2015 Euro Ch: Covered in mud and floating chess

3/1/2015 – The participants of the European Championship taking place in Jerusalem enjoyed a free Saturday. Most of the foreign guests took advantage of the great weather to join a magnificent excursion to Masada, a famous fortification built by Herod the Great, and the Dead Sea, where they immersed themselves in ancient history, mud baths and floating chess.

Tbilisi Closing

3/1/2015 – Three down, one to go. The Grand Prix series only has one tournament left: the deciding round robin in Khanty-Mansiysk to be held in May. But how did the Tbilisi GP change the standings? We bring you a report of the short, but sweet, closing ceremony as well as an overview of who left Tbilisi as the favorite to qualify in one of the two spots for the 2016 Candidates tournament.

March 2015 ratings: After 26 years, Yifan no.1

2/28/2015 – 26 years and two months to be exact. On January 1989, 12-year-old Judit Polgar appeared on the FIDE ratings list with a 2555 rating, making her the youngest Top 100 ever, and the no.1 female player in the world, a ranking she held until today, when Hou Yifan officially became the new no.1. Also this month, Wei Yi becomes the youngest player ever rated 2700.

Sicilian Taimanov - the Goldilocks line

2/28/2015 – Choosing an opening can be a tricky business, whether as an amateur or a professional. Players are always trying to find that Holy Grail that is neither too sedate, nor too risky. In his latest DVD on the Sicilian Taimanov, GM Alejandro Ramirez says "It's a solid defense; it's not overly risky; it's giving Black very good results, and especially, very good positions.” A review.

2015 Euro Ch Rd4: Korobov is first sole leader

2/28/2015 – Whether due to cautious play, or simply the extremely balanced boards with players having similar ratings for the most part, round four saw an inordinate number of draws at the top boards for an open, with only five of the top twenty games ending in decisive results. This left the way open for one player to take sole lead, and one did just that.

In Vino Veritas

2/28/2015 – The Bunratty Open in Ireland is a tournament chess globetrotter Alina l'Ami did not want to miss. It has the right ingredients for an entertaining and delightful chess tournament, the competition is strong, the players are cheerful, the games creative, and inspired, often by the free-flowing Guinness. But if you are not careful, Bunratty holds surprising dangers.

2015 Euro Ch Rd3: Navara leads with five

2/27/2015 – Due to the extremely high level of the players, the second and third rounds saw top-level clashes already with top boards averaging over 2600 Elo. The number of players with perfect scores dropped from 26 in round two to just five in round three. Although they certainly all deserve praise, David Navara's play stands out for his extremely entertaining attacking play.

Kasparov on Putin, Ukrainian nukes, Nemtsov

2/27/2015 – On November 9th Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Champion in chess history; on November 9 1989 the Berlin Wall came down, heralding the end of the Communist era. Reason TV has conducted a remarkable 30-minute video interview with Kasparov, who also makes some very powerful points on Ukraine in a new Wall Street Journal interview. Addendum: Murder in Moscow.

Tbilisi Rd11: Peaceful end

2/27/2015 – The last round of the tournament saw another six draws, same as yesterday, with some of the games still being hard-fought draws while a couple of others were barely a game. With these series of results Tomashevsky finished first with his 1.5 point lead, while Jakovenko claimed second. On third place Radjabov was able to take it cleanly, being just half a point behind.

Right reaction/Spontaneous reaction

2/27/2015 – 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.

Mihail Marin: Tactic Toolbox Benoni

2/27/2015 – The better your tools, the easier the work - no matter whether you work at the computer or if you pursue a trade. If you study chess openings the typical motifs of that opening are your tools. The better you know them, the better your results. For the Benoni player Romanian grandmaster Mihail Marin has a large box of very useful tools.

Tbilisi Rd10: All drawn, Tomashevsky wins

2/26/2015 – The six draws seen today in Tbilisi do not alter the standings at all, meaning that Tomashevsky claims the Tbilisi Grand Prix with his one and a half point lead. His game against Andreikin was an interesting Noteboom, but it wasn't the only flashy game of the day. Both Dominguez and Kasimdzhanov should have scored, as they held winning positions against Mamedyarov and Jobava.

