The Weekly Show: The New in Chess Classic

5/4/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent will take a look at the New in Chess Classic where Magnus Carlsen won his first Meltwater Champion Chess Tour title. | Lawrence's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - Episode 2

5/4/2021 – Svitlana Demchenko is a 17-year-old, Canadian WIM, and chess coach. Here and now, she will teach us plenty of smart moves on the board, ranging from tactics, strategies, openings, and anything else chess related. In the process, I'm happy to be available as a student at club player level, and pester the female international master with questions. Anyone who wants to strengthen their chess skills is welcome to watch, and actively replay the positions from the video, on our chessboard.

"Behind the Stonewall you should never lose"

5/4/2021 – It's also thanks to Magnus Carlsen that the Stonewall currently enjoys a good reputation and is considered healthy and ambitious. Usually, the Stonewall structure arises via the Dutch Defense, after 1.d4 f5. But in ChessBase Magazine #201, the new issue of the CBM, the renowned theoretician and Dutch expert Viktor Moskalenko shows that Black also does well against line-ups without d2-d4 (English or Reti). He explains the ideas of these systems with some of his own games and concludes: "Behind the Stonewall you should never lose".

Reflecting on the 2020-21 Candidates – Part 1

5/4/2021 – The 2020-21 FIDE Candidates Tournament concluded on April 27, 2021 with Ian Nepomniachtchi (pictured) emerging victorious from a close race in the second half of the event, ahead of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, and Fabiano Caruana. In a two-part reflection on the Candidates the Canadian FM Joshua Doknjas aims to provide readers with a glimpse into the preparation of the world’s best players and showcase some of their brilliant ideas that were hidden beneath the surface. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

A magical knight

5/4/2021 – The diagram position looks pretty bad for Black. He has a passed pawn that is close to queening and he is to move but White has the nasty threat of 55.Rd8+ that is hard to parry. But Black's knight can do some magic and save the game. What should Black do?

FIDE Ratings May 2021

5/4/2021 – On 1 May the FIDE published the new World Ranking List. Magnus Carlsen (2847) continues to be the world's number one, followed by Fabiano Caruna (2820) on two. The second half of the Candidates Tournament helped Ding Liren (number 3, 2799) to eight additional rating points while Ian Nepomniachtchi (number 4, 2792) gained three rating points and Anish Giri (number 6, 2780) four. But it was the Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo who made the biggest jump ahead: after convincingly winning the Iranian Championship he now has a rating of 2698 and is the world's number 41.

No Castling Chess: An interview with Vladimir Kramnik

5/3/2021 – From 10 to 18 July, Dortmund will once again be Germany's chess capital. Chess fans in Dortmund organise the "Sparkassen Chess Trophy", a grandmaster tournament, and Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand will play a match in No Castling Chess. In an interview Kramnik reveals more.

Carlsen beats Nakamura, wins New in Chess Classic

5/3/2021 – Only needing a draw in the second set of the finals against Hikaru Nakamura, Magnus Carlsen bounced back from a loss in game 1 with a win in game 3 — Nakamura could not win on demand in game 4, which meant Carlsen had won his first event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov obtained a 2½-½ victory over Levon Aronian to secure third place.

New in Chess Classic Finals: Carlsen wins!

5/2/2021 – Only needing a draw in the second set of the finals against Hikaru Nakamura, Magnus Carlsen bounced back from a loss in game 1 with a win in game 3. Nakamura could not win on demand in game 4, which meant Carlsen had won his first event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov obtained a 2½-½ victory over Levon Aronian to secure third place. | The action kicks off daily at 19:00 CEST.

Raising the floor: Nepo's chances against Carlsen

5/2/2021 – Now that we know that Ian Nepomniachtchi will be Magnus Carlsen’s next challenger for the World Championship title, it’s time to start getting ready for the big match. Star columnist Jon Speelman has another go at prediction, claiming that “Carlsen is surely the favourite, but not, I think, by that much: no more than 60-40, and perhaps just 55-45”. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Understanding before Moving 25: The "Strategic Thinking Protocol"

5/2/2021 – 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 25th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman shows how useful a "Strategic Thinking Protocol" is to find the right plans and moves. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

New in Chess Classic Finals: Carlsen wins first set

5/2/2021 – In a hard-fought first set of the New in Chess Classic finals, Magnus Carlsen grabbed the lead by scoring a 3-1 win over Hikaru Nakamura. After drawing the first two games and losing the third encounter, Naka had a better position in a must-win situation. The American mishandled his advantage and Carlsen ended up scoring a second win in a row. Meanwhile, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Levon Aronian tied the first set in the match for third place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

