FIDE November ratings – Carlsen leads by 33 points

11/1/2012 – This is domination – the kind we have not seen since the Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov days. The world's top GM, Magnus Carlsen, keep increasing his lead and is now 33 points ahead of his nearest rival, Levon Aronian – and just a few points shy of Kasparov's all-time record. There were record gains (24) and losses (31) in this one-month rating period. Have fun perusing the FIDE November rankings.

Bacrot wins 16th Corsica Masters

11/1/2012 – The event started with a 153-player Open, followed the first three rounds of a knockout phase, which all took place in Bastia on the east coast of the Mediterranean island of Corsica. The players then moved to Ajaccio, on the opposite coast, where the finals were held. In this Etienne Bacrot, rated 2705, beat his compatriot Laurent Fressinet, 2702. Report with videos.

Chess on a cliff – super tournament in Norway next May

11/1/2012 – The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament will feature Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and other top ten players. It will be held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in four different locations in the Stavanger region. To promote it the organisers made a music video with Hanne Sørvaag and had Magnus playing chess at a dizzying height. Watch it if you have good nerves.

ChessBase Magazine 150 – plenty of material for everyone

10/31/2012 – "The new issue of ChessBase Magazine is packed with enough material to keep even the greediest of chess students feel that their hunger has been satiated for some time to come." With these words Sean Marsh introduces a publication of which he writes: "No other chess product offers as much instruction and entertainment as ChessBase Magazine." Marsh Towers review.

Which chess player beat the most World Champions?

10/31/2012 – In September Garry Kasparov visited ChessBase in Hamburg and brough us a little puzzle: which chess player has recorded wins over the greatest number of World Champions. We passed this on to our readers. Result: nope, it is not Kasparov himself, as many had assumed, but... well, read the article! Three readers won the special prize: a personally dedicated DVD by Kasparov.

Cheating scandal in the Bundesliga – readers' reactions

10/30/2012 – It will surprise nobody that there were a very large number of messages that poured in regarding our recent report on the disqualification of a Bundesliga player for carrying a cellphone to the bathroom during his games. Here's a small selection of letters, plus a thoughtful article by Assistant Professor Kung-Ming Tiong of Malaysia, comparing the problem in chess with academic cheating.

Houdini 3 – the world's strongest chess engine in the Fritz interface

10/29/2012 – In 2009 Robert Houdart, a Belgian structural engineer working on nuclear power plants and astronomy, wiled away his time waiting for a telescope mirror by writing a chess program. To everyone's suprise it turned out to be the strongest engine around. Now version three is out and will be soon available from ChessBase. We asked the author to explain the genesis of this remarkable chess engine.

Talk with GM Andrés Rodriguez - player, trainer, and organizer

10/28/2012 – GM Andrés Rodriguez, top player in his country, trainer, and veteran organizer, sat down to discuss how he came to organize the 7th Continental championship, and the challenges presented by organizing such events in Latin and South America. He explains how he drew on his deep experience as a player to uncover the secret to making a successful event.

Unive Hoogeveen: Nakamura wins with 2855 performance

10/28/2012 – A draw in the final round would have sufficed to take victory, but Hikaru Nakamura, hungry for rating points to hoist him back into the world's top ten, played a masterpiece against his only rival in the 16th Univé Crown Group, Sergey Tiviakov, to finish 1½ points ahead of the field. In a tense final round of the Unive Open Erwin L'Ami caught Frizo Nijboer for joint first. Final report with GM commentary.

Kavalek in Huffington: Cosmos vs Big Chair Chess Club

10/28/2012 – It was all about chess in Washington, when 20 children and seven adults from Anacostia came to play against the Cosmos Club – and invited GM Lubomir Kavalek to give a talk in exactly the same location he had played several simuls three decades ago. They were spellbound and wanted to know how to improve. Lubos shows us a book that can help and give us four puzzles to solve.

Cheating scandal: player disqualified for cell phone use

10/27/2012 – Actually, as the accused player, German GM Falko Bindrich, points out: not for proven use but for refusing to allow the arbiter to examine the phone he had with him during multiple toilet visits during last weekend's Bundesliga round. The rules permit the arbiter to check in case of justified suspicion, and so Bindrich was disqualified and the point awarded to his opponent. Long, compelling read.

Unive Hoogeveen: both games drawn

10/26/2012 – Ignoring the 180-point rating difference Chinese GM Hou Yifan, Elo 2605, put the pressure on top seed Hikaru Nakamura, 2786, and forced the world-class US grandmaster to defend for most of the game, which ended after 71 moves in a draw. Sergey Tiviakov and Anish Giri signed a peace accord after 46 moves. If Tiviakov beats Nakamura in the final round he can still win. Report with GM commentary.

