ChessBase Magazine #153 – blunders galore

4/8/2013 – How do super-Grandmasters lose games? Sean Marsh has taken a look at some example of high-level losses, extracting a number of instructive and entertaining examples from the latest issue of ChessBase Magazine, which according to him is "another feast of fine chess and should be a required purchase for all serious chess players." Review.

Aryan Tari – GM Norm at thirteen

4/7/2013 – He is a bright new talent on chess horizon: Aryan Tari is rated 2293 and does not even have an FM title. But the young Norwegian, whose parents are originally from Iran, scored a sensational 6.0/9 points against a field that included five international grandmasters. His rating performance was 2585, enough to give him his first GM norm – at the tender age of thirteen.

Sixth OGD Prinsenstad Tournament in Delft

4/7/2013 – The town dates back to the 13th Century and is famous for its historical main square, its blue pottery and the 17th Century painter Johannes Vermeer. The tournament over Easter was the sixth in recent years, this time staged in the Grotius College. It was won by GM Erwin l'Ami with 5.5/6 points and a 2822 performance. Erwin's wife Alina l'Ami has sent us this lovely pictorial report.

Aronian's Arrows, Gelfand's rooks, Kramnik's king

4/6/2013 – The London Candidates Tournament produced some of the most exciting chess and game results we have seen in recent times. The endgames were equally fascinating, as our ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller proves in his latest column that explains what happened in three important games. Learn and enjoy.

He's not a machine, he's a man!

4/6/2013 – That's what Rocky's trainer says about the seemingly invincible Russian challenger Ivan Drago. And when wife Adrian says: “It’s suicide – you've seen him, you know how strong he is, you can't win,” Rocky replies “The only thing I can do is just take everything he's got. But to beat me, he's going to have to kill me." What does all this have to do with chess? GM Jonathan Rowson explains.

4th Tata Steel Studies Composing tourney

4/6/2013 – During the Tata Steel Chess Tournament this January there was a special study composing tourney, which produced 89 entries, of which 20 received awards. Tournament judge Yochanan Afek has been showing us the prize-winning studies, with with wonderfully lucid explanations of their solutions. After parts one to three here are the solutions to the final five studies.

Candidates – Magnus Carlsen (2872 – World #1)

4/5/2013 – In the heat of reporting on the London Candidates tournament we unfortunately forgot one participant: Norwegian chess genius Magnus Carlsen. At 22 he already has sterling accomplishments under his belt – the World Championship is the one title he still needs for his résumé. With his victory Magnus has taken the first step towards that goal. Final player portrait by Michael von Keitz.

First female Advanced Chess match drawn

4/5/2013 – This unique computer-assisted chess match between women's world champion GM Anna Ushenina and WIM Olena Boytsun was held on April 2nd in Kyiv’s Radisson Blu Hotel. It drew an unprecedented amount of media attention and was featured in the news media and TV.. Good for chess and good for the «Chess for Children» charity, of which Ms Boytsun is the president. Big pictorial report.

The April Fools' prank that was and wasn't

4/4/2013 – In the age of Google and social communities on the Internet it has become increasingly difficult to perpetrate April Fools' jokes that can deceive people for more than a few minutes. This year, again, we gave it our best shot, with one – some thought two – fake April Fools' reports appearing during the day, and then the real one, hidden as well as we could manage. Did you spot it?

ChessBase Magazine #152

4/4/2013 – The great Mikhail Botvinnik would have frowned at the cover picture of CBM 152. While the Patriarch did maintain correct relations with his rivals, it would not have done to be too friendly with someone intent on wresting his crown. If you have not seen this issue of our DVD magazine with booklet you might want to take a look at what it has to offer. Review by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.

Anand: Carlsen ridiculously difficult to play against

4/3/2013 – While the candidates were battling in London reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand was watching the action from his home in Chennai, India. He thought it was "the best ever Candidates tournament in history," and in the end was rooting for Vlady Kramnik, "a brother from my generation." Find out what he thinks of his prospects against Challenger Carlsen in this Indian Express interview.

Carlsen interview and visit to Downing Street

4/3/2013 – The Candidates Tournament is over, Magnus Carlsen has emerged as winner and Challenger for the World Championship title. In closing we were able to record a 14-minute interview, and on the same day tour the city with the Norwegian star – a tour that included a visit to Number 10 Downing Street, an address you might recognize. Video and pictorial.

