Fabulous Start in Biel!

7/14/2014 – The super-tournament in Biel has begun and already the tournament shows amazing chess. Motylev lost to Wojtaszek in a long and complex endgame that was full of tactics; certainly dangerous for both players. Vachier-Lagrave barely held a draw against Harikrishna after the Indian went to the throat from the beginning. But the news of the day? Hou Yifan's demolition of Giri.

India dominates the Commonwealth

7/14/2014 – Glasgow was the host to the 2014 Commonwealth Chess Championships. The tournament reminded all of us why India is considered to be one of the strongest chess countries in the world! The top stages were filled with Indian players and they duly took home most of the prizes. Our reporter, Sabrina Chevannes, bring us a detailed review of a traditional event. Pictorial report.

Plovdiv: Gunina strikes again

7/14/2014 – In 2012 Valentina Gunina became European Women's Champion, and she seems set for a repeat in Plovdiv 2014. After beating number one seed Nana Dzagnidze in round six, she continued her winning streak against Natalia Zhukova in round seven to reach an impressive score of 6.5 out of 7 and an Elo-performance of 2800. Fortune smiled on her.

Peralta wins XXXVII Barbera del Valles Open

7/14/2014 – When preparing his second report from the Spanish summer circuit Sagar Shah discovered that his colleague WGM Alina l'Ami had reported for ChessBase from Barbera del Valles three year ago. Both had played in the event, scored 6.0/9 points and made norms – Alina her maiden for GM, Sagar his final for IM. And gained around 50 rating points each. Enjoy this big pictorial report.

Dortmund: Caruana leads with 2 out of 2

7/14/2014 – After beating David Baramidze in an endgame in round one Fabiano Caruana used tactics to overcome Ruslan Ponomariov in round two of the Dortmund tournament. Baramidze lost again, this time against Arkadij Naiditsch. Georg Meier and Peter Leko drew peacefully while Vladimir Kramnik almost beat Michael Adams but failed to win a won position.

ChessBase Puzzles: Different Opinions

7/13/2014 – It's a position taken from a genuine historic game – one played exactly a hundred years ago. Four different opinions are quoted, each contradicting the previous one about who is actually winning. We ask our readers: study the position, without a board and pieces and form your own opinion. If you get it right you can give yourself a contortionist's pat on the back. Now with solution.

Surprise in first round of Dortmund

7/12/2014 – The Dortmund Sparkassen chess meeting has begun in Dortmund, Germany. With five chess super-stars and three powerful German players the tournament usually provides an interesting mix of top level chess and clashes between the locals and the foreigners, with the super GMs winning most of those points. However, as Meier proved today, that is not always the case.

Gunina leads European Women's Championship

7/12/2014 – After six of eleven rounds a sole leader emerged at the European Women's Championship in Plovdiv: Valentina Gunina from Russia. The European Women's Champion from 2012 won a crucial game against top seed Nana Dzagnidze and now leads the event by 5.5 out of 6, followed by Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine) and Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia) with 5 points each.

ACP Golden Classic starts today

7/12/2014 – Seven players, three with 2700+ ratings (and two top-ranking Italians) are playing this seven-round tournament in a spectacularly beautiful city in Lombardy, Italy. Correct us if we are wrong, but for the first time in this millennium the games will be adjorned if they last for more than five hours. The event starts on Saturday at two p.m. European time. You can watch it on Playchess.

A Fresh Look at Robert the Eleventh

7/11/2014 – "I have always been an admirer of Bobby Fischer the chess player," writes Chris Wainscott, "and also of the ChessBase FritzTrainer DVDs. So it was with some delight that I sat down with Volume One of the Master Class series, the subject of which is none other than Robert James Fischer." He gives this product the maximum six stars ("Everyone should own") in his Chess Cafe review.

Tactics please: First rank versus seventh

7/11/2014 – Endgames with Queens and Rooks can be tricky. With so much firepower around both Kings tend to feel uncomfortable, and pawns, if there are any left, do not always offer reliable protection. No wonder tactics abound in such endgames. Oliver Reeh shows a fine recent example from the European Women’s Championship in Plovdiv.

Visa problems for the Chess Olympiad

7/10/2014 – In order to travel to the Olympiad in Tromsø many players require a visa. But in countries without Norwegian embassies this can pose a problem. European laws require biometric data to be supplied personally, forcing players to travel to a different country. In an open letter FIDE President has complained to the Norwegian Prime Minister, and the Olympiad CEO has replied.

