Vladimir Onischuk wins Metz Open 2015

4/30/2015 – A very strong event, in Metz, 300 km east of Paris, had 38 players, 23 rated above 2300, nine GMs, one WGM and nine IMs. 24-year-old Vladimir Onischuk (2651) from Ukraine lost his second round game but won all the others for a 8.0/9 score and a 2844 performance. We bring you two wonderfully annotated games (with video commentary) that provide extraordinary insight into key moments.

Marin: Winning against the King's Indian

4/30/2015 – "Do you want to learn tactics? Do you want to learn important pawn structures?", asks reviewer Davide Nastasio and recommends to study the King's Indian. With the help of renowned author and theoretician GM Mihail Marin who shows how to win against this popular opening - with the main line. At the same time Marin teaches a lot about chess.

Wall Street Journal: chess culture shock

4/29/2015 – The Wall Street Journal carries a number of interesting sections on their website that share articles on a variety of slightly offbeat topics. One of these is called “Expat”, and is self-captioned as ‘for global nomads everywhere’. Yuanling Yuan, a top Canadian chess player who recently moved to the US to study at Yale described her astonishment at chess in the USA.

Chengdu Final: Georgia World Champions!

4/29/2015 – They led from beginning to end, and their performance (especially Khotenashvili's) was absolutely fantastic. The Georgian team, perhaps not one of the pre-tournament favorites to take first, was able to win over the strong Chinese team in the last round to secure their gold medal! Russia and China finished silver and bronze, respectively. Last round overview.

Shamkir Recap

4/29/2015 – Without a doubt the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir will be one of the strongest tournaments of the year. The quality of the games was very high, and the mix of players gave us some excellent rounds of chess. We bring you a recap with an analysis of the play by each player, their highlights, and some impressions from the short but sweet closing ceremony.

World Team: China takes gold, Ukraine silver

4/29/2015 – With regards to drama, rises and falls, the World Team Championship certainly had it all. The start was all about the disasters of Russia and the US, and the heroic results by Israel and Cuba, while the second half inverted this, but ultimately it was the very same gold medalists at Tromso who came out supreme: the irrepressible Chinese.

Power Strategy 1: development is everything

4/28/2015 – Development! Development! Development! This could just as well have been the title of the first DVD in the Power Strategy series by GM Mihail Marin, whose lesson on the topic will help emphasize not only its importance, but also the myriad ways it can be leveraged, exploited or punished for lack of. A fascinating and profound presentation.

The king's helping hand

4/28/2015 – 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!

World Team Rd8: China is sole leader

4/28/2015 – As the saying goes: You can't keep a good man down. Or boy for that matter. Indeed although a team event, some individual players have been taking matters into their own hands as they help change the fate of their squad. The US beat Ukraine thanks to an important win by Lenderman over Ivanchuk, while China takes the lead helped by Ding Liren and top-scoring Wei Yi.

John Nunn's 60th Birthday Blitz

4/27/2015 – Sixteen players, most of them with GM titles, gathered together in the splendid Home House in London's West End to play a blitz tournament. This was to celebrate the 60th birthday of one of their most esteemed colleagues, Dr John Nunn, mathematician, former top world class GM, author, problemist. We wish John a very happy birthday with this big pictorial report.

World Team Rd7: The mad battle for bronze

4/27/2015 – The clash of the titans, to abuse an oft-used movie reference, took place in round seven, with leaders Ukraine and China facing off against each other on the top boards. It was a dogged fight with blood spilled on both ends, but ended in a draw. With Cuba and Israel losing once more, seven teams, including tailenders USA and Russia, now have chances at bronze.

ChessBase's free tactics training

4/27/2015 – Tactics, tactics, tactics. There isn't a teacher or manual that does not press this point mercilessly, and with good reason: strategy collapses if the tactics are flawed. After releasing a slew of web applications, from cloud database to Fritz or children instruction, ChessBase now presents its latest addition, a free tactics trainer with over 34 thousand positions!

