World Cup Final 2: Risky draw

8/31/2013 – Kramnik barely survived a series of crazy tactics straight out of the opening to achieve an endgame that he was able to hold easily. Andreikin possibly missed some chances early in the game to create further complications and make it harder for the ex-World Champion to defend. This is all wonderfully explained in the analysis of our guest annotator, Indian GM Parimarjan Negi.

Kasparov: 'A game designed for me'

8/31/2013 – David Frost, English journalist, comedian, writer, has been an important media personality over the last fifty years (!). Especially memorable were his interviews with President Richard Nixon in 1977. Sir David, who unexpectedly died on September 1st, ran"The Frost Interview" on Al Jazeera, and recently he spoke to a chess personality who is always in the world news. Don't miss this final interview.

88th French Championship sees surprise winners

8/31/2013 – The 88th French chess championship was held in Nancy, France this year, and with the biggest guns missing, it seemed like the contenders would finally have their shot. Yet this was the year of the underdog, as the top prizes were taken by unlikely champions. Over 800 players came to fight for prizes or just enjoy some chess, and for two weeks Nancy went chess crazy.

World Cup final G1: Kramnik draws first blood

8/30/2013 – Dmitry Andreikin saw his classical game invincibility end as Vladimir Kramnik outclassed him in game one of the finals. It was vintage Kramnik as he first worked up an advantage, but the turning point was when he sacrificed his queen for rook, piece and a thorny passed c-pawn. Andreikin tried to hold on but was ultimately ground down. Rest day and first round report.

Chess Prodigies Uncovered: Sergey Karjakin

8/30/2013 – Chess Prodigies Uncovered presents a new series, and who better to start with than the youngest grandmaster ever, Sergey Karjakin. Spearheading this first is IM Lorin D'Costa, who presents 26 games of the prodigy, using them as a teaching tool for those who wish they could do as well, and making use of ChessBase's newest interactive video technology. Read the review.

14th Karpov Poikovsky GM Tournament begins

8/29/2013 – This yearly tournament which is held in the Neptune sports center in Poikovsky, Russia has begun. The field attracts a lot of veterans of the tournament such as Alexander Motylev, Dmitri Jakovenko and Alexander Onischuk - all of which have won this tournament in the past. Summary of rounds one and two as well as an amazing missed opportunity.

100 day countdown to London Chess Classic

8/29/2013 – The Fifth London Chess Classic will be held from Saturday 7th December to Sunday 15th December, this year as a Rapid tournament (25 minutes + 10 seconds per move) in four groups, with knockout final stages. The prize fund is €150,000. The first two players to sign up are World Champion Anand and the US No. 1 Hikaru Nakamura, the rest will be announced over the next two weeks. Press release.

FIDE Grand Prix to be held in Paris church

8/29/2013 – It is the sixth and final Grand Prix of the current cycle, and a decider for tow participants in the next Candidates Tournament for the World Championship. Twelve player take part in a round robin tournament that goes from the 21st of September until the 5th of October 2013. Press Officer Alina l'Ami provides us with full details on the event and information on the Grand Prix structure.

World Cup 6.3: MVL, Tomashevsky collapse

8/28/2013 – Vachier-Lagrave collapsed in his game against Kramnik and basically gave away a free point with white in the first rapid game. Kramnik didn't forgive and finished off the match easily. In a bizarre decision Tomashevsky did not trade queens in the second game which allowed a swift attack by Andreikin who will play Kramnik in the finals. Express report and GM Analysis of MVL's debacle.

Experiencing Utopia – the Split Open 2013

8/28/2013 – Sun, sea, a Mediterranean holiday and tough games – that's what the participants of the 3rd International Chess Open Split enjoyed from 10-18 August, 2013. 173 players from 21 different countries (including ten GMs, eleven IMs, two WGMs, two WIMs, nine FMs and three WFMs) took part in the event. Everybody emerged a winner in Split, as WGM Iva Videnova shows us in her big pictorial report.

World Cup 6.2: MVL pulls a miracle

8/27/2013 – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave saw himself against the ropes from the very beginning of his game. Kramnik eventually gained a decisive material advantage in the endgame. However, after a blunder by Kramnik, MVL took his opponent's last pawn and forced a draw. Tomashevsky was unable to secure an advantage and will also go to tie-breaks against Andreikin. Report and analysis.

World Cup 6.1: Draws in 14 and 16 moves

8/26/2013 – All of you who rushed home to see the first games of the semi-finals in Tromsø were treated to many minutes of spell-binding chess. Vachier-Lagrave vs Kramnik was drawn in 16 moves, Andreikin vs Tomashevsky in 14. There is little to say about the round, except maybe that Andreikin has made it to the semi-finals but has actually lost rating points. Find out why in our appropriately short report.

