Rodshtein wins Rilton Cup

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.

Grand Chess Tour gets smaller

1/6/2016 – Last year the three supertournaments Norway Chess, Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic merged to become the "Grand Chess Tour" series. Now the organisers of Norway Chess decided to go their own ways again and in a press release announced their intention to leave the series: Norway Chess will not be part of the Grand Chess Tour 2016. Press Release

Hunting knights

1/5/2016 – 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!

Naiditsch wins Chrismas Open in Zurich

1/5/2016 – With a rating of 2698 Arkadij Naiditsch was the favorite to win the traditional Chrismas Open in Zurich that took place from 26th to 30th December. Naiditsch lived up to his role and won the tournament with 6.0/7. Half a point behind followed five players of whom Vitaly Kunin and Christian Bauer had the best tie-break. They finished second and third.

Fritz 15 engine - questions and answers

1/4/2016 – With the arrival of Fritz 15, and the new engine, a large number of questions have arisen regarding its strength, its origin, and its future. One of the very strongest grandmasters in activity expressed his concern quite simply, “The rumours say that it's some kind of old Rybka”. Here are the answers as well as an introduction to the Fritz 15 engine.

Best of 2015: Best Endgame

1/4/2016 – The year 2015 is over now, so we thought it's time to let you vote for the highlights of the past year. Today we want you to vote for the best endgame of the year 2015. The following article features a selection of six endgames picked by GM Karsten Müller. Which, do you think, is the best endgame of 2015?

Groningen Festival won by Jorden van Foreest

1/4/2016 – The traditional Groningen Chess Festival, now in its 53rd edition, was won by 16-year-old IM Jorden van Foreest, a Dutch player on the rise. He and Indian GM Shyam Sundar both finished with 7.5/9, but as van Foreest had won their individual encounter, he took the title. With plenty of activities, and plenty of chess, it was very enjoyable event. Report, pictures, and video.

Sagar Shah: Learn from the Classics (2)

1/4/2016 – This is clearly sound advice – play through the games of Alekhine, Botvinnik and Capablanca to improve your understanding of chess. But just sitting back and enjoying them does not do much for your own playing strength. Sagar Shah tells us how to actually absorb the classics, as he did, and use the ideas in one's own games. His DVD contains a wealth of historical and training material.

US master Steve Brandwein passes away at 73

1/3/2016 – Unless you are intimately familiar with the American chess scene, you will be forgiven for not knowing who Steve Brandwein is. He did not challenge for the world title, nor did he invent an opening. Rather he was one of those memorable characters that one never forgets. A chess monk, as many described him, who had his own encounters with Miguel Najdorf and Bobby Fischer.

Huffington: Great chess minds think alike

1/3/2016 – Magnus Carlsen finished the year with a victory at the Qatar Masters Open in Doha on last Tuesday. The World Champion played more sharply and created a masterpiece that was reminiscent of chess history. The same moves and similar middlegame ideas that occurred in the past suddenly reappeared in Carlsen's game against Li Chao. Huffington Post chess correspondent GM Lubomir Kavalek elaborates.

2015 Al Ain Classic: Wang Hao wins in style

1/2/2016 – Wang Hao of China dominated the Al Ain Chess Classic and achieved the remarkable feat of winning it with a round to spare! He beat Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta in the eighth round to take his tally to 7.5/8, one and a half points over his nearest rivals, thus guaranteeing sole first. A draw with the top-seed and he finished with a 2944 performance. Report with commented games.

Garry Kasparov: Winter is Coming

1/2/2016 – One thing one cannot say about the 13th World Chess Champion: that he is timid and reserved. In an interview with SPIEGEL, Europe's most influential news magazine, Garry Kasparov calls Vladimir Putin a dictator and accuses the West of capitulating in the face of the Kremlin's aggressive foreign policy. This and hundreds of stories in the broadsheets were sparked by the release of his latest book.

