Karen Grigoryan goes from zero to hero

2/6/2020 – Karen Grigoryan has only been living in Spain for a couple of months, but the Armenian GM has already gained more than 100 ratings points since and won no less than five tournaments in Portugal — most recently the big open and ensuing rapid in Lisbon. STEFAN LOEFFLER reports. | All photos: Portuguese Chess Federation

Youth Team Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece

2/6/2020 – The European Chess Union (ECU) invites all National Chess Federations of ECU to participate in the European Youth Team Championships 2020, organised from July 9th (arrivals) to 17th (departures). It takes place in the incredibly beautiful Greek sea-side hotel Lazart. It is a seven-round Swiss, with two open sections and two sections for the girls teams. Don't miss it: the registration deadline is May 9th 2020.

Hort stories: Wrong place wrong time

2/6/2020 – Amid memories of Tony Miles, Vlastimil Hort shares an unpleasant memory: "To avoid provoking an unwelcome fellow passenger on the escalator I carefully left my hands in my pockets. And then I finally saw what he had in his hand and was pressing against my body… a bayonet! Dear God..." Plus, Tony Miles in an unusual position (pictured) in Tilburg 1985. | Photo: Persbureau van Eindhoven

Start of the second Cairns Cup

2/6/2020 – Starting Friday, most of the world's best female players will play the 2nd Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. The field is led by World Champion Ju Wenjun. The tournament winner will receive USD $45,000 from the total prize fund of $180,000. Rounds begin daily at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 14:00 EST) and the games will be broadcast live with commentary.

Hort stories: Remembering Tony Miles

2/5/2020 – Tony Miles was the first English Grandmaster and in the 1980s one of the best players from the West. In 1980, at a tournament in Skara, he tried 1.e4 a6!? against Anatoly Karpov and defeated the World Champion in a famous game. Vlastimil Hort shares memories of his former teammate, which forces him to recall an frightening incident with "Tom".

Game of the Week: Topalov vs Basso

2/5/2020 – Tonight, IM Merijn van Delft looks back on an eventful Gibraltar tournament, and a game by veteran Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov, who is always good for a show. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

Why you need a modern approach against the Sicilian

2/5/2020 – Do you lack the time to follow the latest and most aggressive developments in the main lines of the Sicilian but still want to be able to obtain comfortable positions with White? With its solid but venomous main and sidelines, the Rossolimo Variation is just the ticket, and GM Jan Werle's new video series will bring you up to date. Here are some contemporary examples from Caruana, Anand, Giri and Smeets.

Karpov on Fischer, Korchnoi, Kasparov and the chess world today

2/5/2020 – In a 20-minute interview with Tania Sachdev in Gibraltar, the twelfth undisputed world champion Anatoly Karpov talked about some of his world championship matches, the effect a 6:0 loss might have had on Garry Kasparov in 1984, the current FIDE administration, the use of rapid and blitz to decide the world champion, and much more. We transcribed the interview and added some of the games mentioned by the Russian star. | Photo: Gibraltar Masters YouTube channel

The Weekly Show: The Portugal Open

2/4/2020 – Back from Gibraltar, IM Lawrence Trent returns his attention to the Iberian peninsula where the strong Portugal Open is wrapping up. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's White to move! | Lawrence is live this week from 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 12 Noon EST) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can always register a free 90-day account to watch.

Senior Championships to be held in Prague

2/4/2020 – For the first time, the World Senior Team Chess Championship will be held in the Czech Republic. Four-member teams with one reserve player can participate in categories 50+ or 65+ of age. Women's teams will be ranked separately. The prize fund of the whole event is 10,000 EUR. | Official site

NEW: A modern approach against the Sicilian: The Rossolimo & Moscow Variations

2/4/2020 – Do you lack the time to follow the latest and most aggressive developments in the main lines of the Sicilian but still want to be able to obtain comfortable positions with White? With its solid but venomous main and sidelines, the Rossolimo Variation is just the ticket.

A really bad bishop

2/4/2020 – Endings with opposite-coloured bishops are often a draw. But in the diagram position Black has a really bad bishop and that allows White to win.

Leonard Barden's Evening Standard column ends after 63 years

2/3/2020 – "63 years, 7 months and 27 days", is how long English chess columnist Leonard Barden has been writing for the Evening Standard. Barden, who celebrated his 90th birthday last August, notes in the comments to his January 31st column in The Guardian, that only the Evening Standard column is ending, and the weekly Guardian column will continue as usual. Barden shared some thoughts on the milestone with ChessBase. | Photo: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Simon Says: Puzzle Hour!

2/3/2020 – GM Simon Williams curates a selection of puzzles for your enjoyment and improvement. | Watch for free on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

Kramnik and Gelfand train super-talents

2/3/2020 – Last August former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik trained six Indian super-talents in Geneva. They went on to score remarkable tournament success and GM norms, attributing their performance directly to the training session. The sponsor, Microsense PL, decided to stage another training camp, this time with fourteen players and in south Indian city of Chennai, with two super-GMs. Frederic Friedel visited the camp and found it deeply impressive. Here is his pictorial report. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

The magic of 7-piece endgame tablebases

2/3/2020 – The latest 7-piece tablebases are now available in the ChessBase web app "Let's Check". Our endgame expert, Grandmaster Karsten Mueller recently took a look at the latest development in endgame theory by comparing his pre-7-piece-tablebase analysis of several games with the latest computer-aided definitive conclusion, including an "analysis duel" with GM Mihail Marin. Video and analysis...

Speelman's Agony: Playing up a class

2/2/2020 – A hungry Hungarian A-player sent GM JON SPEELMAN two hard fought battles for your review and study. A mini-GM lesson! | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

The Weekly Show: Gibraltar wrap-up

2/2/2020 – In a rare "weekend edition" of the Weekly Show, IM Lawrence Trent offers a recap of the Gibraltar Masters. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's Black to move! | Lawrence is on-demand this week and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can always register a free 90-day account to watch.

Misha Tal: A tale of two fathers

2/2/2020 – When Sally Landau published her reminiscences of her life with Misha Tal it created a controversy. Tal’s other wife, Angelina and daughter Zhanna slammed the work. One point that rankled them was the way in which Misha’s paternity was questioned in the book. This is a delicate issue and our columnist advises caution before drawing conclusions. | Photos: Svetlana Punte / Tal Family Apartment album / Original source(s) unknown

February FIDE ratings

2/1/2020 – Fabiano Caruana did phenomenally at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee and was able to reduce his Elo distance to World Champion Magnus Carlsen from 50 to 20 points — Carlsen now stands at 2862 and Caruana at 2842. Ju Wenjun remained Women's World Champion, and world number two. Firouzja won the Juniors battle in the Tata Steel Masters, and Zhansaya Abdumalik maintains a healthy lead in among the top girls. | Pictured: Caruana watches the game Firouzja vs Dubov | Photo: Alina l'Ami

Dortmund returns to its roots in July

2/1/2020 – The annual chess festival in Dortmund is evolving. The Sparkassen Chess Meeting is now the Sparkassen Chess Trophy, and moves to a classic venue, the Westfalenhallen (Dortmund is a major city in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia). The first details of the 2020 events is now out, which will be supported by Vladimir Kramnik and organised by his former manager Carsten Hensel.

Chess calendar: February 2020

2/1/2020 – Two strong tournaments that are about to celebrate their second editions will take place in February — the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis, an elite-level tournament for top female players, and the Prague Festival, modelled after the Tata Steel Chess Masters and Challengers. The highly competitive Aeroflot Open, a massive festival in Graz and a fun-filled weekender in Bunratty will also keep chess fans entertained. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

The Power Play Show: Navara in Gibraltar

1/31/2020 – Due to a heavy schedule the Power Play Show is on-demand this week. Grandmaster Daniel King examines a sensational game played by David Navara in Gibraltar.. Power Play is live most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

Carlsen named "Global Ambassador" for Unibet

1/31/2020 – At a press conference in Stockholm, Magnus Carlsen announced his collaboration with Unibet, a provider of sports betting, online casinos, online bingo and poker. In 2020 and 2021, Carlsen will act as a "global ambassador" for the gaming provider, which will be Carlsen's main sponsor for the next two years. | Photo: Magnus Carlsen on YouTube