The Weekly Show: Hastings

1/8/2019 – IM Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments ever Tuesdays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST). This week he deals with the Hastings tournament. Free to watch on-demand for a limited time with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

A swinging king

1/8/2019 – Far advanced passed pawns are usually very strong. However, in the following case, they can be stopped. Black to move and draw.

The "Money" problem: Can you solve it?

1/8/2019 – “The best things in life are free.” This puzzle came to us by way of Joaquim Crusats of the Spanish Society of Chess Problemists (SEPA). It's a problem that, unlike money itself, you really can take with you. Perhaps you'd like to print it out and bring it with you to your next chess club meeting? We tweeted this out last week, but now present the solution.

Have your chess and eat it too!

1/7/2019 – About halfway between Milan and Venice lies Lake Garda, with the town of Arco at its northern end, once again the venue of a small but festive amateur tournament between the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The 9th edition of this tournament ended in a dead heat between four players but FM Alessio de Santis from Italy was the lucky winner in the end. Gerhard Bertagnolli sends these highlights — suitable for beginners — and photos from an attractive winter holiday destination.

The secrets of B. Adhiban's positive approach towards chess and life

1/7/2019 – He will always greet you with a smile, he is always high on energy and, in almost any conversation, you will see him adding some of the famous quotes of great personalities! The natural question to ask is: how does Adhiban Baskaran remain so positive all the time? What is the secret of his positivity, huge ambitions and a pleasant personality? Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal visited Adhiban's home in Chennai, immediately after Adhiban had won the tournament of Peace in Croatia in November 2018. Apart from discussing highlights from the tournament, you'll learn about Adhiban's workspace, his parents and his support system — all the secretes to what motivates him to do well!

Six-way tie at the top of 94th Hastings Congress

1/7/2019 – The Horntye Park Sports Complex received the 94th edition of the traditional Hastings Congress. This year, the Masters section was extended from nine to ten rounds, but that did not prevent six players from tying at the top of the standings on 7 points. Daniel Gormally had arrived in the last round as the sole leader, but after drawing with White he was caught by Oleg Korneev, Sarunas Sulskis, Martin Petrov, Alexander Cherniaev and Conor Murphy. | Photos: Brendan O'Gorman

Happy New Year! Don't give up!

1/6/2019 – In his first Agony/Ecstasy column of 2019, GM JON SPEELMAN hears from a Turkish sociologist who focuses on the Queen's Gambit Declined. The games show why it's important to keep fighting, even when you fear a loss. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material 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!

Tamir Nabaty wins Rilton Cup in style

1/5/2019 – Rating favourite Tamir Nabaty dominated the field in Stockholm as he finished the Rilton Cup on 8 out of 9, a whole point ahead of a three-player chasing pack — Tiger Hillarp Persson (second), Sergey Volkov (third) and Frode Urkedal gathered 7 points each. The champion would have taken first place with a draw in the last round, but anyway defeated American youngster Awonder Liang in style with the black pieces. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

60 years ago: Bobby Fischer celebrates second US championship

1/5/2019 – Sixty years ago, on January 4th 1959, 15-year-old Bobby Fischer won his second US Championship with a draw against Robert Byrne. A year before, Fischer had won his first US championship at the age of 14. In defending the title, the eventual world champion showed excellent opening knowledge and endgame skills, but above all, fighting spirit. | Photo: Bobby Fischer in Portoroz 1958, tournament book

Rilton Cup: Final Round 9

1/5/2019 – Final round action from Stockholm, with live commentary by IM Jonathan Westerberg & WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni. GM Tamir Nabaty (pictured right) won with Black in the final round against US young-talent GM Awonder Liang (pictured left). The only other player who could theoretically win clear first was Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson who trailed Nabaty by half a point. He has White against Indian GM Karthikeyan Murali. | Photos: Lars OA Hedlund

Rilton Cup: Can Tiger catch Tamir?

1/4/2019 – Tamir Nabaty scored a key victory in Round 8 in Stockholm and is the sole leader heading into the final round on Saturday. On his heels is Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson, the only member of the chasing pack to win today — he beat GM Maxime Lagarde in a sharp Sicilian with a scintillating finish you won't want to miss! | Photos: Lars OA Hedlund

Fahim: A French immigrant fairytale

1/4/2019 – Fahim Mohammad is an aspiring chess player originally from Bangladesh who immigrated to France. His life story is the subject of an upcoming film 'Fahim' starring Gerard Depardieu. DIANA MIHAJLOVA got to know the boy ten years ago in Budapest and recounts his unlikely rise to prominence in his adopted country. | Photo: Diana Mihajlova

Light start to the new year

1/4/2019 – In the diagram position, White is of course clearly winning. But beauty does matter in chess — can you see the neatest way for him to take the game home?

