Nepo with nerves of steel

11/20/2021 – In the diagram position, 14...bxc3! looks dangerous - after 15.Rxc3 White threatens 16.Rxc8+, winning the queen on a5. But Black, World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, had a cool surprise in store! Can you find it?

The ‘Age of Arjun Erigaisi’ begins with a monumental triumph at Tata Steel Chess India 2021 Rapid

11/20/2021 – Arjun Erigaisi started hitting the next level at Goldmoney Asian Rapid this past summer when he ended Aronian’s undefeated streak at the event. The healthy rivalry with Aronian began since then. The most anticipated match of the event between Aronian and Arjun did not disappoint. It delivered everything one can fathom — there was action, drama and high stakes in a high-tension match which showcased Arjun’s another quality which the majority of the Indian youth possess: true grit. No matter how adverse things might get, one needs to have the courage to fight back, even if your opponent is the mighty, only two-time World Cup winner in the history of chess. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Euro Teams: Ukraine beat Russia, Firouzja wins again

11/20/2021 – Azerbaijan and Ukraine are sharing the lead after seven rounds in the open section of the European Team Championships. While Azerbaijan defeated the Netherlands on Friday, Ukraine inflicted Russia’s first loss of the event. The best individual performer in Slovenia, Alireza Firouzja, scored his sixth win of the tournament and is now 1.1 Elo points away from reaching the 2800 rating barrier. In the women’s section, the defending champions of Russia still have a perfect score. | Photos: ECU Press

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Shirov on fire

11/19/2021 – In this week’s show, GM Daniel King looks at interesting positions from the European Team Championship but the main dish of the day is a creative attacking display from Alexei Shirov who once again shows the power of a sustained intiative. | 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.

Fritz 18: Adaptive play and spoon-fed brilliancies

11/19/2021 – Fritz 18 has been released, bringing a fantastic opponent so that now you have an engine that will adapt to your play, try to make it a fun and engaging opponent, and even set you up with a brilliancy or more if the situation allows. This is not merely hype, but the result of feedback from players who have tried it, from weak amateurs to grandmasters themselves.

Trent's Tactics - Solving tough cookies!

11/19/2021 – The internet tries to sabotage the show, but we pull through and succeed! Lawrence found some very juicy tactics today, and it doesn't get easier, once we move over to our ChessBase training app. But finding the right solution after all those calculations is truly satisfying. The question is, are you good enough to find the correct moves?

Tata Steel Chess Rapid R4-6: The Arjun Erigaisi day

11/19/2021 – It was not Arjun’s birthday, but given the way he played, it can easily be called ‘The Arjun Erigaisi day’, as he scored a hat-trick, gained sole lead and beat former US champion Sam Shankland in just 19 moves. This just shows his preparation, strength and consistency. He is now a full point ahead of his competition on 5.0/6. Praggnanandhaa and Aronian are at 4.0/6 each. He will face Adhiban, Vidit and Aronian in the final three games tomorrow. Arjun vs. Aronian is something everyone is waiting for with bated breath. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Euro Teams: Russia in the sole lead, Firouzja closing on 2800

11/19/2021 – After six rounds, the Russian teams are sole leaders in both sections of the European Team Championships. In the open, a victory by Daniil Dubov on board 2 allowed them to defeat Hungary, while the women’s team easily defeated Greece. Meanwhile, France’s top board Alireza Firouzja has collected 5½ out of 6 points so far in Slovenia, and is now less than 4 points shy from crossing the 2800 rating barrier. | Photos: ECU Press

Acquisition of Chess Knowledge in AlphaZero

11/18/2021 – Researchers at DeepMind and Google Brain, in collaboration with Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, are working to explore what chess can teach us about AI and vice versa. Using Chessbase’s extensive historical chess data along with the AlphaZero neural network chess engine and components from Stockfish 8, they ask: what can we learn about chess history by studying AlphaZero, how does AlphaZero learn to evaluate positions, and is AlphaZero computing anything human-like? Their paper, “Acquisition of Chess Knowledge in AlphaZero”, has just been published.

In memory of Edith Keller-Herrmann (17 November 1921 - 12 May 2010)

11/18/2021 – After World War II, Edith Keller-Herrmann, who was born on 17 November 1921 in Dresden, Germany, was one of the best women's players in the world. She played for the German Democratic Republic and won several team and individual gold medals at Chess Olympiads. On 17 November Edith Keller-Herrmann would have celebrated her 100th birthday. | Photo: Edith Keller-Herrmann, Paul-Werner Wagner, Lothar Schmid (German Chess Federation)

Tata Steel India, Day 1: Aronian starts with 3.0/3

11/18/2021 – Levon Aronian had a very good start at the 3. Tata Steel India Chess Festival: with wins against Vidit Gujrathi, Sam Shankland and Baskaran Adhiban he began the rapid tournament with 3.0/3. The festival is played at the Indian National Library in Kolkata and the enthusiasm is great though only a limited number of spectators are admitted. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