Open for everything

10/26/2012 – The first player is better developed and wants to exploit the diagonal b2-g7 as well as the e-file. The sequence 15.Nd5 exd5 16.Bxg6 fxg6 17.Qxd5+ leads to what?
A) victory for White;
B) victory for Black;
C) a dynamically balanced position.

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Simultaneous Blindfold Exhibition in Maribor

10/26/2012 – The Slovenian city of Maribor is set to host the 2012 World Youth Chess Championships in November. It has also been nominated European Capital of Culture, and as such has been staging a number of interesting events. Recently Luka Lenic, Slovenia’s strongest player, a former World Youth Chess Champion, gave a blindfold simultaneous exhibition against six youthful opponents.

Wolfgang Uhlmann: Meine besten Partien

10/26/2012 – "Wolfgang Uhlmann has authored a wonderful DVD," writes John Watson. "He presents 20 of his most memorable games in 7 hours and 38 minutes, with Karsten Müller as co-commentator. Uhlmann is much like his games: lively, sharp, and full of enthusiasm (he's 77 years old now)." Watson thinks this rare DVD might be worth getting even if you don't speak German. Review with sampler.

Unive Hoogeveen: Tiviakov beats Hou Yifan in a tense battle

10/25/2012 – After the free day Anish Giri vs Hikaru Nakamura ended in a 25-move draw, while Dutch GM Sergey Tiviakov ground down Hou Yifan in a 70-move marathon, after the women's world champion had missed several promising opportunities. This is shown in the analysis of our commentator GM Eltaj Safarli, which is accompanied by pictorial impressions by WGM Alina L'Ami.

Reviewed in TWIC: ChessBase Training DVDs and Downloads

10/24/2012 – "I'm going to fulfill an old promise to discuss some of the scores of DVDs from ChessBase I've watched parts or all of over the years," writes John Watson in the weekly chess service TWIC. "I'll discuss the type of videos I've used myself in teaching and writing, i.e., those about openings and middlegames". Watson reviews five DVDs and downloads, with examples of analyses they contain.

Ashley and King: premium shows on Playchess

10/24/2012 – They used to comment for TV together, during the Intel PCA Grand Prix events. GMs Maurice Ashley and Daniel King are now established chess trainers with a lot of ChessBase training products between them. Tonight both will appear on Playchess, Maurice at 7 p.m., Daniel at eight. The entry fee is 50 Ducats for spectators, but it is free for Premium members.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (90)

10/24/2012 – Many of the finest masters have been the subject of busts, statues and other models. The Editor of Chess Notes has gathered together depictions of such legendary figures as Labourdonnais, Morphy, Lasker, Capablanca, Euwe and Keres. The photographs, which come from, among other cities, Amsterdam, Havana, Tallinn and Tel Aviv, help bring the greats to life. A rich collection.

Unive Hoogeveen: both games drawn

10/23/2012 – Women's world champion Hou Yifan of China, eighteen years old and rated 2605, battled it out with top Dutch GM Anish Giri, four months younger and rated 2730, in the second round of the Univé Crown group. Her winning attempts were parried and the game ended in a 58-move draw. Sergey Tiviakov and Hikaru Nakamura drew their game after 47 moves. Commentary by GM Eltaj Safarli.

Mar del Plata 2012 : The banana ate the monkey

10/23/2012 – In the last couple of rounds, fraught with swings and upheavals, Peruvian GM Julio Granda Zuniga came out the great winner, followed by Alexander Shabalov, Diego Flores, Gregory Kaidanov, and Canadian IM Eric Hansen. The five fought for four spots in the round-robin tiebreak and it all came down to the last game. Read what happened and the meaning of the title in the final illustrated report.

Unive Hoogeveen: Nakamura wins again, beats Hou Yifan

10/23/2012 – Top US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura won the second of three games in the Univé Crown group, beating women's world champion Hou Yifan after she had blundered on move 19. This translates to a 2936 performance so far, with a five-point rating gain. Sergey Tiviakov drew against Dutch prodigy Anish Giri. Wednesday is a free day, the return round begins on Thursday. Commentary by GM Eltaj Safarli.

Endgame Magic with GM Karsten Müller

10/22/2012 – Endgame knowledge is not easy to acquire and for this reason it is a valuable weapon in practical tournament play. In his Endgame Magic Show on Playchess, the well-known endgame expert GM Karsten Müller will assist you with a bunch of practical endgames. He shows how to handle the positions, which will help improve your results. An example and more information.

Chess Train Tournament a great success

10/21/2012 – From October 12-16 a special train transported 46 chess players from ten different countries across the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria. On board they played a 13-round rapid chess tournament. The oldest participant was 77, the youngest a seven-year-old prodigy from China. There was also time for a charity simul. Don't miss this big pictorial report.