Billionaire Richard Branson: chess is best

2/17/2015 – The idea of a self-made billionaire always fascinates not just because of the fabulous wealth that implies, but how they achieved it. Among the most fascinating is unquestionably Richard Branson, with businesses ranging from records, airlines, to even space travel. In his personal blog he says "chess may just be the best game in the world." and that he has played thousands of chess games.

Zurich Legends: A match of equals!

2/17/2015 – The final two games between Viktor Korchnoi and Wolfgang Uhlmann saw an exchange of blows, with Korchnoi winning the third with the black pieces. But just when it seemed sure he would win the match then he blundered a piece in game four and the match of the legends was drawn 2-2. The event brought particular pleasure to an eleven-year-old chess fan.

Passed pawns in the country of the bishops

2/17/2015 – 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!

Tbilisi Rd2: Kasimdzhanov only winner

2/17/2015 – It was certainly a strange round, as many players squandered relatively big advantages. Most notably Dominguez was up the exchange for most of the game against Svidler, but never found the win. Grischuk and Giri also seemed to be better against Andreikin and MVL. At the end of the day the only win was a flashy spectacle, involving a piece sacrifice, by Kasimdzhanov.

Zurich Rd3: The bluff pays off; Nakamura 2800!

2/16/2015 – It was only yesterday that the World saw its ninth 2800 as Giri crossed that magical barrier, but already Nakamura makes it old news by becoming the first player from the Americas to be 2800 by beating Karjakin. A gamble paid off handsomely as the Russian was unable to remember his opening preparation in a massively complicated position. The American wins, and leads!

Just Checking: Alejandro Ramirez

2/16/2015 – Each "New in Chess Magazine" contains 106 pages full of chess: portraits, interviews, chess history, tournament reports, book reviews, and lots of material to improve your chess. In the "Just Checking" questionnaire "New in Chess" asks chessplayers to reveal tastes, thoughts, fears, and convictions. ChessBase author and editor Alejandro Ramirez gave the answers.

Zurich Legends: All even at 1:1

2/16/2015 – These days chess is clearly a young man’s game. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is 24 years old, his future competitors for the title, like Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, are all younger than him. In a time when chess is getting younger and younger it is a refreshing change to see two high-class octogenarians battle it out against each other. Big report with commentary.

MyGames: free Cloud Database on the web (1/2)

2/15/2015 – Among ChessBase's new free software designed for web browsers is the rather innocuous sounding 'MyGames', but the sheer power and possibilities of this particular service are not to be underestimated. It is intimately tied in with the new Cloud Database service in ChessBase 13, but allows a wide range of possibilities for players, teachers, and tournament organizers.

Tbilisi Rd1: Giri newest 2800!

2/15/2015 – What a way to start the tournament in Tbilisi! Four decisive games, three of them victories by the black pieces! Most of the games had something in common: mistakes in already difficult positions. Giri beat Svidler to become the ninth person in history to cross the 2800 barrier in the live ratings. Grischuk also hit a new personal best, with 2813.6 Round one report.

Zurich Rd2: Discombobulated!

2/15/2015 – There is nothing more unpleasant to face during a chess game than an unexpected move. Anand came up with an improvement of his game against Carlsen from the World Championship, sacrificing a piece and creating great complications over the board. Aronian calculated deeply, using an hour for three moves, but was unable to find the correct path. Anand joins Nakamura in the lead.

ChessBase Shop: Seek and ye shall find!

2/15/2015 – The new tools in ChessBase are keeping up with the modern times! Team ChessBase is continuously updating its world renowned chess database software but also paying attention to the Shop! Here they are adding spectacular new tools, becoming more and more customer friendly and helping to save our valuable time. That is great news for chess players, trainers, writers and fans!

Third GP Starts Tomorrow

2/15/2015 – The long break is over, and it is back to the boards for the participants of the Grand Prix series. The top two players at the end of the cycle will earn their spot in the 2016 Candidates tournament. Tomorrow the Tbilisi leg will begin, though the two current leaders of the GP, Caruana and Nakamura, are playing in Zurich. This opens the door for several players to catch or surpass them!

