Mark Taimanov celebrates 90th birthday

2/7/2016 – As a child Mark Taimanov was a film star and later he was one of the best chessplayers of his time. He was also a celebrated concert pianist, giving concerts all over the world. With his fourth wife he founded and runs a chess school in St. Petersburg. Today, 7th February 2016, Taimanov celebrates his 90th birthday. Dagobert Kohlmeyer talked to the multi-talent.

Chess in a former Silk Road oasis

2/6/2016 – Chess is booming in Iran. A few days after the end of the Iranian Championships an international tournament took place in Mashhad, Iran's second most populous city, formerly an oasis along the ancient Silk Road. After nine rounds GM Pavel Maletin and IM Maksim Chigaev (both from Russia) shared first place with 7.5/9 each. Maletin won on tie-break-points.

Hesse: Threats of the nth degree

2/5/2016 – Averbakh called them "threats of the 1st degree" – moves which directly and bluntly threaten to bring about a concrete mate or the win of material. 2nd degree threats are moves which are intended to enable threats of the 1st degree. And so it continues, recursively. In his wonderfully entertaining book Joys of Chess Prof. Christian Hesse goes all the way to threats of the 5th degree.

Review: The Classical French

2/5/2016 – Former FIDE-World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov enjoys the reputation of being one of the world's best theoreticians. A lot of top players and federations are very keen to hire him as opening trainer. For ChessBase users things are more easy: they only need to get hold of one of his DVDs. For instance about the Main Line of the Classical French. Review...

The tricky London

2/5/2016 – 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.

Gibraltar: Hikaru Nakamura wins after tie-break

2/4/2016 – Hikaru Nakamura won the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival last year and he won it this year. But not as smoothly as before. This year after nine of ten rounds Nakamura shared the lead with seven players. By winning the last round against David Anton, he qualified for a tie-break against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Here, after four draws Nakamura won the fifth game and the tournament.

Looking back: Qatar Masters 2015 – a class of its own

2/4/2016 – What happens when you organize a tournament that has 132 players, 77 of them grandmasters? What happens when 17 players above 2700 are trying their best to defeat the reigning World Champion? What happens when playing hall, facilities and accommodation are world class? What we get is an open tournament of a stature that has never been seen before in the history of chess – say our reporters in Doha.

Chess Down Under: The Australian Women's Masters

2/4/2016 – Melbourne is remarkable. It is no coincidence that the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked Melbourne as the world's most liveable city for five times in a row (2011 to 2015). Deimante Daulyte had the pleasure and the chance to play chess in this city. She became second in the Australian Women's Masters and shares her impressions in a large pictorial report.

Gibraltar 09: Eight players share lead

2/4/2016 – The two top encounters of the ninth round of the Gibraltar Open ended in a draw. E. Bacrot drew M. Vachier-Lagrave, P. Harikrishna shared the point with D. Anton. This allowed four players to catch up and now eight players share the lead with 7.0/9 before the tenth and final round. If no sole leader emerges, a play-off will decide the winner.

Magnus Carlsen plays Simul in Dutch Parliament

2/3/2016 – After winning the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee for the fifth time, equalizing the record of Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen showed Dutch politicians the intricacies of strategy and tactics: He gave a simul against 30 Dutch politicians in the "Tweede Kammer", the Dutch Parliament. Carlsen only lost to Jeroen van den Berg, the organizer of Wijk aan Zee.

Gibraltar 08: Four players share the lead

2/3/2016 – After eight of ten rounds four players with 6.5/8 each share the lead at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Etienne Bacrot, David Anton, and Pentala Harikrishna. Half a point behind follows a group of twelve players with 6.0/8 each. Among them is top seed Hikaru Nakamura who won with Black against Sergey Grigoriants.

Paul Keres, the Composer

2/2/2016 – For his 100th jubilee there was a Keres Memorial tournament in Talinn, Estonia. Paul Keres, the strongest player who never made it to World Champion, is still a legend for his adventurous play and astounding combinational skill. But he was also a remarkable composer who started with a clever two-mover at the age of thirteen. Prof. Nagesh Havanur presents a collection of Keres problems and studies for you to solve.

