The right rook

8/30/2019 – In the diagram position Black should have played 16...♜fd8! — can you spot how after 16...♜ad8? White wins by force?

Deal of the Week: Opening Tutorials 1 to 5 for just 29.90 EUR

8/30/2019 – Today’s way to learn chess! The ChessBase Tutorials are a new series in the publishing program of ChessBase. Every issue will consist of a DVD and a detailed accompanying booklet. The many readers of ChessBase Magazine have already come to appreciate this concept. Five volumes of tutorials for this week only 29.90 EUR (regular price 149.50 EUR!)
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Fast and Furious: The Sveshnikov surge

8/29/2019 – In this episode IM Robert Ris tackles the increasingly popular Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian defence. The live show at 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST / 1 PM EDT) is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. In the diagram, it's White to play and win!

Sinquefield Cup Ultimate moves and Closing Ceremony

8/29/2019 – The 2019 Sinquefield Cup playoff ended up with Ding Liren beating world champion Magnus Carlsen to win the title and take home $82.500. After two draws in the rapid games, the Chinese star beat Carlsen in both blitz encounters. The commentators and the world champion deservedly praised Ding's performance. Express report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Carlsen comeback leads to playoff

8/29/2019 – The tense last round of the Sinquefield Cup ended in a dramatic way, with emotions and competitive tension taking centre-stage rather than skills. Magnus Carlsen completed his comeback in the tournament with yet another victory — with black pieces too — to jump to the top at the last minute and tie for the first place with 6½ points and force playoffs against Ding Liren for Thursday. Ding held his nerve to hold Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to a draw, while Karjakin missed a chance to finish at the top by not converting an advantageous ending against Caruana. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

NEW: ChessBase Magazine #191

8/29/2019 – CBM 191 is out! Now available in the Shop | The sky is the limit! Will Magnus Carlsen break 2900? ChessBase Magazine is the most comprehensive and most sophisticated chess magazine there is. World class players analyze 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!

Jennifer Yu: "If I have high expectations, I usually perform much worse."

8/29/2019 – After an initial article about FM and WGM Jennifer Yu’s ½ of 9 performance at the 2019 U.S. Junior Championship, a first follow-up article explored stereotype threat in chess, with the help of Dr. Andrei Cimpian and WFM Sarah Chiang. In this second follow-up article, WIM ALEXEY ROOT asks whether “stereotype threat” is debunked, with comments from Dr. Kenneth Regan and an interview with Yu herself. | Photos: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

Game of the Week: Ding vs Caruana

8/28/2019 – Join IM Merijn van Delft live for a look at his favourite game of the week: Ding Liren's pivotal win over Fabiano Caruana from the ninth round of the Sinquefield Cup on Monday. The show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. Merijn is live this week starting at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT).

NEW: Master Class Vol. 12 — Viswanathan Anand

8/28/2019 – This latest addition to the FritzTrainer Master Class series allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess as well as from the explanations of experienced presenters (Yannick Pelletier, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh). You'll discover how to successfully organize your games strategically and, consequently, how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure, bringing your games to a successful conclusion with accurate technical endgame play.

Ding is the sole leader at the Sinquefield Cup

8/28/2019 – Another intense day of fighting chess and drama in the tenth round of the Sinquefield Cup. Ding Liren shot into sole lead with six points out of ten games. It was a day when joint leader Ian Nepomniachtchi once again produced a horrendous blunder akin to the first round to lose dramatically against Maxim Vachier-Lagrave. Magnus Carlsen's winless drought finally ending with a smooth victory over Wesley So. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Komodo 13 is World Champion of computer chess

8/28/2019 – In Macau (China) the "Chess Events" of the International Computer Games Association (ICGA) came to an end last week. In fact, behind this prosaic name are world championships in three disciplines: the World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC), the World Chess Software Championship (WCSC) and the Speed ​​Championship. At the start were six teams with their programs, including Komodo 13, which won in each of the two main disciplines WCCC and WCSC. | Photos: Erdogan Günes

The strong "Ciutat de Barcelona" now open to all

8/28/2019 – Soon after summer comes to an end, the traditional "Ciutat de Barcelona" tournament will take place in the beautiful Mediterranean metropolis. For the first time, however, it will be open to all, after having organized a Schveningen match in 2018 and a round-robin from 2004 until 2017. The nine-round Swiss begins on September 27th, and Gata Kamsky is the highest-rated player registered so far. | Pictured: Barcelona seen from the Tibidabo mountain. | Photo: Jorge Franganillo, via Wikimedia Commons

