Chess Prodigies Uncovered: Sergey Karjakin

11/27/2013 – This is one of a brand new range of DVDs, with Sergey Karjakin being subject of the first volume. The big difference between it and other ChessBase DVDs is the interactive aspect. Questions follow the main games: author Lorin D’Costa asks the viewer questions, and the answers must be played as moves on the on-screen board. "This is solid start to the new series which will probably evolve favourably as time goes by," says reviewer Sean Marsh.

Indian prodigy wins Chennai Open

11/27/2013 – The 2013 Chennai Grandmaster Open, held in celebration of the Anand-Carlsen FIDE World Championship Match, was sensationally won by 14-year-old FM Aravindh Chithambaram of Chennai. With a performance rating of 2728, which dwarfs his current rating of 2335, it seems we have a new prodigy to track! Here is the illustrated report by WGM Soumya Swaminathan

Chennai aftermath: the experts opine

11/27/2013 – With the world championship match over, a variety of experts are beginning to weigh in on the match, what happened and why. The most prominent of the pundits is the irrepressible Garry Kasparov who published his personal summary on the match and Magnus Carlsen in Time Magazine. However other grandmasters such as Giri, Short, and King, have also given their expert analysis of the match.

World Team 01: Black Day

11/27/2013 – The World Team Championship has started in Antalya, Turkey. The top teams in the world are competing in this round robin event and today was an exciting round. Armenia drew Russia with no decisive games while all the other matches ended in a 2.5-1.5 score. Every victory came with the black pieces, even in the Germany-Egypt match which featured three decisive games. Round one report.

Magnus Carlsen meets Norwegian press

11/26/2013 – After his historic win, Magnus Carlsen sat down with the cohort of Norwegian press members for a group interview. There was no division in parts and all members used the body of questions and answers for their work. In it he discusses his impressions of match play, his plans for the future, and what type of world champion he sees himself as. Here is the full collective interview.

Gambit delivers electronic chess books

11/26/2013 – Printed chess books are very nice to read, but they have one problem: very few people can play through the moves in their heads, and hardly anyone is willing to set up a chess board to follow moves on it. PGN readers and replay apps on electronic tablets solve this problem, but they are not as aesthetically pleasing as traditional books. The Gambit Chess Studio app, which was recently released, is a step towards providing the best of both worlds. Review.

Bundesliga Rd4: Baden-Baden in the lead

11/26/2013 – Squeezed right after the world championship, and right before the World Team Championship, this weekend the world's strongest league, the Bundesliga, played its fourth round of competition in Hamburg with star grandmasters all around. Baden-Baden continues its rout with an impeccable score, followed by Hamburger. Mulheim Nord is in third after a superb victory by Vachier-Lagrave.

The king is crowned

11/25/2013 – With a couple of days to rest and recover, before the closing ceremony, Magnus Carlsen chose to indulge in his favorite activities such as some basketball and football. A gymnasium was reserved and he challenged a team of journalists to face his team of Norwegians. Finally, the day came for the players to receive their medals, trophies, and checks. Large pictorial report.

Maturity and Majesty

11/25/2013 – While Magnus Carlsen’s victory is a victory for youth, with his numerous records in precociousness, it is unfair and incorrect to suggest that excellence and success are the exclusive domain of the young. As a follow-up to our look at the wonders of those in the springtime of life, here is a list of the players for whom age is just a number, and each wrinkle is but a battle scar.

The world takes notice

11/24/2013 – As would be expected, the news of the result of the Anand-Carlsen world championship match and the new title-holder circumnavigated the globe like wildfire, and media around the world has reported on it. The focus has clearly been on Magnus Carlsen, who is described as the "Justin Bieber of chess" or "a cross between a boxer and a 50s gangster". Here is a sample of the stories and headlines.

The youngest and the greatest

11/24/2013 – With the advent of Magnus Carlsen as the new world champion, the 16th in the line of classical chess, we decided to compile a few lists regarding the records and results, the stats and the facts. You know who the youngest number one ever is, but can you name the second? The third? How about the youngest world champions, or the most crushing victories? We answer all these questions and more.

Huffington: Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion

11/23/2013 – Magnus Carlsen is the new world chess champion, having defeated the titleholder Vishy Anand of India in ten games with the score 6.5-3.5. The 22-year old Norwegian grandmaster has now won everything there is to win in chess. Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek comments on the course of the Championship and the Berlin Defense that played a critical role.

The French Defense by GM Nick Pert

11/23/2013 – The French Defense has always stood out as a special kind of beast, garnering a passion that borders on religious fervor. GM Nick Pert comes as the high priest as he presents his finest material, which is the result of hundreds of hours of study and thought. The new DVD comes with over seven hours of videos to give you a complete competitive repertoire against 1.e4. Read the review.

Chennai Final: Magnus Victorious

11/22/2013 – The game was well described by Vishy Anand: "a microcosm of what the match was". Anand played a solid game while keeping tension, but he started making mistakes. A blunder by each player led them to an endgame with an advantage for Carlsen. He tried to win the knight endgame but forced a draw when things got complicated. Analysis of the game that made Magnus Carlsen the new World Champion.

Magnus Carlsen is the new World Champion!

11/22/2013 – There seemed little doubt a real game would be played today, with Magnus the consummate player, and Anand unwilling to disappoint his fans for not trying. They played a hedgehog, and a long battle ensued, culminating in in a fascinating knight endgame Magnus might have won. After they finally drew, a new king was crowned. Long live the king. Illustrated report with celebratory video.

More impressions from Chennai

11/22/2013 – The chess match is nearing its end and we are set to leave the south Indian city that is hosting it. The stay was very interesting and as promised we will be providing you with impressions around and outside the event. On one of the free days ChessBase editor Frederic Friedel accompanied two young chess ladies on a shopping tour and visited a famous temple in the city. Big pictorial report.

Chennai 09: Thrilling fight tarnished

11/21/2013 – Today was one of the most exciting games of chess seen in recent years. The World Champion pawn stormed his opponent without caring about Carlsen's b pawn... which was queening! However an unfortunate and horrifying blunder ended the attack and Anand had to resign. Anand must win the next three games in a row, two of them with black. Round 9 grandmaster impressions.

Chennai G9: Magnus .44 beats battling Anand

11/21/2013 – It was everything the chess fans hoped for, no matter who they supported: a sharp battle with Anand all guns ablaze. Carlsen admitted this was the first time he risked being mated in the match, and the position could not have been more exciting. With computer precision he found all the defensive moves, and a final slip by Anand left him half a point from the title. Large illustrated report.

Istanbul-Cologne rematch

11/21/2013 – Just over a year and ago a nice event took place online. The players from Satranc Club in Istanbul huddled together to play a match against their opponents from Cologne. The clubs and the players loved the rivalry, but they still wanted to meet over the board, face to face. Through hard work and clever organization this was made possible and Guven Manay reports on a friendly match.

WCh Chennai: Languages of India, and of chess

11/20/2013 – The World Championship press room is filled with journalists from all parts of India, and they are filing reports in a dozen different languages. The main Indian language is Hindi, spoken by over four hundred million people. But Chennai is in the middle of the Dravidian language family that is less closely related to Hindi than, let us say, Norwegian (both Indo-Aryan languages). We thought we would give you an impression of the local dialects.

Deep Fritz 14: Faster, better, cheaper

11/20/2013 – Deep Fritz 14 has just been released and this 64-bit program comes with a brand new engine that supports up to eight processor cores. It is faster than ever and is almost 100 Elo stronger than Deep Fritz 13. In addition, Deep Fritz 14 is now the cheapest one ever at EUR 69.90, but retains all the perks such as Let’s Check, Cloud Engines, and a half year of Premium Playchess! Read to find out more...

When chess beats lingerie models

11/20/2013 – While chess has never lacked respect, the general media has long taken only a casual look, publishing the occasional centerpiece as a form of tipping its hat. Now, the world championship and chess itself have seen an absolutely mind-boggling surge of interest, and men's fashion magazine GQ was shocked to report that an article on chess was beating a photo gallery of 100 lingerie models.

Chennai 08: "Berlin...and yada yada yada"

11/19/2013 – Carlsen summarized the game in the following manner: "He played the Berlin. I played the most solid line... yada yada yada we go to the doping control." With only four rounds to go team Anand is in panic mode and they must create complications for Carlsen on the very next game. Anand only has two whites left, and if this is all he can create with black he will have to rely on them. Today's brief analysis.

Chennai G8: Anand plays Berlin against Carlsen

11/19/2013 – The openings were a surprise all-round as Magnus Carlsen opened with 1.e4 for the first time. Whether or not Vishy Anand was surprised by this decision is not clear, but it was hard to predict a Berlin as his comeback choice. Carlsen was unfazed and rattled off each of his moves with 30 seconds thought, leading to complete equality. They drew after 40 minutes. Report and video analysis.