EWICC: Paehtz takes her shot

4/19/2018 – Elisabeth Paehtz was able to win her game against Laura Unuk in the ninth round of the European Women's Championship and thus took on the leader, Valentina Gunina in round ten. But the Russian star drew without much difficulty to maintain her full point edge going into the last round. Photos: Oleksandr Martynkov / Official site

Player search in ChessBase 14

4/19/2018 – Do you know how to use the "Find Player" function in ChessBase 14 to prepare for your next opponent? it takes only a few clicks and the opening repertoire of your opponent is revealed, strengths and weaknesses included. But maybe you also want to take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of other players? | Drawing: ChessBase
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The Power Play Show: Attack with Caruana!

4/18/2018 – Wednesday at 8pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. This episodes about Caruana's attacking games. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

2018 U.S. Championship begins

4/18/2018 – Today the U.S. Championships start in Saint Louis, Missouri. The open and the women's championships will once again be held in parallel. The first prize in the Open Tournament is $50,000, with $25,000 for the winner of the U.S. Women's Championship. Wesley So is the defending champ, but both U.S. number one Fabiano Caruana and former U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura are also playing. All the key details... | Photos: CCSCSL

NEW! Lawrence Trent: The Amazing Albin Counter-Gambit

4/18/2018 – The Albin Counter-Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!?) has been a favourite of Grandmasters and amateur players alike since it was popularised by Adolf Albin in the 1890s. This hyper-aggressive system, which immediately sets out to destabilise White’s position, had a renaissance in the mid-2000s when none other than GM Alexander Morozevich revitalised the opening with a number of fresh ideas and excellent results. Lawrence Trent is an International Master who has represented England as a player and as a coach and has been a 3-time winner of the Porto San Giorgio International tournament, finishing ahead of many Grandmasters.

Who was Rudolf Charousek?

4/18/2018 – Today in 1900, Rudolf Charousek, the Czech-Hungarian master, died at the age of 26. Charousek learnt to play chess when he was 16 but in the course of his short career managed to beat a number of strong players — among them World Champion Emanuel Lasker. The writer Gustav Meyrink immortalised Charousek in his novel "The Golem", one of the classics of fantastic literature.

Hou Yifan in Der Spiegel

4/18/2018 – The 24-year old former Women's World Champion, in an interview with Spiegel Online's Christian Gödecke, explains her current plans for the future, as she shifts her focus in the wake of her impending Rhodes Scholar status at Oxford University and says, "I would prefer not to distinguish between men and women players". | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Johan van Hulst, 1911-2018

4/17/2018 – Prof. Johann van Hulst, a teacher, parliamentarian, active chess player until his last days passed away last month in Amsterdam at the age of 107. For his humanitarian actions, saving over 600 Jewish children during World War II, he received the Yad Vashem distinction "Righteous Among the Nations" from the State of Israel in 1972. | Pictured: On January 28, 2011, Van Hulst celebrated his centenary in Wijk aan Zee | Photo: Alina l'Ami

The Weekly Show with Lawrence Trent

4/17/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. Today, Lawrence will have a look at games from Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa.

Endgame Magic with guest Nick Pert

4/17/2018 – GM Nicholas Pert is in Hamburg recording a Fritztrainer to be published later this year. He joins Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice. Watch on-demand!

Welcome to the new ChessBase Shop!

4/17/2018 – The ChessBase Shop has a new design! Here's a brief tour: You'll see all new products at a glance, find an overview about product categories and authors, of course, the popular the "Openings A-Z" returns, offering quick and easy access to your favourite openings, and the new "Shop Assistant" has recommendations and help. So, come on in! | Photo: ChessBase
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Stopping the pawn

4/17/2018 – Knights are quick and dangerous, as every blitz player knows. They can trouble king, queen, rook, and bishop. But when knights have to stop passed pawns they are often surprisingly clumsy.

