Anand: will he, won't he? He will!

1/21/2014 – We recently informed you that former World Champion Viswanathan Anand appeared to be vacillating on a decision whether to play in the March Candidates Tournament for the next Championship cycle. At least that is the way the media portrayed it. Decision day was January 20, and today FIDE published the official list of participants, which is topped by Anand. Participants and regulations.

Kasparov and the (almost) Oman immortal

1/21/2014 – Garry Kasparov was recently in Muscat, Oman, at the personal invitation of Alawi Al Zawawi. He gave interviews and pushed for the creation of a chess federation in Oman, which is sadly lacking despite the enthusiasm demonstrated for the game. There he also promoted the royal game with a simul against nineteen players, in which one game stood out as a brilliancy.

"WOM" Christmas Mission in Madagascar

1/20/2014 – On a perfect Georgian winter day, drinking a cup of hot tea at home in Tbilisi, thinking how boring winter was, WGM Nina Mausuradze received an invitation to go on a promotional chess tour in Madagascar. She jumped on chance, and describes the trip, and how everyone got into the chess spirit, whether the hotel manager paying for classes for his employees to the passport control.

The remarkably talented Harmony Zhu

1/20/2014 – "Did you see the Canadian girl?" Garry Kasparov said to us. "Very impressive!". He was in Al Ain, paying a visit to the World Youth Championship, where a seven-year-old was dominating the under eight group. We check her out and found that Harmony Zhu is not just a great chess player. She is extremely talented in a completely different field – hint: nomen est omen... You will never guess!

Tata 07: Exchange Sacrifice, anyone?

1/19/2014 – As if the spirit of Petrosian had possessed the playing hall, today's round in the Master's section of Tata Steel saw no less than five boards in which one side had an extra exchange! Interestingly, only in one of games was the exchange converted into a win (Rapport 1-0 Harikrishna) while one was lost (Nakamura 0-1 Van Wely) and three games finished in interesting positional draws.

Nielsen: The Sicilian Dragon Volume 2

1/19/2014 – In this Fritztrainer GM Peter Heine Nielsen, second of both Carlsen and Anand, covers all lines in the Dragon other than the Yugoslav Attack. "Nielsen generally explains the nuances and the important differences that small changes of the position lead to," writed GM Hedinn Steingrimsson. "Overall the DVD is of excellent quality and should be recommended to all chess players. Review.

Tata 06: Could'ves and should'ves

1/18/2014 – Levon Aronian continued his imperial romp, outclassing Wesley So to reach 5.0/6 and a 3013 performance, but the tale of the day was the amazing number of missed chances from all around. In Group A, Giri, Dominguez, Van Wely, and Harikrishna all had winning positions, yet failed to close. In Group B, both Saric and Muzychuk also had golden opportunities. Group A report.

Carlsen wins Silicon Valley

1/18/2014 – "Magnus Carlsen unleashed enough of his dry wit to keep his audience tittering or applauding," reports Forbes. The 23-year-old World Champion spent a week winning hearts and minds in the Californian computer mecca – giving Mark Zuckerberg a chess lesson, agreeing to chair a $5 million chess programme, and speaking to PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in this one-hour video interview.

Tata 05: Melee on the boards!

1/17/2014 – Fighting and strange chess was today's norm in both the Masters and Challengers section of the Tata Steel tournament. Aronian continues his steady pace and beat Naiditsch thanks to some mistakes by the German, while Dominguez ravaged Rapport, So blew Gelfand off the board, while Caruana and Giri won long endgames against Van Wely and Harikrishna. Round 5 analysis!

Kunte breaks the Indian simul record

1/17/2014 – He took on 155 players, almost all from a chess academy that is very popular in Mumbai. He played for eight and a half hours and walked twelve km. And in the course GM Abhijit Kunte scored a whooping 149 points out of 155, which amounts to a meritorious score of almost 96%. Mind you: two young students won their games. Two-part illustrated report by Sagar Shah.

Introducing the online ChessBase database

1/17/2014 – Fairly recently, a new online tool was released by ChessBase with little if any fanfare, but that is of no small use for casual users: an online searchable version of the ChessBase database, accessible from your browser, and free. It brings well over 6.5 million games, includes the playerbase pictures, move statistics, and even the Let’s Check computer evaluations. Here is a tutorial.

Mr. Facebook vs the World Champion

1/16/2014 – It was a bit of startling news to read that Mark Zuckerberg had booked a face-to-face with Magnus Carlsen. Indeed, the founder of the greatest social network of our time sought out the World Champion for a lesson in the royal game, but the timing is what makes one wonder. Zuckerberg is famous for setting himself yearly challenges: Could this be his 2014 resolution?

