Rovinj, Round 8: Vlatko Kovacevic beats Bobby Fischer!

4/17/2020 – Bobby Fischer started the tournament in Rovinj/Zagreb with 6½/7 and seemed to be unstoppable. But in round 8 he suffered a sensational loss against Vlatko Kovacevic who surprised the American in the opening and continued to outplay him convincingly. This is Fischer's first loss since his defeat against Efim Geller in Skopje 1967. Fischer still leads the tournament with 6½/8 but Svetozar Gligoric is only half a point behind. | Photo: Vlatko Kovacevic

Light squared invasion

4/17/2020 – In the diagram position, White's knight jump 13.Nc6! was answered by 13....Qc5 and now the trade of queens was inevitable. But how would you trade the queens?

Thank you for not smoking, and not shaking hands

4/17/2020 – Thirty years ago, because of health risks, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) banned smoking at its events. Since handshakes spread the coronavirus, should FIDE ban them when in-person chess tournaments resume? WIM Alexey Root considers the history and the future of smoking and handshakes.

Throwback Thursday: Ivanchuk stuns at M-Tel Masters 2008

4/17/2020 – The fourth edition of the M-Tel Masters Tournament in Sofia saw Vassily Ivanchuk getting sole first place with a stunning 8 out of 10 score. The Ukrainian genius finished 1½ points ahead of Veselin Topalov, who had won all three previous editions. Ivanchuk kicked off the tournament with five straight wins and, after scoring one more victory in the second half, ended the event with a 2977 Tournament Performance Rating. | Photos: Europe Echecs

Rovinj, Round 7: Smyslov scores, Fischer dominates

4/16/2020 – After one loss and five draws former World Champion Vassily Smyslov (pictured) won his first game at the Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/Zagreb. He defeated Borislav Ivkov. Bobby Fischer continues to show why he is the world's number one: he won with Black against Theodor Ghitescu and now leads the field with 6½-½. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

New: Daniel King: Power Play 27: The King's Gambit

4/16/2020 – Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King’s Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. White sacrifices a pawn to build a strong centre and to open lines for an immediate attack against the enemy king. No more boring Berlins - take the fight to your opponent from the off. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.

The Mystery of Sultan Khan: An interview with Daniel King

4/16/2020 – Mir Sultan Khan was born in 1905 in India and worked as a servant when he came to England in 1929. In England Sultan Khan quickly established himself as one of the world's best players, beating Capablanca, Tartakower, Flohr and others, but in 1933 he returned to India and vanished from the chess scene. In his new book "Sultan Khan: The Indian Servant Who Became Chess Champion of the British Empire" Daniel King tells the story of this amazingly talented player. Sagar Shah spoke with King about his book and the fate of Sultan Khan.

Unprecedented Magnus Carlsen Invitational kicks off Saturday

4/16/2020 – With no over-the-board action, online playing has gained strength among chess fans. Moreover, the world champion himself has decided to make the most out of a dire situation by organizing an unprecedented elite tournament to be played over the internet. Eight of the strongest players in the world will fight for a $70,000 first prize. The tournament will run from April 18th to May 3rd.

Play your club tournament online – and win a prize!

4/15/2020 – Playing online is fun and playing for a club is fun! And if you play your club tournament at playchess.com, ChessBase adds prizes! Every club that plays a tournament of at least 64 games on playchess.com in April wins a ChessBase 15 program, a ChessBase premium annual account and a ChessBase voucher worth €30.

Remembering Miguel Najdorf

4/15/2020 – The Argentinean Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf was one of the world's best players after the Second World War, name-giver of the most popular variation of the Sicilian, a great personality and a successful entrepreneur. Today is his 110th birthday. | Photo: Durch National Archive

Game of the Week: Jorden Van Foreest vs Anish Giri

4/15/2020 – Last week we examined the revolutionary handling of a bishop endgame by Stockfish, this week we return to human chess and take a look at an online game between Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri. | You can register a Premium account here. Merijn's show is available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Rovinj/Zagreb 1970: Fischer starts with five wins and a draw

4/15/2020 – The Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/Zagreb is a round-robin with 18 players, eight from Yugoslavia, ten from abroad. Two former World Champions, Tigran Petrosian and Vasily Smyslov, take part, but tournament favourite is the 27-year old American Bobby Fischer, currently number one on the FIDE World Ranking List. Fischer started the tournament with five wins and a draw and is the sole leader. One point behind follows Yugoslavia's number one, Svetozar Gligoric, who defeated Petrosian with a brilliant sacrifice and also won against Smyslov. | Photo: Rovinj

Chess Variants: Entertaining, fun, instructive

4/14/2020 – Classical chess is fine and fun. However, variety might add some spice to your chess life. Which is why Dagne Ciuksyte enjoys chess variants. They are fun, they are surprinsingly instructive and they help your classical chess. Here are some chess variants you might want to try.

