The Komodo Files – working with a chess engine (2)

3/16/2015 – His initial foray into working with a chess engine ended in near total disaster, when he was forced to think for himself the old human frailties come to the surface. In round six GM Danny Gormally had worked out the position after move seven virtually to checkmate. "There’s no way in a million years I would have been able to find all the moves," he writes. The engine found them in seconds.

Erwin l'Ami now sole leader in Reykjavik

3/16/2015 – The seventh round of the Open in Reykjavik was heavily contested: on the first eleven boards not a single draw way played, while seven games were won by black and four by white. One of the winners with white was Erwin l'Ami, who defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in 21 moves. With 6.5/7 L'Ami now leads the field, followed by four players with 6.0/7.

Navara and Mamedyarov draw, three lead

3/15/2015 – All eyes were on the first board, of course, as the top two seeds duked it out. Alas, neither side was able to come out on top and the draw paved the way for two players to reach the summit with 5.5/6: Alexander Fier and Erwin l'Ami, both with huge wins with Black. We bring you an analysis of the top match as well as beautiful tactical instances on "lower boards".

Triangle Setup - A complete defense against 1.d4

3/15/2015 – What to do against 1.d4? A question that starts to get urgent when you lose game after game when your opponents moves the annoying d-pawn two squares ahead. Grandmaster Michal Krasenkow offers help. He recommends "The Triangle Setup: A complete defense against 1.d4. A DVD that for Davide Nastasio seemed to be like an answer to his prayers.

Mamedyarov perfect 5.0/5 in Reyk

3/15/2015 – A sole leader has emerged, but it is not by much. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won a fantastic game today, which is of course annotated by Sagar Shah, and leads in Reykjavik. However the pool of players following him with 4.5/5 is vicious, and includes the number two seed David Navara. We expect fabulous fights for the next round, and rumors are that a top GM will visit the event...

The Komodo Files – working with a chess engine

3/14/2015 – After an unsuccessful appearance at the London Chess Classic GM Danny Gormally decided that his chess was stuck in a rut. Perhaps it was time to jump on the gravy train and do what all the top players seem to be doing these days: work with an engine. He started his experiment with Komodo, one of the strongest engines around. Part one of his report in CHESS Magazine.

Six perfect in Reykjavik

3/13/2015 – After four rounds of chess in Reykjavik six players have kept their perfect score. The group is spearheaded by Mamedyarov, but Eljanov is not far behind. An impressive group of players only trails by half a point, so we will see some tough matches tomorrow on those boards trying to keep pace with the leaders. As usual Sagar Shah brings analysis, and Alina l'Ami gifts us impressive pictures.

Dark clouds

3/13/2015 – 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.

Barclaycard Yes2Chess tournament 2015

3/13/2015 – Like to play in an international chess tournament, via the Internet, as a school team? If you do you can win a fun-filled trip to London in June, to take part in Finals Weekend. The tournament is open to primary/ elementary school teams from eight countries. Participation is free. In this report we are going to tell you how to register and play. It's really quite simple!

Study of square utilization and occupancy

3/13/2015 – Inspired by the chess visualization study by Seth Kadish, featured at ChessBase last year, Devin Camenares, a professor in biology, created a suite of tools to analyze the square utilization and occupancy for any and all pieces and squares, across all moves and positions in all games in a database. He then applied this to the games of Fischer and Carlsen.

Reykjavik is heating up

3/12/2015 – Well, perhaps not in a literal sense, as the temperatures are quite low and gloves are not something that should be lost. However inside the Harpa concert hall, the venue of the Reykjavik Open, the boards are on fire. Many attacking games and decisive combinations were seen in rounds two and three. Sagar Shah brings us annotations, while Alina l'Ami brings us photographs!.

Europe turns a page: Partnership ECU-ChessBase

3/12/2015 – After some rocky years the new leadership of the European Chess Union has adopted a new media policy to better promote chess in the online community. ChessBase has become the Media Partner and will promote ECU events with special coverage. The Hamburg software company will also provide free or heavily discounted software for member nations. Press release.

