Movie stars playing chess

2/23/2015 – With the 2015 Academy Awards running its course, it is only fitting to take a look at the many movie stars who chose chess as their preferred pastime or hobby. When they had some time off whilst shooting a movie, they were caught in front of a board more often than not. Some names are well known such as Humphrey Bogart, but how about stars such as James Dean, Marlon Brando, and John Wayne?

Tbilisi Rd7: Crucial Mistakes

2/22/2015 – Decisive mistakes in Tbilisi! Grischuk missed an unusual tactic from Mamedyarov, leaving him in a position down two pawns for very little instead of having great compensation for only one. Dominguez blundered in the dreaded move 39 while Giri was unable to hold an endgame that required precision against Jakovenko, who is now only half a point away from Tomashevsky.

Anatoly Karpov tells all (3/4)

2/22/2015 – Fischer's resignation of the World Championship title in 1975 is one of the great disappointments in chess. In this part of the interview, Anatoly Karpov describes the secret meetings that ensued over the years, from the US, to Spain, and more. The renowned philatelist also shares some wonderful stories as he put together one of the greatest stamp collections on chess.

Adrian Mikhalchishin: Bishop against Knight

2/22/2015 – Bishop or knight, which is the better minor piece in a given position? This question often decides the game. Adrian Mikhalchishin helps you to find an answer. In a one hour seminar, giving you the experience of a one-on-one training session, the renowned coach offers useful rules of thumb to treat bishops and knights the right way. Entertaining, instructive, helpful.

Van Wely wins 75th Noteboom Tournament

2/22/2015 – This tournament was held in the Congress Centre of Leiden, Holland, in memory of Daniel Noteboom, a very talented Dutch player who died at the age of 21 in 1932 – leaving the chess world one of the most exciting positions in modern chess theory, the Noteboom Variation. The top group of four GMs was won in a brave effort by Loek van Wely. Big two-part report.

Cloud Database: saving and updating your games

2/21/2015 – A reader wrote explaining he had a database of his own games, and asked how he could create a database of his games in the Cloud Database, and transfer them there. After two articles on how a player could work with a colleague, student, or team, here is how, and what to do even if you're at a tournament with no computer at hand. A step-by-step guide.

Feynman: Using chess to explain science

2/21/2015 – He was an American theoretical physicist, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965: Richard Feynman is considered to be one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, and due to a remarkable series of lectures and interviews he became one of the best-known scientists in the world. Here's one interview you should not miss.

Tbilisi Rd6: Poisoned Pawn

2/21/2015 – Two decisive games in Tbilisi, but very different ones! The highlight of the day was Radjabov's demolition of his opponent... using an extremely sharp line of the Poisoned Pawn Najdorf. Svidler on the other hand took advantage of a tactical mistake from Andreikin to win a pawn and a long endgame. This is Svidler's first win of the event, while Andreikin falls to last place.

"Le Tournoi", French movie on chess coming soon

2/21/2015 – Chess is clearly in fashion, and you had better put a note in your calendars, since on April 29, a new film based on chess will be released in France and then worldwide. The French film “Le Tournoi” or “The Tournament” will depict a young champion who enjoys playing games even off the board, until he meets a player untouched by them. Here are pictures, the synopsis, and teasers.

European Championship about to begin

2/21/2015 – The European Championship is an important tournament and part of the World Championship cycle. It offers aspiring players the chance to join the world's best players by getting one of the 23 tickets for the World Cup which will be played later this year. The European Championship will start on Monday, February 23rd, in Jerusalem. Press release.

Tbilisi Rd5: Three wins

2/20/2015 – Three decisive games today in Tbilisi. Both Jobava and Dominguez earned their first scalps today in very different methods. Jobava wildly sacrificed a piece, which didn't quite work, but it confused Mamedyarov enough to give the Georgian a winning attack. A blunder gave Mamedyarov a draw, but it was blundered right back! Kasimdzhanov also won against a luckless Peter Svidler.