Battle of the Legends (2/2)

4/27/2015 – "Gold does not rust". What an applicable scientific fact! Garry Kasparov absolutely annihilated the 60th best active chess player on the planet with a score of 5-0, bringing the total to 8.5-1.5 A humiliation for Nigel Short and an absolute spectacle and bloodbath for the onlookers. We bring you a full report, and of course the highlights of the decisive moments.

Chengdu R7: Couldn't keep up!

4/27/2015 – All the top teams had a tough match ahead of them. Georgia passed their test: thanks to Arabidze's win they were able to score a 2.5-1.5 victory against the strong India squad. Ukraine was a slight favorite against China, but the Chinese team were trying to win to keep in gold medal contention, a 2-2 draw was the result. Meanwhile, the resilient team of Kazakhstan held Russia to a draw.

Shamkir Final Round: Undisputed Winner

4/26/2015 – Wesley So started crushing the field with 3.5/4. Viswanathan Anand had a wonderful performance, a fantastic near 2900 TPR that will put him on second place in the in the next rating list. However, at the end of the day, it is still all about Magnus Carlsen. A near 3000 performance, a full point ahead of second place, the best player in the World won again.

World Team Rd6: Ukraine and China lead

4/26/2015 – Round six of the World Team championship confirmed the swing in the balance of power, as both the earlier leaders Israel and Cuba, faced the new ones in a match that would either shower them in glory, and relegate them to fighting for a spot on the podium. Both Ukraine and China showed they were up to the task, setting up a decisive clash between the two.

Nagesh Havanur on ChessBase Magazine #165

4/26/2015 – The electronic magazine that appears every two months is a vital weapon in the arsenal of tournament players. The latest issue includes 1928 OTB games, of which 106 are annotated by leading experts, 9485 correspondence games (38 annotated), and twelve opening surveys which you should check. Professor Nagesh Havanur recommends CBM 165 warmly in his ChessWorld review.

Chengdu R6: Georgia, Russia keep winning

4/26/2015 – Both Russia and Georgia won their matches today, increasing their lead. Russia had no problems defeating Poland 3.5-0.5, and Georgia also had few difficulties in overcoming USA. Meanwhile it was the Chinese team that disappointed; they were unable to keep pace and drew every game in their match against Kazakhstan. It seems hard for them to win with only three rounds left.

Battle of the Legends (1/2)

4/26/2015 – Those pursed lips. The extended chin. That familiar furrowed brow. All of this recognizable before the clocks had even started. It was a match between two of the best players in history. Garry Kasparov took his seat and played as if time had not touched him. Nigel Short put up his best resistance, with a myriad of defensive resources in every game, but alas the Beast from Baku leads.

Shamkir R8: Anand #2 in World

4/25/2015 – It is only by a fraction, but after today's victory against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vishy Anand regains the post of second best player in the World, at least in the live rating lists. He surpasses Fabiano Caruana, who drew his game against Rauf Mamedov. Meanwhile Mickey Adams destroyed Anish Giri and Big Vlad ended his losing streak with a clean sweep of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

New million dollar Grand Chess Tour announced

4/25/2015 – Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short were on hand for a press conference that announced the launch of a "Grand Chess Tour" featuring Magnus Carlsen and seven more of the world's very best players. They will compete for a combined prize fund of $1,050,000. It was described as “the biggest announcement in professional international chess since 1988”. Watch the press conference on video.

Rest Day in Chengdu

4/25/2015 – We are a little over the half-way mark in the Women's World Team Championship in Chengdu. The players can take a breather and prepare for their last four rounds. Georgia current leads, but its a tenuous one as it is only a match point ahead of Russia and two ahead of China. The players recuperated their energies on their free day, mainly by visiting the pandas..

Shamkir Rd7: Three wins!

4/24/2015 – A bloody and exciting round seven. Fabiano Caruana won a very nice game against Wesley So, the second consecutive win for the Italian and the second consecutive loss for the American. Speaking of consecutive losses, Kramnik "long-castled" (0-0-0) with his loss against Carlsen. Meanwhile Adams lost to Anand, who gains in the ranking and currently sits in second place.

The helping pawn II

4/24/2015 – 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.