Ketevan is in great shape

8/26/2013 – Sometimes the news is good. We recently reported that the infant daughter of Georgian IM Salome Melia was born with a heart defect that urgently needed corrective surgery. The procedure had to be conducted in Germany and the costs were beyond the means of the family. Our call for funding was successful and baby Ketevan has been operated. She now has a chance to live a normal life.

World Cup 5.3: Caruana, Svidler out

8/25/2013 – Or, on a positive note: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Dmitry Andreikin won their games and advanced to the semi-finals. The French GM defeated the top ranked Fabiano Caruana, who played the Dutch Defence and got lost in the resulting Stonewall formation. Andreikin played an off-beat 1.d4-line against Peter Svidler and won the full point in just 30 moves. Report with pictures and analysis.

Magnus in Chennai – all set for the Championship

8/25/2013 – Magnus Carlsen seems to have found everything at the Championship venue in order. We have a new video with HD footage of the 2000 screaming girls (and Carlsen's reaction to them), as well as the toughest simul of his life! There is also an interview with Anand, who, asked whether the home turf provides special motivation, replies: "I would be motivated to win if the match was played on the moon."

World Cup 5.2: Tomashevsky, Kramnik advance

8/24/2013 – Evgeny Tomashevsky took advantage of some time pressure mistakes by Gata Kamsky to create a surprising and swift mating attack on his opponent's king. This victory with black seals the pass of Tomashevsky to the semi-finals. Another Russian secured his placement in the top four as Kramnik barely held his game today against Korobov and won the match. Svidler-Andreikin and Vachier-Lagrave-Caruana go to tiebreaks. Report with GM commentary

Karsten Müller: Endgames from Tromsø

8/24/2013 – Today's endgame session by GM Karsten Müller are taken from the FIDE Grand Prix that is currently taking place in Norway. It features instructive examples from games by Morozevich, Kamsky, Tomashevsky and Aronian. Our ChessBase Magazine endgame expert uses them to teach you techniques that can prove invaluable in your tournament games. Learn and enjoy.

Slovenian WIM Vesna Rozic dies at 26

8/24/2013 – It is with deep sadness that we inform our readers that Vesna Roži has lost her battle against peritoneal cancer. We asked our readers to help Vesna, the second strongest female player in her country, to obtain funds her final treatment in a German clinic. People from all over the world contributed generously. Unfortunately in vain: Vesna passed away on Friday.

World Cup 5.1: Kramnik pounces

8/23/2013 – The matches started somewhat quietly as Tomashevsky and Kamsky drew quickly. Svidler obtained a small advantage with Black against Andreikin but soon decided to call it a day. MVL put strong pressure on Caruana but to no avail. Kramnik, however, was able to capitalize on his opponent's mistakes and takes the lead in his mini-match. Grandmaster analysis and report.

The Pacific Coast – and the Pacific Coast Open 2013

8/23/2013 – The 18th Annual Pacific Coast Open was held at the Sheraton Agoura Hills Hotel, Agoura Hills, California. With a number of GMs and titled players participating it was won by Timur Gareev of Uzbekistan. He is not just a very strong player – and a blindfold record setter – but an explorer and adventurer who is in the process of discovering America's West. Here is his pictorial report.

World Cup 4.3: unparalleled drama in Tromsø

8/22/2013 – What a day! Peter Svidler showed exceptional determination when he ground out a win in 135 moves to eliminate Le Quang Liem. Then Evgeny Tomashevsky lost a virtually won position in the first accelerated game against Alexander Morozevich. He fought back and won a mind boggling 169-mover and finally went through in the blitz, calling this the craziest match that he had ever played.

Sonas: Overall review of the FIDE rating system

8/22/2013 – Statistician Jeff Sonas has done comprehensive work on the chess rating system, showing us how optimizing various factors and parameters can yield more (or less) accurate values. Now he embarks on another line of research: slicing the actual historical data into various views and visualizing the data from those different perspectives. Here's part one of a series of articles.

World Cup 4.2: Caruana, Kramnik, Kamsky through

8/21/2013 – But the big news was that Hikaru Nakamura lost his game to Anton Korobov and was eliminated after four rounds. Kramnik and Caruana had no serious problems settling matters, the former with a draw against Vassily Ivanchuk, the latter with a win against Julio Granda Zuniga. Four matches go into the tiebreaks on Thursday. Round four game two report.

Ask the pieces by Becker and Mueller

8/21/2013 – When a new product on chess instruction stands out, it is usually based on quality and clarity, but rarely originality or humor. However, the latest "Ask the pieces" does just that, by dissecting the positions via a dialogue that helps uncover seemingly mysterious brilliancies giving rich ideas to both the student and teacher. Here is a review by Albert Silver.