NY Times: Your Move, Grandmaster

3/11/2015 – That was the title of an article that appeared on the front page of the Sports section of the New York Times. Written by former chess columnist Dylan Loeb McClain, it describes the ongoing efforts currently underway behind the scenes to bolster the US team for international events. Though fairly common in other sports such as football, it is less so in chess. An interesting read.

Reykjavik Open kicks off

3/11/2015 – The series of strong open tournaments continues. Starting with Gibraltar, then Cappelle la Grande, and now continuing with the famous Reykjavik Open. It is the 30th edition of the event, and it has come a long way since Mikhail Tal won the tournament in 1964. The festivities also conmemorate former FIDE president Friðrik Ólafsson's 80th birhtday! Round one and two report.

Personalities at the Indian Team Championships

3/11/2015 – This event has a meagre prize fund but attracts a very high calibre of players. You can encounter the cream of Indian chess, future champions, players with incredible life stories. We dealt with the games and results of the Team Championships in previous reports, in today's big pictorial we get to meet some of the personalities that are making the country the next great superpower of chess.

Mihail Marin: Winning against the Grünfeld

3/11/2015 – Writing about your openings is tricky. Revealing your secrets is good for your readers but what if they are your future opponents? But Mihail Marin knows that things are not that easy. He follows his recommendations because he trusts them. Against a well-prepared opponent this recently gave him another chance to win against the Grünfeld.

Evgeny Najer is 2015 European Champion

3/11/2015 – Following a fascinating rest day in Old Jerusalem, in the final round, Evgeny Najer completed his final sprint with a draw and the title. In the midst of numerous safe results (AKA short draws) to guarantee a seat in the World Cup, one that stood out was Bartel Mateusz, who finished in third after beating Nepomniachtchi with an inspired sacrificial attack. Large illustrated report.

China wraps up in India

3/11/2015 – Things were looking rough for India as they entered the penultimate round with a two match deficit against China. Sethuraman continued with an great performance, defeating Ding Liren. However the rest of the team was unable to come through. A disastrous performance by Sasikirian allowed China to draw round seven. To add insult to injury, China also won comfortably on the last round.

The gatekeeper

3/10/2015 – 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. And don't miss the Endgame Magic Show, today at 4.00 p.m. Special guest: Simon Williams.

How grandmasters think

3/10/2015 – As reported in a previous article the recently concluded Indian National Team Championships fielded super-strong players. During the event our reporter in Goa, Sagar Shah, did something unique: he asked top players to select a special moment from their games and explain what had gone through their minds at that point. Their thought processes are provided as video commentary.

Li Chao is champion at Cappelle

3/9/2015 – Whatever its secret, there is little doubt Cappelle La Grande is the envy of many tournament organizers around the world, and for one simple reason: 555 players. The traditional open is in its 31st edition and still going strong, very strong. This year the winner was Chinese Li Chao, in front of a platoon of GMs and an army of enthusiasts. A pictorial by Alina L'Ami.

Learning endgames with ChessBase 13

3/9/2015 – Remember the endgame we showed you last Friday – rook and two pawns vs rook? And how to find a lot of practice examples with a single mouse click, in our new ChessBase 13 program? We gave you six practical positions to solve over the weekend. Well, here are the solutions. Study them any you will really have mastered an important endgame that often occurs in over-the-board play.

China breaks India twice

3/8/2015 – China was able to win round five with an excellent win from their top player, Ding Liren, who bested India's number one Krishnan Sasikirian. Even though the Indians struck back with a win by their top-performing player, Sethuraman, Zhou Jianchao gave China the win with a victory over Adhiban Baskaran. Unlike previous rounds India did not recover in the next one, instead suffering another defeat, 3-1!

Ivanchuk wins 2015 Vladimir Petrov Memorial

3/8/2015 – During the weekend, the Vladimir Petrov Memorial was held in Jurmala, Latvia. The blitz and rapid tournament enjoyed a rather prestigious turnout with names such as Sergey Karjakin, Vasil Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich, just to name a few, while accepting inscriptions from players of all levels. The tournament was a high level with plenty of photos.