Second China Women's Master won by GM Zhao Xue

4/21/2012 – China has long invested in women's chess like few countries, and the Second Women's Master tournament is but a continuation of this legacy. Though it lacked Hou Yifan, China's best female players all competed to shine. In a continuation of her superb form these last twelve months, GM Zhao Xue took clear first in spite of a loss, with Georgian Bela Khotenashvili in second. Final report.

Iweta Rajlich tops two World Champions at First Saturday

4/21/2012 – After taking time off for maternity leave, IM Iweta Rajlich returned to competitive chess last December, anxious to play again. She entered in the First Saturday GM tournament held in Budapest, Hungary, and promptly scored a GM norm, despite two world champions. Her secret? 'When my son Waclav Andrej appeared in the room in the arms of my husband, I was lifted to heaven.'

Zurich Challenge begins with victory for Aronian

4/21/2012 – The Zurich Chess Challenge, a six-game face-off between the world's number two, Armenian GM Levon Aronian, and number three, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, started with a shocker: Aronian scored an impressive win with the black pieces. The game was broadcast live on the official site and on Playchess, with live video images and GM commentary. Highly enjoyable.

BCC Open: Short wins, returns to the 2700 club

4/20/2012 – British GM and former World Championship challeger Nigel Short beat his main rivals and wrapped up the Bangkok Chess Club Open a full point ahead of the field. With this victory Nigel returns to the 2700 club, where he clearly belongs. After the event there was a rendezvous with some informal blitz on the roof of the hotel. Final report with some breathtaking photos by WGM Kruttika Nadig.

Premature?

4/20/2012 – White is clearly on the ropes, however, if Black tries to solve the position by tactical means, the queen on h6 could prove the saving factor. In concrete terms - the immediate strike 39...Txf3+ after 40.Txf3 Txf3+ 41.Kg2 leads to what?
A) victory for Black
B) equality/perpetual check
C) advantage for White

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Dubai Open: Ni Hua and Akopian lead

4/20/2012 – In the fifth round Chinese GM Ni Hua, who came in with a perfect 4.0/4 score, drew his game against Georgian GM Baadur Jobava, while Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, who had 3½ points, soundly defeated Zaven Andriasian of Armenia ot join Ni Hua in the lead. There are 18 players half a point behind the two, and 21 with a score of 3.5/5. Report after round five with interesting new faces.

Leading players speak about the World Championship Match

4/19/2012 – Twenty-one days – that's three weeks – are left before the start of the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and his challenger Boris Gelfand, which will be held in the world famous Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The Russian magazine 64 Chess Review asked former World Champions and other top players their opinion on the match and the venue.

Andrew Martin: The Queen's Gambit Declined

4/19/2012 – 'International master Andrew Martin is a natural teacher, especially for those below 2200,' writes Setven Dowd in this Chess Cafe review. He gives the software six out of six stars (excellent) and says: 'This trainer is a hit with me for its ability to supply the club player, in slightly less than five hours, with a repertoire that can be used for the rest of one's chess-playing career.'

CBM training: Endgames from Sochi

4/18/2012 – The Russian Team Championship ended last Sunday. Our ChessBase Magazin expert Dr Karsten Müller was, as always, scanning the games for interesting and instructive endings and today shows us: the worst enemy of the knight; Black breakthroughs; the sidestep; and taking aim at passed pawns. Good for adding some Elo points to your account. It's free and complimentary.

4th Dubai Open Chess Championship under way

4/18/2012 – This tournament, with many foreign GMs, is taking place in the United Arab Emirates. After three rounds six players have perfect scores. In place seven we find Indian IM Tania Sachdev with 2.5/3. The tournament site says she beat GM Ivan Sokolov with black in round two, but the game is not available. We show you some stunning Google image search technology in this giant pictorial report.

BCC Open: Short catches Venkatesh, takes lead

4/17/2012 – After five rounds of play Indian IM M.R. Venkatesh had scored 5.0/5 points. In round six he faced Nigel Short, who was in second place. The British GM showed his class and came up on top. He now leads, with women's world champion Hou Yifan in second place (the two clash on Tuesday). Our round six report is adorned with some pictorial impressions by WGM Kruttika Nadig.

ChessBase Magazine # 147

4/16/2012 – "April's issue of ChessBase Magazine keeps up the very high standards one can rightly expect from this fine series," writes reviewer Sean Marsh He picks out a few examples in which Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen annotate their games frankly and without holding back. 'ChessBase Magazine continues to offer excellent value for money,' Sean writes. 'There's no other chess product like it.'