Bauer wins 2015 French Rapid Ch

2/26/2015 – A record 234 players, including over 30 masters and grandmasters, came to Nancy, France, last weekend to play a blitz tournament on Saturday, and on Sunday the French Rapid Championship. This was the 13th edition of the «Festival du Conseil General» which has alternated between standard round-robins one year, and rapid opens the next. A pictorial by IM Christophe Philippe.

Wesley So: Life at the top (1/2)

2/26/2015 – Wesley So has always been a great talent, now he is seen as potential challenger for the World title. In the last two years the 21-year old has won 106 rating points and is currently number 7 in the world. In an extensive report Eliseo Tumbaga writes about So's new life at the top, the rivalry with Hikaru Nakamura, and the prospects of challenging Magnus Carlsen.

Chess sets for the rich and famous

2/25/2015 – Chess is easily one of the games that seems to most inspire exotic and artistic variations. It can range from the barest minimum, such as pieces of bread in Stefan Zweig's classic novella, to opulence beyond your wildest dreams. Here are a few of the most luxurious sets available, from the $2000 Ferrari set to the one-of-a-kind Art of War set that costs a cool $1 million.

Tbilisi Rd9: Tomashevsky Unstoppable

2/25/2015 – It's possible to say that the race for first is practically over. With only two rounds to go, Tomashevsky has a fantastic 1.5 point lead over Jakovenko and nothing but a complete disaster would prevent Tomashevsky from claiming first, even with two losses to finish he might win the event! Today he played a great game against Kasimdzhanov in the KID, while MVL beat Jobava.

Andrew Martin: First Steps in Chess Technique

2/25/2015 – To improve your chess it helps to learn about pawn structures, the ideas behind the openings, the openings themselves, solve tactical tasks, and learn the basic and not so basic endgames. But it also helps to work on your thinking habits, to find and practice ways how to think properly and efficiently about chess positions. Andrew Martin shows you how.

Huffington: Chess Gems From Zurich

2/25/2015 – The six-player Zurich chess extravaganza was played in multiple stages: a blitz, classical games, a rapid round robin and a final Armageddon. The different formats accounted for many great ideas as well as for unforgiving blunders and the chess fans enjoyed it. Huffington Post correspondent Lubomir Kavalek shows us the role computer preparation played in two key games.

2015 Euro Ch: A stunning opening in Jerusalem

2/25/2015 – The 2015 European Championship was opened on Monday to a very enthusiastic crowd of players, who accustomed to a fairly sedate affair with speeches and welcomes, enjoyed the highly entertaining opening ceremony with mind reading magic acts, and percussion performances. Unfortunately for some, they soon found out there were further surprises in round one.

Anatoly Karpov tells all (4/4)

2/24/2015 – In this final part of the in-depth interview with 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov, the discussion turns to player stamina, chess sets, of which he is a notable collector and designer, including sets made from 40,000-year-old Wooly Mammoth ivory. He also opens the door on his family life, including regrets and successes, and dreams tempered by reality.

Van Wely wins Noteboom Tournament (2)

2/24/2015 – The 75th Daniel Noteboom Weekend Tournament was held in three different groups – for players above the rating of 1900, players between the rating of 1600 and 2000 and players below 1700. The main event was the “Corpus Vierkamp” which had four of Netherlands best chess players pitted against each other in a round-robin tournament. Part two of our tournament report.

Be careful when exchanging

2/24/2015 – "Take care" is a good advice but people are often to careless to follow it. In life this can hurt, in chess one careless moment can ruin hours of concentration and effort. Imagine you reach a won endgame after 50 moves and all it takes to win is the right exchange. Here, it pays to be careful. Karsten Müller shows you how to train this valuable skill.

Former child prodigy returns to chess

2/24/2015 – Jeff Sarwer was a classical prodigy, believed by many to be one of the strongest in history. At seven he was giving simultaneous exhibitions, at eight he won the Under Ten world championship. But then he disappeared from the chess scene to take up professional poker. Now, in his late thirties, this former media star, subject of the film "Searching for Bobby Fischer", is going after the GM title.

Deep Fritz 14 now with ChessBase for Android

2/23/2015 – Step-by-step, ChessBase for Android keeps on adding features, even though it is already a premium tool on mobile platforms. The latest addition to its rich feature set is a new engine that is now packaged with it: Deep Fritz 14. It is added to the ones it already came with, and if you own the app already, the update is free. Read on to learn how to use the analysis of several engines.