Having Fun with the King's Gambit

6/11/2014 – Ah, the King's Gambit! A romantic chess opening if there ever was one. But did Bobby Fischer not refute it? And can you still play it in the age of computer chess? Simon Williams thinks you can. He just published two ChessBase DVDs in which he explains how to do so. And in the following interview he reveals why he thinks the King's Gambit is fun.

Breaking news: World Championship in Sochi

6/11/2014 – In April FIDE announced that it had received no bids to stage the 2014 World Chess Championship in November. Today news broke that the city of Sochi, where recently the Olympic Winter Games were held, would host the event. It is assumed that the deal was hammered out between Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIDE chief Ilumzhinov during a children's chess tournament.

Fedoseev and Girya dominate Russian qualifier

6/11/2014 – Being favorite is a double-edged sword as anyone can attest to. After six rounds, the Russian Higher League, qualifying to the Russian Super Final later this year, is finally taking shape and the leaders are also clear. In the men's section, 19-year-old Vladimir Fedoseev started like a rocket with 5.0/6 and a 2835 performance, while Olga Girya dominates the Women's. Illustrated report.

Norway 07: Giri dizzies himself

6/11/2014 – Today featured four draws, none particularly shiny. That doesn't mean however that there was no hard fought chess, the contrary, if anything it was too hard fought. The only decisive game today was between Giri and Karjakin. Somehow the Dutch player won an exchange, but he could not make progress. After 131 moves a brutal blunder left him completely lost.

Norway Chess R05: why did Caruana resign?

6/10/2014 – He started this Super-GM tournament with two wins. In round five Fabiano Caruana found himself defending a King's Indian against Vladimir Kramnik. Just when everything seemed safe the young Italian GM blundered, and a few moves later, to the surprise of everyone, resigned. The position was dire, but was it actually lost? Our endgame specialist Karsten Müller clears up this question.

Nakamura clinches in Prague

6/10/2014 – Even though he had some problems in the opening, Hikaru Nakamura was able to overcome his bad position and salvaged a draw to move into a 2.5-0.5 position against David Navara. The Czech has no chance to win the match as it is only four games long, but the players will still play the last game. We bring you a report of what was certainly a missed opportunity.

NEW: ChessBase Magazine #160

6/10/2014 – Reports on the Candidates, the Gashimov Memorial, the European Championship, and more. Caruana and Radjabov analyse their wins against Carlsen, while Anand, Motylev and other top players also annotate important games. GM Dorian Rogozenco starts his new series "Classic". CBM 160 includes 13 opening articles. One ("Don't fear the Hedgehog") is now available for free!

The largest chess event of the year in... Corsica

6/10/2014 – In spite of the record number of teams and players expected in Tromso this year, the Chess Olympiads will only be the second most attended chess competition of the year. Indeed, 3500 pupils solely from Northern Corsica came to compete in the 11th edition of the Corsican Scholastic Championships held in Bastia, Corsica, with hundreds of arbiters and volunteers, and even a drone video camera!

Leon Final: Wei Yi wins on tiebreaks

6/10/2014 – Leon has been a stepping stone in the career of many elite grandmasters. The event has been a battle ground for Karjakin, Carlsen, Leko and many others. Today a new star joins that prestigious group as Wei Yi emerges victorious in the Leon rapid tournament by narrowly defeating Vallejo. The win came despite Wei Yi finding himself several times with less than one second on the clock.

Norway 06: Tournament wide open!

6/9/2014 – As if to add excitement to the tournament, the sole leader fell to the player that was in the bottom of the standings. Topalov dispatched his nemesis Kramnik, with the usual lack of handshakes, and although he remains at the bottom of the leaderboard he is also only one point away from the three leaders, Kramnik, Carlsen and Caruana! It's anyone's tournament.

US Championship 2014: retrospect in pictures

6/9/2014 – Remember the drama of the US Championship? That was over two weeks ago, and we reported extensively on the most exciting of events. The pictures were taken by Lennart Ootes, a Dutch sensor board operator who says of himself: "I don't regard myself as a serious photographer." But we were deeply impressed and now present a selection of his best pictures. Sit back and enjoy.

Master Class Vol.2 - Mikhail Tal

6/9/2014 – The first volume in the Master Class was based on Bobby Fischer, one of the most popular and revered players in history. What better player to follow up than Mikhail Tal, the Magician of Riga, whose imaginative play inspired and enthralled generations of players? Here his openings, middlegame, and endgame are scrutinized and analyzed by grandmasters. An in-depth review.

