Insider tip: A trip to the Strasbourg Open

9/20/2018 – As we count down the last days of (Northern) summer, we take a look at another highlight from the open season that was. Think of the Strasbourg Open as a real insider tip for all chess fans: Take the road to picturesque Alsace. MANFRED MENACHER did and was enthusiastic about the organization of the Roos brothers as well as the beautiful scenery. | Photos: M. Menacher

30-minute training: Learn to play the London System

9/19/2018 – Feel like trying out a new opening? How about learning a few basic tips on the London System from a GM? Here's the deal: you invest a small amount of time, reading a few paragraphs about an interesting opening line, selected for you by one of the world's great chess trainers. After that, you try it out, right there in your browser, against an engine that matches the playing strength of you potential opponents. You can play any number of games and test different ideas, as far as possible following the instructions of an experienced chess trainer. We have a brand-new application to support this kind of learning. Take a look – and admit: it is great fun!

The Game of the Week

9/19/2018 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 20:00 CEST (19:00 UT, 2 pm EDT). On this week's show: Learning from a painful loss in the Dutch League.

DER SPIEGEL presents: Magnus Carlsen in Hamburg

9/19/2018 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen brings his now-annual Play Live Challenge back to Hamburg on October 8th, this time a the Hamburg headquarters of DER SPIEGEL. Like the 2017 event which ChessBase webcast live, Carlsen will play 12 opponents in a clock simul. The venue accommodates 150 live spectators, but the games will also be carried online with live commentary (in German!) by English GM Daniel King. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

Lela Javakhishvili wins "Lela and Bela Cup"

9/19/2018 – The Republic of Georgia will soon be the focus of the chess world's attention with the start of the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi this weekend. But on the other side of the country, NINO MAISURADZE reports on a prestigious women's rapid tournament, traditionally held in Telavi, Georgia, the hometown of many top Georgian women today. | Pictured: Players outside the Telavi Museum | Photo: Lela and Bela Cup organisers

World Championship – out of the box

9/19/2018 – The match for the highest title in chess is always very exciting. But it is somewhat spoiled if the result is a tie. In previous times it meant that the reigning champion kept his title; later a tiebreak was installed, with rapid chess games, blitz and then Armageddon. Not a satisfactory solution, with the championship not decided by classical games. Werner Keym, a chess problem composer, has an alternate solution, one that like most of his problems is out of the box. Tell us what you think.

Woodpecker method, part 2: Interactive Training

9/18/2018 – Training is particularly effective when you come out of your comfort zone. So, why not spice up your training by letting the clock run or awarding points for the right solution? And of course, you do not always need a computer to train — maybe you want to print out the tasks? | Image: ChessBase
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The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

9/18/2018 – 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. The is streamed live, free for all, and will be available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders. This week Lawrence wraps up the highlights from the World Junior Championship!

Last man standing

9/18/2018 – Every chess player knows how powerful pawns can be — after all, if a pawn reaches the opponent's back rank it can turn into a queen. Passed pawns have better chances to queen than other pawns but in a game it is easy to forget how powerful these pawns can be.

Endgame Magic with guest IM Jonas Lampert

9/18/2018 – Joining Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice today is German IM Jonas Lampert... This week's show is FREE to watch on-demand (for a limited time)!

Champions Showdown: Improving the format

9/18/2018 – Reflecting on the Champions Showdown in St. Louis, Macauley Peterson pulls a few highlight videos from the commentary webcast and breaks down what appeals to fans of the Chess960 variant, for a look at how the next event like this from the Saint Louis Chess Club could be improved. Chess960 may have its problems gaining traction, but as Peter Svidler notes, there's plenty of space on the chess schedule to try new ideas. | ChessBase via Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube

Revisiting whether women play more beautiful chess

9/17/2018 – Dealing with subjects such as aesthetics and gender is generally prone to criticism. After all, the concepts that are used as bases for analysis tend to compel some degree of subjectivity. Nevertheless, AZLAN IQBAL has been exploring this issue for years. After publishing a controversial article a couple of years ago, he informs us about the improvements made to his original research. The question remains the same: do women play more beautiful chess than men? | Photos: Pascal Simon / Simon Bohnenblust

Simon Says — Puzzle hour!

9/17/2018 – Live and free to watch at 18:00 CEST (16:00 UT, Noon EDT) In this Simon Says I show you a number of fascinating puzzles, which I hope, you are able to solve! Good Luck!

