In Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson

1/24/2017 – The famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a tireless promoter of science, and considered by many as the spiritual successor of Carl Sagan, opened Game Eight of the World Championship Match. He accepted to sit down with a few journalists for a casual conversation where he talked about his connection with chess and what he finds interesting about chess and chessplayers, as well as how he sees it relative to education. A revealing piece.

Trump, Kramnik, Botvinnik, Junge, Benko

1/23/2017 – "Don’t you think I could also be a GM if put in one or two year on chess?" Donald Trump wanted to know, when he met Pal Benko back in 1994. "You need to be born again," Benko replied. "I have never known anyone who started with chess after the age of 20 and became a grandmaster." It happened at the World Championship Candidates match, held in the Trump Plaza. In his article Pal Benko tells us some interesting things about the Botvinnik Variation.

2017 Tata Rd8: Excitement up and down!

1/23/2017 – It was the turn for the Master's section to provide an incredible amount of entertainment, and they did so in every kind of fashion! We saw some brilliant attacks (Adhiban 1-0 Andreikin), cunning topsy-turvy fights (Eljanov 1/2 Wojtaszek), Carlsen's seppuku, a missed brilliancy by Van Wely, and much more! We bring you four games fully annotated for your deep enjoyment!

2017 Tata R8 Express: Carlsen commits seppuku

1/22/2017 – It is hard to explain what happened in round eight, and to speculate seems an exercise in futility. The game between Richard Rapport and Magnus Carlsen had been quite balanced, with no real edge going to either, yet in the space of five moves, the world no.1 made one error after another, losing a piece at the end. And that was all she wrote. Aronian defeated Giri in record time, while Adhiban beat Andreikin. The Challengers saw a surprising six draws. What a day. Express report.

Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017 starts tomorrow

1/22/2017 – The Financial Times has called the Tradewise Gibraltar Open is the strongest and best-organised event of its kind in the world, said. Anyone who knows the moves (and pays the entry fee) can take part, and perhaps face top participants like Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave or Nakamura. The event lasts from January 23 (opening) to February 4, the location is very balmy: ten hours of daylight, average day temperature 16° C, warm sea temperatures, beautiful scenery. Paradise!

2017 Tata Rd7: Win some, draw some

1/22/2017 – As unexpected a round as could be where none of the expected results panned out. In fact, the biggest surprise of the day was precisely that the standings remained unchanged! Carlsen was crushing Giri but missed a mate in three and drew, while So faced imminent loss to Eljanov but somehow emerged unscathed and extended his unbeaten streak to 50 games. Still, Wei Yi's powerful win over Loek Van Wely meant he now shares 2nd-4th. Alex Yermolinsky brings superb notes not to be missed!

2017 Tata R7 Express: Golden opportunities

1/21/2017 – There is no question two players will be gnashing their teeth as they wonder how their prey got away. First and foremost was Magnus Carlsen, who built up a winning endgame against Anish Giri, but somehow stumbled in the conversion and let him get away despite pressing for over 120 moves. Pavel Eljanov also reached a won position against Wesley So, but failed three consecutive moves to find the winning sequence and let him escape. Wei Yi won and is tied 2nd-4th. Express report.

2017 Tata Rd6: The higher they rise, the harder they fall

1/21/2017 – What a round, and what a feast for the fans. After defeating Karjakin with the French, Indian player Adhiban decided to face the man-in-form Wesley So with the King's Gambit! Though he got a great position, it was not enough to win. Anish Giri also celebrated his first win by beating Nepomniachtchi. Still, the biggest surprise was in the Challengers where all three leaders lost. Annotating Hansen's fine win over Xiong, Tiger Hillarp-Persson gives a wonderful class on the bishop pair.

So on So

1/20/2017 – In round five at the 2017 Tata Steel Masters, Wesley So won a beautiful game against Harikrishna in which he completely asphyxiated his Indian opponent even with the queens off very early. Both players spent a great deal of time in the opening, working out the cunning complications, but the clincher came about after: they had unwittingly replayed the opening masterpiece by Kramnik against Nepomniachtchi in Dortmund 2015. We bring you the game with So’s analysis and comments by Kramnik.

2017 Tata R6 Express: Off with their heads

1/20/2017 – It was another intriguing day at Wijk aan Zee, though more so in the Challengers section than the Masters. The Masters saw two decisive games, though was close to three. Anish Giri scored his first win, beating Nepomniachtchi, while Wei Yi beat Rapport in a wild game. The Challengers once more saw only one draw, but the surprise was all three leaders, Ragger, Smirin, and Xiong, finding themselves on the wrong end of the executioner's axe. Express report.

The special one

1/20/2017 – 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.

2017 Tata Rd5: So takes lead; Adhiban stuns Karjakin

1/20/2017 – It isn’t every day that so many astonishing things happen in a single round, but such was the case in round five. The news came on several fronts, notably Eljanov losing to Aronian, and thus relinquishing his top position. Carlsen wasn’t the one to snatch it after a draw by Nepomniachtchi, but rather Wesley So, who defeated Harikrishna. Bottom seed Adhiban smashed Karjakin in a French Defense. Today’s report includes a Masters thesis by Alex Lenderman on the French Defense.

