2016 – The 25th World Senior Chess Championships in Acqui Terme, Italy, was an amazing event. More than three hundred players started, including over 100 titled players, among them 18 GMs and 34 IMs. GM Nona Gaprindashvili won the Women’s 65+ section with 7.0/9, GM Predrag Nikolic the Open 50+ with 9.5/11. Ian Wilkinson remembers the event from a Jamaican perspective.

1/8/2016 – QM3: A game ends with the move 6...Nf1 mate – find moves that achieve this. That was our New Year's Puzzle. Solutions were sent in from around the globe – hundreds in all. Many letters were quite interesting, so we bring you a substantial selection. One of them has won the historic prize. Finally the coin problem by John Nunn: the solution is a five-second eight-word sentence that any ten-year-old can understand.

1/8/2016 – The Hastings Chess Congress has a very long tradition and the legendary Hastings tournament 1895 was one of the strongest tournaments of its time. Emanuel Lasker, Wilhelm Steinitz and Siegbert Tarrasch took part but in the end the American Harry Nelson Pillsbury won the tournament. A real surprise at that time. This year's Congress also had two surprise winners.

1/8/2016 – 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.