1/16/2016 – The first round of the Tata Steel Tournament 2016 in Wijk aan Zee saw interesting games and three wins in the Masters group: Wesley So outplayed Anish Giri, Ding Liren showed good opening knowledge, inspired ideas in the middlegame, and technical skills in the endgame to win against Michael Adams. Fabiano Caruana won a fine attacking game against Pavel Eljanov. The other four games were drawn. The players in the Challengers were less peaceful - they did not play a single draw.

1/16/2016 – The top players are there, in the Masters at Wijk. But it is worthwhile taking a look at the Challengers, where traditionally plenty of exciting chess battles take place. Of the 14 players in this group, five are from the host nation, while Russia and Azerbaijan have two players each, and USA, Germany, Georgia, India and China one player. Three women will be seen in action. Here's an overview.

1/15/2016 – The first New Zealand Chess Championship was played in 1879. The 123rd edition took place from 2nd to 10th January in Devonport, an idyllic town close to Auckland. After nine rounds English GM Gawain Jones emerged as sole winner with 7.5/9, half a point ahead of Ju Wenjun, Ma Qun, and Nigel Short. IM Deimante Daulyte sends a large pictorial report.

1/15/2016 – 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.

1/15/2016 – It is called the "Wimbledon of Chess" and takes place in Wijk aan Zee, Holland. The Tata Steel event attracts the very best chess players in the world – this year the world numbers 1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, etc. Magnus Carlsen, the defending champion, will be looking for his fifth title, equaling Anand’s record. We look at the 14 participants in both the Masters and Challengers section and give you a preview of what you can expect!

1/14/2016 – The main problem every chess amateur faces is to develop a tactical vision that will help you spot the combinations in any given position quickly and accurately. While talented youngsters are easily able to do that, adults spend years in a vain attempt to improve. The ChessBase Tactics Trainer now has a new function that will help you get better: the Tactics Fight. Statutory warning: the app is extremely addictive!

1/8/2016 – The 25th World Senior Chess Championships in Acqui Terme, Italy, was an amazing event. More than three hundred players started, including over 100 titled players, among them 18 GMs and 34 IMs. GM Nona Gaprindashvili won the Women’s 65+ section with 7.0/9, GM Predrag Nikolic the Open 50+ with 9.5/11. Ian Wilkinson remembers the event from a Jamaican perspective.

1/8/2016 – QM3: A game ends with the move 6...Nf1 mate – find moves that achieve this. That was our New Year's Puzzle. Solutions were sent in from around the globe – hundreds in all. Many letters were quite interesting, so we bring you a substantial selection. One of them has won the historic prize. Finally the coin problem by John Nunn: the solution is a five-second eight-word sentence that any ten-year-old can understand.

1/8/2016 – The Hastings Chess Congress has a very long tradition and the legendary Hastings tournament 1895 was one of the strongest tournaments of its time. Emanuel Lasker, Wilhelm Steinitz and Siegbert Tarrasch took part but in the end the American Harry Nelson Pillsbury won the tournament. A real surprise at that time. This year's Congress also had two surprise winners.

1/8/2016 – 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.

1/7/2016 – Paul Keres was born 7th January 1916 in Narva, Estonia, and was one of the best players in the history of chess. He played in eight candidates tournaments and four times he finished second. He won games against nine World Champions but never played a match for the title. He was also a fantastic chess writer and an impeccable sportsman. In Estonia he is a national hero.

1/7/2016 – Jon Ludvig Hammer from Norway and Maxim Rodshtein from Israel were both in good form at the traditionally strong Rilton Cup in Stockholm. Both grandmasters played a number of impressive games and both managed to raise their ratings to 2700+. But fortune smiled a bit brighter on Rodshtein who won the tournament with 8.0/9, half a point ahead of Hammer.