8/19/2016 – The Vienna Open takes place from 16th to 23rd August and more than 500 players from over 50 countries start in the nine round swiss, among them 15 grandmasters. Elo-favorite is Markus Ragger, Austria's number one. But there are also a number of talents who want to shine. One of them is ten-year old Jarovir Sindarov from Uzbekistan who has an Elo of 2374. Ragger and Sindarov both had a perfect start and with 3.0/3 they share the lead with 20 other players.

8/19/2016 – After ten from thirteen rounds WIM Janelle May Frayna from the Philippines, seeded as number nine, leads the Girls' World Junior Championship U20 with 8.0/10. Half-a-point behind follows Alina Bivol from Russia with 7.5/8. Five players with 7.0/10 share places three to seventh, among them top seed Dinara Saduakassova from Kazakhstan.

8/19/2016 – 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.

8/19/2016 – In round ten of the World Junior U20 Championships in Bhubaneswar, India, 15-year old Jeffery Xiong scored his fourth win in a row. He beat Polish IM Grzegroz Nasuta with fine endgame play and now leads with 8.5/10. His closest rival is Vladislav Artemiev who won against Iraki Beradze. With 7.5/10 Artemiev is one point behind Xiong and with three rounds to go the direct encounter between these two will probably decide who will become World Junior Champion 2016.

8/19/2016 – The 48th edition of the Dutch Open in Dieren, Netherlands, was won by Sandipan Chanda. He faced stiff competition from Erwin l’Ami and Igor Khenkin, but the Indian grandmaster showed nerves of steel as he won his last round game to take the title by a clear half point. In this article we have some interesting training material for the readers of our newspage. Throughout the report you will be challenged, and at the end of it you are bound to become a stronger chess player.

8/18/2016 – The dynamic 4...Nf6 line of the Caro-Kann (after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4) offers a golden opportunity to throw your opponents on their own resources. Nigel Davies examines both the Bronstein-Larsen (5.Nxf6+ gxf6) and the Tartakower (5.Nxf6+ exf6) systems and shows how the doubled f-pawn gives Black a range of aggressive plans and ideas. 4...Nf6 has been favored by great players such as Alexander Alekhine, Viktor Kortchnoi, David Bronstein, Bent Larsen, Nigel Short and Savielly Tartakower. Others are likely to join them.

8/13/2016 – Among the most recent updates to the ChessBase Account apps is Fritz Online. In its first incarnation, a placeholder, it was a barebones board with playing functions. Now it has the look and options of the other advanced apps, but it also brings a powerful new tool called ‘Assisted Calculation’ that is designed to help you develop your visualization and calculation skills. Learn about this great tool and how it can raise your game in this step-by-step-guide.

8/13/2016 – It would be easy to complain there was, and that the five draws in round seven were a sign of something amiss, but like it or not, it is sometimes the nature of the beast. The games were all top-notch efforts, with genuine attempts to break the status quo in the positions, but at no point did any bear the unquestionable hallmarks of a win. The closest any really got was perhaps Anand’s good initiative against Aronian, or Caruana’s marathon efforts to try to beat Ding Liren. Report with GM commentary.

8/12/2016 – When he first came to Rio de Janeiro, Lennart Ootes explains he was very unsure of what to expect, with a mix of reports of safety issues and postcard views to take home. Needless to say, the truth lies somewhere in between, with a big city's realities and a unique meld with nature. Here he was able to see some of the best Rio has to offer and shares his impressions, some of the things he saw, with a vow to return soon to see more, and a panoply of breathtaking photos.

8/12/2016 – 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.

8/12/2016 – After the dearth of decisive games in rounds with plenty of action but not results, round six saw three wins that could easily have been four. Aronian missed a trick early in his game and could not save versus MVL, while Ding Liren got a decisive advantage early on in a King's Indian against Svidler. The game of the day was Wesley So’s win over leader Veselin Topalov, allowing him to take over the sole lead with 4.0/6. Here is the round six report with annotations by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

8/11/2016 – Facing a much higher rated opponent can always be a significant challenge, as much psychological as technical. The reverse is also true as playing as hard and focused can be a challenging proposition when our brains relax thanks to excess confidence. In this week's column, grandmaster Jonathan Speelman analyzes a game with just such challenges throughout. Enjoy this lesson and try your hand at the Training questions.