Soft spots

2/1/2013 – In the diagram position White went for the continuation 21.Bxe6 fxe6 in order to clear the 7th rank and fire against the point g7 with 22.Qg5. How would you evaluate the position after that? Black ...
A) wins;
B) gives perpetual check;
C) loses;

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Kavalek in Huffington: Carlsen eyeing the world chess title

2/1/2013 – After triumphing in two major tournaments Magnus Carlsen is a clear favorite to win the eight-player Candidates event in London (March 15-April 1). He is the only Western-born competitor in the field – all his opponents were born in the Soviet Union. The winner of the double-round robin plays in the world championship match against the titleholder Vishy Anand. Why should Carlsen win?

FIDE February 2013 ratings – Carlsen reaches record 2872 rating

2/1/2013 – After shattering Garry Kasparov's legendary 2851 rating record Norwegian chess genius Magnus Carlsen still continues to climb. With his +7 score in Wijk aan Zee he has added eleven more points to his stratospheric Elo and is now 62 points (!) above his nearest rival. Who happens to be Vladimir Kramnik, father of Vadim, born last Monday in Paris. February rankings.

ChessBase Magazine 152 with a brand new Reader

1/31/2013 – Look who's having fun analysing their game! ChessBase Magazine brings you the latest games from all important events, with top-level analysis, superb openings surveys, tactics, endgame sections, video lectures, everything you need to keep your skills up-to-date in the fast-moving chess world. CBM is a stand-alone product and the latest edition comes with an advanced new reader.

Nielsen switches from Anand to Carlsen

1/31/2013 – Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen (39) has worked very productively with Anand for around ten years. From February 1st, however, he will be part of Team Carlsen, and the two will soon go on a training camp to prepare for the Candidates Tournament in March – a tournament that determines who gets to play the title match against Anand at the end of the year. VG reports.

Gabor Kallai: Portrait of a Dedicated Chess Worker

1/30/2013 – What started as a festive meal with a friend in Budapest, GM Gabor Kallai, turned into a heartfelt story about chess, arts and talent. Here is a tale of 30 years involved first-hand in the workings of chess in Hungary as a chess competitor, trainer, coach, captain, arbiter, organiser, writer, media reporter, Radio and TV commentator. A fascinating tale with many great stories.

Spassky surfaces – on Russia 1TV's Tonight Show

1/30/2013 – You read about it last August: 75-year-old former World Champion fled from his house in Meudon near Paris and turned up in Moscow, with a harrowing story of "house arrest" in France and danger to his life. In October he appeared on Russian TV, looking frail and out of sorts. Spassky, who turned 76 today, appeared on a popular TV show, with short hair and in better shape and good spirits.

Gibraltar: Forty somethings on the rampage

1/30/2013 – In our previous reports we extolled the performance of mainly young players at the Tradewise Chess Festival. Today John Saunders concentrates on players over forty, like Georgiev, Short and Adams, who are still amply able beat up youngsters. After nine rounds of play three players share the lead with 7.5 points each, followed by seven with 7.0 points. Report and analysis.

Can chess make you smarter?

1/29/2013 – A research project in Israel is going to study the correlation between chess and cognitive enhancement. The group will also develop the first Hebrew-language educational software program for teaching chess in preschools and elementary schools, and establish an international program for training chess instructors and coaches. The online news magazine Israel21c reports.

Tata training: Aronian's activity, Nakamura's Fort Knox, Magnus Magic

1/28/2013 – Our ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller has been following the games at Tata Steel in Wijk aan Zee attentively. For today he has picked three highly instructive and entertaining games, featuring three of the top top players in the event, to explain some valuable techiques that you can use in practical tournament play. Learn and enjoy.

The secret to chess with Maurice Ashley

1/28/2013 – There are many topics in chess that are difficult to understand. Maurice Ashley is one of the people who teach these topics in a comprehensive way. His DVD series is an option that many of our readers know. Now he complements this with his monthly show on Playchess. Be there when enthusiastic commentary meets hunger for chess. More information...

Gibraltar: Four Amigos and the Battle of the Sexes

1/28/2013 – After four rounds of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2013 there were four players in the lead with perfect 4.0/4 scores, after five rounds just two were left (Le Quang Liem and Nikita Vitiugov) and after six there are three GMs with 5.5/6 points. We bring you another long and very entertaining report by John Saunders, with pictures and analysis, but which ends in something completely different.

Wijk aan Zee/Tata round thirteen preview

1/27/2013 – Who will win the 75th Tata Steel Tournament? Okay, we know Magnus Carlsen has already clinched the A Section, but the B and C sections are still hotly contested. The final round starts on Sunday, January 27, at 12:00 noon (i.e. an hour and a half earlier than usual). To make things especially interesting we recommend you update your Playchess client and try out our latest Guess-a-Move feature.

