Deal of the Week: Wesley So's opening secrets

3/27/2019 – An exclusive discount, only through Sunday, March 31st! Get the two-volume bundle for a special price! Super-GM WESLEY SO published two opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Read the review and get them in a package today and save! Here's a peek.

How to train with ChessBase 15

3/27/2019 – ChessBase 15 offers powerful tools to improve your training and your chess. One such tool is the "Tactical Analysis" that can work as a virtual coach to answer your chess questions. But to get the most of the answers you should know how to ask the right questions! In this tutorial, resident ChessBase expert MARTIN FISCHER demonstrates an effective method to work with a strong chess analysis engine within your ChessBase 15 program. | Drawing: ChessBase
More...
 15

Life before and after retirement

3/27/2019 – The announcement came as a shock to the chess world: former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, one of the all-time greats of chess, said he would no longer be participating in competitive chess. Journalists rushed to ask him about his motives, and one of the resulting pieces stood out: an interview in the Chennai-based New Sunday Express. We bring you excerpts (with kind permission) and narrative by Frederic Friedel on his first encounter with the super-talent.

US Ch: Caruana wins, but Nakamura leads

3/26/2019 – With a win over Timur Gareyev, Hikaru Nakamura (pictured) took sole lead in the US championship heading into the tournament's only rest day. But Fabiano Caruana is a mere half point behind after he scored his first full point in a classical game since October. Jennifer Yu leads the women's championship but yesterday she got a little help from Caissa the chess goddess. Despite her impressive 5½/6 score, she's also only a half point ahead, as Anna Zatonskih also won. | Photo: Justin Kellar

The Weekly Show: U.S. Championship update

3/26/2019 – IM Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments every Tuesday at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST). This week he looks at a game from the first half of the US Championship. Free to watch on-demand for a limited time with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

NEW: Yannick Pelletier: Anti-London System

3/26/2019 – The London System, which for a long time had been the reputation of a rather harmless sideline, has developed into a very popular opening, and World Champion Magnus Carlsen is only one of many top players who plays it regularly. The London System indeed suits the modern approach to openings very well: White does not necessarily strive for an opening advantage but is content to develop his pieces and hopes to outplay his opponent in the middlegame. However, the London System is more dangerous than it seems and if Black is not careful he can easily wind up in a bad position. Theory develops fast today, even in less concrete systems.

European Ch: Second half, still four leaders

3/26/2019 – Maxim Rodshtein and Kacper Piorun were the leading duo after five rounds but a draw in their head-to-head in the sixth round allowed Nils Grandelius and Andrey Esipenko (pictured arriving with Kirill Alekseenko) to catch up, so this quartet now sits atop the field of the European Championships in Skopje with 6 points. The 22 best players qualify for the World Cup. GM DANIEL FERNANDEZ analyses the highlights. | Photo: Patricia Claros

Passed pawns needing help

3/26/2019 – "Passed pawns have to run" is a good rule of thumb in the endgame. But there are exceptions.

Homeless immigrant family finds a home thanks to chess

3/26/2019 – Just a week ago, 8-year old Tanitoluwa Adewumi was living in a New York City homeless shelter. But a story in the New York Times about his success at the NY State Scholastic Chess Championship launched the boy to international prominence and prompted a GoFundMe campaign which has raised nearly $250,000 dollars. | Photo: "Just Tani" GoFundMe page

US Ch: Sevian joins the leading pack

3/25/2019 – Two decisive games in each tournament did little to alter the standings of the US Championships. In the Open, Sam Sevian defeated Varuzhan Akobian with Black and is now part of the five-player leading pack on 3 out of 5, while Timur Gareyev beat Awonder Liang and left the cellar of the standings. In the Women's, Tatev Abrahamyan and Carissa Yip were the winners of the day. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

Sharjah Masters 2019: Five leaders after three rounds

3/25/2019 – The Sharjah Masters 2019 is one of the strongest open tournaments in the world. With a total prize fund of $60,000 and the first prize of $15,000, they have been able to attract some of the strongest GMs in the world. There are 35 GMs and 35 IM taking part in this tournament. After three rounds we have five leaders: 14-year-old Nihal Sarin, Alexander Fier, Ernesto Inarkiev, Le Quang Liem and Eduardo Iturrizaga. Niklesh Jain is at the venue and sends us a detailed report.

Chess Magazine: Find the winning move

3/24/2019 – Here's another opportunity to sharpen your tactical skills: twelve positions taken from recent tournaments. But we have a little surprise for you: on the diagram boards you can not only move the pieces around to analyse — there is also an embedded engine that will actually play out the position against you. Which means you can work things out directly on the diagrams in the browser. How neat is that?

