Tata R06: Carlsen in the lead with 2923 performance

1/18/2013 – A lot of terrific games today: Magnus Carlsen crushed Ivan Sokolov to put half a point between himself and his pursuers – and five more points on his Elo rating; Levon Aronian wrung a point out of Peter Leko in 59 moves; Loek van Wely did likewise against Wang Hao in 41; the Chinese GM Hou Yifan used a Dragon to defeat Anish Giri in 85 moves. Full report with pictures and videos.

CBM training from Wijk: Karjakin's cars, a deadly 'zwischenschach'

1/17/2013 – The latter is a German expression for in-between-check, also used by chess players in English. In the first round game Harikrishna vs Giri at the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee game following rook ending the motif plays a major role. Our ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller, uses this and a round 3 game between Sergey Karjakin and Wang Hao for today's endgame lesson.

Cheating scandal – Borislav Ivanov speaks out

1/17/2013 – Recently a 25-year-old untitled Bulgarian player scored 6.0/9 points in a strong GM tournament, with a 2697 performance. His opponents complained, he was searched, and no electronic equipment was found. Still, the case put chess on the front pages of the mainstream media, and led to intense discussions on the Internet. Now Ivanov has given the Russian news portal WhyChess an exclusive interview.

Tata R05: five decisive games, trio still lead

1/17/2013 – The trio – Carlsen, Anand and Karjakin, all drew their games and stayed on top of the cross table. The decisive games came from Harikrishna, Aronian, Leko, Nakamura and Wang Hao, who defeated van Wely, Sokolov, Caruana (!), Hou Yifan and L'Ami respectively. Especially impressive was Harikrishna-Van Wely. Here are games, statements by the players and analysis in our round five report.

The King and I – playing against a World Champion

1/17/2013 – Have you ever done that yourself? What is it like to face a chess opponent who is unfathomably stronger than you are. Jaideep Unudurti, a freelance journalist, challenged reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand to a two-game blitz match, and describes the experience in vivid detail for the Economic Times in India. Here's his wonderful two-part article.

106 years ago ...

1/16/2013 – At the sight of Black's bishop pair firing at the white king position in the splendid game Aronian-Anand in Wijk aan Zee yesterday many kibitzers kept quoting the classic Rotlewi-Rubinstein, so here is a little reminiscence. A move of which piece quickly led to victory for the second player?
A) Rc8
B) Rd8
C) Ng4
ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Daniel King ChessBase Tutorial – Starting Chess

1/16/2013 – This DVD is, as the title implies, it is intended for rank beginners. Starting Chess is a set, consisting of both a three-hour DVD and a fifty-page booklet. The booklet or the DVD can stand alone on their own merits, as an introduction to chess. The material is not identical; the booklet can allow for a handy, quick review of the information provided at greater length on the DVD. Chess Cafe Review.

Tata R04: Carlsen, Anand and Caruana score

1/15/2013 – On Sunday all games were (mostly exciting) draws, today by contrast there were five decisive games. At the top Magnus Carlsen took Pentala Harikrishna to the cleaners in typical style; world number five Fabiano Caruana defeated Ivan Sokolov, and World Champion Vishy Anand, facing Levon Aronian with black, played what might surely go down as the game of the year. Full report with GM analysis.

Candidates Tournament to be held in London

1/14/2013 – Put this on your calendar: from March 14 to April 1st the candidates tournament will be staged in London. The eight participants, headed by Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, and Teimour Radjabov, will play a double round robin to determine the challenger for the World Championship title, currently held by Viswanathan Anand. The venue is quite spectacular. Press release.

Parsvnath Delhi International: Aleksandrov takes clear first

1/14/2013 – With a win in round nine against his chief rival Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan, in the end it was Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus who finished at 8.0/10 points and took the Rs. 300,000 (€4,200 or US $5,500) first prize. The Indian fans were delighted by a first GM norm achieved by 13-year-old Murali Karthikeyan, and one by IM K. Rathnakaran. Final report.

Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2013 starts next Monday

1/14/2013 – The 11th edition of this very popular tournament promises to be as prestigious and exciting as the previous ten. One thing we are going to see is the clash between Vassily Ivanchuk, who won the 2011 event with an amazing 9/10 and a 2968 performance, and Nigel Short, who has chalked up the most victories (three). There are a number of further interesting players to follow. Press release.

Tata R03: Carlsen, Anand, Karjakin score

1/14/2013 – Magnus Carlsen scored his first full point in Wijk with a convincing win over the Dutch number two Loek van Wely; the World Champion Vishy Anand defeated the world number five Fabiano Caruana; and Sergey Karjakin took a second full point in his game against the Chinese GM Wang Hao. Karjakin leads with 2.5/3, ahead of Carlsen, Anand and Harikrishna. Postgame interviews and analysis.