Youth ravages Sharjah Masters

4/16/2018 – The 2nd Sharjah Chess Masters is currently taking place in the UAE. Nearly 130 players compete for the first prize of $ 15,000, including five players over 2700. After six rounds, the young Iranian star Parham Maghsoodloo (pictured) is in the clear lead and is the man to beat (no one has!). | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Tour of a chess set collection

4/16/2018 – Are you fascinated by pieces and clocks? Ever lust after an expensive wooden Staunton? Davide Nastasio takes a break from reviewing chess videos to bring you a glimpse behind the scenes of a Singaporean chess collector who specialises in chess sets. But that's not all! Wait until you see his clocks! The physicality of the tools of the game provides a window into chess history as well. | Photo: Stephen Kong

EWICC: Gunina beats Muzychuk to take the lead

4/16/2018 – Valentina Gunina took the sole lead after seven rounds in Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia. Against the top favourite, Mariya Muzychuk, she managed a very convincing victory on Saturday. Six players are now a half point behind with 5½ / 7. Sunday was a rest day. Play resumes Monday at 15:00 CEST (9:00 AM EDT) | Photo: Official site

Help and support

4/16/2018 – Most modern computer programs can be handled intuitively. You start the program and get up to speed quickly. But from time to time, everyone needs a little help to get the most out of your programs. ChessBase offers a variety of support options. Here's a primer for what to do when that someone is you! | Drawing: ChessBase
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Speelman's Agony #74

4/15/2018 – Before this week's games I'd like to request more material from readers which can be sent either to the Dropbox mentioned below or directly to me at jonathan@speelman.demon.co.uk — 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! | Pictured: Clement Lelievre (right) with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Laurent Fressinet in 2015

The Learning Curve for Chess Skill

4/15/2018 – ChessBase recently reported on the new artificial intelligence program “AlphaZero” and its astoundingly steep learning curve for chess skill. Given just the rules of chess, in 24 hours of playing games only against itself, it improved to a superhuman level. Along the way, AlphaZero discovered and ultimately abandoned standard openings such as the French and Caro-Kann Defences. | Pictured: The learning curve projection for World Champion Magnus Carlsen overlayed on the actual rating trend.

Review of Wesley So's secret weapon

4/14/2018 – REVIEW: This DVD gives an insight into the mind of one of the top professional chess players of our time. The way he prepares, his opening knowledge, the way he studies, what he finds important or useless. Clearly, a must-have DVD, not only for knowing more about the 1.b3 opening, and how it is played today but for the huge amount of ideas conveyed through the videos. Davide Nastasio explains why.

Amatzia Avni: Aesthetics and Beauty

4/14/2018 – Chess players are very practical, result-oriented. They do feel satisfaction when they manage to produce a stunning combination or an imaginative opening novelty, but beauty is not a goal per itself. They are looking for strong, practical moves, ones that lead to victory in the game. Beauty is an ancillary factor. But it is a major goal for composers of chess problems and studies, as the Israeli problemist explains in part two of his article.

Scenes from the Karpos Open 2018

4/13/2018 – The 2018 Karpos Open was won by IM Radoslav Dimitrov ahead of GM Sinisa Drazic on tiebreak. Both players scored 7½ / 9 points. Diana Mihajlova sends photos and a brief report from the Macedonian capital, Skopje. | Pictured: Drazic and Dimitrov

Garry Kasparov's 55th birthday

4/13/2018 – The 13th of April is "Kasparov-day". Today, 55 years ago, arguably the best player in chess history was born and since then has shaped the history of chess like no other player — not only on the board! Andre Schulz briefly traces Kasparov's history from his first international moves, through the peak of his career in 1999, his life in politics (both in and out of the chess world) and on to his recent advocacy work. | Photo: Kasparov.com

Calculation training with ChessBase

4/13/2018 – Practising to calculate variations quickly keeps your chess mind in shape and helps you to win more games. ChessBase has a whole suite of tools that help you to train your calculation skills. In this overview, you can find a training recipe to suit your taste. Have a look and try it out!
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Back, forth and sideways

4/13/2018 – In any endgame the bishop f3 would clearly dominate the knight f6. With queens on the board, however, White's vulnerable king on f2 becomes the decisive factor. How can Black exploit it?