Understanding before Moving 68: Ideas in the King's Indian

2/27/2022 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 68th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman shows some ideas of how to play against the King's Indian. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Full speed against the Reti!

2/27/2022 – The new ChessBase Magazine #206 once again offers a wealth of ideas and recommendations for your repertoire. Besides the three opening videos by Jan Werle, Daniel King and Mihail Marin as well as Rainer Knaak's trap collection, the new issue contains eleven opening articles covering a broad spectrum: from a sharp gambit in the Caro-Kann Advance Variation via "Ruy Lopez for structuralists" (Delayed Exchange Variation) to the new Gruenfeld trend 5.Bd2 c5!?. Imre Hera, meanwhile, takes up a radical idea against the Reti Opening with which David Navara shocked his opponent, GM Markowski, in 2011: after 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 the creative artist continued with the novelty 3...g5!? and then also let his h-pawn rush towards the opponent's castling. "One of the most interesting innovations in modern theory", our author thinks. You should take a look at it!
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Magnus Carlsen convincingly wins Airthings Masters

2/26/2022 – Magnus Carlsen won the first event of the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour as he beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in the finals of the Airthings Masters. After drawing the first set on Friday, the world champion won the second 4-game mini-match by a 2½-½ score. Nepo did not go down easy, though it was Carlsen who performed at a higher level at the critical points in games 2 and 3.

Study of the Month: The Centennial

2/26/2022 – Humans formed belief systems based on stellar bodies. If you ask an astrologer about it, he might tell you his beliefs which of those have the most influence on your life. If you ask a scientist, he will likely name at least two: Sun and Earth. Ancient cultures already measured a phenomenon that - relative to each other - Earth rotates around the sun as well as around its own axis. A full rotation around itself is called a "day", a full rotation around the sun a "year". Relatively speaking, that is in relation to the sun, Earth returns to its current position after one year. One hundred such rotations are called a "century". A man who is on Earth for such a time is called a "centennial". A centennial who contributes to endgame theory is called... Yuri Averbakh. | Photo of Averbakh: Eteri Kublashvili

Airthings Masters Finals - Games and results

2/26/2022 – The Airthings Masters tournament kicks off this year’s Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Sixteen players in total will battle it out in the round-robin stage of the online event before eight go forward to the knockout stage. The tournament will take place on February 19-26, with the action kicking off daily at 18.00 CET.

Test your IQP-IQ

2/26/2022 – The diagram shows a seemingly normal position with an isolated pawn on d4. However, White has played the loosening move b2-b4, and this allows Black to get the advantage. What can Black do?

Airthings Masters Final: Exciting draws

2/26/2022 – While the quarterfinals and the semifinals of the Airthings Masters lasted a single day, the finals consist of two ‘sets’. The first one, played on Friday, saw Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi signing four straight draws. But the lack of decisive results does not mean there was a lack of excitement. To the contrary, the games were hard-fought and enthralling. | Photo: Niki Riga

Breaking news: 2022 Chess Olympiad to be moved from Moscow

2/25/2022 – The International Chess Federation has announced today its decision that the 44th Chess Olympiad, one of its flagship events, will not take place in Russia. This championship, in which teams from approximately 190 countries compete for two weeks, was supposed to take place in Moscow from July 26 July to August 8. FIDE press release.

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: The King's Gambit lives again

2/25/2022 – In his Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks at developments in opening variations that particularly interest him: the Modern Variation of the King's Gambit where Nepomniachtchi continues to score well; and Aronian's handling of the Caro-Kann Exchange Variation. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

Trent's Tactics - An uncomfortable situation

2/25/2022 – Trent's Tactics is back, and the timing couldn't be more strange. Lawrence and Arne talk about the current events in the Ukraine, and although the tactics work out brilliantly, the progress in the training section fails miserably. Most probably because there are other things on the host's minds. Nonetheless, the tactics continue and make you think of something different for a brief moment.

CBM #206: The best of Tata Steel 2022, "Special" on Levon Aronian, "Steamroller against Reti" and much more

2/25/2022 – Tata Steel 2022: analysis from Duda, Giri, Grandelius, Mamedyarov, Praggnanandhaa, Shankland, Erigaisi and Vogel. Peter Heine Nielsen and Dorian Rogozenco (video) take a close look at two Catalan wins by the World Champion and tournament winner. With CBM experts you see more: videos by King, Knaak, Marin, Müller, Reeh, Ris, Rogozenco and Werle - total playing time over 5 hours! Plus eleven opening articles with recommendations for your repertoire, e.g. "Steamrolling the Reti" (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 g5!?), "A versatile Ruy Lopez" (1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 Part I) or "London queen sortie" (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Qb6 6.dxc5 Qxb2). Last but not least: The "Special" on Levon Aronian with 19 annotated games as well as Marin's article "Aronian's strategic universe".
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Averbakh on Averbakh: How it all began

2/25/2022 – There are grandmasters and grandmasters. But there is only one Averbakh. This month he turned 100 and set a record in longevity. He is the oldest grandmaster in chess history. The other day ChessBase paid him a tribute and accolades are still pouring in from the chess world. Not many are aware that he has written his autobiography. Our columnist takes a look. The first part of this series tells us how it all began. | Photo: Chess Federation of Russia

CHESS Magazine quiz

2/25/2022 – Did you solve the Sam Loyd problem? The key is the move you would least expect! A week ago we showed you a small collection of delightful problems from the January issue of CHESS Magazine. Today we give you the solutions, annotated by Graham Phythian. You can figure out all the variations with the help of the built-in engines in our replay app.