The Weekly Show: Leela vs Stockfish

4/14/2020 – In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at the marathon match the computer programs Leela and Stockfish recently played. | Lawrence' show is available at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

A strong team: queen and knight

4/14/2020 – Usually, the endgame queen and knight vs queen is a draw. However, if the defending king is at the rim of the board things might get tricky.

USSR vs. Rest of the World, 1970: Lajos Portisch comments

4/14/2020 – The "Match of the Century", USSR vs "The Rest of the World", was played in Belgrade, 1970, fifty years ago. But it still provokes discussions. Lajos Portisch comments on the controversy surrounding his draw against Viktor Kortschnoi in their fourth and last game. | Photo: Dagobert Kohlmeyer

Diptayan big favourite to win Saturday online blitz series

4/14/2020 – With four out of five tournaments completed, the Saturday online blitz series organized by ChessBase India has a clear leader in Diptayan Ghosh. The 21-year-old got back-to-back second places in the first events, but finally scored his first tournament victory on the third Saturday. That was enough to get an eight-point lead over Raunak Sadhwani in the overall standings (tournament victory gives ten points). | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Simon Says: Take a look at rook endings!

4/13/2020 – In this Simon Says we take a deeper look at some fascinating rook endings. | Watch for free live and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 17:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST).

The game that shook the world

4/13/2020 – Sixty-four years ago a 13-year-old boy played 17...Be6!!, sacrificing his queen and entering his name in the history books: Robert James Fischer, known to the world as "Bobby". The game was hailed as the "Game of the Century" and has been discussed in countless chess books and collections. It is worth taking another, more careful look at this game. On our JavaScript player that's a very enjoyable experience. The player answers all your "What-if" and "Why-not" questions, and even allows you to play out key positions under realistic conditions.

Will the world end on Kasparov's 66th birthday?

4/13/2020 – Today's his 57th, and we wish him a very happy birthday. Fifteen years ago it looked like the world might have just over two decades left to continue as we know it. An asteroid was calculated to fly by the earth – or in fact hit it – on Friday the 13th of April 2029. That would be Garry's 66th birthday. In the meantime more precise calculation by NASA revealed that the chances of a Kasparov birthday armageddon were between 2.7% to virtually zero. Warning: the following article has very little chess content. It is also not for the faint-hearted...

Jan Werle: Chess Professional – an interview

4/13/2020 – Jan Werle is a passionate professional. In 2011 the European Youth Vice Champion U18 of 2001 finished his law degree but instead of becoming a lawyer he decided to pursue a chess career. Which can be a rewarding but difficult job. Especially now, during the times of corona. In an interview the Dutch Grandmaster reveals how he copes with the current situation and why he likes to be a chess professional. | Photo: Jan Werle at the Gibraltar Masters 2020 | Photo: John Saunders

CBM 194 Review: How to remain sane

4/13/2020 – ChessBase offers a window to the world of professional chess. The current issue offers a bird’s eye view of three major events, Jerusalem Grand Prix, London Grand Chess Tour and Wijk aan Zee 2020, including 1249 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training. Games annotated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Romain Edouard, David Navara, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Igor Stohl, Jorden van Foreest and Peter Heine Nielsen, to mention a few. PROF. NAGESH HAVANUR takes a look. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

"Let’s Fight Corona Together" online blitz raises Rs. 240,000

4/12/2020 – A total of 17 GMs and over 180 players took part in the "Let's fight Corona together" Fundraiser online blitz organized by ChessBase India on 9th of April 2020. India no.2 Vidit Gujrathi was the top seed. GM Nihal Sarin, GM Aravindh Chithambaram and GM Vidit Gujrathi ended at the top with 8.0/9, with the speed king Nihal taking the top spot on tiebreaks. The main aim of the event was to raise money for the PM CARES fund and we were successful in collecting Rs.239,742. GM Vidit Gujrathi not only played but also did live streaming of his games, and his efforts resulted in a collection of Rs. 37,028 in under two hours.

Knowing the Chess Greats Part II

4/12/2020 – In part II of the Frederic Chronicles, the co-founder of ChessBase, Frederic Friedel, recounts his experiences with Mikhail Tal, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer. Did you know that Tal won the World Blitz Championship in 1988 while being inebriated, for the better part of the tournament? Or that Fischer made plans to challenge Vishy Anand for a match in Fischer Random Chess? These and much more untold stories come to the fore with Frederic's singular accounts. Read this article and enrich yourself with nuggets of priceless chess history.