The Weekly Show: The Spanish Team Championship

8/27/2019 – Lawrence is LIVE this week covering the Spanish Team Championship, plus a brief ode to Pal Benko. Live and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

Ding and Nepomniachtchi score crucial wins

8/27/2019 – Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi showed their guts to rise to the occasion and score crucial wins in the ninth round of the Sinquefield Cup, to jointly jump into the lead with 5½ points. Vishy Anand once again enjoyed a clear advantage against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who fought back admirably to draw the game. World Champion Magnus Carlsen failed to capitalise on chances offered to him by Aronian and drew yet again. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Opening an Abyss

8/27/2019 – Even in the endgame direct mating attacks do occur. White to move and win.

Pál Benkö dies at 91

8/27/2019 – He was a world-class grandmaster, twice World Champion candidate, friend of Bobby Fischer (whose participation in the 1972 World Championship match he directly enabled), inventor of the eponymous Benko Gambit and the 1.g3 Benko Opening (which he used to beat Fischer and Tal). He is also known as the composer of some of the finest endgame studies and chess problems we have ever seen. Pál was also a loyal friend who provided us with countless articles over the last decade. He will be deeply missed. | Photo Diana Mihajlova.

Lagarde, Guichard bag French national titles in thrilling finale

8/27/2019 – The 2019 French Championships concluded on Sunday in Chartres, capital of the Eure-et-Loir department. Both the open and women's categories were decided on tiebreaks. In the end, Pauline Guichard got her second consecutive national title after taking down six-time champion Sophie Milliet, while Maxime Lagarde became French champion for the first time after beating Laurent Fressinet in the blitz phase of the play-offs. DHANANJAY KHADILKAR reports. | Photo: Fédération Française des Échecs

Jobava juggernaut at Abu Dhabi Masters 2019

8/27/2019 – The former Georgia no.1 Baadur Jobava won the 26th edition of Abu Dhabi Chess Festival by scoring 8.0/9. Jobava finished sole first, a full point ahead of the runner-up young Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev at 7.0/9. Eight player tied for the third place at 6½/9, current World Junior Champion Parham Maghsoodloo secured the second runner-up position due to a better tie-break score. | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Simon Says - Tactics Training

8/26/2019 – It's tactics time! GM Simon Williams will run you through a (fun) gauntlet of puzzles sure to exercise your mind. Watch for free (for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

Nepomiachtchi and Karjakin join the lead

8/26/2019 – The spell of draws was finally broken but the leading pack became a jumbo five-men crowd as Karjakin and Nepomniachtchi joined them at 4½ points from 8 rounds. While erstwhile joint leaders Fabiano Caruana and Viswanathan Anand drew their mutual encounter after a long fight, world champion Magnus Carlsen waged a spirited battle against Ding Liren but was forced to settle for a draw too. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Magnus and his rivals

8/26/2019 – In his last review of ChessBase Magazine 190, Nagesh Havanur dealt with the report on the recent European Women’s Championship in our magazine. In this review he deals with the rest of the magazine: Nepomniachtchi's gains in the Grand Prix, Magnus versus Maxime, and more...

Anand with an agonizing miss against Ding

8/25/2019 – The seventh round of the Sinquefield Cup followed the same pattern of the previous day – all draws and status quo continued in tournament standings, with another heartbreak for Vishy Anand who once again missed converting a clearly better position. Thus, Anand along with Caruana and Ding continue to lead the tournament jointly with 4 points. But other games almost didn't show the fighting content worthy of a top tournament, though most of them were decently fought out. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Nyzhnyk cruises to US Open victory

8/25/2019 – The 2019 edition of the massive US Open took place from August 3rd to 11th in Orlando, Florida. GM ELSHAN MORIADABADI was there and chose the gruelling six-day schedule, much like eventual champion Illya Nyzhnyk. Elshan sent us a behind-the-scenes report, which naturally includes the lead-up to the Armageddon match-up that decided which American player will participate in next year's US Championship. Can you guess who qualified? | Photos: John Hartmann

Anand, Caruana and Ding continue to lead

8/24/2019 – Vishy Anand missed a great opportunity to finish off Anish Giri while holding the upper hand — many times during the game — to settle for a heart-breaking draw in the sixth round. He continues to share the lead with 3½ points along with Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren after another all-draw round at the Sinquefield Cup. Caruana versus Vachier-Lagrave was a fantastic fight from a razor sharp Sicilian Najdorf, showing the depth of the players' opening preparation and boldness. Other games contained relatively less fighting content. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour