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

GM Vugar Gashimov, 1986 – 2014

1/11/2014 – Vugar Gashimov was one of the leading chess players of Azerbaijan, playing for his country in four Chess Olympiads, as well as winning gold for the Azeri team at the European Team Championship 2009. During the past decade he suffered from a brain tumor and, during treatment for this in a hospital in Germany, Vugar Gashmimov died on the night of 10-11 January 2014. He was just 27. | Photo: Nadja Wittman / ChessBase

Tata Steel 2014 under way

1/11/2014 – The opening ceremony made use of the group that staged the famous flashmob recreation of a Rembrandt painting (do not miss the video!), and had the players join historical personalities for the drawing of lots. Our roving reporter WGM Alina l'Ami could not catch the entire ceremony, as she was nominated Sports Woman of the year in a different location. Darn. So she sent us brief impressions.

Daniel King: Test your attacking chess

1/10/2014 – "Studying the ten games on this volume reminds me of working with an experienced chess coach," writes Glenn Mitchell. "GM King describes part of the game and then pauses for the viewer to decide on their next move. Coupled with Daniel King’s personal charm and you have a great training resource for the self-motivated chess improver." Review.

Shogi Masters play Chess

1/9/2014 – The Japanese form of chess is called Shogi. It enjoys a national prestige we in the West can only dream of. Some of the Shogi masters are dabbling in our form of the game, and making rapid headway. One of the best Shogi players in the history of the game, 43-year-old Yoshiharu Habu, recently returned to chess with a remarkable performance in Poland. GM Peter Heine Nielsen reports.

Tata Steel 2014 starts tomorrow

1/9/2014 – The famous tournament in Wijk aan Zee, this time with two GM groups instead of three and twelve players instead of fourteen, will start with an opening ceremony at the Tata Steel headquarters in IJmuiden on Friday, with the first round at 13:30h local time on Saturday. The Master Group A has an average rating of 2743, making it a category 20. Tournament information and commentary schedule.

1.e4 – "Best by Test"? (Part 2)

1/9/2014 – After detailed database culling, data crunching, and number calculations, Matthew Wilson brings to conclusion his findings on which is ultimately better: 1.e4 or 1.d4. While the great Bobby Fischer was content to state his preference as "best by test", here charts and mathematics rule the day. However, you will find the answer to which opening move is truly the best.

Sam Collins – Tactical Toolbox

1/8/2014 – "IM Sam Collins is one of my favorite ChessBase lecturers," writes Glenn Mitchell. "This new DVD is different from previous Fritz Trainer DVDs. It’s even different from the new interactive Fritz Trainer DVDs. The focus here is exclusively on tactical problems. More than sixty of them!" In his review Mitchell gives the DVD an enthusiastic recommendation for intermediate to advanced players.

1.e4 – "Best by Test"? (Part 1)

1/8/2014 – While there is no question much of chess is a matter of choice, what if you could know with mathematical certainty which is stronger: 1.e4 or 1.d4? The late Bobby Fischer swore by 1.e4, claiming it was "best by test", but that was before the era of databases. In the following article, PhD student Matthew Wilson takes a close look to answer that very question.

First Maharashtra Open for Children

1/7/2014 – India is becoming a powerhouse in every aspect of chess. After the series of open tournaments that the country has been hosting, we take a look at how India is training its young players. Niklesh Jain brings us a report of the first Maharashtra Open tournament for U-15 children - including the technological innovations they are using to improve their play...

Hammer victorious at Rilton Cup

1/7/2014 – Played at the same time as the Hasting Chess Congress, the Rilton Cup, Sweden’s biggest and most famous international chess tournament, was held in Stockholm, Sweden, from December 27th, 2013 to January 5th, 2014 and after a strong duel between Nils Grandelius and Jon Hammer, the Norwegian won his second tournament in a month, with a powerful performance, and earning a solid gold medal.

Hastings Chess Congress ends in seven-way tie

1/6/2014 – The Hastings Chess Congress was held from December 28th, 2013, to January 5th, 2014, and marked the 89th edition of the venerable tournament. Though no longer world class event it once was, it has managed to survive where higher-profile events fell. Players from around the globe still flocked to the traditonal competition to add their names to the same roster as Capablanca and Botvinnik.

Rare Fischer game analyzed in depth

1/6/2014 – After reading listening to the BBC Radio program "Across the Board" with great pleasure, a certain curiosity came on the previous chess effort by the British broadcaster, now only available in the book, "Chess Treasury of the Air". Though full of fascinating essays, player profiles and more, the crown jewels are the consultation games. Here is Bobby Fischer analyzed by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

Wojtaszek makes it two at Basel

1/5/2014 – It seemed like a close affair in the final rounds of the Basel Chess festival, with three tied for first, and a slew of other grandmasters behind, but top-seed Radoslaw Wojtaszek would not be denied. After his strong win at Zurich a week before, he finished with two wins over his close rivals Robin van Kampen and Maxim Rodshtein to take clear first. Illustrated report.

The next Anand? Aravindh a special Indian talent

1/5/2014 – During the Chennai World Championship match there was a grandmaster open. It was sensationally won by Aravindh Chithambaram, a 14-year-old FM with a 2335 FIDE rating. Aravindh had a performance rating of 2728 and gained 80 Elo points from this one tournament. One of the brightest Indian chess talents hails from a very modest family background and urgently needs funding for his chess career.

BBC Radio interviews Hou and Sharansky

1/5/2014 – In the last episodes of the BBC Radio program “Across the Board”, Dominic Lawson interviews the only professional player in the series, Hou Yifan, as well as Natan Sharansky, a prominent Israeli politician, human rights activist and author. Nathan Sharansky was sent by the Soviets to a Siberian Gulag where he survived by playing endless games of chess in his mind. Life imitates fiction.

Basel Chess Festival launches 2014

1/4/2014 – Right after the Zurich Open that concluded the year 2013 comes the Basel Chess Festival, also in Switzerland, launching the new year in fine style. The event has grown each year and in the 230 players, are no fewer than seventeen grandmasters, many who came directly from Zurich. The top seed is Radoslaw Wojtaszek once more, but sharing the lead are Robin van Kampen and Ivan Popov.

Daniel King's Interactive Coaching Session

1/4/2014 – "Test Your Attacking Chess was the first time I experienced the new interactive training with video feedback feature of the Fritz Training DVDs," writes Chess Cafe reviewer Chris Wainscott. "I had no idea what a treat was in store for me." He found it a very dynamic tool that "comes as close to emulating a lesson from a GM as anything I have seen," – and gives it five out of six possible stars.

Wojtaszek is first at Zurich Open

1/3/2014 – The 37th Zurich Christmas Open took place on 26-30th December at the Crowne Plaza Zürich in Zurich, Switzerland. The seven-round Master Tournament, for players rated over 2000, drew 118 participants of which 50 were titled, including 23 grandmasters from around the world. Top seed Polish grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek took clear first with 6.0/7 after a powerful last-round win.

January 2014 ratings – Nakamura now third

1/3/2014 – The sensational change at the top of the New Year's rating list is (ta-dum!) Hikaru Nakamura's climb to number three in the world. He is not only the highest rated American of all time, he is the second American to reach the top three since the FIDE ratings were installed. Incidentally did you know that only 0.0024% of the world population has a FIDE rating? Here's the latest list.