Pocket Fritz 4: my keys, your keys...

2/18/2010 – The first pocket PCs all had very similar designs, with standard button and key arrangements. With the improvement of touch screens and the incorporation of mobile phone features, the design has changed, as have the number and functions of the keys in each device. So we need to allow every user to configure our program according to his/her preferences and needs. Here's how it is done.

Le Quang Liem – a new star in the Vietnam sky

2/18/2010 – Every so often a player has a run for the ages, and this incredible series inevitably ushers in a new name to be reckoned with at the highest echelons of chess. 19-year-old Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem has just had such a run, passing through the fiercest trial by fire the chess world has to offer, coming first or equal first in two super-strong Russian tournaments. Albert Silver reports.

Order now – Deep Fritz 12 is shipping

2/17/2010 – The wait is over, the multi-processor version of our flagship program is now available and shipping. The parallel algorithms have been further optimised and now support up to 16 cores. The new dynamic scaling will also work well with the next generations of multi-core processors. All this make it one of the strongest chess engines around. Here's an interview with the author Frans Morsch.

ChessBase show: Ftacnik's Hedgehog brilliancy

2/16/2010 – The Hedgehog is a system against the English Opening that's easy to underestimate. In 1982 Lubomir Ftacnik, today part of the ChessBase team, produced a remarkable brilliancy with it against Lev Polugaevsky, one of the world's very strongest players at the time. It is the subject of this week's Playchess presentation by Dennis Monokroussos. See you on the server!

Linares R3: three draws, Topalov and Grischuk lead

2/16/2010 – In today's round all games were drawn, but all of them were very interesting! Gashimov continued his opening discussion with Grischuk in the Qd3 line of the Poisoned Pawn Variation; Gelfand-Vallejo was a Slav sideline which led to very dangerous play; and Aronian-Topalov saw both sides miss opportunities to improve their chances. Commentary by GM Anish Giri.

Aeroflot Open – the guessing game

2/16/2010 – Five players lead with 5.0/7 points in the A groupe of this prestigious Moscow open tournament – two Vietnamese and three Russians. Eleven GMs from various nations following half a point behind. The female players start at place 48. There are a lot of very nice but uncaptioned pictures on the official tournament site. Thanks for the help in identifying them – there are still a few names missing.

12-year-old beats Super-GM in simul

2/16/2010 – This is what happens when you travel half-way around the globe, accept more and more opponents in a strong simul, agree to play with white and black pieces, and start at 1 a.m. body time. You blunder a game against a 12-year-old and make it into the Canadian press. Alexei Shirov showed great sporting spirit in this Ottawa simul. Gordon Ritchie reports.

Linares R4: three draws, Topalov and Grischuk lead

2/16/2010 – Our GM analyst Anish Giri sent us the following message: "Topalov: novelty, draw; Aronian: ending, technical, still draw; Grischuk: strange prep, maybe even worse, draw." That may be the shortest round wrap-up ever. Indeed after some very exciting games the three draws in round four were fairly uneventful. Draw ratio so far: 83%. Games, results, pictures.

Linares R2: Topalov and Grischuk score first wins

2/15/2010 – Bulgarian GM and World Championship challenger Veselin Topalov scored a fine positional win over Azeri GM Vugar Gashimov. Alexander Grischuk of Russia dismantled Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, while Levon Aronian of Armenia used the Berlin Defence to get a somewhat shaky draw against Francisco Vallejo. Games with commentary by GM Anish Giri.

Seirawan's Best Games – 'The chess DVD of the year!'

2/15/2010 – You know him well, American GM Yasser Seirawan, the man with the smooth voice, dapper suit and winning smile. If you don't, you can at least listen to his live Playchess commentary on today's round in Linares (from 5 p.m. onwards). Or you can get Seirawan's My Best Games from ChessBase. Michael Jeffreys writes: "If there is a better chess DVD on the market, I have yet to see it." Review.

25 years ago: termination of the first K-K match

2/15/2010 – It was one of the most controversial decisions in chess history: on February 15, 1985, the President of FIDE Florencio Campomanes terminated the World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov after 48 games. Twenty years later "Campo" spoke about the reasons for the step he took. A new book published in Russia contradicts his version. Video and book extract.

Evgeny Sveshnikov turns sixty

2/13/2010 – Some chess fans do not even know he is a person (not a place), many may be surprised that he is a contemporary. Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov is best known for the Sicilian opening variation that bears his name. Sveshnikov has had a long and illustrious career. For his 60th birthday the Russian magazine ChessPro has prepared a moving portrait with some incredible historical photographs.

