RUS SuperFinal 05: Big results!

12/2/2014 – How the standings have changed in both sections! Thanks to big upsets in the Open section (Khismatullin defeating Morozevich, Lysyj defeating Karjakin) there are new leaders. Lysyj sits alone with 3.5/5 followed by Jakovenko and Nepo with 3.0/5. In the Women's we had five decisive results again (!) but this time only one of the leaders won: Goryachkina leads with a half point lead.

China squashes Romania at King's Cup

12/2/2014 – The traditional super-tournament held in Bucharest every year went through a format change. Instead of a round robin this year the event was a Scheveningen-style match between the olympic teams of Russia and China. The Asian team held nothing back sending three of their gold medalists and reinforced with the u20 World Champion. The result: a squashing victory for the Chinese.

Simply the best: Mega Database 2015

12/2/2014 – 6.1 million games, from 1560 to 2014, 68,000 of them annotated by top players. Chess history at your fingertips. If you want to enjoy the games of the champions, learn from comments by Carlsen, Caruana, Kramnik, Anand, and many other top players, remember your own games from the past or prepare for your next opponent: the Mega Database does it all. A pleasure, a treat and a must for every chessplayer. The Mega 2015 ships now.

Qatar Masters: Anish heading for a 'Caruana'?

12/2/2014 – YAAW – Yet Another Anish Win, in round six. But this time he had to work hard for it and do a 'Carlsen', which we define as using relentless pressure to win a drawn position. In round seven, starting at 3:00 p.m. local time today, Anish Giri faces Vladimir Kramnik, with the black pieces. Don't miss it! But while you are waiting you can enjoy a lot of chess in our round six report.

Tricky knights

12/2/2014 – In the endgame knights are often surprisingly helpless when fighting against rooks. Unlike a bishop the rook can reach all squares of the board and unlike the knight the rook is fast. However, knights are tricky and sometimes they manage to get the better of the stronger piece. Particularly so when passed pawns spice up the position and tactics count.

December 2014 ratings: A few more historic marks

12/2/2014 – It was a remarkable month and not merely because of the amount of top level chess. Although nearly everything was overshadowed by the World Championship, new historic marks were set. Alexander Grischuk had the best result of his career and rocketed to 2810, while Samuel Sevian became the youngest GM in US history. Not least is Wei Yi who is now in the Top 100 at age 15.

RUS SuperFinal 04: Race tightens

12/2/2014 – The race in the open section of the Russian Super Final is increasingly tighter as the sole leader, Morozevich, lost his game against Lysyj. The executioner now tops the leaderboard next to Jakovenko, Nepomniachtchi and the vanquished Morozevich. In the Women's section every single game was decisive, and even more interestingly, all three of the leaders won their games!

Downloading and installing ChessBase 13

12/2/2014 – Our new flagship program is the buzz in the chess world. Top players are sending in congratulations, chess fans are busy experimenting with the new cloud functions. But how easy is it to get your hands on the program? We have step-by-step instructions on how to install ChessBase 13 via download. But beware: it is going to take you all of six minutes to complete. It's easy peasy.
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Modern Openings: A Concise Overview

12/1/2014 – Modern opening theory challenges. If you play topical lines you have to keep up with the developments in latest theory. If you do not play these openings it helps to know them to understand what is going on in top level chess. In both cases opening expert Rustam Kasimdzhanov offers help: with his DVD "Trends in modern Openings". Demanding, informative, inspiring.

Morozevich early leader in Kazan

12/1/2014 – What a month November has proven to be for chess! As if all the super-tournaments we have witnessed in Russia are not enough, the Russian Super Final has kicked off, along with the Women's section. In the Open tournament, which boasts six 2700s, Alexander Morozevich has taken an early 2.5/3 lead while in the Women's there is a three way tie. Early report of a promising event.

Romanian league in Napoleon retreat (1/2)

12/1/2014 – The Romanian Team championship was held this year in the lovely area of Calimanesti, Romania. Famed for its sulfuric springs both hot and cold reputed to have miraculous medicinal benefits, it was a favorite of the late Napoleon III. The region is a mix of the classic with the residues of the communistic grip it was held in for so many years, and the tale is told by Alina L'Ami.

NRK TV spectacular: Carlsen vs Norway

12/1/2014 – It was his 24th birthday, which Magnus Carlsen celebrated with a game of chess against the entire population of Norway. Using an app that people could download from Google Play or the Apple Store his opponents could play the World Champion, who was in the TV studios of NRK, the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company. Guess who won.