Training with the Woodpecker method

9/17/2018 – The Woodpecker method — a name coined by Swedish GM Axel Smith — is a popular training method to improve your tactical vision and your tactical reflexes. To summarize: when training à la Woodpecker you have a set of training tasks which you work through repeatedly. And with ChessBase, you can easily create databases with sets of training tasks for this purpose. | Image: ChessBase
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Arianne Caoili to bike through Cilicia to support Armenian children

9/17/2018 – While Levon Aronian is fighting the chess elite in arduous events, his wife Arianne Caoili is engaged in various entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives in Armenia. The Australian Woman International Master will cycle through the south coastal region of Cilicia to raise funds on behalf of the Children of Armenia Fund. The biking tour's fundraising will allow COAF to expand its athletic programs for youth living in six villages of Armenia's Tavush region.

Maghsoodloo and Maltsevskaya are World Junior Champions 2018

9/16/2018 – Although the gold medal in the open section had already been confirmed by Parham Maghsoodloo, the fight for other medals was exciting on the last day of the World Juniors 2018. Esipenko managed to beat Maghsoodloo, but it wasn't good enough for a medal for the Russian. Silver went to Abhimanyu Puranik who beat Aram Hakobyan and bronze to Sergei Lobanov who got the better of Johan-Sebastien Christiansen. In the Girls section, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova drew her last round game which allowed Aleksandra Maltsevskaya to overtake her and win the gold. Tokhirjonova had to be content with silver and bronze to Nino Khomeriki.

Speelman's Agony #84

9/16/2018 – This week's lovely pair of games are by David Sprenkle an American who was 60 in April. A former Illinois champion, he now lives in Spokane, Washington. One game even reminded Jon of a classic Nezhmetdinov game. 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!

Laos, a new chess destination

9/16/2018 – The Southeast Asia chess scene has given an important step forward this year, as Laos organised its first international tournament. The landlocked country launched the 'Chess in Schools' program six years ago and has been working towards growing the game's stature. In the first Laos International Open, Armenian GM Karen Grigoryan was declared the winner, while the success of the event prompted the organisers to run a second edition later this year. Update September 21| Photo: Laos Chess Federation

World Junior Championship final round

9/15/2018 – (All stories on the World Junior) Live games and commentary from the 2018 World Junior Chess Championship in Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey, September 5th-15th with a rest day on September 9th. Live video commentary by IM Can Arduman, IM Ekaterina Atalik and FM Tarik Selbes.

Champions Showdown: Blunders, mishaps, fun!

9/15/2018 – There was almost no intrigue regarding the final results, but the 2018 Champions Showdown was filled with curious highlights and enterprising chess. The main attraction was Garry Kasparov's presence — the 13th World Champion lost his match against Topalov, but finished on a high thanks to a pair of wins in the last rounds. In the other matchups, Nakamura, So, Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian emerged victorious. In terms of entertainment value, the Saint Louis Chess Club hit the mark! | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

World Juniors 2018 Round 10: Parham Maghsoodloo is the champion!

9/15/2018 – (Current standings, games and results!) It has been one of the most dominating performances that you would ever see at any strong chess tournament, leave alone World Junior Championships. GM Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran started the tournament as the top seed. He conceded half a point in the sixth round by drawing his game against Alireza Firouzja. But rest of the games he managed to win thereby scoring 9½/10 and winning the tournament with one round to spare. In the Girls section as well, we have the sole leader after ten rounds and she is Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. | Photo: Shohreh Bayat

Adolf Albin: Nothing wrong with a gambit

9/14/2018 – 170 years ago, September 14th, 1848, Adolf Albin was born. Statistics give Albin a historical rating of 2643 for August 1895 and with this rating he would have been the world's number 15 of that time. Today, Albin is mainly known as the namesake of an entertaining line in the Queen's Gambit, arising after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!? - the Albin Counter-gambit. Another gambit, which Albin liked to play, is named after Alekhine. | Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Chess960: Champions Showdown LIVE

9/14/2018 – Another spectacular chess event is ongoing at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Ten world-class players, including Garry Kasparov, compete in rapid and blitz matches in Chess960. Live video and commentary from 20:00 CEST (19:00 UT). | Graphic: Standings after Day 3 / Saint Louis Chess Club

San Francisco Bay Area International returns in the new year

9/14/2018 – The 2019 Bay Area International Chess Tournament which already has many strong players signed up and runs from Jan 1-7, 2019, in Burlingame, California, USA. The early registration deadline is tomorrow, September 15th.