Zurich Rd1: Caruana errs, Nakamura wins!

2/14/2015 – The Italian was putting pressure on his rival, controlling his opponent's initiative and creating some positional threats. It seemed as if Caruana had good chances to at least make Nakamura uncomfortable, when out of nowhere the American came up with a mating attack! Caruana underestimated the threats against his f2 pawn and everything collapsed. Round One Report.

Carlsen and Nakamura won strong events

2/14/2015 – The year 2015 is very young and the world chess champion Magnus Carlsen has already won two strong tournaments – in Wijk aan Zee in January and in the German health resort Baden-Baden this week. But GM Lubomir Kavalek in his Huffington post column first goes to Gibraltar, where earlier this month the American GM Hikaru Nakamura was tearing the competition apart.

Zurich Blitz: Aronian crushes

2/13/2015 – Perhaps a difficult blitz tournament to predict! Karjakin and Nakamura, known for being great blitz players, finished easily on the bottom half of the table. Caruana, not known for his blitz skills, comfortably clinched at least third before the final round while Aronian and Anand were the ones duking it out for clear first! We bring you impressions and highlights from the blitz.

Chess on wheels

2/13/2015 – One of the world's most original tournament venues is the Prague chess train. In the evening you explore fascinating European cities, on your journey you play chess. This year the trainride lasts from 9. to 13. October and will start and end in Prague. Train tickets cost 180 euros, including the starting fee. Tickets are limited, so best register now.

Carlsen's choice

2/13/2015 – 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.

Anatoly Karpov tells all (2/4)

2/13/2015 – In this second part of this in-depth interview, Anatoly Karpov discusses psychologists, parapsychologists, betrayals, and reveals the man responsible for his loss of the match in 1985 to Kasparov, and the subsequent course of chess history. He talks about what he knows about the mysterious interruption of the 1984 match, and one of the most astounding heists in Soviet history.

CBS news correspondent Bob Simon dies at 73

2/13/2015 – He was a giant of broadcast journalism, who over a 47-year career at CBS News earned more than 40 major awards, including 27 Emmys and four Peabodys. Bob Simon, who died tragically in a car accident on Wednesday night, covered most major overseas conflicts from the late 1960s to the present. In 2011 he did a wonderful 60 Minutes segment on chess, which you should watch again.

Zurich Chess Challenge Preview

2/12/2015 – The super tournaments keep rolling this year. The Zurich Chess Challenge begins tomorrow, repeating its format of last year with six players and three different events. The blitz section, which is tomorrow, will determine the pairings while the classical and rapid parts determine the winner (with the former counting for double). We bring you a preview of a must-see event.

Young talents in India

2/12/2015 – Early practice might make the master but more important seems to be the joy of playing. India now has lots of masters and might soon have many more because the Indian talents practice early. Very early indeed. And they enjoy the game. Which could be seen at the National School Chess Championships played in Goa at the end of January. Illustrated report.

C.H.O'D. Alexander: Chessplayer and codebreaker

2/11/2015 – The film "The Imitation Game" speculates about the fate of Alan Turing, codebreaker, mathematician, and author of the first chess computer program. Turing is not the only character in the film with a connection to chess. There is also Hugh Alexander, played by Matthew Goode. He was modeled after C.H.O'D. Alexander, cryptanalyst, writer, and strong player.

Master Class Vol.3: Alexander Alekhine

2/11/2015 – Is studying chess like eating chocolates? Well, sometimes. At least, that's what Moshe Rachmuth thought when he had a look at the Fritztrainer Master Class DVD about Alexander Alekhine. Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh, and Karsten Müller present Alekhine's chess. So much good chess that it is difficult to decide what to enjoy first. A true delicacy.

Anatoly Karpov tells all (1/4)

2/10/2015 – The 12th World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, conceded a long and in-depth interview with the Russian news paper Sport Express. In this first part he discusses a wide variety of topics such as the quality of the Carlsen-Anand match ("even an out-of-shape Karpov would beat either of them..."), the memory of chess players, and he also answers questions on the 1978 match.