Grand Swiss: Maghsoodloo and McShane join the leaders

10/14/2019 – Parham Maghsoodloo and Luke McShane won their round four encounters at the FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss to join co-leaders Fabiano Caruana and Wang Hao at the top of the standings table. With no more perfect scores at the Isle of Man, the chasing pack has grown and now includes sixteen players. World champion Magnus Carlsen was inches away from losing his unbeaten streak but ended up surviving against Vladislav Kovalev. | Photo: John Saunders

Praggnanandhaa and Polina dominate World Youth 2019

10/13/2019 – Six new World Youth Champions were crowned on October 12th 2019: Aydin Suleymanli and Meruert Kamalidenova won the under-14 open and girls section respectively, under-16 was won by Rudik Makarian and Leya Garifullina and under-18 titles went to Praggnanandhaa and Polina Shuvalova. How tense was the last round? In four sections things went as per plan, however in the under-14 girls and under-16 girls everything changed completely in the final round. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you a detailed report of how things panned out on the final day of the World Youth Championships 2019. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Chess icon Nana Alexandria turns 70

10/13/2019 – She was the Women's World Championship Challenger twice, losing once and then drawing to the title holder. Before reaching the age of twenty she had won the national women's championship of the most powerful chess nation three times, and became one of the contributing players of the Soviet Union team that dominated the women's Olympiads in 1969, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1986. Today Nana, now a FIDE administrator and general chess celebrity, turns seventy. We extend our heartfelt congratulations on an inspiring lifetime.

Grand Swiss: Caruana and Wang Hao still perfect

10/13/2019 – Fabiano Caruana and Wang Hao won their round three games to maintain a perfect score at the FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss. The chasing pack on 2½ out of 3 consists of ten players, nine of whom won on Saturday — only Adhiban, who was one of the co-leaders after round two, drew and stayed close behind the top scorers. World Champion Magnus Carlsen got good winning chances but ended up splitting the point with Rustam Kasimdzhanov. | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

World Youth Rd 10: High voltage penultimate round

10/12/2019 – From Mumbai, AMRUTA MOKAL updates on the penultimate round of the World Youth Championship, where Praggnanandhaa is poised to take the prestigious Under-18 Open section and Polina Shuvalova continues to lead the Under-18 Girls. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

NATO Chess Championship: A special victory

10/12/2019 – The victory in this year's NATO chess championships had a special significance for the German team. For one, the team was not the favourite this time, and they missed a teammate, IM Lorenz Drabke, who tragically died in an accident. ULRICH BOGN reports.

Grand Swiss: Five-player leading pack

10/12/2019 – Fabiano Caruana, Wang Hao, Bu Xiangzhi, Alexei Shirov and Adhiban Baskaran are the only five players left with a perfect score after two rounds at the FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss. World champion Magnus Carlsen was held to a draw by Alexey Sarana and is now one of forty-five players on 1½ out of 2. Upsets kept turning up on Friday, as the plot begins to unfold in the Isle of Man. GM YANNICK PELLETIER looked at the highlights from round two. | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

World Youth Rd 9: Aronyak halts Niemann's momentum

10/11/2019 – Aydin Suleymanli is the sole leader in the under-14 open with 7½/9, while Eline Roebers has been the surprise of the tournament as she leads the under-14 girls section. The under-16 open section saw a huge upset on board one when the top-seeded Hans Niemann lost his game to Aronyak Ghosh. In the girls section, the deadlock between Nurgali and Garifullina hasn't been resolved. Under-18 open saw Praggnanandhaa pick up the sole lead by beating Zarubitski. He is closely pursued by Shant Sargsyan. Polina Shuvalova mantains her lead in the girls under-18. IM SAGAR SHAH reports from Mumbai. Photo: Amruta Mokal

Global Chess Festival returns in Budapest

10/11/2019 – Judit Polgar's Global Chess Festival culminates on Saturday in a colourful finale at the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest after a series of side events and an online record attempt. In addition to the three Polgar sisters, Vladimir Kramnik will be a guest. Here's a brief preview. | Photos: Global Chess Festival

Touch and go

10/11/2019 – The diagram (after 23...b3!) shows a parade example for a Sicilian position with opposite castlings and both sides using their "battering ram" (g-pawn/b-pawn) to open lines against the enemy king. No matter how White plays, Black's attack will come first. Enjoy!