The 12th Bangkok Chess Club under way

4/16/2012 – Why is Women's World Champion Hou Yifan pouring water over a statuette? She is celebrating Thailand's joyous and rowdy Songkran Festival, that's why. After five rounds Indian IM M.R. Venkatesh, fifth seed in this tournament, is leading with a clean score of 5.0/5 points. Games and results are coming through somewhat sporadically, but we have put together a round five report.

Baden Baden wins the Bundesliga; Tiviakov beats Anand

4/16/2012 – The final rounds of the Bundesliga were no less dramatic than the Russian Team Championship whose final rounds played the same weekend. The leader was top-rated Baden Baden, but they suffered an unexpected setback when their top board, Viswanathan Anand, lost to an inspired Sergey Tiviakov. Nevertheless, the team held strong in the last round and took the title. Final report.

Chess-playing Japanese Shogi champions

4/15/2012 – The Japanese chess variant Shogi is the most popular board game in the country. In recent years some of its greatest contemporary champions have started taking up chess, and two intersting experiments were recently conducted: a top GM played a chess simul against two Shogi masters, and the top Shogi champion a three-board Shogi handicap against chess masters. Illustrated report with games.

Tomsk-400 wins Russian Team Ch. with brilliant Karjakin

4/15/2012 – The Russian Team Championship lived up to its promise of returning stars, top competition, and possibly some brilliancies. While the top teams brought in big guns to spearhead their ambitions, Tomsk-400 struck gold with a brilliant Sergey Karjakin on board one and 2896 performance. In second was St. Petersburg, with Sergei Movsesian constantly making the difference. Illustrated report.

Kasparov in Estonia – interview with Postimees

4/14/2012 – Garry Kasparov is on the roll. Apart from his political activities in Russia he is travelling around the world to actively promote chess in schools. He is also completing a book with a very startling thesis (in our times technical innovation has ground to a halt). And he has spoken about historical chess rating records in a lengthy telephone interview with an Estonian newspaper. Excerpts.

Alina's Tunisian chess adventure – Part two

4/14/2012 – With so much to see and do in her stay in Tunisia, Alina L'Ami found herself taking a philosophical look on issues such as time and learning to seek the brighter side of life. This was made easy by an extremely generous people and country that has so much to offer. In part two of her report, she shares the rewards of learning to adapt in her unusual trip. A large pictorial report.

En prise

4/13/2012 – The white pawn e4 is hanging, yet its colleague on g6 radiates danger. Which continuation is recommendable for Black?

A) 37...Bxe4 (38.Qc7)
B) 37...Qxe4
C) neither nor, the pawn is poisoned

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Henrik Danielsen: The Benko Gambit with g3

4/12/2012 – The search for a refutation of the Benko Gambit – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 – continues. According to the well-known trainer White should accept the gambit pawn and go on to fianchetto his king's bishop. The Danish/Icelandic GM shows us that the key to success is 10.Rb1. You can download his video instructions, which are part of our 60 Minutes series, and start working on it right away. Price: €9.90.

The power of the triple pawns – more endgames from Plovdiv

4/12/2012 – Our ChessBase Magazin expert Dr Karsten Müller continues to select interesting and instructive endings, again taken from the high-quality games of the European Individual Championship, with 350 participants, fifteen rated over 2700. Subjects: opposite colored bishops, duel rook vs bishop, deadly tripled pawns and Areshchenko's Attack. Good for training on some additional Elo points.

Second China Women's Master Tournament

4/12/2012 – The Second Women Masters is underway in Xi Shan, China. The first edition was won by GM Hou Yifan, however it is clear she is too strong for such a tournament, and in order to help her fulfill her ambitions, she will instead be playing in the Bangkok Open starting tomorrow. The strongest player is Ju Wenjun who has had a strong 2.5/3 start and leads on tiebreak. Report, pictures, and games.

Kramnik on Chess, Anand, Topalov and his future – Part 3

4/11/2012 – "When you’re 17 years old," says former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, "it’s all fascinating and cool: parties, company, girls, alcohol... But then you grow tired of it, and want something else. Nowadays things are more moderate – I have a family, a child. But my house is still open for many people who often turn up without calling first or stay the night." Conclusion of a fascinating interview.

Magnus couldn't make it to Star Trek 2

4/11/2012 – We are not talking about watching the movie, but actually being in it. After seeing him in 60 Minutes star director JJ Abrams wanted Magnus Carlsen to play a chess master from a galaxy far, far away – but the Norwegian couldn't get a working permit for the US in time. He was also forced to turn down 100,000 Kroner offers from rich Russians for one-on-one games. This is not an April Fool's joke!