The Carlsen years (1): A new era begins

11/18/2021 – With the World Championship match in Dubai scheduled to kick off a bit over a week from now, we get ready for the showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi by recapping the four previous matches, which were all won by Carlsen. In the first instalment, we recount what went on in Chennai in 2013, where a 22-year-old Carlsen got a commanding victory over local hero Vishy Anand. | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich

Game of the Week #490: Alireza Firouzja vs M. Yilmaz

11/17/2021 – This week, Merijn van Delft takes a look at Alireza Firouzja and his "supermodern" chess which continues to bring the 18-year success: after winning the Grand Swiss in Riga he continues to score at the European Team Championship, and with a live-rating of 2793.3 he is currently the world's number three behind Magnus Carlsen (2855.9) and Ding Liren (2799.0), narrowly ahead of Fabiano Caruana (2792.3) and World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi (2782.0). | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

The Winning Academy (1): Creating Imbalances

11/17/2021 – Winning is fun but not easy. For example, how do you create winning chances when you are in a must-win situation or if your opponent is more than happy with a draw? The Slovakian Grandmaster and award-winning author Jan Markos knows the answer: create imbalances! In part one of his "Winning Academy" series he shows you how to do so. | Photo: Dreamstime

Euro Teams: Six co-leaders, Gledura and Firouzja keep on winning

11/17/2021 – Going into the rest day at the European Team Championships, six nations are sharing the lead on 8/10 match points in the open section, with the Netherlands, Ukraine and Armenia the latest to join the leading pack. Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Russia now have a 2-point lead over Georgia and an over-performing Greek team. | Photos: ECU Press

The Weekly Show

11/16/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent talks about the European Team Championships. The game of the day is Giri-Saric from round 3. The Dutch number 1 is in great form and currently on +3. His game against Saric an exceptional display of the power of the two bishops. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

Zugzwang

11/16/2021 – The diagram shows a position from a game between Teimour Radjabov and Hikaru Nakamura, played at the Meltwater Chess Champions Final 2021. It is White to move and he has to find the right square for his king to avoid getting into zugzwang. In the game, with limited time on the clock, Radjabov failed to find the right move. Can you do better?

Euro Teams: Russian teams win close matches

11/16/2021 – In the key matchup between top seeds Russia and Georgia in the women’s section of the European Team Championships, the rating favourites and defending champions defeated their Georgian rivals by 3-1 on Monday. In the open section, co-leaders Azerbaijan and Hungary drew their direct encounter, allowing Russia to catch up with them on 7/8 match points. | Photos: ECU Press

Svitlana's Smart Moves - Powerful knight endgames

11/16/2021 – Svitlana's Smart Moves started roughly half a year ago, and we made twenty episodes so far. The work with Svitlana is always a blast, and we are happy, that so many people follow the weekly show regularly. The Canadian WIM, not only produced a "Lazy Sicilian" opening course, but her newest Fritztrainer "Understanding Material Imbalances" has launched yesterday. Can there be any better time, than purchasing the products today, for 25% less? Back to the episode for today: Knight endgames can be very tricky, and Svitlana explains what to look out for in two examples.

Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic Show #170: Endgame highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss in Riga (2)

11/15/2021 – In the Endgame Magic Show #170 Karsten Müller and Fabian Brinkmann continue to look at endgame highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss in Riga. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

Fritz 18 vs. Svitlana Demchenko

11/15/2021 – Svitlana Demchenko has to find all of her smart moves for a fun battle against Fritz 18, which is available very soon. The newest engine is made for playing interesting games, and finds some "human" moves on purpose for your and our entertainment. Although Fritz 18 gives Svitlana some subtle hints to the right direction, it still feels very satisfying to find an unstoppable mate combination against the engine.

Euro Teams: Azerbaijan and Hungary tied in the lead

11/15/2021 – Two teams have won their first three matches in the open section of the European Team Championships taking place in Slovenia. Azerbaijan, led by an inspired Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and Hungary are sharing the lead on 6/6. Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Russia, Georgia and Armenia have perfect scores, with the Russians merely losing a half point in all their individual encounters. | Expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller. | Photo: ECU Press

Understanding before Moving 53: Space advantage (2)

11/14/2021 – 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 52rd instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to talk about the advantages of having a space advantage. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Fritz 18: Evolving Genius

11/14/2021 – When's the last time you played a game of chess against a chess program? Normally it is pointless – you get thoroughly crushed, even if you are a 2800 player. But now you can challenge the computer: the brand new Fritz 18 uses its awesome power to set up brilliancies for its opponent! It is the ideal partner to train yourself to spot and execute spectacular combinations. The launch of Fritz 18 is on Discount Day, Tuesday November 16, when you can get the program at a premium price!