10/18/2017 – In February, 2018, there may be an unusual exhibition match held between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, playing Chess960 (also known as Fischer Random). The competition is planned for the Hening Onstad Art Center in Bærum, Norway. It's funding is not yet fully secured, but Carlsen's manager is confident. | Photos: Alina L'Ami

10/18/2017 – Occupying the center, developing pieces, opening lines, mating the enemy king: Paul Morphy knew how to win quickly. His most famous game also followed this pattern. Morphy played it November 2, 1858, against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard in the Duke's loge in the Paris Opera. Morphy's brilliancy is more than 150 years old but the strategic pattern is still relevant. As Magnus Carlsen knows. | Photo: (left) Engraving by Daniel John Pound, based off a photograph by a Parisian photographer named Thompson) was first published in "The Drawing-Room Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages," vol. II, London. 1859 | (right) Morphy in New York City, 1857 by Mathew Brady

10/18/2017 – Houdini 6 continues where its predecessor left off, and adds solid 60 Elo points to this formidable engine, once again making Houdini the strongest chess program currently available on the market. Read the details. @StockfishLegalNotice

10/17/2017 – Our Study of the Month author Siegfried Hornecker has a mystery to solve, and he needs your help! Larissa Volpert, the professor for philology and chess master, died in New York City on October 1st, 2017, at the age of 91. A game fragment from a 1961 Soviet chess magazine provides a glimpse into one of her greatest triumphs — a pawn ending so elegant that it resembles a composed study. But was the rest of the game as equally awe inspiring?

10/17/2017 – Tuesdays at 5pm UK time Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show Lawrence Trent will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from the elite chess tournaments. This week is continuing a look at the European Club Cup in Antalya, Turkey which ended last Saturday.

10/17/2017 – "Knight endings are like pawn endings." That is easily said and often true. However, there is one important difference one should not forget: the knight can sacrifice itself! An endgame lesson from Karsten Müller.

10/17/2017 – Among the top active players, few if any can claim to have made as many powerful contributions to opening theory as Vladimir Kramnnik. One need only recall that Kramnik is the only player on record to 'out-prepare' Garry Kasparov, and for the World title no less. In recent times, one of his latest pet openings has been the Reti, and guiding the reader through some of the changes along the way is GM Alex Yermolinsky. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/17/2017 – A detailed review from Prof. Nagesh Havanur. Among other things this issue includes all games from super tournaments, Altibox Norway Chess and FIDE Grand Prix tournaments with winners, Levon Aronian and Ding Liren annotating decisive battles. Our reviewer re-examines the Aronian-Carlsen encounter and also sets up a little test for young readers. The magazine offers a bonanza for lovers of rapid play. There are games from Norway, Paris and Leuven blitz events. 1968 games with 11 opening surveys from Spanish to Semi-Slav. Not to be missed.

10/16/2017 – The Azerbaijani team Odlar Yurdu were poised to win the European Club Cup 2017 in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday, but came up short against the Czech team of AVE Nový Bor losing 2½ : 3½. That let the Russian top seeded team of Globus to leapfrog into victory. Vladimir Kramnik finally got a white game, and duly won over Ernesto Inarkiev. Among the Women, Batumi Chess Club NONA, though not without incident. | Photo: David Llada

10/16/2017 – World number two Levon Aronian and Arianne Caoili were married on September 30th, 2017, in Yerevan, Armenia. It was a Christian wedding ceremony held in one of the most ancient churches of the country. The most important guest at the wedding was Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan along with first lady Rita Sargsyan. We have official pictures of the wedding exclusively sent to ChessBase and also a few videos to give you a feel of the celebrations, including Levon singing! | Photo: Alisa Studios, Los Angeles

10/15/2017 – We look back at IoM one more time, focusing on the many Indian players who performed admirably, first and foremost, Vishy Anand for his second place finish, scoring 7.0 / 9. The second was Vidit Gujrathi, who had a very solid +4 performance. However, his biggest achievement of the event was surely holding Magnus Carlsen to a draw. And the third, rather lesser known, was GM Swapnil Dhopade, with a rating of 2532, but who performed at an Elo of 2768. We got in touch with all the three high performers and try to understand the secrets of their success. Photos: | Alina l'Ami (Anand), Chess.com/Maria Emelianova (Vidit and Swapnil)

10/14/2017 – Grandmaster Bill Lombardy died in California on Friday morning, of a likely heart attack. Lombardy was the World Junior Champion in 1957 (the first American to win that title) scoring a perfect 11-0, a performance that has never been repeated. He shared first at the U.S. Open Championship three times (1963, 1965 and 1975). But he is perhaps best known as a coach of Bobby Fischer. Lombardy was with Fischer throughout the 1972 World Championship match in Reykjavik. He would have turned 80 years old in December.