2017 Tata R5 Express: Wesley So charges ahead

1/19/2017 – Who could have predicted it? While Pavel Eljanov had been making headlines with his grip of sole lead, all eyes were also on Magnus Carlsen who had been chasing after the lead, punctuated by a super win over Wei Yi in round four. Still, after Carlsen drew in round five against former second Nepomniachtchi, and Eljanov lost to Aronian, it was Wesley So who scored a fantastic victory over Harikrishna to take the sole lead. Karjakin fell surprisingly to Adhiban in a French Defense. Express report.

Jon Speelman's Agony Column #37

1/19/2017 – Niel Hickman, a retired judge in his sixties, used to get regularly beaten up in college by the young Tony Miles, and then by the likes of GM Jim Plaskett. He now lives in Norfolk, does Guardian crosswords and writes a bit – on jurisprudence and chess. Niel has submitted two games, a tragedy from 2011 and a very nicely played attacking effort from 2015. They are annotated and explained by him and Jon Speelman. Agony and ecstasy.

Strengthen your chess foundation with IM Nisha Mohota

1/18/2017 – Nisha Mohota is an International Master and an experienced trainer. Last year she was in Hamburg to record a DVD in the ChessBase studio. "Strengthen your chess foundation" contains important theoretical and practical knowledge on openings, middlegames and endgames. The DVD also focuses on one extremely important element in chess that is rarely spoken about – psychology. Six hours of high quality content.

2017 Tata Rd4: Taking no prisoners

1/18/2017 – If the third round was deserving of the title “bloody round” then the fourth was even more so. Not only were there three high quality wins in the Masters by Eljanov, Carlsen, and So, but there might have been four had Giri not slipped at the last moment. The Challengers saw all seven games end in decisive results. It wasn’t all smooth sailing as will seen, while some, like Ragger continued his steamrolling ways with a fourth straight win. Full report with annotations by GM Georg Meier.

Daniel King looks at Tata Steel

1/18/2017 – During our coverage of the Tata Steel tournament, we have once again enlisted the help of GM Daniel King, who has been producing round-by-round videos in which he recaps the action of the day in the Masters, as well as a close look at one of the games of the round, such as the ultra exciting So-Rapport game of round three. However, he has also been hosting a lengthy daily show on Playchess where all the games get scrutinized. Check out these great videos.

Hans Berliner, chess master and programmer, dies at 87

1/18/2017 – He learned chess at the age of 13, and the game became a preoccupation and obsession. Hans Berliner played for the US Olympiad team and four times in the US Championship. He later graduated in computer science and became a professor at the Carnegie Mellon University. There he pioneered hardware programming and built the first machine that exceeded 2400 Elo points. Last Friday he passed away in his retirement home in Florida. Hans Berliner is also remembered for what many have called the greatest chess game ever played.

2017 Tata R4 Express: Carlsen, So, and Eljanov win

1/17/2017 – The leaders are certainly making themselves felt and noticed, and it was never clearer than in round four. Magnus Carlsen faced Chinese prodigy Wei Yi, and it was a fascinating game to watch as he eventually broke his resistance and scored a win. Not to be outdone, leader Pavel Eljanov overcame B. Adhiban in an excellent endgame, while Wesley So kept pace with a fine win of his own over Loek Van Wely. The Challengers was all-out war with not one draw in seven games. Express report.

The short diagonal

1/17/2017 – 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!

Fritztrainer: Alexei Shirov on cracking the Berlin Wall

1/17/2017 – The Berlin Defence gives White a hard nut to crack – after 5.d4 White has trouble proving any advantage. Top Latvian GM Alexei Shirov proposes a different approach: play 5.Re1 and you will get a symmetrical position that is not boring at all. With a whole range of grandmaster games Shirov shows that White can indeed develop pressure and seize the initiative, and that the position is full of subtleties. His latest DVD gives you a first-class weapon against the Berlin and helps you to be at least one step ahead of your opponent.

I will go to Iran as a chess player and just play chess!

1/17/2017 – Ju Wenjun won the tournament in Khanty Mansiysk and with it the overall women's Grand Prix as well. This gives her the right to challenge the World Championship winner in Tehran 2017. ChessBase India's Niklesh Jain got in touch with the women's world number two and asked her questions, not only about her Grand Prix victory, but also about the hijab controversy, Hou Yifan's decision to pull out of the cycle and her personal ambitions in chess.

2017 Tata Rd3: Manic Monday

1/17/2017 – What a round it was. While the masters saw three decisive games, the challengers saw six of the seven games end with victors and losers. It was also a round defined by fatal blunders that upset the balance of the games. The most obvious was Rapport’s change of fortunes as he went from won to lost against So, but he was not alone as Bok and Jones also self-immolated on the board. Still, it wasn't all tragedies as Wei Yi and Karjakin scored. Report with analysis by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson.

2017 Tata R3 Express: Bloody round with tough games

1/16/2017 – The third round was a very exciting round to follow, with decisive results all over, and some epic games. By far the most exciting was the battle between Wesley So and Richard Rapport. The Hungarian brought in all his imagination and verve and reached a dead won game only to blunder it away in a couple of moves. Tragic. Nepomniachtchi also tried his hardest to save a hard endgame, but slipped at the end and lost to Wei Yi. The Challengers saw all games but one end in wins. Express report.