US Ch: Four lead after Xiong's defeat

3/24/2019 – Round four of the US Championships was filled with peculiar episodes that made for an incredible day of chess in Saint Louis. Ray Robson took down sole leader Jeffery Xiong with the black pieces, while Fabiano Caruana and Sam Sevian were not able to make the most of completely winning positions against Leinier Dominguez and Timur Gareyev. In the women's section, Jennifer Yu remains perfect after her opponent blundered on move ten. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

European Ch: Four at the top

3/23/2019 – Prior to the fifth round 19 players were tied for the first place, all with 3½/4 points and all willing to fight for the title. Maxim Rodshtein (pictured) is the new frontrunner. Boris Gelfand was the only one of those 19 top players in the 50+ category. On the other end of the age spectrum are Semyon Lomasov, Benjamin Gledura and Bogdan-Daniel Deac recently seen fighting for youth titles. Many players with three points were also eager to win, promising an exciting round, though not in all games. SIEGFRIED HORNECKER presents the highlights. | Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

US Ch: Xiong beats the champ

3/23/2019 – The main attraction of the third round was Jeffery Xiong's win over defending champion Sam Shankland at the US Championships in Saint Louis. The 18-year-old not only claimed a big scalp but also got his name on top of the standings after a dream start. Hikaru Nakamura and Leinier Dominguez also won and are now a half point behind him, together with Wesley So. In the Women's, Jennifer Yu took down Irina Krush to keep a perfect score. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

A trip to Saudi Arabia

3/23/2019 – The 1st Hail Rapid Chess Tournament for men and women took place from the 15th to the 18th of March in Hail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It gathered more than 200 participants from 18 countries. Wang Hao took clear first in the men's tournament while IM IRINA BULMAGA won the women's tournament and sends her reflections. | Photos: KSAchess Twitter

US Ch: Wesley So's endgame squeeze

3/22/2019 – In the second round of the US Championships, Wesley So showed flashes of brilliance against Timur Gareyev, giving a master class in the endgame with rook and knight against rook and knight. Just when everyone thought it was a draw, that's when the struggle really began. So now leads alongside Sam Sevian and Jeffrey Xiong. Carissa Yip and Jennifer Yu in the Women's Championship are now the only two players in either tournament to remain with a perfect score. | Photo: Justin Kellar

Deal of the Week: What Grandmasters Do not See

3/22/2019 – An exclusive discount, only until Monday, March 25th! Get the three volume set as a bundle for 83% off the regular price! It's routinely described by the esoteric term "chess blindness." In the series "What Grandmasters do not See", chess trainer and world-class commentator MAURICE ASHLEY strips away from the myth, and for the first time explains why the root of these mistakes is more often based on the psychology of human learning. Here's a peek.

In Fischer's footsteps

3/22/2019 – Would you dare to play 30.Rxf7 in the diagram position? The 11th world champion did, a good omen — but can you walk the talk following Black's reply 30...Rc1+ then?

European Ch: A long list of leaders

3/22/2019 – Four rounds into the European Championship and we no longer find any perfect scores. Dutch GM Lucas van Foreest was one of the players with 3 points after as many rounds of play, but he lost on Thursday to top seed Vladislav Artemiev. The remaining undefeated players all drew, creating a 19-way tie on 3½. GM DANIEL FERNANDEZ annotates highlights of rounds three and four. Pictured: Benjamin Gledura (right) is one of the leaders, GM Vincent Keymer (left) is only on 50%. | Photo: Patricia Claros

Carlsen and Giri campaign for racial equality

3/21/2019 – "Breaking a rule in chess to change behavior in life." World Champion Magnus Carlsen and GM Anish Giri team up in a social campaign dubbed "Move for Equality" in honour of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The pair shot a brief video in Oslo on Tuesday for the promotion.

Fast and Furious: The Big Janowski

3/21/2019 – Today's topic: The Janowski Variation (3...a6) of the Queen's Gambit Declined, live at 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET 1 PM EST) The live 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.

US Ch: Xiong to early lead

3/21/2019 – There was one winner in the Open opener: 18-year-old GM Jeffrey Xiong (pictured), who turned the tables on the bold play of the ever-eccentric Timur Gareyev. All other games were drawn. In the Woman's group, however, not a single game ended in a split-point! Krush, Zatonskih, Wang, Yu, Feng and Yip, therefore all reached 1.0/1. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Vitiugov hopes the best is yet to come

3/21/2019 – Russian GM Nikita Vitiugov recently won the 1st Prague Masters in the Czech capital — one of his best results to date. Afterwards he sat down for a brief interview to recap the success and look ahead to a full 2019 chess calendar that will include the FIDE Grand Prix and presumably the Grand Swiss too. | Photo: Macauley Peterson