Karsten Mueller instructs: Wijk Endgames (3)

1/24/2015 – Renowned for his tactical prowess and creative middlegame play, Ding Liren has also been showing his chops in the endgame. Here are two endgames won in which he finds solutions that are far from obvious, including his very imaginative reversal against Wojtaszek. Radjabov also works a win in a drawish endgame with instructive technique. Lessons from the doctor.

Wijk aan Zee: the pictures and their stories (1/2)

1/23/2015 – While the readers will no doubt have enjoyed and appreciated the fine photographic work provided by Alina L'Ami in our reports, there were many that never made the cut simply because they did not fit anywhere specifically. It is often assumed that the photographer's work is just a good camera, a good eye, and lucky timing. Not so! Here are some wonderful pictures and their stories.

The inspiring story of Karelle Bolon (2/2)

1/23/2015 – Having secured the funds, it was time to justify the faith so many had put in her, and justify it she did. Travelling 18 hours to pick up the chess material, and then hours to reach the remote bush village and back, Karelle Bolon now teaches in two different schools, while working the five other days. She still faces challenges, but is committed to inspiring children to dream.

Tata Steel Rd11: A day for the Chinese

1/23/2015 – While Carlsen drew and maintained his lead, Wesley So continues his superb run by beating Ivan Saric, and is now within a half point of the leader. Among the numerous exciting games, the one that stood out between Wojtaszek and Ding Liren, in which the Chinese player conjured up a fantastic win that no one saw coming. In the Challengers Wei Yi took the sole lead. Round eleven report.

With what?

1/23/2015 – 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.

Recap of Tata Steel so far

1/23/2015 – Wijk aan Zee has something special about it. For many fans it is the most exciting of the major round robins organized this year, and this edition has been nothing but a pleasure to watch. We have had ups, down, disasters and miraculous recoveries. We give you a player by player review, from top to bottom, of their current situation and some of their highlights.

The inspiring story of Karelle Bolon (1/2)

1/22/2015 – Several months ago, we published an article on a young woman's fundraiser project to teach chess in Cambodia. To understand how remote that is in chess, FIDE lists exactly five players, of whom four are unrated. Karelle Bolon, a former top French junior, now working as a designer, decided to spread the word in a bush school, but needed help. The reader response was heartwarming.

Mueller and Lamprecht: Wijk endgames (2)

1/22/2015 – Karsten Mueller teamed up with his colleague Frank Lamprecht to analyze a couple of fascinating endgames for your pleasure and instruction. Both have collaborated on classic endgame works, notably Fundamental Chess Endings, a fantastic resource. In the following article, Lamprecht not only shows a fascinating rook endgame, but then compares it shifting one move to the left.

Seek and find!

1/22/2015 – The ChessBase Shop is a treasure trove for every chess fan. ChessBase 13, Deep Fritz 14, Komodo 8 and the Mega Database help you to organize and improve your chess. Moreover, the shop also offers more than 300 training DVDs, a lot of them about openings. And the product finder helps you to quickly find the DVDs you are interested in. Try it out!

ChessBase Chrismas Puzzles 2014 – solutions

1/22/2015 – In the week from December 25–31 2014 we presented our traditional Christmas puzzles, and on the 1st of January our 2015 New Year's Puzzle Contest. The closing date for submission of solutions to the latter was set at January 21, 2015. We are extending this to Sunday the 25th. In the meantime you may be interested to see part one of the solutions to the Christmas Week's puzzles.

Tata Steel Rd10: Relative peace from The Hague

1/21/2015 – Even though there were three decisive results in the top section of Tata Steel, it felt that the round was both short and not as exciting as the previous ones - though to be fair it has been a fantastic event so far. The day favored Loek Van Wely, who got his first victory, as well as Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana who inch closer to the top places.

Enjoy, improve, and review!

1/21/2015 – ChessBase offers a lot for everyone: databases, chess engines, training DVDs for children, beginners, club players and professionals, and much more. Tell others what you think: what did you learn from a certain DVD? What did you like, what could be better? Share your opinion and experiences with thousands of readers: review ChessBase products!

