Who will challenge the World Champion?

11/17/2016 – The last tournament of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix series 2015/2016 will take place from 18th November to 2nd in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. It will decide who wins the Grand Prix series and who will challenge the next Women's World Champion. The best chances to do so has Chinese grandmaster Ju Wenjun.

New York 2016 G4: Persistence vs Resilience

11/16/2016 – Game four was yet another battle of the wills. Once more Magnus Carlsen achieved what was generally deemed a ‘winning position’, that still needed to be won, and this time it was early in the opening. This also meant a longer period of suffering and more opportunities for a quicker kill, but Sergey Karjakin once more showed his vast resources and ability to weather the deadliest of storms, and drew after nearly seven hours of play. Large illustrated report with analysis by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

We proudly announce: ChessBase 14 is now available

11/16/2016 – It's yet another big step forward in chess study: our latest database program, already the standard for world class players and rank amateurs alike, has received a substantial upgrade. Here for your information are the main features that will change the way you look at chess. For instance "Assisted Analysis" which gives you tactical hints while you are entering moves during analysis. You will not want to miss these new functions.

King Kalinitschew

11/16/2016 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!

Newsblog WCC Carlsen-Karjakin, 2016-11-16

11/16/2016 – Game four: draw (2-2)! Karjakin did it again: he put his head into the lion's mouth and everybody expected the beast to snap. But it didn't happen. Sergey Houdini Karjakin managed to survive another stunt. The miracle of New York City continues. What's happening next? Will the Russian be diving with sharks? Is he going to try some roofing on the Empire State? Is he going to play 1...g5 against Carlsen's 1.e4 in game five on Thursday? Dorian Rogozenco explains The Great Escape...

New York 2016: Dramatic near-win in game three

11/15/2016 – The world championship has finally started. After a cautious first two games, with the two fighters circling each other, studying each other’s moves and essentially trying to bait one another into making a potentially fatal move, the end result was a sleepy start. Game three seemed to repeat this until the Russian suddenly cracked on move 31, and a decisive result was in the air. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Yasser Seirawan.

Anand wins Champions Showdown in Saint Louis

11/15/2016 – At his peak Vishy Anand seemed to be practically invincible in rapid chess. Of course, he is also a former World Champion and a fantastic blitz player. At the Champions Showdown in Saint Louis Anand showed how strong and versatile he still is. He won the rapid tournament, shared first in the 60-minute format and became second in blitz. That was enough to win the showdown of champions. Results, games, photos.

Newsblog WCC Carlsen-Karjakin, 2016-11-15

11/15/2016 – Game four ended in a draw! As in game three Carlsen reached a good, almost winning position but failed to win. After more than six hours of play the game was drawn. Another disappointment for Carlsen and another example of Karjakin's defensive skills. After four games the score is 2-2 and Karjakin still has to find a way to put Carlsen under pressure while Carlsen has to find a way to win his good positions. More...

Alkaloid triumphs at the European Club Cup in Novi Sad

11/15/2016 – Alkaloid, a team from Macedonia, won the European Club Cup. Alkaloid won the first five matches and drew the last two to finish first. Best scorer on the team was Chinese Grandmaster Yu Yangyi (photo). Place two went to Mednyi Vsadnik with Peter Svidler on top board. Vasily Ivanchuk won gold for the best performance on board one.

Anand wins rapid and leads in Saint Louis

11/14/2016 – Day four of the Champions Showdown in Saint Louis brought the rapid tournament. The shortened time-control led to excitement and oversights: Viswanathan Anand, for example, tried a faulty combination against Hikaru Nakamura and succeeded because the American failed to find the refutation. After winning twice against Topalov in the rapid Anand now leads the overall standings. Studio guest Garry Kasparov was at his nostalgic best as he commentated the games. Illustrated report.

Newsblog WCC Carlsen-Karjakin, 2016-11-14

11/14/2016 – Today, at 2 pm local time, Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin started game three of the World Championship Match in New York. Carlsen chose 1.e4 today, played a very well game and reached a very decent, maybe winning position after the first time control. A pawn down, Karjakin defended stubbornly and escaped with a draw. What a game! More...

Learning to solve from a World Champion

11/14/2016 – The first edition of John Nunn’s book Solving in Style was published in 1985 by George Allen & Unwin and became an instant hit amongst those interested in chess problems. Although there is an extensive literature on chess composition, there was almost nothing to help ordinary players master the art of solving problems and studies. John’s book filled the gap by offering a player-friendly guide to the fascinating world of chess problems.