Vladimir Kramnik: My Path to the Top

2/20/2015 – Watching Vladimir Kramnik analyse his games is pure pleasure. The former World Champion eloquently reveals his thoughts during the game, showing a blend of deep and sophisticated variations with acute positional assessments. A few years back Kramnik recorded a ChessBase DVD in which he describes his "Path to the Top". It is still worth viewing - every minute of it.

Hanging on

2/20/2015 – 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.

Deep Blue's cheating move

2/19/2015 – It is a sign of just how impactful the famous Deep Blue match against Kasparov was in 1997, that 18 years later, books come out citing it still, and magazines such as Time cast their eye on it even today. Here we take a close look at the most controversial move from game two, that prompted Kasparov to accuse the Deep Blue team of cheating. The results may surprise you.

Zurich Rapid and playoff: Nakamura clinches!

2/19/2015 – What an interesting rapid! It was incredibly cutthroat, with advantages being wasted and counterattacks sprouting out of nowhere. Anand kept is advantage until the decisive game against Nakamura in the fourth round leaving them tied. A late change in rules left the title to be decided by Armageddon, which Nakamura took to win the 2015 Zurich Challenge. Pictures, analysis and results!

Vishy Anand: a passionate portrait - part three

2/19/2015 – Throughout his career Vishy Anand has shown an ability to recover from setbacks. His excellent performance in the Zürich Chess Challenge after a disappointing result at the GRENKE Chess Classic is just one example. This resilience also helped him to become World Junior Champion in 1987. Priyadarshan Banjan tells the story and shows historical pictures.

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

2/18/2015 – When presented with powerful new tools such as the Cloud Database, or notably the free MyGames web application that combines with it, it is often difficult to fully appreciate the new options they offer. Here is a step-by-step guide to use both tools and methods so that players, teachers and organizers can leverage them to improve workflow and productivity.

Tbilisi Rd4: Tomashevsky extends lead

2/18/2015 – Tomashevsky won again, this time with black against Mamedyarov (in an unusual note, Black has won in all of the Azerbaijani's games in this tournament!). This puts him a full point ahead of Giri, Jakovenko and now Grischuk. Grischuk was able to best Jobava, who only has 0.5/4 and seems to be in a free fall after an already disastrous Wijk aan Zee. Round four report.

Zurich Rd5: Anand wins Classical

2/18/2015 – A peaceful day in Zurich as the three games were drawn, and not in the most exciting of ways. The White players did not risk much and were not rewarded with any winning chances. Anand wins the Classical portion of the tournament by half a point under normal scoring systems; in Zurich this means he has a full point lead going into the defining phase: tomorrow's rapid portion.

Viktor Korchnoi interview: true to himself

2/18/2015 – Three years ago, one could easily speak to Viktor Korchnoi face to face, but today this interview would have been impossible without assistance: the legendary grandmaster has difficulty with his speech. It's thanks to Genna Sosonko that Korchnoi's thoughts were conveyed. One thing is clear though, Korchnoi's sharp tongue and wit have not lost their edge.

Zurich Rd4: Anand topples Nakamura, leads!

2/17/2015 – Viswanathan Anand is here to show that he can still win tournaments! After a very bad Baden-Baden he is now leading the Zurich Chess Challenge with half a point over Hikaru Nakamura, who he defeated today in the same variation he used to beat Magnus Carlsen in last year's World Championship Match. With two draws on the other boards the Indian is comfortably in first place.

No prize-money in Casablanca

2/17/2015 – From 28. January to 4. February an international tournament was played in Casablanca, Morocco. The decent prize-fund attracted 100 players, among them several titleholders. Play took place in an old church, which was beautiful but cold. Sergey Tiviakov won on tie-break ahead of Vadim Malakhatko. However, the players still wait for their prize-money.

Tbilisi Rd3: Tomashevsky emerges leader

2/17/2015 – A nice round over all in Tbilisi, despite two games finishing in very dull draws. Tomashevsky was victorious against Grischuk after a series of minor mistakes from both sides in heavy time pressure. Mamedyarov scores his second win with black, putting him right behind Tomashevsky. Also with 2.0/3 are Giri and now Jakovenko, who received a nice gift from the eccentric Jobava.

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.