Horrific car crash kills chess players

4/3/2013 – Returning from the Doeberl Cup in Canberra, Australia six members of the Melbourne Chess Club involved in a motoring accident when their Toyota Tarago rolled off the freeway. Andrew Saint and Hannibal Swartz died in the smash, while fellow players James Morris and Dimitri Partsi were seriously injured. This chess tragedy is in the national and international news.

UTD GM Invitational won by GM Parimarjan Negi

4/2/2013 – USA’s collegiate chess is on the rise. GMs are flocking to America to study and improve their chess skills, at the forefront is the University of Texas at Dallas, recently hosting the strong UTD Spring Invitational. The 40 player swiss attracted prospective students from India, Spain and Azerbaijan to measure their chess skills against UTD's team. Full standings and pictures inside.

Candidates recap: press conferences, postmortems

4/2/2013 – Magnus Carlsen is the next World Championship Challenger. He ousted Vladimir Kramnik by the narrowest of possible margins. The Russian former World Champion was left heartbroken after a spectacular performance in the second half of the event. We brought you GM analysis of the the two key final round games in our previous report. Here now are pictures and videos to provide final impressions.

FIDE April 2013 ratings – and reform plans

4/1/2013 – Vladimir Kramnik lost a bunch of rating points and descended from rank two to three, exchanging places with Levon Aronian, while Fabiano Caruana gained twelve to rejoin the top ten. Apart from that nothing really noteworthy to report this month, which has led to discussions within FIDE on how to "hot up" the list. We were privy to some of their very daring plans and can tell you what is in store.

Candidates R14 – leaders lose, Carlsen qualifies

4/1/2013 – Magnus Carlsen overpressed a messy position against Peter Svidler and was swiftly punished. However Kramnik gambled all of his chips, and Ivanchuk simply took them all! Carlsen’s luck has not abandoned him and he is now the official challenger against Anand for the World Chess Championship, edging out the Russian’s great performance by virtue of his better tiebreak. Full report with GM analysis.

Candidates R13 – pictures and postmortems

4/1/2013 – After a truly dramatic twelfth round that overturned all expectations we saw a thirteenth round that was equally tense – with equally score table churning results. Everything was played out in the live video coverage of the organisers, which is meticulously archived so that people who missed the games can relive them at a later time, including postmortem analysis with the players.

Sainthood for Bobby Fischer?

4/1/2013 – It has come to our attention that an application for Sainthood has been made for the late World Champion Bobby Fischer. This was initiated by Stan Vaughan of the World Chess Federation. The application cites six postmortem miracles that were prayed for and verified as having occurred – normally only two are required.

Candidates R13 – Kramnik draws, Carlsen wins

3/31/2013 – Another heart-stopping round. Vladimir Kramnik had a very nice position and looked right on the path to victory, in his game against Boris Gelfand and in the tournament. This because Magnus Carlsen had a very drawish position on his board against Teimour Radjabov. But the latter blundered in the endgame and Carlsen drew level with Kramnik. The event goes all the way to the wire.

Candidates – tiebreaks, chances of winning

3/31/2013 – Round 12 of the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship was a thrilling affair, and it ripped a huge hole in the sail of Magnus Carlsen, who had been coasting to victory. Now the odds have been overturned and Kramnik is the statistical favourite to win. But it all depends on the tiebreak, as Jeff Sonas explains. Anyone for an expert lesson in statistics and chess?

Candidates R12 – full report, pictures, videos

3/30/2013 – The twelfth round of the Candidates was easily the most dramatic of this tournament so far: Kramnik's victory over Aronian and Ivanchuk's defeat of Magnus Carlsen turned all expectations upside down. IM Lawrence Trent and Nigel Short doing a splendid commentary job on the World Chess live broadcast. If you missed the action yesterday you can relive the round and commentary – all six hours of it.

Ketevan to be operated in Berlin in April

3/30/2013 – We recently reported that during the Women's World Chess Team Championship, which was held from March 2nd to 12th in Astana, Kazakhstan, one participant, Georgian IM Salome Melia, was not playing only for the honour of her country, but also for her daughter, four-month-old daughter Ketevan, who desperately needs a heart operation. Here's how things developed.

Candidates R12 – Kramnik wins, overtakes Carlsen

3/29/2013 – A tremendously exciting round: Vladimir Kramnik pulled off an incredibly important victory over Levon Aronian, who blundered in the endgame. Meanwhile Magnus Carlsen got into trouble against Vassily Ivanchuk, who won the rook ending in impeccable style. This left Kramnik in the lead, with two rounds to go.  High drama.