Tata R13: Karjakin, Wang score, Carlsen wins Wijk by 1½ points

1/27/2013 – In the final round the Chinese GM Wang Hao ruined all Vishy Anand's chances of gaining Silver by beating the World Champion. Levon Aronian drew, to take sole second place, while Sergey Karjakin defeated Loek van Wely to join Anand in 3/4 places. Magnus Carlsen drew his game with black against Anish Giri and ended a full 1½ points ahead of the field. Full round 13 report.

Gibraltar: The Magnificent Eight Ride Again

1/26/2013 – "Seven" would have been much more appropriate, but there happen to be eight Super-GMs with ratings over 2700 in the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2013. After three rounds, only three of the Magnificent Eight remained on 100% – together with a 18-year-old GM from China, Yu Yangyi, who is rated 2688 and clearly a prodigious talent. John Saunders reports.

Tata R12: Carlsen, Anand, Hou win, Carlsen clinches Wijk

1/26/2013 – Today Magnus Carlsen outplayed the US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura to score his seventh win in the Tata Steel tournament, having reached a total of 9.5/12 points with one round to go. His closest rivals, Anand and Aronian, have 8.0/12. Anand caught up with Aronian after a fine win over Erwin L'Ami, while the Chinese GM Hou Yifan beat Ivan Sokolov with black. Postgame and GM analysis.

Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival: winners stumble

1/25/2013 – Early rounds of big opens rarely produce major surprises, as the top half of the draw tends to murder the bottom half in cold blood. But in this year’s Gibraltar Masters a number of top players were served reminders on how careful you must be against weaker opposition. Ask Vassily Ivanchuk, Gata Kamsky or Nigel Short. After three rounds 15 players have perfect scores. John Saunders reports.

Duma deputies: Karpov should be investigated

1/25/2013 – Occasionally some very surprising news lands on our table. The Moscow Times is reporting that members of the Russian Parliament have accused former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov of being a foreign agent, lobbying on behalf of a tobacco company. The attack is seen as part of a smouldering conflict between lobbyists, as anti-smoking legislation is pending in the State Duma. MT report.

Wijk on the free day: Group C tournament

1/25/2013 – In our reports on Tata Steel we sadly neglected the groups B and C, usually only giving the results, games and standings. We caught up yesterday by presenting you with portraits of the B Section players, and today, with the help of photographer Frans Peeters, we introduce you the to C-Group players and young talents. And show you a few interesting tactical moments from their games.

Wijk aan B

1/25/2013 – The weakness of the dark squares around the black king catches the eye, but there still is the diagonal a6-f1 ...
The sequence 28.Rxd3 cxd3 29.Qh6 lead to victory for ...

A) White
B) Black

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Tata R11: Leko, Karjakin, Aronian, Giri win

1/25/2013 – Four decisive games, just three draws – quite typical of this hard-fought event. Levon Aronian's win over Hikaru Nakamura pushed the Armenian into second place. The Chinese GM Wang Hao held Magnus Carlsen to a 31-move draw, while the 18-year-old Chinese GM Hou Yifan survived all winning attempts by World Champion Vishy Anand in a knight and pawn ending. Round eleven report.

Wijk on the free day: visit to Tata, B Group players

1/24/2013 – In our reports on the Tata Steel Tournament we have sadly neglected the groups B and C, usually giving only the results, games and standings. You have seen dozens of pictures of Magnus, Vishy, Levon and Yifan, but practically none of the 28 stars and talents in the lower sections. With the help of the photographer Frans Peeters we make it up to you – and to them – with a portrait of each.

Tata R10: Five decisive game, Carlsen leads by 1½ points

1/23/2013 – This round saw a wide variety of interesting games, with sharp unsound sacrifices and deep positional play. Hou Yifan beat Harikrishna, 100 points her senior, with black, Levon Aronian outplayed Wang Hao. Magnus Carlsen stretched his lead even further over his rivals by beating Erwin L'Ami. It won’t be long before the media start screaming the number ‘2900’! Full report with postgame analysis.

Carlsen's Counterattack, Sokolov's Sorrow, Hou's Hammerblow

1/23/2013 – These are the themes of the latest endgame training session, provided by our ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller, who has been following the games at Tata Steel in Wijk aan Zee very attentively. He has picked Carlsen and Sokolov against Nakamura, and Hou Yifan vs Anish Giri, to explain some valuable techniques that you can use in practical tournament play. Learn and enjoy.