John Hartmann: And then there were two

6/9/2015 – Currently there are two programs vying for the title of strongest chess engine in the world, and both have seen new releases in recent months. Komodo and Stockfish currently top all computer lists, in that order. But they have different personalities, as John Hartmann shows in his engine review. "Shows" includes both engines simultaneously analyzing in an interesting realtime video.

Colliding kings

6/9/2015 – 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!

One round to go, Top-12 already clinched

6/9/2015 – It was a close call in round nine, but they left no doubts in round ten. Bischwiller continues with a perfect score and has secured first place in France's top-12. Clichy can catch them on points still, but the tiebreaks are insufficient and so it is all over. It also seems unlikely that Clichy does not get second, but Bois-Colombes is still knocking on their door.

Interview with Bassem Amin, African Champion

6/8/2015 – In May Grandmaster Bassem Amin, with an Elo of 2634 Egypt's number one, won the African Individual Chess Championships for the third time. Priyadarshan Banyan used the opportunity to ask the new African Champion who currently is doing military service in the Egyptian army to comment on his career, chess in Africa, and chess in Egypt.

Third year of the Maharashtra Chess League

6/8/2015 – It is just one state in India – but: Maharashtra is population wise far larger than any country in Europe, and: it has a thriving chess community. The state chess league is unique bidding system, definitely worthy of imitation, whereby top players are auctioned to the sponsors of the league. The inauguration is also graced by the likes of Vishy Anand and Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan.

Top 12: Bischwiller retains Perfect

6/8/2015 – It wasn't an easy task, and the final result of the match was not decided until the marathon game between Choisy and Maisuradze ended, but Bischwiller took a narrow 2-1 win against the strong team of Mulhouse Philidor to retain their perfect score. Clichy destroyed the lowest rated team in the event by 8-0, and for now are second. We bring you a summary of every single match!

Top-12 Under Way

6/6/2015 – The French Team Championship is reaching its conclusion, as the Top-12 has crossed the half-way mark in beautiful Grau-du-Roi. Top players are participating, including So, Giri, Jakovenko, and many others. The favorite by far is the team of Clichy, with an average rating of almost 2650, but they currently trail the strong team of Bischwiller, lead by Giri, Naiditsch and Bacrot.

Kasparov and thirty years of computer chess

6/6/2015 – On June 6th 1985 the 22-year-old Garry Kasparov came to Hamburg to play a preparation match for his World Championship bid – and to do a remarkably critical interview with a leading German news magazine. During the visit he played a simul against 32 of the strongest chess computers of the day. We invite you to compare the games with today's chess engines. Garry annotated one of them for us.

ACP Euro Women Rapid won by Kosteniuk

6/6/2015 – The final day of the ACP European Women’s Rapid championship confirmed the swing seen in the previous day. Stefanova’s train seemed to be running out of steam, while Kosteniuk was at full speed. The two players met in round nine, and while the Bulgarian held a decisive advantage, she lost control and the Russian won and secured the title. Report, analysis, and videos.

Huffington Post: Can America return to chess glory?

6/5/2015 – The US chess team may embark on a journey reminiscent of the golden past. Three extraordinary GMs – Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So – are rated in the world's top. They are young, hungry and very good – and will be eligible to play in next year's Chess Olympiad. Huffington columnist asks: can they recreate the glory of the U.S. teams from the 1930s?

Open provocation

6/5/2015 – 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.

Nicholas Pert: The solid Slav Defence

6/5/2015 – Solid, yet aggressive, popular among the world's best players but easy to learn, strategically and tactically rich and complex - that is the Slav Defence. One of the biggest Slav experts is English GM Nicholas Pert. He has played it for years with an overwhelming score. Now he presents a comprehensive Slav repertoire and explains the attractions of this opening.

2015 Arnold Classic: Chess and the Terminator

6/5/2015 – The 2015 Arnold Classic Brasil came and went and was a great success by any measure. The event that was once essentially a bodybuilding competition with a few sideshows has grown into an international franchise with sports of all kinds, including chess. More than an afterthought, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared how and why he constantly played chess on the Terminator set.

