MCT Finals: Nakamura knocks out Dubov

8/12/2020 – Hikaru Nakamura needed only three sets to knock out Daniil Dubov in their best-of-5 semifinal match. ‘Naka’ will get two rest days before the final, where he will face either Ding Liren or Carlsen, with the latter now the favourite to advance after scoring a second consecutive 2½:½ victory over his Chinese colleague. | Photo: Justin Kellar

Polish Women's Championship: Kulon loses but keeps the lead

8/11/2020 – In round 7 of the Polish Women's Championship tournament leader Klaudia Kulon lost with Black against Patrycja Waszczuk. It was Kulon's first loss but she still has good chances to win the Championship. With two rounds to go Kulon leads with 5½/7 and is one full point ahead of Karina Cyfka who is sole second with 4½/7. | Photos: Szymon Pieczewski (Polish Chess Federation)

An interview with Anna Muzychuk

8/11/2020 – Anna Muzychuk is not only one of the best chess players in the world, she is also very charming. A short time before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic she visited the ChessBase office in Hamburg with Elisabeth Pähtz to record a video about the Taimanov Variation but also found time for a short interview about her career and her life as a chess professional.

On Playchess: Azerbaijan beats Turkey 26:10

8/11/2020 – The friendly six-round match on the Playchess server between Turkey and Azerbaijan to prepare for the Online Olympiad ended yesterday, August 10. In the Online Olympiad Azerbaijan is seeded in the "Top Division", while Turkey will start in "Division 2", and in the match the Azerbaijanis also had the better of it: they won 26:10. | Photo: Turkish Chess Federation

The right path into the fortress

8/11/2020 – Due to the colour blindness of the bishop there are often fortresses in pure endgames. In the following case White can either reach the saving corner h1 or Ponziani's old fortress.

MCT Finals: Nakamura strikes again, Carlsen bounces back

8/11/2020 – Hikaru Nakamura defeated Daniil Dubov for a second set in a row, which means he only needs one more win in the coming three days to move on to the final of the Magnus Carlsen Tour closing event. Meanwhile, Carlsen evened the score in his matchup against Ding Liren by scoring a clear 2½:½ victory on Monday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

John Hilbert on Edward Winter’s Chess Notes

8/10/2020 – Earlier this year, Edward Winter announced the curtailment of Chess Notes, which began nearly 40 years ago. Now, the United States’ leading chess historian, John Hilbert, has written an extensive assessment of Chess Notes, reflecting on the range and depth of material published and picking out many of his favourite articles. They cover almost every imaginable aspect of chess, past and present.
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Polish Women's Championship: Kulon stays on course

8/10/2020 – Six rounds have been played at the Polish Women's Championship in Ostrów Wielkopolski, and with 5.5/6 International Master Klaudia Kulon has a comfortable 1.5 point lead over Karina Cyfka. Another half point behind follows Monika Socko with 3.5/6. | Photos: Szymon Pieczewski (Polish Chess Federation)

Ian Gillan (Deep Purple): "Chess is great for your mind!"

8/10/2020 – Ian Gillan is the singer of the legendary rock band "Deep Purple" which recently released their 21st album, called "Whoosh!". In an interview with the German newspaper "Lübecker Nachrichten", Gillan, who will turn 75 on August 19, 2020, revealed his passion for chess.

Your Spanish is Fab! Part 3

8/10/2020 – All eyes were on the Candidates 2020, which was to determine the next challenger for Carlsen's World Championship. The top seed of the tournament, Fabiano Caruana, also has the unique distinction of publishing most of his findings on one of the most complex openings, the Spanish, in a 16 hour 3 DVD package for ChessBase. Having loved the first two parts, Tanmay Srinath in a detailed look at the DVD takes you through the last part, and tells you why listening to one of the greats of the modern game is a shortcut to chess improvement! | Photo: World Chess

MCT Finals: Ding impresses, beats Carlsen

8/10/2020 – Ding Liren and Hikaru Nakamura kicked off the semis of the Magnus Carlsen Tour closing tournament with impressive wins. Ding defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in Armageddon, while Nakamura also reached the tiebreaks against Daniil Dubov but managed to secure victory without needing to play a sudden-death decider. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The Best In - The Bahamas

8/9/2020 – We started our "The Best In..." series in Armenia and now move on to the Bahamas. Polina Karelina, one of the best players and the best female player of the Bahamas, talks about her passion for chess, the Polgar sisters, and the chess scene on the Bahamas. | Photo: Paul Truong

Grandmaster Chef: Viswanathan Anand

8/8/2020 – Grandmaster Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand was World Chess Champion from 2000-2002 (FIDE) and 2007-2013. To show appreciation for Anand, National Master Mike Walder provides a recipe for a dish that Anand likes and an analysis of one of Anand’s wins. WIM Alexey Root tells why Anand is a Grandmaster Chef honoree. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Giants of Modern Studies - Steffen Nielsen Part III