Tata Steel Rd13: Magnus Carlsen wins fifth title

2/2/2016 – It was a thrilling finale to a thrilling tournament. Magnus Carlsen added a fabulous fifth Wijk aan Zee title to his resume, tying Anand for the record. Fabiano Caruana's hope to snatch it ended up in ashes as he lost to Tomashevsky. Still, his tiebreak guaranteed second place. The Challengers was a tight affair, with Adhiban taking first. Large illustrated report.

No entry for the king

2/2/2016 – 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!

Gibraltar 07: Anand loses, Anton leads

2/2/2016 – In round seven of the Tradewise Gibraltar Open all games at the top boards were drawn, except one: David Anton won against Richard Rapport to become sole leader with 6.0/7. Half a point behind follows a group of 15 players with 5.5/7 each. Viswanathan Anand played against the Hungarian talent Benjamin Gledura and suffered his second loss in the tournament.

Levon Aronian: the 'David Beckham' of chess

2/1/2016 – It isn’t every day that a chess player is compared to a sports star of David Beckham’s stature, yet that is precisely what CNN did in a recent portrayal of Levon Aronian. Of course, the comment must be put in context before any ado. It is his home and country, Armenia, that have elevated him to such heights, by virtue of their singular love of chess, and where he reigns supreme.

Gibraltar 06: Ten players lead with 5.0/6

2/1/2016 – In round six of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival two Indians played on top board - but Vishy Anand was not one of them. The former World Champion scored a smooth win on board 28 while Pentala Harikrishna and Abijheet Gupta (photo) drew on board one. On board two Markus Ragger and Hikaru Nakamura discussed the King's Indian and showed deep preparation.

Tata Steel R12: Analyzing Caruana vs Van Wely

1/31/2016 – It was round twelve, and Magnus Carlsen had just drawn against Wesley So. Two players saw this as their chance: Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren, and they led the day with great wins and fascinating games. Daniel King brings his grandmaster magnifying glass and looks at Caruana's win over Dutch player Loek Van Wely. Here is the video with his GM analysis.

February 2016 ratings: Rodshtein, Hammer make 2700

1/31/2016 – Although there was little action at the very top, since events like Tata Steel will only be rated in the next list, some payers managed special results of their own. Among them were Norwegian Jon Hammer and Israeli Maxim Rodshtein, who broke 2700 for their first time. Also of note was American Jeffery Xiong who is now the top US Junior. Lists, stats, and tables.

Master Class by Vishy Anand: amazing analysis

1/31/2016 – On January 29, Vishy Anand gave a Master Class which lasted one hour 25 minutes. This was filled with high quality analysis and some brilliant ideas shared by the five-time World Champion, and this video is now available to you. IM Nisha Mohota, who attended this Master Class, gives us first hand experience of what it felt like learning from the Indian legend.

Gibraltar 05: Nakamura shines, Anand falters

1/31/2016 – While Markus Ragger and Etienne Bacrot, who shared the lead with 4.0/4 each, both did not mind a quick and peaceful draw, Hikaru Nakamura and Vishy Anand tried to regain ground. Nakamura managed to do so by winning against Women's World Champion Mariya Muzychuk with a smashing piece sacrifice but Anand pressed too hard and lost against Adrien Demuth from France (Elo 2535).

Tata Steel Rd12: the race to the finish

1/30/2016 – All will be decided in the last round. After draw with So, Carlsen ensured at least a half point advantage in the last round, but a win by Caruana against Van Wely kept his chances alive for an 11th hour surprise. As if that were not enough, Ding won himself and is right behind Caruana, and could even steal gold if he beats Carlsen in the last round. Report, photos and games.

Tata Steel R11: GM King looks at highlights

1/30/2016 – After a long and grueling competition, the players begin showing signs of fatigue, leading to missed chances, and unexpected saves. Round eleven saw this in the spades, with a significant impact on the standings. GM King analyzes the ending between Carlsen and Hou, as well as the cliffhanger between Caruana and Mamedyarov, and the miracle save by Giri vs Adams. Enjoy the video analysis.

Gibraltar 04: Ragger and Bacrot take the lead

1/30/2016 – After three rounds eleven players shared the lead with 3.0/3 at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016, after four rounds only two remain at the top: Markus Ragger from Austria and Etienne Bacrot from France. Ragger won with White against Anna Muzychuk while Bacrot beat Aleksandra Goryachkina with Black. The other top boards all drew.