New in Chess Classic: Carlsen and Nakamura in the finals

5/1/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will play the final of the New In Chess Classic online tournament. Carlsen safely won his second semifinal mini-match against Levon Aronian 3-1 on Friday after the first set had ended 2-2 the day before. The match between Nakamura and Shakriyar Mamedyarov was more exciting. Mamedyarov initially levelled the score with a convincing 3-0 victory in the second set. The Azerbaijani, however, went on to lose the tiebreaker in Armageddon. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Let's talk about the Candidates... with Eric van Reem and Jonathan Tisdall

5/1/2021 – In the last episode about the Candidates Tournament 202X, Eric van Reem (pictured), host of the "Let's talk about chess" podcast, talks (again) to GM Jon Tisdall. They discuss the Candidates Tournament 202X, the winner with the unspeakable name, the right format to qualify, wildcards, the retirement of GM Wang Hao, GM Peter Leko being the decisive factor in the Candidates and the upcoming World Championship in Dubai. And yes, they managed to pronounce the name of the winner, GM Yan Nepomniachtchi! Enjoy!| Photo: Eric van Reem

The power of the isolated pawn

5/1/2021 – In the diagram position, which is from a game between Adelya Salakhova and Valentina Gunina, White seems to be doing more or less okay. However, it took Gunina, who has a keen eye for tactics, only a few moves to reveal the hidden weakness of White's position - power play in perfection! What did Black do?

The ChessBase News Review (23.04. - 30.4.)

4/30/2021 – Lawrence Trent and Arne Kaehler talk about what happened chess-wise last week. They give their opinions on various topics, and encourage you to think about the subject, analyse games, or read the articles thoroughly yourself. This week we talk about the candidates tournament outcome, the new in chess classic tournament, and how the world would have changed, if Fischer had lost against Spassky in 1972.

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Ian Nepomniachtchi wins the Candidates

4/30/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks back to the Candidates and tries to find out how and why Ian Nepomniachtchi won the tournament and became World Championship challenger. | 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.

Mother tongue and chess – is there a connection?

4/30/2021 – Since 2009 Irina Bulmaga (pictured) has played in the German "Bundesliga", and recently she decided to use the enforced break caused by the pandemic to start learning German. However, passionate chess player that she is, she could not help but wonder whether there is any connection between the written and unwritten rules of the language you grow up with and the way you later study and play chess - and had some fun trying to find an answer to this question. | Photo: David Llada

New: ChessBase Magazine 201

4/30/2021 – ChessBase Magazine is the most comprehensive and most sophisticated chess magazine there is. World-class players analyse their brilliancies and explain the ideas behind the moves to you, opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and offer exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in the fields of tactics, strategy, and the endgame show you the tricks and techniques a successful tournament player needs! DVD with several hours of video + booklet. Also available for download including the booklet in pdf!

New in Chess Classic: Eventful mini-matches

4/30/2021 – Hikaru Nakamura won the first set of his semifinal match against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian drew their first mini-match. Both Carlsen and Nakamura were undefeated before the semis, and both were beaten for the first time in the New in Chess Classic on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

New in Chess Classic: No tiebreaks

4/29/2021 – None of the players who lost the first set of the quarterfinals could make up for it in the second set. Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov quickly secured their tickets to the semifinals. Magnus Carlsen, after a 2-2 against Radjabov in the first set, won the second set and is also through. | Photo: Alina l’Ami

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: An aggressive weapon against the Queen's Gambit

4/29/2021 – In this week’s show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at an aggressive setup against the Queen's Gambit Declined, which Le Quang Liem used in the New in Chess Classic tournament to bring Hikaru Nakamura to the verge of defeat. | “Fast and Furious” is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

No Rapid Chess - Interview with Efstratios Grivas

4/29/2021 – No Rapid Interview? That's right. Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas said that he doesn't play online chess any more. In our "normal" interview, we talked about how Grivas went to eight Olympiads, published over 110 books, and became a Grandmaster despite starting with chess at the rather late age of 13. Furthermore, we talk about the largest chess club in the world, the Sharjah Cultural & Chess Club in Dubai, which launches a "real" over the board rapid tournament today, and of course, the reason behind Grivas not playing online chess - he doesn't mince his words! | Photos: Efstratios Grivas

Fischer, Karpov and Kortschnoi

4/29/2021 – If Bobby Fischer had not retired after becoming World Champion in 1972 we would have seen a decade dominated by Fischer, Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Kortschnoi. What would have happened, if there had been a match Fischer - Karpov or Fischer - Kortschnoi? And why did Fischer not play against Karpov in 1975? And how would Fischer's decision have turned out if the challenger had not been Karpov, but Kortschnoi? Some thoughts by Stephan Oliver Platz.