Women's World Championship: Candidates tournament announced

1/3/2019 – As announced following the 2018 Woman's World Championship knockout, FIDE has adopted a new format more closely aligned with the open World Championship. Earlier this week, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich added the date and city for the 2019 Candidates Tournament, to begin at the end of May in Kazan, Russia. Eight players have qualified for the fight for the right to challenge Ju Wenjun in a match. | Photos: ChessBase Playerbase

ChessBase 15: The new fast reference search

1/3/2019 – If you want to work on your openings the reference search is crucial. And in ChessBase 15 the reference search is much faster than before — two to four times faster, depending on your computer. To quote Vishy Anand: "The search booster alone makes life better!" The fast search helps to improve your opening preparation enormously. Our tutorial shows how and why. | Drawing: ChessBase
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Endgame Magic: The best endgames of 2018

1/3/2019 – Karsten reviews the best endgames of 2018, checks in on our reader poll and gives his own opinions. This week's show is live at 15:00 CEST (13:00 UTC; 9:00 AM EDT) and FREE to watch on-demand (for a limited time)!

Man vs Machine - Challenging human supremacy at Chess

1/3/2019 – Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO spent a month with the new book by GM Karsten Mueller and Jonathan Schaeffer, published by Russell Enterprises in November, and was enthralled by the history and development of chess engines. But he also believes that the book has a lot to offer players seeking to improve. Pictured: The Turk, Wolfgang von Kempelen's automaton chess player

Problem chess with Noam Elkies

1/2/2019 – On Christmas day we published an article by Frederic Friedel, describing the process of composing a chess problem. It was based on his own effort to generate a proper helpmate back in 2002. A number of readers followed his invitation and send in amateur compositions themselves. We also received feedback from a remarkable personality: Noam Elkies is a professor of mathematics, a musician and music composer, chess master and problemist. He explained how to use an online problem database to assist in such tasks. We share his instructions with our readers.

Zurich: Haik Martirosyan tops five-way tie

1/2/2019 – Five players tied for first place in the Zurich Christmas Open with 18-year-old Armenian GM Haik Martirosyan (pictured in 2017) having the best tiebreak ahead of fellow GMs Rasmus Svane, Narayanan SL, Dennis Wagner and Andrei Istratescu. Defending champion Christan Bauer finished sixth, a half point back. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / St. Louis Chess Club

GM Ladva grabs Groningen

1/2/2019 – "There is always a chess tournament somewhere in the world", they say, and even over the Christmas holiday one could indulge in the 64-squares at the Chess Festival in Groningen, Netherlands. The participants of the annual nine-round open play on December 24th and 26th and wrap up before New Year's Eve. This year, victory went to Estonian Grandmaster Ottomar Ladva (left) in front of the young Dutch IM Liam Vrolijk — both players with 7 points. | Photo: Harry Gielen

January 2019 FIDE Ratings

1/1/2019 – FIDE's January ratings are out and saw a few big moves in the top 100 rapid and blitz lists thanks to the recently completed World Rapid and Blitz Championships. Carlsen's blitz dominance was on display and he solidified the top rating spot, now at 2954. Daniil Dubov gained notoriety (and rating) for his impressive run in the World Rapid Championship. Among the women, Ju Wenjun took her third world title of the year, but Kateryna Lagno, who lost the World Championship final in a blitz tiebreaker against Ju, managed to win the Blitz Championship well ahead of her rival. | Pictured: Women's World Blitz Champion, Kateryna Lagno | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

1/1/2019 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. This week looks at some of his own games from 2018. Free to watch on-demand for a limited time with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

Rooks belong behind passed pawns

1/1/2019 – It was Dr Tarrasch who formulated this famous principle and though there are, of course, exceptions and positions in which the rook is better placed on the side of the pawn, in rook endings this is still a very good rule of thumb.

Ringing in the New Year at the Rilton Cup

1/1/2019 – The traditional Rilton Cup in Stockholm is currently in its 48th edition. The nine-round tournament started on December 27th and runs through January 5th. The New Year is celebrated in Stockholm and New Year's Day is the lone free day. The event routinely attracts a strong field of GMs — at least those not interested in Rapid or Blitz championships, and it even has its own mobile app for iOS and Android! | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund