WYCC 2014: Nobody is perfect

9/27/2014 – The World Youth Chess Championship continues to unfold in Durban, South Africa, and it has been dramatic for the many top-seeds, some of whom are past champions or huge favorites. The fighting over the boards has been so intense, that no player has been able to maintain a perfect 100% score. The coverage has included live video, as well as a slew of great pictures.

Premature Relaxation in Bilbao

9/26/2014 – Two of the top tournaments of this year have finished in Bilbao. There are many lessons to be learned for everybody, and one of the recurring ones is a problem that affects all chess players, no matter what strength they are: Premature Relaxation! Guest commentator Cristian Chirila brings us his insights in two key games of the ECC and pictures from the closing ceremony.

Nisha Mohota wins Indian National Challengers

9/26/2014 – Chess in India is booming. And in the Women's National Challengers tournament, in which the eight best qualified for the Premier, where the Indian National Champion is crowned, India's top women players fought for victory and qualification. The race was close and two players finished with 9.5/11. Sagar Shah sends an illustrated report.

Guess who?

9/26/2014 – How good is your chess knowledge? If you see a position from an old or a modern classic do you know immediately who played? And what about recent tournaments? But knowing the facts of a game is one thing, finding the crucial variations is another. Oliver Reeh gives you a chance to test how broad your chess knowledge is. With three questions.

Yamie Chess simul with Jennifer Shahade

9/26/2014 – Recently at the Gen Con held in Indianapolis, two-time US Women chess champion and Yamie Chess creator Jennifer Shahade played a group of school children in a simul on Yamie Chess sets designed to bring more awareness to the math game. Children and parents had a great time approaching the game from a very creative perspective, with crayons, coloring books, and cartoons.

Just Checking: Parimarjan Negi

9/25/2014 – The Dutch "New in Chess Magazine" is considered to be one of the best, if not the best chess magazine in the world. And "Just Checking" is one of the magazine's most popular columns. In the current issue Indian grandmaster, Scotch opening expert and ChessBase author Parimarjan Negi get's checked. But he is up to the task. More than just.

Zhang Zhong has comeback win in Malaysia

9/24/2014 – After five rounds, one thing seemed clear: top-seed Zhang Zhong would be denied his due after a disaster draw and loss, but the resilient player showed his exemplary fighting spirit with a great comeback. He won all the way until the end, including a crucial last round victory over former compatriot Zhao Jianchao. Once more the Malaysian Chess Festival lived up to its name.

Chess City St. Louis

9/24/2014 – St. Louis is a good place to be. Much more so if you are a chess player. And definitely if you are a serious chess player. Thanks to the Chess Club and Scholastic Centre, founded by Rex and Jeanie Sinquefield, and the World Chess Hall of Fame St. Louis developed into a veritable chess mecca. Sabrina Chevannes visited the city and caught impressions.

Komodo 8: the smartphone vs desktop challenge

9/24/2014 – After hearing two strong players argue that the only real progress in chess engines in the last ten years was due to faster computers a special match was played to challenge this idea. Komodo 8 ran on a smartphone while a top engine of 2006 used a modern i7 computer that runs 50 times faster. This is the difference between Usain Bolt and the Concorde. Guess what happened?

Monastir – the chess hub of Tunisia (Part 2)

9/23/2014 – It is one of the most active chess nations on the African continent, and the game has an important place in the cultural and sport activities of the country. In the recent GM and IM tournaments in Monastir we encounter players who are not so well known on the European circuit, but who play a leading role in the Magreb chess scene. Diana Mihajlova reports on a beautiful chess festival in Tunisia.

World Youth starts in Durban

9/23/2014 – The 2014 World Youth Chess Championship has started, and is being hosted by the South African Chess Federation in Durban, South Africa. About 1000 children and youths have come to compete in the massive competition, hoping to inscribe their names into history. It has been tough going for the top seeds as many have already suffered early setbacks, though it is still early days.

Grandmaster Clash in Slate Magazine

9/23/2014 – "One of the most amazing feats in chess history just happened, and no one noticed," writes Seth Stevenson, in a most-read article posted recently on Slate Magazine. It is long but definitely worth a read. Seth puts the sheer magnitude of Fabiano Caruana's performance in perspective, and also provides a wealth of background information on the players and the event. Don't miss it.

Holes in the Fence

9/23/2014 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. This week he chose the game Berkes-Castellanos Rodriguez. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!

Karelle Bolon's chess enterprise in Cambodia

9/22/2014 – Sometimes you encounter a project that absolutely screams for public support. Here is a former child chess star, now a fashion designer working in Cambodia, who wants to start a course of chess lessons in a bush school. In order to pay for the equipment she has started a Ulule crowdfunding page to raise the very modest sum of 430 Euros. Let us get this for her by the end of the day.

Daniel King: "Time to look at a chess game"

9/22/2014 – Rain or shine, during the Chess Olympiad GM Daniel King entertained ChessBase viewers with daily reviews of the round and quickchats. After Tromsø he took a break but now "autumn has arrived and it feels like the right time to look at a chess game." Good for us: In his PowerPlay Chess Show King presents fine efforts from Fabiano Caruana and Vishy Anand.

Stalemate: the long and the Short of it (3)

9/22/2014 – GM Nigel Short thinks we should abandon the "stupid rule" of stalemate, where the attacking side has completely immobilized the enemy but does not win. Paul Lillebo has been showing us that the stalemate rule adds a valuable dimension to chess, providing a last saving chance for the defending side, or a last stumbling block for the attacker. He shows us examples from top level play.

Review of ChessBase Complete

9/21/2014 – "A lovely book," writes Allan Beardsworth, "buy it if you use ChessBase, especially if you are like me: only good with the basic functions; or if you are an absolute novice with it." The owner of 556 chess books, "many read, many to be read, many never to be read," says that this book will remain by his computer for probably a good many months." That could apply to many. Review.

ECC 07: Two perfect scores

9/20/2014 – The European Club Cup has come to an end and there was no doubt which team was best in each section. In the Open SOCAR saw another great Topalov performance as his lone victory against Svidler was enough for the Azeri team to win every single match they played. Also in a perfect 14-0 run the Georgian team of Nona beat SHSM allowing Monte-Carlo to grasp at second place.

Bilbao Final: Anand first, Aronian second

9/20/2014 – The last round of the tournament in the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao finished with two pretty positional wins by the White pieces. Aronian took out Anand after a couple of inaccuracies by the Indian left his king too weak in a major piece endgame. Vallejo's intrepid c-pawn lunged all the way to c6 where it squashed Ponomariov's position. Last round report.

56th Nairobi Chess Club Championship

9/20/2014 – The Nairobi Chess Club is the oldest chess club in Kenya, and in late August it hosted the 56th Club Championship, with 78 players at the start. The event was won by former Olympian (1988/1990) and 1990 Kenya National Champion Larry Kagambi with a perfect score of five wins out of five games. Kim Bhari, Chairman of NCC, has sent us a big illustrated report.

ECC 06: Winners!

9/20/2014 – Things went as predicted in the Women's section and Nona easily beat their opponents 4-0 to officially become the ECC Women's Champion. In the Open Section a surprising demolishing occurred on the top match as Malakhite fell to SOCAR by an amazing 5.0-1.0, including an amazing king walk by Wang Hao! Bilbao's FB page (probably on tiebreak) already claims SOCAR as the champions!

Bilbao 05: Anand clinches with one round to go

9/19/2014 – The games were relatively dry to what we have seen in the rest of the tournament, but that was perfectly ok for Vishy Anand who clinches the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters final with one round to spare. The 3-1-0 scoring system means that he is four points ahead of Aronian, who can at most reach ten points tomorrow. That's some definite pressure on Carlsen and the upcoming WCC!

Komodo 8: about the authors

9/19/2014 – It is, as we told you, a different kind of chess engine, with sounder positional play and deeper ideas than other chess engines. But it remains tactically sound. Over the years it has been consistently rated in the top three on most major chess engine rating lists – currently it is number one. Here is some information about this remarkable chess playing program, and the men who created it.

Hanging queens

9/19/2014 – "Gardez la dame! (Protect your queen!)", is an old chess expression, the equivalent of saying "check" when attacking the enemy king. Apparently there were times when it was considered good chess etiquette to reveal your most serious threats to your opponent. But what to say and, more importantly, what to do when both queens are under attack?