Mihajlova: Chess Pieces and the Art of Etching

7/10/2014 – With the advent of printing, various techniques were developed by artists in Europe and the Far East to facilitate the duplication of images – and at the same time to reach the highest level of artistic achievement. Diana Mihajlova, a chess player, writer and artist, explains how one technique, etching, works and how she used it to generate a series of wonderful chess images.

Two teams top Chengdu

7/10/2014 – It was the teams of Zhu Chen and Yasser Seirawan and Yu Shaoteng and Xu Yuhua. The rating favorites, Hou Yifan and Nigel Short, took a stumble on day three as they were able to score only 0.5/2 in rounds three and four, something that put them too far behind in a tournament that was only five rounds long. We bring you final impressions of a fun and unique event.

Entertaining and informative: New in Chess

7/9/2014 – 106 pages in A4 format, that's the size of "New in Chess", enough material for a small book. The Dutch magazine, which is published in English, appears eight times per year, and the current issue has a lot to offer. For example, an interview with Magnus Carlsen and an extensive portrait of director and chess enthusiast Stanley Kubrick.

Coincidence in Chengdu: Part Two

7/9/2014 – The games are still under way in Chengdu. Some surprising results have happened and the tournament favorites, Hou Yifan and Nigel Short, don't seem to be in route to win anymore. However today's report will focus on another attraction of Chengdu: Pandas! This endangered species is now only native to this region, the players and reporters got a beautiful tour.

Master and Amateur explain the Queen's Gambit

7/8/2014 – IM Lorin D'Costa and Nick Murphy are a strong team. As a club-level player Nick has a sound basic knowledge, but of course he does not know all crucial variations and the latest nuances. Lorin has the chess knowledge, and by asking the proper questions, he guides his co-presenter to discover the answers for himself. Enjoy the show!

Yes2Chess: team finals in London

7/8/2014 – It is one of the most inspiring events we have attended in years: eight teams of elementary schoolchildren from eight different countries, who qualified in a massive Playchess tournament, are now in London for a face-to-face showdown. The hosts, Barclaycard, have put in a tremendous effort to make it a memorable stay for the visitors, all of who are now sure to say Yes2Chess. More...

Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon!

7/7/2014 – On Sunday, right in the middle of the World Cup fever that has gripped the globe, another sporting event of superlatives took place: the Wimbledon finals. In an immensely exciting match that spanned five sets, Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer, winning his seventh Grand Slam title and second Wimbledon. So what does this have to do with chess? Read on to find out.

Coincidence in Chengdu: Part One

7/7/2014 – The 2014 edition of the International Star Mixed Pair Tournament has begun in Chengdu, China. The tournament brings a mix of top Chinese women players and strong foreign grandmasters in a unique pair format: two players per team alternate moves in a single game, no communication allowed between them! A coincidence allowed us to have a report straight from Chengdu, China!

Tactics please: Open Invitation

7/7/2014 – Oliver Reeh knows how important tactics are. After all, he's been writing the tactics column in the ChessBase Magazine for many years. From now on, he will challenge you every week with a tricky task. Go to "Challenge", take a look at the diagram and find the best move for White. If you think you got it, click on "solution". Challenge...

15th European Women's Championship starts

7/7/2014 – The 15th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship has just started, and is being held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria from July 5-18. 116 top female competitors in Europe will be competing over eleven rounds to determine the title. The top seeds are Nana Dzagnidze (2541), Mariya Muychuk (2521), Natalia Pogonina (2508), Valentina Gunina (2501) and more. Get up to speed in this opening report.

Ni Hua wins XXII Montcada Open

7/6/2014 – 17 grandmasters and players from nearly 20 countries participated in this Spanish open, which was won by the Chinese GM. If you wonder why so many strong players were there, in spite of the meagre first prize of €1,200 – there are a number of reasons, not the least of which is a series of four or five events that take place in the same local and temporal vicinity. Big pictorial report.

Ding Liren edges Bu Xiangzhi to top Hainan

7/6/2014 – Bu Xiangzhi's draw against Yu Yangyi, who was trying to stop the bleeding from his three losses in a row, guaranteed him a share of first place. Ding Liren, the only player that could catch him, took advantage of this opportunity and won a nice game with Black, edging Bu Xiangzhi in tiebreaks. We bring you a final round report on an interesting event and a fierce Chinese Olympic team.