Champions Showdown 2016: Anand and Topalov lead

11/13/2016 – While Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin play for the World Title in New York, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Vishy Anand and Veselin Topalov show their skills in classical, rapid and blitz chess in the 2016 Champions Showdown in St. Louis. Two days of play are left, Anand and Topalov lead. An illustrated report.

Chess in Myanmar

11/13/2016 – For a long time the country of Myanmar has been internationally isolated. But after the military junta, which had been reigning the country for decades, was dissolved in 2011 Myanmar gradually opens up. And the chess scene is lively. From 26th October to 5th November the 7th Asian Seniors Chess Championships were played in the city of Mandalay. Peter Long reports.

New York 2016: Game two brings in huge lines of fans

11/13/2016 – Game two presented the next most interesting question: what did Karjakin have in store with White? While the game was not exactly thrilling, the lines of chess fans wanting to see the world champion in the flesh as he fought to retain his title were just huge. It was a Saturday and the fans came in droves, more often than not bringing their children in tow. Enjoy this report with many high-res images and annotations by GM Ruslan Ponomariov.

Newsblog WCC Carlsen-Karjakin, 2016-11-13

11/13/2016 – Game 2: Ruslan Ponomariov annotates the second game of the match Carlsen vs Karjakin: "18.de5 looks like a silent draw offer to me." - In his first game with White Karjakin opted for 1.e4 - a Ruy Lopez was on the board soon, and with 6.d3 Karjakin chose a quieter approach. Crowded house in New York. And among the commentating voices Garry Kimovich enters the scene. More...

New York 2016: In the Epicenter

11/12/2016 – The first day, the first game, what did the players have in store for us? Common sense said there would be cautious play by the player as they tried to see what their opponent had in store for them for the match. To the surprise of many, Carlsen’s weapon of choice was the Trompowsky, though not much came of it as they drew in 42 moves. Many are taking advantage of the match to promote chess activities such as the 100-year-old Marshall Chess Club.

Newsblog WCC Carlsen-Karjakin, Game 2 draw, 11-12

11/12/2016 – Game 2 draw. Karjakin opened with 1e4, a Ruy Lopez. Before the game, Magnus Carlsen looked nervous. Both players started fast in the first 12 moves, a closed Ruy with 6d3. First exchange of pawns on move 18. Queenless middlegame after move 20. Updates coming up. More...

Anand leads at the Champions Showdown

11/12/2016 – The Showdown in Saint Louis sees two former World Champions take on two of the brightest youngsters in the world of chess. Veselin Topalov led the field at the end of two rounds with a score of 1.5/2. On day two, it was Vishy Anand who scored the only decisive victory over Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces. The Indian now leads the tournament with 2.5/4. We have an illustrated report along with analysis by a 12-year-old Fide Master, who explains you the intricacies without the use of a computer.

New York 2016: Press conference and Opening gala

11/11/2016 – New York is without question the most famous city in the United States, and one of the most iconic in the world. Bringing the World Championship there once more after 21 years is thrilling and it will be the picture of a new era in more ways than one. The obvious one is that of the first match in history where both players are in their twenties, but this is also the era of the internet and even pay-per-view ideas with VR. Here is our onsite report with pictures galore.

Newsblog WCC Carlsen-Karjakin: Game 1 draw

11/11/2016 – Game 1: Draw! The Champ played the Trompovsky. Magnus Carlsen starts the match with White, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was not present at the opening gala in the Plaza Hotel at the Fifth Avenue but joined the show via Skype. More...

Topalov plays à la Mihail Tal

11/11/2016 – The World Championship is about to begin from the 11th of November 2016. But Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin are not the only two super elite grandmasters playing chess on American soil. Four top players are battling it out in Saint Louis in a very interesting tournament that makes the participants play against each other in different time controls. On the first day we witnessed only one decisive game, but what a game it was! Topalov played like Mikhail Tal, sacrificed a piece for no visible compensation and beat Fabiano Caruana.

A day with Queen of Katwe and Daniel King (2/2)

11/11/2016 – In part I we brought you, how the plan was made for all the chess players of Mumbai to meet and watch the movie Queen of Katwe. In the second part we bring you the details of how Daniel King managed to not only teach the children a new opening but also made their day with jokes and superb anecdotes! Yes, there was a live question and answer session with Power play man himself and we have the full 31 minutes of video footage.

The king in the centre

11/11/2016 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.