Sigeman: Four decisions in round 1

9/24/2021 – The organisers of the TePe Sigeman & Co tournament once again put together a highly interesting field with young and experienced grandmasters. The players did not disappoint and the first day brought four interesting games and four decisions. | Photos: Lars OA Hedlund (Tournament page)

Champions Chess Tour: Finals

9/24/2021 – Tomorrow, Saturday, 25 September, ten players will play the final tournament of the Champions Chess Tour 2020/2021: the eight winners of the individual tournaments of the series and two players who received wildcards. Unlike the previous tournaments, the final will be played as a round robin with no knock-out stage. First prize is 100,000 USD.

Updated: Master Class Magnus Carlsen

9/23/2021 – On this updated DVD, experts including Daniel King, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller, Oliver Reeh and Niclas Huschenbeth examine the games of the 16th World Champion. Let them show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame, and bear witness to how the Norwegian always managed to find a way to pose his opponents serious problems, even in apparently level endings. This 2nd edition features additional new recordings by all the authors and an extra chapter with a special look at Carlsen by Daniel King.

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: English Four Knights

9/23/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris shows how Black can get good attacking chances in the Four Knights Variation of the English Opening, using one of his own games from the Dutch Team Championship as example. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

For Friedrich Sämisch's 125th Birthday

9/23/2021 – When the FIDE officially introduced the title of Grandmaster in 1950, only one German received the title - Friedrich Sämisch. Alexander Alekhine once pointed out that "he could play among the very best, if he only managed to quit his extreme smoking". What Alekhine seemed to have forgotten was Sämisch's perennial addiction to time-trouble. Michael Dombrowsky, author of Sämisch's soon-to-be-published biography, wrote a tribute to this unique character to celebrate Sämisch's 125th birthday. | Image: British Chess News

2021 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Chess Championships Fields Announced

9/23/2021 – The Saint Louis chess club and its sponsor Rex Sinquefield have done a lot for chess in the U.S. and the world, and they continue to organise top tournaments. Beginning on the 5th of October, the club will host the U.S. chess championship tournaments 2021, for women and men. With players such as Caruana, So, Dominguez, Shankland, Xiong, Krush and Yip both tournaments are strongly contested, though Hikaru Nakamura, U.S. Champion 2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2019 is missing from the line-up. Over the course of eleven rounds, the 2 x 12 competitors will battle for a prize-fund of almost 200,000 USD, the qualification for the World Championship cycle, and of course, the title of U.S. Champion 2021.

Magnus Carlsen signs World Championship contract

9/23/2021 – Currently, Magnus Carlsen is in Struga, in North Macedonia, where he plays in the European Club Cup for Offerspill, his Norwegian club. During the event Carlsen found time to sign the contract about the regulations of the World Championship Match against Ian Nepomniachtchi in November. Carlsen's sponsor Unibet used the occasion to ask the World Champion some questions about the contract, the match and his preparation. | Photo: Unibet

ChessBase Tactics app: Adrenaline Rush

9/23/2021 – While the Solve Tactics mode is undoubtedly the meat of the of the Tactics web app, there are two other modes that provide a very different sort of training, excellent to stay sharp. Both are based on trying to solve as quickly as possible, but each with a slightly different angle. They are also the perfect trainer for bullet chess. You will also find part one demonstrated in a video!

Game of the Week 482: Crazy tactics - T. Beerdsen vs P. Velten

9/22/2021 – This week, Merijn van Delft takes a look at a game from the Dutch Team Championships in which White used a very aggressive approach against the French, which led to amazing complications and crazy tactics. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Vincent Keymer wins the Hou Yifan Challenge

9/22/2021 – German prodigy Vincent Keymer obtained his second consecutive tournament victory at the Julius Baer Challengers Tour by winning the Hou Yifan Challenge, a 17-player single round-robin tournament that took place online on September 18-21. Christopher Yoo and Praggnanandhaa shared second place, finishing two points behind the winner. Keymer, Yoo and Pragg are 3 out of 8 players who qualified to the knockout final of the tour, set to start on October 14. | Photo: John Saunders

Understanding before Moving 45: Cooperation between the pieces (1)

9/22/2021 – 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 45th instalment of his ChessBase show “Understanding before Moving”, Herman talks about the "Cooperation of the Pieces" and illustrates this topic with a beautiful study. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

Train the trainers: the ECU Online Trainers Conference

9/22/2021 – Having regular training and having a good trainer helps enormously to improve one's game. But trainers also need to be trained, and this is what the European Chess Union and the European Chess Academy do in the "ECU Online Trainers Conference" from 1 October to 3 October, in which some of the world's best and most experienced trainers share their methods and secrets.

