A Head Start: Bologan on the improved Chebanenko

12/8/2012 – The variation arises after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6. The Moldavan grandmaster Viktor Bologan, himself a pupil of Vecheslav Chebanenko, says that it is not easy for White to gain an advantage against the Chebanenko. His DVD aims to give new life to this already popular opening, which is played at a very high level, including by Magnus Carlsen. Chess Cafe review.

Carlsen in the Sky – and in the international news

12/8/2012 – On the free day Magnus Carlsen and Judit Polgar were taken for a photo shoot high over the city in the London Eye. In the meantime Magnus has soared to stratospheric levels in the live ratings: 2864 points, 13 more than Garry Kasparov's previous record. His performance in the Chess Classic so far, with 5.5/6 points: 3146. All this has led to a media frenzy around the Norwegian star. Take a look.

Grandmaster adventure trip

12/7/2012 – This rook sacrifice was one of the variations Luke McShane spent a lot of time on in his game against Magnus Carlsen from round 1 of the London Chess Classic. After 30.Qxf7+ Kh8 31.N3g4, the victory will finally go to who?
A) White
B) Black
C) neither (draw)

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Nigel Short triumphs in Pühajärve Rapid

12/7/2012 – It is an extraordinary tournament in a beautiful Estonian location. What make it really special is the unique handicap system: players are given different time ratios according to their strength, e.g. two minutes to 18 minutes when a GM plays an amateur. "This can be a real nightmare," said the winner Nigel Short, "even your opponent is many hundreds of points below you." Big illustrated report.

New: Kasparov – How I became World Champion

12/7/2012 – Only rarely do chess fans get a first-hand account of the success story of a World Champion. This new DVD by Garry Kasparov is the exception: in 16 videos, containing more than six hours of material, the 13th World Champion looks back at his chess career, from his first junior tournaments to his aborted 1984/85 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov. Order it now.

London Chess Classic: watch it live on Playchess

12/7/2012 – The official web site of this event is streaming video and providing expert commentary, including from the Classic player who has a bye. Playchess is also covering the games live and providing multimedia broadcast with the same experts commenting. On Playchess you can switch on your engine and use the Let's Check function to see instant evaluations from the most powerful machines world wide.

LCC R6: Hurricane Carlsen is upgraded to Category Five

12/7/2012 – The hurricane grading system is based on devastation, with five being the highest. Magnus Carlsen is equally destructive of the London field as he beat Judit Polgar in his best win according to him, and a live rating of 2864. Adams beat Anand after the Indian blundered horribly in a drawn position, while McShane beat Gawain in a wild game. Aronian and Kramnik drew. Full report with postgame analysis.

Kavalek in Huffington: The Beauty of Chess Tricks

12/6/2012 – If tricks were not allowed in chess, the game would be boring. For the last two centuries they were the jewels of chess played in European coffee houses and they were in big demand. Kibitzers were looking for razzle-dazzle on the chessboard and the players obliged. And we are still amazed today what tricks, the little tactical ambushes, can do for us – as GM Lubomir Kavalek explains.

LCC R5: Kramnik, Anand, Carlsen and Nakamura score

12/6/2012 – It was a black day for the Brits as they all lost. Anand was the first to score, with a win over Jones, while Carlsen took advantage of a single mistake by Adams to bring his live rating to 2860.5. Nakamura ground down Polgar in a long endgame, but Kramnik’s win over McShane game was the highlight of the round, with a lovely exchange sacrifice and a king chase from h6 to a7. Round five report.

The slim.nl Chess Challenges

12/5/2012 – The Royal Dutch Chess Association organizes chess challenges sponsored by slim.nl at secondary schools throughout Holland. The challenge is that you can learn how to play chess in one 45-minute lesson taught by experienced chess trainers. After the lesson they play their first tournament with a cheatsheet, and then on Playchess. ChessBase also sponsored prizes for the children.

Tumultuous welcome for Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina

12/5/2012 – On December 1st for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine a chess player won the title of World Women Chess Champion. A few days later Anna Ushenina, the 27-year-old IM from Kharkiv, returned to her home town to an enthusiastic welcome of family, friends, admirers and dignitaries, with press conferences, gifts and commendations from the country's leadership.

Watson on Trent: The Smith-Morra Gambit

12/5/2012 – "Drawing upon his own experience and analysis, Lawrence Trent put together a complete DVD on the Smith-Morra Gambit, 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3. Trent's presentation is systematic and clearly outlined – and the Morra is a great opening with which to teach younger players basics like the value of development, while developing their tactical skills." Review.

Chess Problems: Longer half-pin problems

12/5/2012 – In his introductory article on the half-pin theme the problem expert David Friedgood focused solely on twomovers. But the theme can be given some very interesting twists in three- and moremovers. In this article he looks at a few of the possibilities that extended half-pin problems provide, with explanatory notes, and then presents two problems for our readers to solve. Here now are the solutions.