Igor Kovalenko wins Zalakaros Open

6/4/2015 – The Zalakaros Open is the strongest tournament held on Hungarian soil. With the partipation of 29 GMs and 24 IMs in a field of 80 players, it was an extremely hard-fought event. Igor Kovalenko from Latvia stormed the field winning it with a score of 7.0/9. Our on-site reporter, Sagar Shah, sent us impressions and in-depth analysis, but also pictures of this beautiful spa-resort. Big illustrated report.

White Rook finals begin in Dagomys

6/3/2015 – The White Rook tournament in Russia has a long tradition. Established in 1969 it aims to attract young players to chess. In 2015 more than 5,500 pupils younger than 14 took part in the qualifying events that were played all over Russia. On 3 June the finals, in which Russian and international teams compete, begin in Dagomys. The opening ceremony had magical moments.

Ramirez: Artificial Castling in the Benko

6/3/2015 – Last week we published the review of GM Alejandro Ramirez' DVD “Attacking with the Benkö Gambit”. The author Piotr Kaim found that there are still some issues that need to be clarified. Does Benkö really offer at least equal chances in every line? What is the line the DVD’s author fears most, while playing Black? Ramirez responds to these and other questions in a short interview.

Euro Women Rapid heats up

6/3/2015 – The second day of the European Women's Rapid was confirmation of two world champions as favorites: both Antoaneta Stefanova and Alexandra Kosteniuk took the lead with 6.5/8. While Stefanova slowed down on day two with three draws, Kosteniuk was on fire and won all four of her games. They will meet in round nine with challengers waiting for just one slip.

The revenge check

6/2/2015 – 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. Today on the playchess server, 4 pm: Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller and Sagar Shah

European Women Rapid starts

6/2/2015 – The ACP-ECU European Women's Rapid championship is currently underway in Kutaisi, Georgia, following directly after the end of the standard time control championship. It is an eleven-round competition held over three days with plenty of rapid action to be followed live. Four rounds have taken place, and the players also visited Prometheus Cave.

European Women CC is won by Natalia Zhukova

6/1/2015 – There is no question that the entire European Women's Championship was overshadowed by the baseless accusations undersigned by a number of the players, and certainly more was written on the topic than the event itself. Zhukova took gold, and Batsiashvili silver, while at stake were 14 spots in the world championships. Report with analysis of one of the controversial games.

Jeffery Xiong rocks Chicago

6/1/2015 – The Chicago Open has $100,000 in prize money, and is one of the strongest opens in the World. This attracted some of the top players in the continent, including Gata Kamsky and Lazaro Bruzon. However, everyone was in for a big shock as it was a 14-year old boy from Coppell, Texas that took the big prize, earning his GM title in the process. Who exactly is Jeffery Xiong?

June 2015 ratings: Stars and Stripes

5/31/2015 – The ratings list this month brings milestones, not so much in records, but in personal bests that remain remarkable and noteworthy. The first is by Hikaru Nakamura who gains three Elo this month. It might not seem worth mentioning, but that was all it took to finally break 2800, in a month in which the US had plenty to celebrate. Here are the ratings, stats, and stories.

Celebrating 300 machine generated problems

5/31/2015 – As we reported before, Chesthetica, a program by Azlan Iqbal, is autonomously generating mate in three problems by the hundreds, and the author is posting his selections in a very pleasing format on YouTube. The technology behind the program’s creativity is a new AI approach and Dr. Iqbal is looking for a substantial research grant for applications in other fields.

Wei Yi youngest Chinese Champion

5/30/2015 – The wunderkind from China strikes yet again! His meteoric rise seems to have no stop - he becomes the youngest Chinese Champion in history after scoring an excellent 7.5/11 in Xinghua. Not only that - his live rating catapults him to the top 30 players in the World. In the Women's section, it was Tan Zhongyi that dominated the event. We bring you a recap of the tournament.