CBM training: Endgames from the Chess Classic

12/12/2012 – "London was wonderful, especially for endgame fans," wrote our ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller. Today he has four games from this event, demonstrating Aronian's attacking queens, Carlsen's pawn ending artistry, Nakamura's knight attack and Anand's activity. This is a great opportunity to learn from the strongest players in the world. Don't miss it.

2012 Panama Open: IM Eric Hansen scores 2900 performance!

12/11/2012 – Set in the lovely tropics, the Panama Open has just finished. It attracted many players from abroad, seeking relief from the cold and at times freezing winter temperatures in their home countries. The 2012 edition also witnessed a record performance for an IM, as the Canadian IM Eric Hansen scored an imperial 8.5/9 and a 2900 performance. Here is the first illustrated report by Alina L'Ami.

Vishy Remembers – Part I

12/11/2012 – Viswanathan Anand has won or defended the World Chess Championship title five times (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012), and he has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007. In 1987 he became India's first grandmaster and is widely considered the strongest rapid player of his generation. Anand turned 43 today and, to celebrate, we bring you a review of his DVD series 'My Career'.

LCC R9: Carlsen first, Kramnik second, both with big wins

12/10/2012 – It was a thrilling conclusion to a historic event. In the final round, Judit Polgar drew with Levon Aronian, while Vladimir Kramnik also drew, with Michael Adams. Hikaru Nakamura fought against Luke McShane, who blundered, while Magnus Carlsen, despite a guaranteed first, pressed hard against Vishy Anand, came close to winning, but eventually drew. Full report with postgame analysis.

Psychology: The Heart of Chess

12/10/2012 – Decision making is at the centre of psychology, neuroscience, economics and, of course, chess. "Listening" to the heart of chess players while they play, blunder, plan, calculate, win, lose – as in Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-tale heart" – two Argentinian scientists show that our hearts may be more verbose than we think, revealing subtle aspects of our emotions, reasoning and thoughts.

LCC R8: Kramnik, Polgar win, Anand-Nakamura a very tense draw

12/9/2012 – An incredibly exciting round as the audience followed Vishy Anand and Hikaru Nakamura, which was winning for both players at different times and ended in a fortress draw. Vladimir Kramnik won a masterful game against Gawain Jones. He now has a 3000 performance and is the world number two, while Judit Polgar beat McShane for her first win in this event. Full report with postgame analysis.

LCC R7: All draws, but Adams misses golden opportunity

12/9/2012 – Although the round ended in four draws, it might easily have been otherwise. After a nice sacrifice of a piece for pawns, Carlsen seemed to have serious winning chances against Nakamura, but several inaccuracies later it was just a draw. Adams nursed an advantage against McShane into a winning position, but missed several chances and also drew. Round seven report.

‘First Saturday’: 25 years of a revered chess tradition

12/8/2012 – This year, ‘First Saturday’ celebrates its 25-year jubilee. Throughout its history of 300 tournaments, almost everyone who is anyone on the chess scene has had a ‘First Saturday’ baptism at some point in their career. Names such as Fabio Caruana, Hou Yifan, Richard Rapport, Teimour Radjabov, Sofia Polgar, Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen are just a few. An overview by Diana Mihajlova.

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?