Tashkent R11: Karjakin, Wang and Morozevich share first

12/4/2012 – Kasimdzhanov and Caruana drew their final round games, Mamedyarov lost against the Chinese GM Wang Hao. With the three out of contention, wins by Hao and Sergey Karjakin left a three-way tie for first: Karjakin, Hao and Morozevich, who drew his game against Peter Svidler. This means they shared the prize money; tiebreaks can be used only for the trophies. Full report with GM commentary.

LCC R4: Carlsen and Aronian both win in style

12/4/2012 – It was a fitting way of finally overtaking Garry Kasparov's record, as Magnus Carlsen and Gawain Jones played a wild game. Jones sacrificed his queen for play, but Carlsen held fast and is now at 2857.4. Levon Aronian scored the next win, over Luke McShane in a thrilling endgame as he fought past four connected passed pawns. Illustrated report with realtime postgame analysis.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (92)

12/3/2012 – The Editor of Chess Notes returns to 'My 61 Memorable Games'. Is it a genuine work by Bobby Fischer or a fake/hoax? The focus this time is on the sole new game in the book, the first battle in the 1992 re-match between Fischer and Spassky. Potential clues abound, but what exactly do the annotations reveal about the authenticity or otherwise of this mysterious 753-page book?

Tashkent R10: Mamedyarov and Morozevich lead in penultimate round

12/3/2012 – Although there has not been the highest rate of decisive games in this event, it hasn't been lacking in drama with so many changes in guard. Karjakin had snuck up to take sole lead only to lose it to his victor Mamedyarov. Morozevich has shown great resilience, refusing to stay down as he rejoined the lead with a nice win over Leko. Full report with GM commentary.

LCC R3: Adams wins and Carlsen narrowly escapes Kramnik

12/3/2012 – It was hardly the start anyone expected as Magnus Carlsen got himself into trouble early on in his game against Vladimir Kramnik. It took all his exemplary technique to save the game, and stay on course for the record. Michael Adams was the local hero after he defeated Judit Polgar, and Nakamura was the last to finish as he tried his utmost to beat Jones. Illustrated report with analysis and pictures.

Watson on van Wely: An Anti-Sicilian Repertoire in 60 Minutes

12/3/2012 – "Dutch GM Loek van Wely shows White how to bypass the Open Sicilian. The main ideas of the 60-minute series is to arm the listener with something to play which will to some extent avoid surprises (at least fatal ones) and yet keep enough content in the position to make for interesting play. Ideally you should have a long-term weapon without needing to track recent developments." Review.

ChessBase 12 has arrived!

12/2/2012 – Start your personal success story now. ChessBase 12 is the chess database program which has become the world-wide standard. Get to know your next opponent’s weak points and exploit the advantage of targeted preparation. Enjoy the new ChessBase 12 program with a wealth of fantastic new analysis and search features! Full information and ordering details.

Tashkent R9: Wang beats Caruana, Karjakin leads alone

12/2/2012 – Chinese GM Wang Hao beat one of the joint leaders in the Grand Prix tournament, Fabiano Caruana, in a Slav Exchange Variation. All the other games were drawn, which left Sergey Karjakin with 5.5/9 points alone in the lead. There are six players behind him with 5.0/9 each, and Sergey faces one of them, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, in tomorrow's tenth round. Full report with GM commentary.

LCC R2: Carlsen, Kramnik win again, Magnus now at 2856

12/2/2012 – Vladimir Kramnik defeated Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces, and Magnus Carlsen scored a fine victory over the second seed Levon Aronian. This hoists the Norwegian to a stratospheric 2856 in the live rating, five more than Garry Kasparov's all-time record. The World Champion Vishy Anand had to fight for a draw against Luke McShane. Full round two report with analysis by the players.

FIDE December ratings – Carlsen, Aronian, Kramnik, Radjabov

12/1/2012 – Nothing has changed at the top from the previous list, except that Fabiano Caruana lost a few points (but stayed in sixth place in the world). Naturally Magnus Carlsen continues to lead, with second-placed Levon Aronian trailing by 33 points and a twenty-point gap behind the Armenian. Carlsen will clearly go for Kasparov's all-time record at the London Chess Classic. FIDE December rankings.

LCC R1: Carlsen, Nakamura, Kramnik, Adams win

12/1/2012 – The 4th London Chess Classic started with a bang. Sadly for Judit Polgar, she still hasn't solved the Kramnik Theorem. Nakamura defeated Aronian, Mickey Adams beat Gawain Jones, while Magnus Carlsen came back from a near loss to Luke McShane and used his endgame magic to equal Garry Kasparov’s record 2851! Round one report with postgame analysis of the stars.