12/27/2016 – From December 15th till the 20th one of the strongest open swiss tournaments in the history of Latin America took place in the city of Mérida, Yucatán - Mexico. For the fourth time in a row and the fifth time ever, Cuban grandmaster Lázaro Bruzón Batista was victorious. He was the sole winner with 7.5 out of 9, edging out GM Aleksandr Shimanov from Russia and peruvian IM Deivy Vera Sigueñas, who both obtained 7 out of 9. Illustrated report.

12/27/2016 – 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!

12/26/2016 – The World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Doha, Qatar, are a prestigious event and attracted players such as Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vishy Anand and many more. However, on day one Carlsen, Karjakin & Co. had trouble to find their rhythm and after the first of three days and the first five of 15 rounds it is Anton Korobov who leads with 5.0/5.

12/25/2016 – Another year passes, and we end it with our traditional Christmas puzzles – this year for the seventeenth time. Over the holidays we try to give you something unusual: puzzles that cannot be easily solved with a computer, tasks which require you to think all by yourself. And once again, as happened frequently in the past, we received three wonderfully entertaining problems from the great composer Pal Benko, who wished us and our readers a Happy Christmas.

12/25/2016 – ChessBase wishes all chess friends and readers a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

12/24/2016 – Every year the German "Schachkalender" challenges its readers to a quiz. Under the heading "Who am I?" the "Kalender" gives biographical hints and asks for the name of a well-known chessplayer. This year we offered an English version of the quiz and searched for a player who once had been the number one of his country, had a famous student and was a professional in another sport. A lot of readers took part in the quiz, three won an issue of the ChessBase Magazine. Solution...

12/24/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Behind the door, the door of December 24, waits an opening video. One of the world's greatest opening experts shows a line that might prove useful. Advent calendar, door 24.

12/24/2016 – Only ten rating points separate Richard Rapport (2717) and Wei Yi (2707), the world's two best juniors. And the match they played from 20th to 23rd December in Yancheng, China, was close. A 2-2 tie after four classical games required a blitz-tiebreak. After two blitz-games and another 1-1 tie, an Armageddon game decided the match in favor of Rapport.

12/23/2016 – After an exciting ten days of chess, it almost feels like an anti-climax when the London Chess Classic ends, as there’s no standard prizegiving for the players. What many don’t realise is that there is an official dinner after the event for some special guests. Take a sneak peek into what goes on at the private dinner…

12/23/2016 – From December 1 to December 24 we invite our readers every day to open a door in our advent calendar. Click and enjoy a little chess treat. Behind door 23 hides one of the best and fastest players in the history of chess. Advent calendar, door 23.

12/23/2016 – Concluding the suggested 2016 Christmas Buyer’s Guide, here are fine selections of great games collections by top players with names such as Anand and Kramnik, as well as Master Classes on world champions that now extend to Karpov and Kasparov, two names who dominated chess for 40 years, and of course the flagship programs that have helped make ChessBase what it is, as well as new ones that open a world of possibilities.

12/23/2016 – 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.