Grand Swiss: Najer upsets Anand

10/11/2019 – Formerly known as the Isle of Man Open, the FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss kicked off Thursday at the COMIS Hotel and Golf Resort in Douglas. A total 154 players are participating, with no less than 110 of them rated above 2600. The biggest upset of day one was Evgeniy Najer's 30-move victory over Vishy Anand. Youngsters Nodirbek Abdusattorov (b. 2004) and Raunak Sadhwani (b. 2005) also upset higher-rated opponents. | Photos: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

World Youth Rd 8: Pragg beats Iniyan

10/10/2019 – In Mumbai, Praggnanandhaa beat Iniyan to join Aryan Gholami in the lead in under-18 open section. Hans Niemann is unstoppable in the under-16 open. The American chalked up yet another victory. Shuvalova maintains her lead in under-18 girls, while there is very little to choose between Nurgali and Garifullina who are both winning their games in girls under-16. IM SAGAR SHAH reports. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Britannica: The Evolution of Chess Theory (Part 1)

10/10/2019 – A Britannica Special Feature: ChessBase has received special permission from Encyclopaedia Britannica to highlight several sections from the classic article by Grandmaster ANDREW SOLTIS on chess, aimed at newcomers to the game. Chess theory consists of opening knowledge, tactics (or combinations), positional analysis (particularly pawn structures), strategy (the making of long-range plans and goals), and endgame technique (including basic mates against the lone king).

Start of the "Grand Swiss"

10/9/2019 – The annual Isle of Man Open has become a top tournament in recent years and has now been "promoted" by FIDE into the "Grand Swiss", a tournament that is now one of the qualification routes for the 2020 Candidates Tournament. The elite field is led by World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Today is the opening ceremony, while Round 1 starts Thursday.

Game of the Week: Bacrot vs Iturrizaga

10/9/2019 – Today IM Merijn van Delft covers the latest on the Caro-Kann, featuring a win by Etienne Bacrot. The show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is on-demand this week starting at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT).

World Youth Rd 7: An 1830-rated player performing at 2568!

10/9/2019 – Russia came to the under-14 open section with two medal hopefuls Volodar Murzin (2433) and Andrey Tsvetkov (2382), but both were beaten by the same Indian player — Abinandhan R. His rating? Just 1830! IM SAGAR SHAH shows you how in this report from Mumbai, plus Hans Neimann's fine win over Rudik Makarian in under-16 open and Aryan Gholami's victory to snatch sole lead in under-18 open. But that's not all — the game of the day was definitely Polina Shuvalova's rook and queen sacrifice! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The Weekly Show: Spanish Team Championship

10/8/2019 – Still in Spain (virtually speaking), IM Lawrence Trent analyses highlights from the Spanish Team Championships, specifically one from the inimitable Vassily Ivanchuk. | Puzzle time: In the diagram below, it's White to move. | Lawrence is free on-demand for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

Endgame Magic with Karsten Mueller and Jan Werle

10/8/2019 – Today's guest in Karsten Mueller's Endgame Show is Dutch GM Jan Werle. Live at 13:00 UTC (15:00 CEST, 9:00 AM EDT) and on-demand for ChessBase account holders. Don't have an account yet? You can register a free 90-day account to watch!

World Youth Rd 6: Just 14 and already a pro?

10/8/2019 – A professional chess player at just 14 years of age? IM SAGAR SHAH has the details in his latest report with pictures and analysis from Mumbai. Other sole leaders after round six in the event are Leya Garifullina at 5½/6 in the under-16 girls and Rudik Makarian with 5½/6 in the under-16 open. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

A powerful "zwischenzug"

10/8/2019 – The duel rook against bishop and knight is often fascinating and full of hidden details. In the diagram position White can use the bad position of Black's knight.

Magic Extremadura win Spanish League with perfect score

10/8/2019 – Eight teams travelled down to Melilla, in the north coast of Africa, to participate at the Honour Division of the Spanish Team Championship. Four teams arrived as clear favourites, but Magic Extremadura from Mérida were the ones that got first place, getting seven team victories in the same number of rounds. Gros Xake Taldea and Beniajan Duochess finished second and third respectively. | Photo: Patricia Claros / FEDA

Alexander Donchenko prevails in Barcelona

10/7/2019 – 21-year-old German grandmaster Alexander Donchenko achieved the best result of his career so far as he finished in sole first place at the "Ciutat de Barcelona" Masters. Donchenko scored six wins and three draws, thus collecting 7½ points, leaving Gata Kamsky and Tigran Gharamian a half point behind in the final standings table. Argentine IM Tomas Sosa won the eight-round blitz event that was held after round three. | Photo: Official site

CHESS: London news

10/7/2019 – An editorial from CHESS Magazine's executive editor IM MALCOLM PEIN announcing the 11th London Chess Classic, the latest news from Chess in Schools and Communities, thoughts on the FIDE calendar, and the standings of the Grand Chess Tour.

Solving with Nunn – the solutions

10/7/2019 – Problem solving is a challenging field, with young participants generally dominating. There is one exception. Year after year a British mathematician, grandmaster and chess writer gives the strongest and brightest a run for their money. This year 64-year-old John Nunn finished a close second, and reported on this success. Today he presents, in his own inimitable style, the solutions to seven of the problems he had to solve at the 43rd World Chess Solving Championship in Vilnius. Our picture shows John Nunn winning the silver medal at the WCCC2019 in Vilnius and composing a chess problem, in the mid 1980s.