ChessBase New Year's Puzzle 2016

1/2/2016 – First of all a very Happy New Year to all our faithful readers, and best wishes for happiness and success in the year 2016. To celebrate and to close our Christmas puzzle week we bring you a final problem, one that is easy to formulate but is seriously difficult to solve. This is your chance to compete with some of the world's strongest players and problem experts. And to win a prize with historical significance.

January 2016 ratings: Magnus Carlsen is no.1

1/1/2016 – The headline might seem a tad obvious, but it should be noted that he is not only no. 1 in classical chess, he once more holds the no. 1 positions in rapid and blitz as well. Vladimir Kramnik regains the world no. 2 spot, and rejoins the 2800 club. However, a note should be made of Iranian FM Alireza Firouzja, who is 2455 and only 12 years old.

Qatar Masters Rd9: Magnus supreme in Qatar

1/1/2016 – As you know from our Express report Magnus Carlsen won the Qatar Masters in a thrilling tiebreak finish with last year's winner Yu Yangyi. After the event was over our reporters in Doha had to take a flight home and got stuck in Bahrain. Thus the description of the final day comes a little late, but it is full of didactic analysis that will make you stronger, and exclusive pictures and videos.

Best of 2015: Best Game

1/1/2016 – The year 2015 is over now, so we thought it's time to let you vote for the highlights of the past year. Today we want you to vote for the best game of the year 2015. The following article features a selection of ten games from the elite level. Which, do you think, is the best game of 2015?

A treat to the eyes

1/1/2016 – 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.

ChessBase Christmas Puzzles 2015 (7)

12/31/2015 – In 1999, in the very first installment, we gave you a proof game problem as a Christmas puzzle, one that has occupied generations of chess players. Such problems require a great deal of lateral thinking, and are not readily accessible to computer analysis. This month we nostalgically reconnected with an old friend (from the previous millennium) who specializes in such problems. Have fun with Stuart Rachels' quick mates.

2015 Nutcracker - Kings do not lose their majesty

12/31/2015 – Always innovating, trying out new formulas, Russian chess patron Oleg Skvortsov once more ended the year in class and elegance in his Nutcracker event, also dubbed “Battle of Generations”. This year there were two team matches: one was “Kings” versus “Princes”, and the second pitted a team of girls against a team of boys. Illustrated report with interview.

Best of 2015: Most popular opening

12/31/2015 – The year 2015 is almost over, so we thought it's time to let you vote for your highlights of this year. Today we want you to vote for the most popular opening of the year 2015. The following article features a video by Rustam Kasimdzhanov who presents a selection of openings to vote for. Which is the most popular opening of the year 2015?

The New Yorker magazine: "Your Move" with Caruana

12/31/2015 – The New Yorker is a rare breed of magazine nowadays that mixes local stories, national issues, sophisticated opinion pieces, and even original fiction that has seen contributions by some of the greatest authors. In the latest edition in January 2016, Fabiano Caruana is the topic of an article entitled “Your Move”. Read more.

"Magnus": A new book on the World Champion

12/31/2015 – Did you ever wonder why and how Magnus Carlsen became so good? How he managed to become World Champion in a country without a great chess tradition? In a new book about Carlsen Norwegian author Aage G. Sivertsen writes about Carlsen's way to the top. In the past Sivertsen has time and again shown that he knows how to motivate and how to invite success.

Best of 2015: Best female player

12/31/2015 – The year 2015 is almost over, so we thought it's time to let you vote for your highlights of this year. To begin with, we want you to vote for the best female player of the year. The following article presents a number of players who currently shape the chess world and whose achievements in 2015 stand out. Who is your player of the year 2015?

ChessBase Account: MyGames Cloud (part two)

12/30/2015 – While it is absolutely true that one can create a database, enter fresh games, and analyze them, all using the MyGames app, to get the most from all its options such as collectively shared databases across the globe, you need ChessBase 13. However, you don’t need this if all you want is to to share analysis for player preparation as a player with a second or coach.