9/2/2016 – The 2016 Baku Olympiad certainly lives up to its name with no fewer than 180 teams ranging from Russia to Djibouti in the Open section, and 140 teams in the Women's section. The opening round saw results that reflected the huge rating disparities, with the occasional heroic result, but the greatest surprise was without a doubt Bulgaria's draw against Sudan, in which two of the Bulgarian fell prey to their Sudanese opponents. Big report with GM commentary.

9/2/2016 – The 42nd Chess Olympiad is the most lavish in the history of chess. The budget for the tournament is said to be 13.3 million Euros. The playing venue is the Chrystal Hall in Baku, and yesterday, 1st September, the splendid opening ceremony showed how high the standards of the organisers are. President Ilham Aliyev was present at the event but it was not allowed to take pictures of him. Impressions...

9/2/2016 – 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.

9/1/2016 – As the apps in ChessBase Account expand in functionality so does the ecosystem and their synergy with each other. The much modernized replayer that was recently introduced with powerful new features such as running an engine, maximizing the board and testing variations, now brings a new option: a one-button click to open the position in Fritz Online where you can play against it and practice your skills. Here is an introduction to this new function.

9/1/2016 – American chess fans had a lot to cheer about this last month with significant results all over the board. At the very top was Wesley So's sole win at the elite Sinquefield Cup in front of an all-star field, but his was not the only one. Sam Shankland followed up a strong result in Edmonton with a superb victory at the Biel Open, facing every top player in the field. Finally, one cannot forget young Jeffery Xiong who took the World Junior title by storm. These, and many more results are in the September ratings list report.

9/1/2016 – 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.

9/1/2016 – Consider this scenario. You are all geared up to play a chess game against a strong opponent and you are well prepared in the various opening variations he or she uses. As you await the seemingly inevitable 1 e4 or 1 d4, he flicks in ever so slightly, 1 a3 or 1 h3. Chances are, you will be miffed at the disrespect shown to you, to say the least. In CHESS Magazine Junior Tay shows us games (one by Carlsen!) where this strategy worked.

8/31/2016 – The Olympiad in Baku is about to start, and naturally all eyes in the chess world will turn towards this huge event. However, the team competition is not the only noteworthy event taking place, there is also the very significant FIDE Congress held near the end. Here is a preview of what will be covered, from the proposed change to allow challenges for the title, to the Chief Arbiter report of the Candidates, and even changes in the Laws of Chess.

8/31/2016 – Chessbase annonce ses premiers articles en Français. Vous pourrez nous suivre sur Facebook, Twitter et YouTube. Vous y trouverez des informations sur le monde échiquéen Francophone avec des traductions des informations et articles les plus importantes du site Anglais. Dans l’avenir, nous lancerons aussi des Fritztrainer, ou CDs d’entraînement, en Français.

8/31/2016 – The 2016 World Championship will take place from November 11th to 30th in the Fulton Market Building in New York. Now AGON, is the official partner of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and owner the World Chess brand as well as commercial rights holder to the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle, has announced that a green Russian fertiliser manufacturer has signed a strategic partnership with AGON to finance the match. Press release.

8/31/2016 – Tomorrow is the opening ceremony, on Friday the captains' and arbiters' meetings, and at 3 p.m. local time Round 1 of the Olympiad. A team of 400 artists, choreographers, composers and support staff is conducting the final dry runs for the Opening. The chess competitions will see a record-breaking 181 teams from 176 countries in the Open section, and 142 women’s teams. ChessBase will cover the event extensively, here is part two of our preview.

8/31/2016 – Mating your opponent with a scintillating queen sacrifice at the end of a fine attack is deeply satisfying. Being a queen up after strong play is also nice. And being a queen down while attacking your opponent ferociously is a fine though rather rare experience that helps to forget many agonising losses. Which Jon Speelman shows in his Agony Column #17.