Karpov vs Kortschnoi in the movies: "The World Champion"

9/22/2021 – Chess is currently a popular subject for films. In Russia, production of a feature film about the dramatic and at times scandalous 1978 World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Kortschnoi began in 2019 and has now been completed after a forced break caused by the pandemic. The film will be released in Russian cinemas in December.

With a new format: Women’s World Team Championship in Sitges

9/22/2021 – The FIDE Women’s World Team Championship kicks off on September 26 at the Catalonian coastal town of Sitges. A new format will be in place: instead of the usual round-robin, the 12 teams will be divided into two pools of approximately the same strength; 4 top teams from each pool will qualify for the knockout playoff. The time control will be shorter than usual, with 45 minutes for the whole game and a 10-second increment per move.

The Weekly Show: Norway Chess Final

9/21/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent focuses on the end of Norway Chess and Carlsen’s fantastic resurgence in the second half to win the tournament. He will also briefly cover the Hou Yifan Challenge, Norway Open Masters and European Club Cup. But the game of the day will be the exciting encounter Firouzja-Rapport, which involved a very interesting opening debate but ultimately one that was successful for the young prodigy. | Lawrence's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

Hou Yifan Challenge - Live!

9/21/2021 – The Hou Yifan Challenge, the final regular event on the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, will take place on September 18-21 in the chess24 Playzone. The prize fund is $15,000, with $3,000 for the winner, who also gets to play alongside Magnus Carlsen and co. in the next edition’s first event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

Hou Yifan Challenge: Keymer leapfrogs Pragg

9/21/2021 – Vincent Keymer grabbed the lead on the third day of action at the Hou Yifan Challenge. Praggnanandhaa, who had a perfect 9/9 start, only scored a half point on Monday and is now sharing second place with Christopher Yoo. Pragg has played one more game than Keymer and Yoo in the 17-player single round-robin.

"The Queen's Gambit": Eleven Emmys and a lawsuit

9/21/2021 – After winning nine Emmys in technical categories, "The Queen's Gambit", the chess series based on Walter Tevis' novel, on Sunday also won Emmys for "Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series" and "Outstanding Directing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie". However, former Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili is unhappy about the production - she feels she was misrepresented in the series.

Gukesh clinches Norway Open Masters, Iniyan finishes second

9/21/2021 – Gukesh D won the masters’ section of the Norway Chess Open in Stavanger. He scored 8½/10, remained undefeated, performed at 2743 and gained 17.5 Elo rating points. His compatriot Iniyan P scored 7½/10 to finish at second position. He performed at 2550 and increased his rating by 6.7 points. Gukesh is currently playing for Prilep (North Macedonia) at the European Club Cup. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

A surprising mate

9/21/2021 – Even in endgames one should not forget that mate ends the game. In the diagram position it is White to move and win. What did he do?

Karsten Mueller’s Endgame Magic #161: Carlsen and Capablanca

9/20/2021 – One of the most fascinating recent endgames was Magnus Carlsen's win against Alireza Firouzja in round 6 of the Norway Chess Tournament: in a slightly better position that seemed to be impossible to win Carlsen worked his magic and created an endgame masterpiece. In the "Endgame Magic Show #161" Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler take a look at this astonishing endgame and show why it is good to know the classics. | Endgame Magic is on air most Mondays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

Etienne Bacrot on reliving the winning feeling

9/20/2021 – Etienne Bacrot went into this year’s World Cup without any expectations, including qualifying for the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix, a series of three tournaments that will serve as a qualifying route for the next Candidates. Understandably so, as the last time the French Grandmaster had played in a Fide Grand Prix was in 2013. "Based solely on my rating (2658), I could not have qualified for the Grand Prix. It’s crazy that I made it this time," Bacrot said on the sidelines of a rapid tournament that was held in Asniéres-sur-Seine near Paris on September 11 and 12. | Photo: Pascal Simon (Archive)

Play The Author - Thematic tournament with Lars Schandorff

9/20/2021 – Last week, Grandmaster Lars Schandorff from Denmark faced nine brave CBM readers for the fourth "Play The Author" round-robin tournament this year. The chosen opening was 4.Bg5 Bg7!? in the Grünfeld. The Danish GM won the tournament and all games, except one draw. While a Canadian player reached the second place, the youngest participant (13 years old) from Germany, managed to get the third place. | Photo: Facebook - Lars Schandorff

ChessBase Tactics web app: Best by test

9/20/2021 – Among the myriad apps and services offered with a subscription to ChessBase Account is the Tactics web app. This concept is hardly new, and readers undoubtedly are aware of a plethora of rival sites and apps offering this same service, so what makes this one so special? What makes it deserving of the headline "best by test"? Read on to find out!