Tata 05 GroupB: Jobava unstoppable

1/16/2014 – With the clash of the 2700s being won by Jobava, the question of who can stop him in this tournament is a natural one. This is his fourth victory in a row. His two closest rivals, Muzychuk and Saric, are only half a point behind but will have to continue their winning streaks if they wish to catch up to what seems to be a crushing showing. His performance is currently over 2900.

A talk with Anastasiya Karlovich

1/16/2014 – Rádio Xadrez, a Brazilian chess site, recently interviewed Anastasiya Karlovich, best known to chess fans as the person presiding the press conferences at FIDE events including the recent Anand-Carlsen world championship match, but also the FIDE press officer at many events over the last years. Here she shares her experiences and impressions on what it is like working behind the scenes.

Illingworth wins Australian Chess Championship

1/16/2014 – It is is the most prestigious event in Australian Chess, and was held this year Springvale, an outer suburbs of Melbourne. IM Max Illingworth, rated 2434, took the title with a score of 8/11. He did it by winning his final round game against wizz kid FM Anton Smirnov, at 2338 the strongest 12-year-old in the world. We have a big illustrated report from "down under", with great pictures and videos.

Tata 04: Rijksmuseum!

1/15/2014 – Today's games were played in the famous Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam, which has a collection of over a million objects going back to the thirteenth century. The round had three White wins, especially important is the victory by Aronian against Nakamura as this propels the Armenian to clear first. Beautiful pictorial report from Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Yes2Chess: A Clever Move by Barclaycard

1/15/2014 – Chess is good for children. It teaches them logical thinking, social interaction, perseverance, and above all concentration. Barclaycard, Europe's leading issuer of credit cards, has partnered with Chess in Schools and Communities and Playchess.com to create a new Internet home for schools across Europe and the USA. Students can play each other online and win an amazing prize.

Tata 04 (Group B): Bloodbath continues

1/14/2014 – While the Master section had a rest day today, the Challenger's section was in full force and they did not slow down. Not a single draw was seen today in the tournament as the players continue to play sharp and interesting chess. Jobava is the solo lead with his third win in a row, but he is followed closely by Muzychuk who beat Duda. Report of today's stars.

Shogi Masters play Chess (2)

1/14/2014 – The Japanese form of chess enjoys a national prestige its western counterpart can only dream of. In part one you saw how some of the best Shogi players in are turning to our version of the game – with remarkable success. In part two of his report GM Peter Heine Nielsen, himself a shogi player, expands on the theme and takes us on a tour through the former imperial capital of Japan Kyoto.

Baseline Chess, Hedgehog and Magnus Carlsen (1)

1/13/2014 – The term is borrowed from tennis, where players do their damage mostly from the baseline. In several chess defenses such as the Sicilian, the French, the Caro-Kann, the Pirc or the Modern, the black players are forced to stay within their back rows. But to do it voluntarily as White? Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek shows us examples of how this strategy was employed.

Tata 03: Topsy-Turvy A, Bloody B

1/13/2014 – Harikrishna and Caruana outplayed Dominguez and Karjakin for very nice positional full points. Van Wely and Gelfand missed their chances against Giri and Nakamura, respectively, but today's show was stolen by the Challenger section, with seven decisive games, which had everything from positional grinds to kings escaping to b5 to avoid perpetual. And it was their top seed's birthday!

ChessBase Christmas prize contest

1/13/2014 – In the last week of 2013, as every year, we celebrated a week of chess puzzles, selected and annotated by GM John Nunn. On January 1st 2014 we asked our readers to start sending in solutions and take part in a solving contest. The closing date for all entries is January 15, 2014, which means that you still have two days to submit your entries. Do it – there are some interesting prizes to win.

Tata 02: Three quality wins

1/12/2014 – As opposed to yesterday's games, today's decisive results were characterized by quality and interesting chess. Aronian played a great game and never gave Caruana a chance to show his chess prowess. Giri went for Naiditsch's throat and the German was mated on f4, while Rapport exploited Gelfand's weaknesses and convincingly won with Black in a... Budapest Gambit!

Tata 01: Many mistakes, many wins

1/11/2014 – Only two draws were seen in the opening round of the 2014 Tata Steel tournament. Karjakin, Caruana, So and Nakamura all started with victories after taking advantage of their opponent's mistakes. Today's round was not marked by outplaying maneuvers as much as by self-destruction and mistakes. In some cases, rather obvious ones. Analysis and report of round one