Airthings Masters SF: Carlsen and Nepo reach the final

2/25/2022 – It has been a tough day for everyone. Vladimir Putin’s appalling decision to invade Ukraine has shocked the world, and his actions have been condemned by most world leaders. At the Airthings Masters, three out of four semifinalists hail from Russia, with Ian Nepomniachtchi confessing after beating Andrey Esipenko, “I can’t think”. Nepo will face Magnus Carlsen in the finals of the online tournament, in a rematch of the recent contest for the World Championship title. | Photo: Niki Riga

Do Chess Players and Scientists Need Intelligence?

2/24/2022 – In this article, statistician Bruno Wiesend reports on a scientific controversy about a study on the "Influence of intelligence and practice on the development of skills". The author considers the results of the study to be wrong due to methodological errors. | Photo: Pixabay

Mahammad Muradli wins Azerbaijani Championship

2/24/2022 – The 2022 Azerbaijani Championship took place in Nakhchivan on 4-18 February. Unlike previous events, this year’s championship was held in two stages, with a 9-round Swiss tournament followed by a 4-player knockout. Mahammad Muradli beat Musratdin Iskandarov to grab his second national title. | Photos: Azebaijani Chess Federation

A football match as a chess game: Ajax Amsterdam vs Benfica Lissabon

2/24/2022 – Ajax Amsterdam vs Benfica Lisbon is one of the quarter-final matches in the 2022 Football Champions League. Ajax whetted the appetite for the clash with a virtual chess game, in which two fans look back on the history and on the great players of the two clubs. Yesterday, the first game of the real quarter-final match ended in a 2-2 draw.

Remembering the unforgettable Savielly Tartakower (21 February, 1887 – 4 February, 1956)

2/24/2022 – Savielly Tartakower was an elite master throughout his career of nearly half a century. Although he never quite reached the chess summit, he is remembered fondly as a colorful figure who enriched the game immensely. On the occasion of the 135th anniversary of his birth on 21 February, it is fitting to look back at his life and legacy. | Photo: Wikipedia

Airthings Masters QF: Artemiev knocks out Ding

2/24/2022 – Ding Liren was about to become the first player to reach the semifinals of the Airthings Masters, as he had a 1-point lead and a winning position in game 3 of his match against Vladislav Artemiev. However, the Chinese wasted his chances and lost both that game and the next one to get knocked out of the competition. Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Andrey Esipenko also moved on to the semifinals. | Photo: Vladimir Barsky

Sandro Mareco wins Ibero-American Championship in Mexico

2/23/2022 – Going into the final round, Jaime Santos was the sole leader at the Ibero-American Championship in Mexico City. The Spaniard fell at the last hurdle, though, as he was defeated by top seed Jorge Cori. Sandro Mareco (pictured) profited from this result, as he clinched tournament victory by beating Omar Almeida with the white pieces. | Photo: Club Obras / La Nación

Game of the Week #504: Nepo outplays Carlsen

2/23/2022 – In his "Game of the Week" show, Merijn van Delft looks at Ian Nepomniachtchi’s win over Magnus Carlsen from the Airthings Masters. Playing black, Nepo outplayed the world champion on his way to winning the preliminary stage of the online tournament. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - How to solve chess studies

2/23/2022 – Svitlana's former coach taught her to solve chess studies frequently. The idea is bending the mind a little more than usual to find the solutions. Chess compositions normally have "only moves", or at least a very narrow path to crack the puzzle. We take a look at some beautiful brain-teasers.

Airthings Masters: Keymer and Hansen make the cut

2/23/2022 – Underdogs Vincent Keymer and Eric Hansen qualified to the knockout stage of the Airthings Masters on Tuesday. On the other hand, the likes of Anish Giri, Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov did not make the cut. Ian Nepomniachtchi was the clear winner of the round-robin with a commanding score of 29/45 points.

Chess historian Michael Negele turns 65!

2/22/2022 – Today, the German chess historian Michael Negele celebrates his 65th birthday! Negele published widely about a variety of topics but his main focus was and is the life and work of Emanuel Lasker, and he was one of the driving forces in editing an extensive three-volume biography about the German World Champion. | Photos: German Chess Federation