Norway 05: Blunderful round

6/8/2014 – The quality of today's games was not the highest, and some results were hard to predict especially considering how things were shaping after the opening phase. One man walks away victorious from today and that is Kramnik who received a last minute gift from Caruana and the Russian moves to first place. Carlsen somehow beat Aronian, but it was not the only strange game of the round.

Nakamura moves to 2-0

6/8/2014 – Nakamura keeps an implacable pace in Prague as he defeated Navara again. This time the game was quite interesting, Black sacrificed a pawn early in the opening to obtain counterplay and it seemed as if this would be sufficient for a draw; his pressure being too strong and White having difficulties untangling. But again Navara slipped and Nakamura precisely punished his opponent.

Wei Yi other finalist in Leon

6/8/2014 – The Chinese prodigy Wei Yi, who turned 15 last week, is the second finalist in Leon. He vanquished Ivan Salgado in a match where the Spanish player never had any real winning chances. Setting the tone on game one Wei Yi was able to push his advantage until the end taking the match 2.5-1.5. Festivities in Leon conclude with the match between Wei Yi and Paco Vallejo.

FIDE on Anti-Cheating: plans and proposals

6/8/2014 – "The FIDE ACC recognizes that computer-assisted cheating poses a major perceived threat to the integrity and credibility of chess," writes the Anti-Cheating Committee of the World Chess Federation, "and that immediate action is required." FIDE is set to extend its Rules of Chess to explicitly forbid computer cheating, and also provide a tool for off-line checking of games. Encouraging.

Norway 04: Karjakin lone winner

6/7/2014 – A relatively dull round compared to the excitement of the previous games. However two games stood out from the rest. Caruana and Giri played a very interesting battle that resulted in a strange draw. Karjakin somehow turned around a game that was clearly worse for him into a win. More interesting were the Mindball games that the players participated on the free day.

Russian Higher League starts strong

6/7/2014 – With a lineup of dozens of grandmasters, at least one rated 2700, and many rated in the very high 2600s, it would sound like a national championship at least, but not so. This prodigious platoon actually comprises the field for the Russian Higher League, held in Vladivostok, Russia, at the eastern-most border of Russia, and is the qualifier for the Russian Super Final. Report and pictures.

Nakamura strikes first in Prague

6/7/2014 – The Cez Chess Trophy is underway in Prague. The mini-match features a duel between World number three Hikaru Nakamura and Czech Republic's number one David Navara. The opening party gave Nakamura black on the first game, and he played an absolutely brilliant game. Exploiting his opponent's slips perfectly Nakamura won a pawn and converted it with gorgeous technique.

Vallejo first finalist in Leon

6/7/2014 – The XXVII Master's City of Leon has commenced. The tournament features four players in a unique weekend event. A knock-out system is being used and the games are being played on a rapid time control. Hou Yifan faced Vallejo in the first semi-final and the Spanish player emerged victorious with the narrow margin of 2.5-1.5 He awaits thte results of Wei Yi vs. Salgado.

Analyzing your games with Fritz (Part three)

6/7/2014 – In this final part on how to use Fritz to analyze your games or those of others, we will look at the new Let's Check function, and notably how to enlist others to analyze the game in depth for you in less time than you could achieve, as well as the batch analysis functions that enable you to analyze several games at once and even entire databases if you choose. Easy mastery of Fritz.

International Women's Chess Festival in Erfurt

6/6/2014 – "They are prettier, they dress better and have a much stronger fighting spirit," said GM Thomas Pähtz, when asked why he was organizing this big chess festival for women in eastern Germany in late August. For some reason he missed "photogenic". Thomas, a well-known chess trainer, is the father of the top German female, Elisabeth, who sent us this pre-tournament report.

5th Blitz Marathon to be broadcast live

6/6/2014 – If you itch to see fast-paced action while following the Herculean games in Norway, then on Saturday, you will be served. With 16 grandmasters and many more players, the 5th Blitz Marathon will run a continuous 21 rounds of five-minute blitz games in Marocco, with the top four boards broadcast on Playchess. On Sunday Vishy Anand and Alexander Ipatov will give a simul. Don't miss it.

Kasparov answers questions in Norway (2/2)

6/6/2014 – In this second part, Garry faces provocative questions, starting with Levon Aronian's allegation that aside from Kasparov and Karpov, there were no good players in the 80s. Even Short presents some misgivings, but it is not over when the former world champion is asked to discuss the 1.e4 and 1.d4 debate and why it has virtually disappeared from elite play. What do you think?