Carlsen's Conquests – at 22 he has broken all records

2/13/2013 – In light of his merciless treatment of the field, it seems worth paying yet another visit to Carlsen's recent performance in Wijk aan Zee. He has won the event three times, this year with a 1.5-point margin – only achieved before by Short (in 1986) and once by Kasparov (in 2000). His general achievements are "monstrous", according to Michael von Keitz, who has tracked them in table form.

Chess Problems: Half-pin Blockbusters

2/12/2013 – In his previous articles on the half-pin theme our problem expert David Friedgood looked at a number of aspects of this fertile concept. There are many of other highways and byways of the theme that we could delve into. But David decided to say Auf Wiedersehen to the theme with a foursome of blockbusters, two of which the readers were invited to solve. Here are the the solutions.

Baden Baden R5: Anand makes his move in Baden-Baden

2/12/2013 – The Grenke Chess Classic reached the mid-way point, and tournament underdogs Meier and Fridman had Adams and Caruana on the ropes, while Arkadij Naiditsch had a full-blooded game against Vishy Anand. In the end, however, the aristocrats of world chess drew, while the king upheld the social order with a win that saw him move into outright second place. Round five report.

Chess competitions of age groups 8 –12 in Iran

2/12/2013 – The country has a very old tradition of chess – in fact the game was probably invented by a vizier of Persian extraction. Now-a-days people in Iran are rediscovering the advantages of chess as a means for mental ability, intelligence and memory, and are staging competitions for young players. Like the following U8, U10 ans U12 tournament in the beautiful city of Rasht. WFM Shohreh Bayat reports.

Aeroflot Open 2013 starts as Rapid and Blitz festival

2/12/2013 – The popular Aeroflot Open, which for eleven years has been staged as a classical chess event, has this year become rapid and blitz tournament, taking place from 12 to 17 February 2013 in Moscow. After four rounds there are six players with perfect scores, followed by thirteen who have conceded a single draw. From Friday there is a 32-player knockout followed by the Grand Final. Big illustrated report.

Baden Baden R4: Naiditsch bounces straight back

2/11/2013 – Where would we be without Arkadij Naiditsch? For the third day in a row his game saw a dramatic time scramble and the only decisive result at the GRENKE Chess Classic. This time he beat Georg Meier, while Mickey Adams and Fabiano Caruana played a sharp and hard-fought draw. Anand was agonisingly close to a first win, but an endgame slip allowed Daniel Fridman to escape. Round four report.

ChessBase Magazine Extra 151

2/11/2013 – Although ChessBase Magazine is easily one of ChessBase's signature products, with tons of material and value, it does have one serious drawback: it only comes out once every two months. For the fans who crave a bit more, there is ChessBase Magazine Extra to fill in the off-months. In the latest edition, you will find video analysis on the 1935 World Championship, and more. A review.

Nunn wins 4th Tata Steel Studies Solving Competition

2/11/2013 – He was one of the older competitors, but John Nunn once again showed that his brain is in top shape by winning this tough competition by 43 points out of the maximum of 45, the highest score achieved in recent years (and four points more than his nearest rival). He has written a report for us, with an interesting astronomical image and three sample studies for you to solve.

Baden Baden R3: Bloodshed and violence

2/10/2013 – For the second day in a row Arkadij Naiditsch lit up the stage of the GRENKE Chess Classic, but on this occasion it was his opponent Fabiano Caruana who was the last man standing – after a brutal time scramble. Elsewhere Vishy Anand failed to make headway against Georg Meier and Michael Adams’ long grind brought no dividends against Daniel Fridman. Round three report.

Savchenko clinches 2013 Moscow Open in final round

2/10/2013 – It was not a model game, but a see-saw affair, decided by a blunder in time trouble. But playing with the black pieces Russian GM Boris Savchenko took the full point and the title with 7.5/9 points, half a point ahead of nine colleague GMs with 7.0 each (Nepomniachtchi and Maletin took silver and bronze on tiebreaks). We bring you the final scores, games and analysis of the fateful final game.

Baden Baden: Naiditsch beats Adams

2/9/2013 – It was a roller coaster seven-hour game– and in the end Germany's top GM Arkadij Naiditch held the upper hand to take a full point from British GM Michael Adams. The game overshadowed the sharp contest between Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana, where the young apprentice unleashed some more deep preparation to hold the champion at bay. Round two report.

Andrew Martin: First Steps in Gambits and Sacrifices

2/9/2013 – Sacrificing material successfully is one of the most exciting rewards the game of chess can bestow. To play a truly excellent game brings confidence and a true belief in one's own ability. Sometimes we look at the sacrificial masterpieces of the great players in awe. Could we imagine ourselves playing in that grand manner? On his new DVD Andrew Martin shows us we could. Chess Cafe review.

Major pieces and back ranks

2/8/2013 – Black's king can't move, yet his queen on h4 is a very agile piece. In the diagram position the continuation 37.Re8 Rxb6 38.Rxc8 Qxe1+ 39.Kg2 leads to what?
A) win for White
B) win for Black
C) positional draw

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Ramirez: Attacking with the Benko Gambit

2/8/2013 – The Benkö Gambit offers Black the possibility to combat the stable 1.d4 systems and get into the driver’s seat. Our new DVD trainer is, according to an early purchaser "the best ChessBase video to date. Alejandro Ramirez does an absolutely amazing job, and I actually learned how to better assess the middlegame in general, and not just in relation to this particular opening." Definitely worth looking into.

Kokarev, Ponkratov, Savchenko lead at the 2013 Moscow Open

2/8/2013 – The International Chess Festival Moscow Open 2013 is being held from 31st January to 11th February 2013 at the Russian State Social University in Moscow. In a strong field of national and international GMs, after seven rounds of play it is not the top seed Ian Nepomniachtchi who is in the lead, but three lesser-known Russian GMs. Illustrated report with endgame analysis.

Singapore’s 1st Chess960 and Transfer Chess Championships

2/7/2013 – Over the past weekend, Singapore held these two Championships. While there is a FIDE Laws of Chess appendix for Chess960, there are no universally accepted rules of playing transfer chess (or “bughouse”). Thus, two Singaporean players drafted a set of rules for the Championships and are proposing that it be incorporated as a new appendix in the FIDE laws of chess.

SoulPancake interview with Magnus Carlsen

2/7/2013 – It's a website that explores "big think" subjects – articles, interviews, challenges. The portal was founded by the creatively off-beat actor Rainn Wilson. Recently he spoke to Magnus Carlsen in his "metaphysical van", and we were pleased to see how well the young Norwegian chess genius fielded the questions. The Youtube video is a six-minute investment of your time – don't miss it.

Category 19 Super-GM starts in Baden-Baden with Caruana victory

2/7/2013 – This tournament, with six players and an average rating of 2714, started in the famous German spa city, where in 1870 the world's first really strong chess tournament was held – and where counting draws for the final results made its debut in tournament play (read our report). The current event started with Fabiano Caruana drawing first blood with a win over German GM Georg Meier. Round one report.

Kosintseva sisters abandon the Russian women's team

2/6/2013 – From 2-13 March 2013 the Women's World Team Championship will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Russian team, which won the Chess Olympiad last September, has lost its two top players, Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva. The sisters say they refuse to play for the team under the leadership of the trainer Sergei Rublevsky, citing 'psychological incompatibility'. News and interview.

Feedback on Chess Cash Kings 2012

2/6/2013 – The recent article and project by Peter Zhdanov – to create a live list of the prize money winnings of top GMs – received a mixed response. "It leads the way to communicating chess success to the public," wrote one reader, while an unnamed GM announced he needed to give us "crap about that Zhdanov guy's article". One letter explains how how chess can become a cash sport.

Judit Polgar: How I beat Fischer's record

2/5/2013 – It is not often that we review books, but some simply call for attention. Such as this one by the strongest female in chess history, which was given to us by Judit during the London Chess Classic. We have known her since early childhood, and followed her career. The book was a trip down memory lane. We are pleased to share with you a sample chapter and a wonderfully annotated game.

ChessBase 12 – primer on installation and new functions

2/4/2013 – Our flagship program has been on the market for two months now – and people are beginning to realise how powerful some of the new functions are. For those of you who have not yet switched to ChessBase 12 here are full instructions on how to go about it. And for those who are wondering whether the switch to the latest version is warranted, take a look, for starters, at the new online search.

Tradewise Gibraltar: Nikita Nudges Out Nigel

2/3/2013 – The final round of this very strong event – seven 2700+ players, 14 players rated between 2600 and 2699 – was full of drama: four players tied for first on 8.0/10, necessitating a knock-out play-off to decide the winner of the £20,000 first prize. It boiled down to serial Gibraltar winner Nigel Short vs the young Russian GM Nikita Vitiugov. What a tiebreak final that was – and it was all caught on video!

Who are the Chess Cash Kings 2012?

2/2/2013 – The idea of creating a live rating list of the prize money winnings of top GMs was suggested a year ago on our pages by Peter Zhdanov. The key message of his article was that making the financial details publicly available is a crucial step towards transforming chess into a mainstream sport and making the game more popular. Peter has now progressed from theory to practice.