8/8/2020 – In this third part about the life and work of the prominent study composer Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen, we will get to know the person. So what follows next will give you an insightful peek into the mind of a composer, how he thinks and works. It will also give you a perspective of different styles of composing and how they evolve. We know our chess players well, it's time that we get to know our chess composers too! | Photo: Niels Jørgen Jacobsen, Silkeborg

Power Play Show: Nepomniachtchi attacks

8/7/2020 – In this Power Play Show, Grandmaster Daniel King looks at a problem that Paul Keres composed when he was just 19 years old, but the main focus of the show will be on on a remarkable game by Ian Nepomniachtchi against Ding Liren in the Legends of Chess online tournament. A Scotch was played in romantic style but with a modern twist... | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess.com. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. | Photo: Niki Riga (Archive)

Getting the most out of ChessBase 15: a step-by-step guide #10 – Cloud Databases

8/7/2020 – One of the biggest computing innovations of the last decade is the advent of "The Cloud". ChessBase has utilised Cloud features into its software with astonishing effect. To help you take full advantage of all that these features have to offer, this week, Nick Murphy takes you step by step through Cloud Databases features of ChessBase 15.

Polish Women's Championship: Klaudia Kulon starts with 3 out of 3

8/7/2020 – After the Open Polish Championship, which Kacper Piorun won, the Polish Chess Federation now organises the National Women's Championship. Klaudia Kulon had the best start and leads with 3 out of 3. In round three she won an entertaining and theoretically interesting game in the Sicilian Kalashnikov. | Photos: Wojciech Zawadzki (Polish Chess Federation)

Fischer's invitation

8/7/2020 – In the diagram position Black played 26...Rc6!? and then both the white rook and the black rook invaded enemy territory: White played 27.Ra8, Black countered with 27...Rc1. But which of the two rooks is more dangerous for the opponent?

Throwback Thursday: Armenia’s back-to-back Olympic golds

8/7/2020 – Known for their team camaraderie, Armenia obtained back-to-back gold medals at the 2006 and 2008 Chess Olympiads, played in Turin and Dresden respectively. Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and Arthases Minasian played in both events, with Akopian and Sargissian getting undefeated scores on both occasions — and individual gold medals in 2008.

Blitz Challenge on Playchess

8/7/2020 – Like to try your luck in a three-minute blitz game against a 14-year-old? Against a boy who became a grandmaster at the age of twelve? Here's your chance to take up the challenge, on the Playchess server, on Friday at 12:30 p.m.. The young GM will analyse each game after it was played. You need to be a premium member to challenge Gukesh, but just an ofdinary member to follow the games. You can also watch the action on Youtube.

Amateur versus professional: a theoretical duel

8/6/2020 – In the mid-1970s Helmut Pfleger, who today, August 6, celebrates his 77th birthday, was one of the top 50 players of the world. But he was a doctor by profession and despite all his successes in chess he always remained an amateur. So he often had a hard time against the professionals when it came to opening theory. Nevertheless, in a theoretical duel against one of the greatest opening experts of the time, he won one of the most important games in the history of the Chess Olympiads. | Photo: Helmut Pfleger | Photo: Hartmut Metz

Jay-Z is King, Beyoncé his Queen

8/6/2020 – "Black Is King" is a new film - or "visual album" - by pop star Beyoncé that is based on Disney's animated film "The Lion King" from 1994, which has inspired not only the third-longest-running musical in Broadway history but also a 2019 remake. Rapper Jay-Z, chess fan and husband of Beyoncé, plays a prominent role in "Black Is King" and added some chess flavour to the movie. Which is entertaining to watch but not always in line with the rules and customs of chess. In the online magazine "Slate" Nitish Pahwa took a closer look at the film and its chess scenes. | Photo: Screenshot of Jay-Z in "Black Is King" (Disney+)

Riddle solved: Hort could have held!

8/5/2020 – Bobby Fischer was the star of the show at the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca, before starting an amazing run that led him to challenge Boris Spassky for the World Championship title in Reykjavík 1972. But was he always winning in the endgame he played against Vlastimil Hort? Or could have Hort defended? We asked our readers to help settle the historical debate. And they helped endgame expert GM Karsten Müller to settle the question! | Drawing of V. Hort: Otakar Masek

Game of the Week: Carlsen vs Nepomniachtchi

8/5/2020 – In his "Game of the Week" show Merijn van Delft takes another look at the fascinating Legends of Chess tournament. Magnus Carlsen won the tournament by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final but to honour Nepomniachtchi's creative performance Merijn will study one of "Nepo's" wins against Carlsen. | Merijn's show is freely available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) for a limited time, and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here. | Photo: Niki Riga (Archive)