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.

Opening Encyclopedia 2015 - endless inspiration

5/30/2015 – In the ChessBase family of products, the Opening Encyclopedia has earned itself a special place as that Goldilocks item with so much packed into it, it has no peers in price/performance. In it you will find tens of thousands of commented games, a monster database, and detailed surveys and articles by top grandmasters on every opening under the sun.

Support for Mihaela Sandu

5/30/2015 – Yesterday we reported on the suspicions that had been expressed after the remarkable performance of WGM Mihaela Sandu at the European Women's Individual championship in Chakvi, Georgia. The protest was lodged by her rivals in the event. Now the Romanian Chess Federation and other players have expressed their support, and Mihaela Sandu herself has issued a press statement.

Women in chess: role of innate-ability beliefs

5/30/2015 – What could the chess world learn from problems in the academic world, with regard to the participation of men and women? This "gender gap" is much bigger in physics or music composition than in molecular biology or psychology. A recent study found what matters is whether people believe you need to be brilliant to succeed in the field. Prof. Wei Ji Ma tells us what this study might mean for chess.

Suspicion at the European Women's Championship

5/29/2015 – As we reported last Sunday, the 45th seed at the 16th European Women's Individual championship in Chakvi, Georgia, Romanian WGM Mihaela Sandu, rated 2300, was sensationally leading, with 5.0/5 points. 32 other participants became suspicious of this result and demanded that during the live broadcast of the games the organisation should implement a fifteen-minute delay.

Simplification - not always easy

5/29/2015 – 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.

Carlsen blitzes blindfold clock simul

5/29/2015 – Carlsen did a blindfold exhibition in New York, blitzing three opponents in a clock simul, averaging three minutes per opponent. Normally, there is no video available from the conference because it is only open to paying attendees ($5000 admission fee) and a few invited guests. However, the video link has been made available to the public who can see the mindboggling exhibition.

Khanty-Mansiysk GP Recap

5/28/2015 – It was an interesting Grand Prix, despite the high draw ratio. Three players emerged victorious at the end, though only two of them qualified for the Candidates. All three took very different approaches to the podium: Jakovenko with six decisive results, Nakamura with only two, and Caruana who, despite being in danger in the last round, won the tournament and the Grand Prix series.

Am. Continental Rd11: Winners and qualifiers

5/27/2015 – It was a long and epic competition, worthy of accolades on a variety of levels. The American Continental championship, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, was exciting through and through, from the constant change of leaders, to the six-way fight in the rapid tiebreaks to determine the lucky ones to leave with a place in the forthcoming World Cup. Large illustrated report.

Anand's mother Sushila passes away

5/27/2015 – Sushila Viswanathan, the mother of five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, passed away on May 26. She was 79. Sushila hailed from a family of lawyers who played chess. Besides teaching her son the basic moves, she played and nurtured him into the champion he is today. Clearly she is a role model parent for the present generations. Eulogy by the AICF.

Chess and Charity

5/26/2015 – In a human society that is afflicted with all manner of misfortunes, charity is an inseparable and vital activity. To give is to perform a human duty. Chess can also play a role in this most noble of acts as WFM Meri Grigoryan shows us. Now in the fifth year, she has organized a series of activities to bring attention and donations to fight cancer. An example to be embraced.

Khanty Final Round: No Miracle

5/26/2015 – Only a miraculous series of results would have lost Caruana his qualification, but there was never any danger of this happening as he drew his game, and was even better at some point. Nakamura gave Jakovenko no chance to complicate the situation, and split the point. Those three players shared first, but it's Caruana and Nakamura that put two Americans in the Candidates.

The wandering king

5/26/2015 – 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!

Alejandro Ramirez teaches the Benkö Gambit

5/26/2015 – Most of our readers know GM Alejandro Ramirez very well, as he is a very prolific reporter and annotator on this site. And an international event commentator. "Having enjoyed his comments I expected an equally entertaining and instructive DVD," says Piotr Kaim, himself a regular Benkö player. "The things I heard and watched met the expectations." Review in Mat Magazine.

Khanty Rd10: Jakovenko!

5/26/2015 – And just like that, a new challenger has appeared! With Jakovenko's excellent win today against Karjakin, he has put his own fate into his hands. If he is able to defeat Nakamura, with the black pieces, he will qualify for the 2015 Candidates. Anything less than that will leave him out of the competition. Three tie for first, but what everyone cares about is who will qualify?

Lucopen Lille: secret of scoring a GM norm

5/25/2015 – In Part I of our report we told you how 20-year-old French IM Quentin Loiseau won the event, and we brought for you three wonderfully annotated games by the top three finishers. Meanwhile our reporter IM Sagar Shah made his second GM norm in this tournament. In part two he reveals some of the secrets that helped him achieve this 2600+ performance. Sound advice.

Am. Continental Rd10: Mareco and 'mate'

5/25/2015 – It was a huge match between the two players who showed the best form until now: Sandro Mareco and Jorge Cori. The gloves were off and the Argentine grandmaster took the day. For Brazilians, it was a black day as all chances for norms or more were dashed by a disastrous slew of defeats. Learn more about the Montevideoan people and their love affair with 'mate'

John Forbes Nash, 1928–2015

5/24/2015 – In 1950 the 21-year-old mathematician John Nash submitted a Ph.D. dissertation on non-cooperative games – a concept that found use in economics, computing, evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, and other fields. A week ago the Nobel laureate, in Norway to receive a special award, was introduced to Magnus Carlsen. On his return to New Jersey he was tragically killed in a car accident.

Khanty Rd9: Clearer and Clearer

5/24/2015 – Despite Tomashevsky's victory over Svidler, it looks as the noose is tightening and that Nakamura and Caruana are by far the favorites to qualify into the Candidates. They continue to lead the Khanty-Mansiysk Grand Prix, together with Domingnuez, as all three of them drew their game. The only other decisive result was Giri's easy victory over the ever eccentric Jobava.

Rabat Blitz Marathon won by L'Ami (2/2)

5/24/2015 – Concluding the report on the Rabat Blitz Marathon, Alina L'Ami brings more impressions of a place and people so colorful, they practically demand to be photographed. The tournament was a huge success, and is now a major fixture on the international blitz calendar. This year included even live commentary by Nigel Short and Dirk Jan ten Gezeundam. Large pictorial and analysis.

Sandu leads European Women's Championship

5/24/2015 – The 16th European Women's Individual championship is taking place in Chakvi, Georgia, from 19th to 30th May 2015. Sensationally the 45th seed, Romanian WGM Mihaela Sandu, rated 2300, is leading with 5.0/5 points. Our resident endgame expert GM Karsten Müller has been looking at the games with a special eye on the way they ended. He presents four instructive examples.