Qatar Masters: Super-Giri leads with 5.0/5

11/30/2014 – Looks like he is doing a Caruana: top Dutch GM Anish Giri has won his five games in the strongest Open of all time, crushing a 2620 GM in round four in just 18 moves, and then beating the number three seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, rated 2757, in the next round with the black pieces. His performance: 3431. We have a big illustrated report with lots of exiting chess to play through and enjoy.

Polgar: Playing Carlsen feels like you're drowning

11/29/2014 – The World Chess Championship in Sochi finished a week ago, but news reports of this achievement and result have not died down. Even the Financial Times has devoted space to analysing the result and interviews people like Judit Polgar on Carlsen's strength. Playing him feels like drowning,” she said. "It's frightening is to see him close to 2,900 points”. Judit thinks he can play even better.

Qatar Masters: four GMs with perfect scores

11/29/2014 – Three rounds have finished in the strongest Open ever held (92 GMs, 56 over 2600, 14 over 2700). Four players have won all three games, 19 are half a point behind. Before they start battering each other down the ladder we have annotated chess highlights from the first two rounds for you, and a big pictorial report that shows the joys and suffering of the game we love.

Kasparov vs Habu, Chess vs Shogi legend

11/29/2014 – Yohiharu Habu is a legend in Shogi, the Japanese version of chess. He is also a 2400+ Western chess player, one of the best in Japan. To promote an upcoming human vs computer event Habu played an exhibition two game rapid chess match against another legend – who plays the game we all know. In this encounter Garry Kasparov had, in his own words, 'everything to lose'.

Ukrainian Championships: Kuzubov, Muzychuk win

11/28/2014 – The Ukrainian Championship was a strong tournament with an Elo average of 2659 (category 17). Before the last round three players shared the lead and after a last-round win Yuriy Kuzubov won on tie-break. Things were much clearer in the women's tournament. Here Anna Muzychuk smoothly won with 7.0/9, not losing a single game. Report and games...

Carlsen interview after the match

11/28/2014 – A lot of people enjoyed our report on the closing ceremony of the World Championship in Sochi. Immediately after the celebrations, which were attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, FIDE's chief press officer, the enchanting Anastasiya Karlovich, sat down for a one-on-one interview with the new and old World Champion Magnus Carlsen. We have a full transcript.

Showdown

11/28/2014 – 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.

Showdown in Saint Louis goes to Nakamura

11/27/2014 – Nakamura fell back on his instincts Tuesday afternoon, peppering Armenian heavyweight GM Levon Aronian with 9.5 points across 16 games of Blitz chess in the fifth round. The speed attack tipped the Showdown’s scorecard just before its last bell, after the match had entered Tuesday’s final round tied after four Classical games of chess. Report of an exciting blitz match.

New: ChessBase Magazine#163

11/27/2014 – Highlights: Grand Prix tournaments in Baku and Tashkent, Grand Slam final and European Cup in Bilbao. Analyses by Anand, Adams, Andreikin and many more top grandmasters. Lots of training, for instance with Karsten Müller: „French Endgames“ including training questions and five videos. Plus 13 articles fon current openings from the Reti to the King's Indian Defence. Impressive!

World Championship Sochi: Closing Ceremony

11/27/2014 – The match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand ended after eleven games, and the closing ceremony had to be rescheduled from the 28th to the 25th of November. It was a lavish prize-giving with a truly VIP guest (guess who!). During his address FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made a truly electrifying announcement: the 2016 World Championship will be held in the USA!

Kasimdzhanov: Trends in modern openings

11/26/2014 – Modern tournament practice has virtually surpassed the so-called "opening theory". Thanks to a wealth of tournament games, some openings and lines develop so rapidly that even the ambitious amateur has difficulties to keep his own repertoire updated. But experts can help, like Rustam Kasimdzhanov, former FIDE World Champion, with his latest Fritztrainer DVD.

Qatar Masters Open begins on Wednesday

11/26/2014 – Which is the strongest open in the world? Not Aeroflot, Moscow or Millionaire Chess. It is the 2014 Qatar Masters Open, organised by GM Mohamed Al-Medaihki, with 92 grandmasters participating, 56 of them over 2600, and 14 over 2700. Our reporter in Qatar, Akshat Chandra, worked out that if only the top twenty were participating it would be a Category 19 tournament.