In-Depth look at Challengers in Tata Steel

1/21/2015 – When the top group of a tournament fields a bunch of top-10 players, the Women's World Champion, rising youth and creative and bizarre players, it is sometimes easy to forget that one of the strongest tournaments of the World is happening in the steps next to them. Sagar Shah brings us a detailed report with the highlights so far of an exciting Challengers Group in Wijk aan Zee.

Baryshpolets wins 13th Parsvnath Delhi open

1/20/2015 – Grandmaster Andrey Baryshpolets of Ukraine won the 13th Parsvanth Delhi International Grandmasters tournament defeating Deepan Chakkravarthy in the tenth and final round. It was a three-way tie for the top spot and Baryshpolets was followed by Ivan Popov of Russia and Alberto David of Italy who finished second and third respectively on 8.0/10. Final report.

Tata Steel Rd9: Carlsen leads by a point

1/20/2015 – Another round full of drama today. Aronian wiped Jobava off the board in 24 moves, Carlsen outplayed Radjabov to extend his lead since So drew MVL. Also Carlsen reaches six wins in a row! Giri climbs positions by defeating Ding Liren. However, the most exciting game of the round was a draw between Caruana and Hou Yifan, where the Women's World Champ missed a beautiful opportunity.

The second zwischenzug

1/20/2015 – 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.

Judit Polgar appears in Playboy magazine

1/19/2015 – It is not the first time that one of Caissa's most celebrated children graces the pages of Playboy magazine, but many would certainly not have expected the next one to be the Queen of Chess herself: Judit Polgar. In the latest Hungarian edition of Playboy, in an article replete with photos and video, the great champion lays herself bare with no inhibitions.

Vishy Anand: "My Career" - A Review

1/19/2015 – Vishy Anand, currently number five in the world, is already a legend. The 15th World Champion has been among the World's best players for decades now, and he turned India into a chess country. After becoming World Champion in 2007, the eloquent World Champion recorded two ChessBase DVDs about his career. Still fascinating and profound stories and chess lessons.

Khismatullin wins 2015 Dvorkovich Memorial rapid

1/18/2015 – The 2015 Russian Grand Prix circuit has already started, covering all three main modalities: blitz, rapid, and standard time controls. The first tournament on the circuit is the Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial, held from January 14-27 in Taganrog, Russia. The blitz event was won by Dmitry Bocharov, and the rapid by Denis Khismatullin. Report and pictures.

Tata Steel Rd8: Carlsen storms into sole lead

1/18/2015 – After a disappointing start, Magnus Carlsen has put his foot on the accelerator and has now overtaken the lead with his fifth straight win in a row. There was still the question of Ivanchuk, but Wesley So beat him with a fantastic piece sacrifice and attack from preparation he later explained, "I saw this in a ChessBase article". Round eight report with GM analysis.

Playchess: watching fourteen boards at a time

1/18/2015 – One of the unique abilities of Playchess is being able to watch a large number of boards at the same time on the same screen. With Wijk aan Zee, that can mean as many as fourteen boards, but the problem is that it might seem completely impractical. Open fourteen games one at a time? Try to follow all of them on those teeny tiny boards? Learn how to do it easily and comfortably.

Mamedov wins 2015 Azerbaijan Championship

1/17/2015 – The 70th Azerbaijan Championship was held from January 6-15 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Though it did not attract the nation's greatest players due to a modest prizefund, it did have a few trumps up its sleeve to bring in many other strong grandmasters, notably qualification spots for the European Championship and the World Cup. Illustrated report and tactics.

Tata Steel Rd7: Errors, blunders, and hallucinations

1/17/2015 – It would be tempting to point out Carlsen's surge to equal first, among other results of the day, but what stood out was the sheer number of mistakes and blunders that plagued so many games. Saric lost a drawn game in two moves, Van Wely lost a won game to Ding Liren, Carlsen nearly botched a win, only to see Hou hallucinate and end it. And this was but a taste. Diagrams of many blunders!

Karsten Mueller instructs: Wijk Endgames (1)

1/17/2015 – Wijk aan Zee has reached the midway mark, and left a lasting impression with so much fighting chess and great games. Many have gone deep into endgames with mind-boggling situations that even the best had trouble handling. Resident endgame expert Karsten Mueller, author of numerous reference works takes a look at a few of the more fascinating ones.