Tata R02: All games drawn, but many very tense

1/13/2013 – Ivan Sokolov, playing black, had Hikaru Nakamura on the verge of defeat. Magnus Carlsen admitted that Levon Aronian "outplayed me, so I was lucky to survive." Vishy Anand remained calm in face of a "scary attack" by Anish Giri. Hou Yifan fought back from a bad position to miss a clear win against Loek van Wely – as she learnt in front of a rolling camera after the game. Round two report.

Hawaiian Chess Warfare Training lives

1/13/2013 – The warrior tradition lives in Polynesia – through some special chess training, delivered by visiting chess GM Timur Gareev at a Hawaiian Combat Chess Workshop. Keahi Renaud, a mechanical engineer, Hawaiian cultural professor, youth mentor, avid supporter of the Hawaii Chess community, describes a high-yield, high-speed experience in a tropical paradise with chess intensity at its best.

Tata R01: Harikrishna and Karjakin score

1/12/2013 – Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna defeated the Dutch Champion Anish Giri. Sergey Karjakin celebrated his 23rd birthday by outplaying the former Women's World Champion Hou Yifan, 18, in a Classical French. GM Daniel King looks at this exciting game in his video report. All other games were drawn, and most notably Carlsen-Caruana, Anand-Nakamura and Aronian-van Wely. Round one report.

CBM training: Good knight bad bishop, Kazhgaleyev's knight hunt...

1/11/2013 – ... and Breaking the blockade. These are the subjects for today's endgame lesson, delivered by our expert, ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller. He has picked the three games from a variety of tournaments and uses these topical examples of practical endgames to add to the playing strength of our readers. Learn and enjoy!

Tarrasch theme

1/11/2013 – Black has just fortified his central knight e4 with 16...f5. Now the queen sortie 17.Qb3 invites the fork 17...Nd2, leading to what?

A) material advantage for White;
B) material advantage for Black;
C) equilibrium (exchange for two pawns).

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

ChessBase Magazine 151 – 'Commended for the aspiring player'

1/11/2013 – The final CBM issue of 2012 is once again packed with exciting material. On the DVD you will find over 4,000 games, 139 with annotations, from four world class events, in each of which the level of tension remained high right to the very end. There are eleven detailed opening surveys, sections for strategy, tactics, endgames – something for everyone. Review by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.

Parsvnath Delhi International: Aleksandrov, Dzhumaev lead

1/11/2013 – Young Delhi GM Vaibhav Suri nosed ahead of the field with a brilliant endgame display against tournament leader Magesh Chandran in round seven, but then lost to Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus in round eight. Dzhumaev accounted for Commonwealth champion M.R. Lalith Babu to match Aleksandrov on 6.5 points. Four players are half a point behind and ready to pounce. Big illustrated report.

Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2013 begins on Saturday

1/11/2013 – It is, as you know, being held in the Dutch sea resort of Wijk aan Zee. Recently we named the participants and strengths of all three groups. On Friday the opening ceremony took place, and with it the drawing of lots. This means we can give you the full schedule and pairings, as well as the world-class commentators we have lined up for you at Playchess. It's going to be an exciting two weeks.

Parsvnath Delhi International: Chandran and Suri lead

1/10/2013 – After five rounds Magesh Chandran was in the sole lead, but in round six he was caught by young Vaibhav Suri. The two Indian GMs now lead with 5.0/6 points, ahead of nine players from different parts of the globe. One of them, the untitled Murali Karthikeyan, is catching the media attention: the 13-year-old is in seventh place with 4.5/6 points and a staggering 2610 performance.

Sir Patrick Moore, 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012

1/9/2013 – Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was an English astronomer, writer, researcher, and host of the world's longest-running television series with the same original presenter, the BBC's The Sky at Night. He was also an avid chess player, and when his death became known during the London Chess Classic the VIP room was filled with stories about his chess career. Here's one by Carl Portman.

Nettavisen: We have tested the world's best chess program

1/9/2013 – Lately there has been a debate in the Norwegian mainstream media: who is the strongest chess player in history? The legend Bobby Fischer? The monster with a thousand eyes, Garry Kasparov? Or our own Magnus Carlsen? "Sorry, folks," says GM Leif Erlend Johannessen in the news portal Nettavisen, "the right answer is: Houdini 3" – which he says would knuser Magnus. Find out what that means.

Cheating scandal in Croatia – feedback and analysis

1/8/2013 – Recently we reported that the incredibly brilliant play by a 25-year-old untitled Bulgarian player at the Zadar Open in Croatia had raised suspicion that he might have been using illicit electronic assistance during his games. A number of readers criticised us – for linking to the mainstream Croatian media reports?! One of them, an expert in the field, actually analysed all the games in question.