Ciudad de Linares 2010 – all round one games drawn

2/13/2010 – The traditional Linares tournament has started today in Andalucia, Spain. It has been shrunk down to six players – in 2009 there were eight, and in previous years there have been up to 14. The category this time is 21, with an average Elo of 2757 (and no player below 2700). In round one all three games were drawn, but one was very interesting. Illustrated report with commentary by GM Anish Giri.

The king in the middle...

2/12/2010 – ... is a classical chess theme. In this Bundesliga top game the reigning U20 World Champion had sacrificed a pawn to open lines against the black monarch, which was countered with 16...f6. How would you assess this continuation?
A) a mistake, White can decisively penetrate the opponent's position;
B) good move, Black drives back the bishop and consolidates his plus pawn;
C) much ado about nothing, the position remains balanced.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Aeroflot Open 2010 – Le Quang Liem in the lead

2/12/2010 – After three rounds of this massive tournament GM Le Quang Liem is the only player left with a clean score: three wins in three games. He is followed by another Vietnamese GM (and a Bulgarian and a Russian), with 31 players behind them – of whom two are female and one an IM. We bring you results and games, plus photo impressions by WGM Yana Melnikova.

Norwood's Bahamas beneficiary simul

2/11/2010 – David Robert Norwood, 41, is a grandmaster, writer and a successful businessman. These days he lives on an island, far away from the mainstream of chess, business, or in fact society in general. Where exactly is a secret, but you may draw your conclusions from a simultaneous exhibition David gave to support the Caribbean Chess Sub Zonal scheduled for June this year. Report by Kean Smith.

ChessBase show: James Tarjan, the librarian GM

2/10/2010 – Many of America's best players have abandoned the game and gone into other fields – like GM James Tarjan who in 1984, while still in his early 30s, became a librarian. He was an exceptional player, and in this week's Playchess presentation by Dennis Monokroussos we get to see two games which will rivet your attention.

ChessBase Magazine 134 now shipping

2/10/2010 – It is the essential electronic (and 52-page print) magazine for any serious chess player. Edition 134 contains extensive material – games, GM analysis, multimedia commentary – on the FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, the London Chess Classic and the World Team Championship in Bursa, plus the latest openings surveys by leading experts. Don't miss it.

Zugzwang

2/10/2010 – Although there are of course beautiful examples of zugzwang in the middlegame, it is much more a motif from endgames, many of which could not be won without zugzwang. Even when there is a clear superiority in material, as for example in the duel between a rook and a bishop, it is often only possible to make progress by employing zugzwang. Here is a typical example. After 68.Kb5 Black could, with the correct continuation, have retained his chances of a draw. What that was and the instructive winning method used by White after 68...Bc5? are things you can find out from Karsten Müller's analysis in  ChessBase Magazine Online.

Pocket Fritz 4: More formats, more chances

2/9/2010 – Pocket Fritz 4 supports the file formats CBH (ChessBase game database), CBV (ChessBase zipped game database) and CTG (ChessBase opening book or tree), which are familiar to users of other ChessBase products. This is an important qualitative and quantitative step that gives you access to a wide range of chess data, with unquestionable advantages introduced in this article.

Aeroflot Open 2010 has started in Moscow

2/9/2010 – The 9th Aeroflot Open is taking place from Feb. 9–18, 2010, in the tourist complex Izmailovo Hotel Gamma-Delta. The prize sum is EUR 180,000. There are four open tournaments (A1, A2, B and C) which are made up according to the rating of the participants. The A1 tournament has players with a rating of 2550 or higher. Results and games of round one.

Chernyshov wins Moscow Open 2010

2/8/2010 – This event took place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 7, just before the 9th Aeroflot Open (Feb. 8–19) – which meant that many strong players were in the Russian capital to participate in both tournaments. Four players shared first in the Moscow Open, with 7.0/9 points. The winner was Konstantin Chernyshov on tie-break, with the decisive factor being that he had the most wins. Illustrated report.

Bisik-Bisik with Garry Kasparov – Part 3

2/7/2010 – In the first part Garry talked about his growing up years and his collaboration with Magnus Carlsen. In part 2 he touched on the preparations made for his very first match against Karpov and the recent K-K anniversary exhibition match. In this third part Kasparov answered questions about “making a comeback”, his family, politics and a new variant of Fischer Random chess. Interview.

Sherlock Holmes chess

2/6/2010 – A very original sequence happened in this Sicilian encounter from the recently finished festival in Wijk aan Zee. The black knight is attacked, but onto which square it should go now is only one question (A).
The other interesting issue is: what was actually White's last (and best!) move (B),
as a reaction in turn to which black move (C)?
What do you think, Watson?

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.