Leuven!

6/29/2016 – In June the Grand Chess Tour came to Paris and Leuven. Hikaru Nakamura won in Paris, Magnus Carlsen won in Leuven, and the top players are already on their way to other top events in Dortmund or in Bilbao. Paris is a justly famous city but the lesser known Leuven is also worth a closer look. Which André Schulz took while he was visiting the Grand Chess tour.

The tricky rook

6/28/2016 – 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!

Edmonton: Shankland wins with 8.0/9

6/27/2016 – In the ninth and final round of the Edmonton International tournament that was part of the 11th Edmonton Chess Festival, US Grandmaster Samuel Shankland needed only a draw against Canadian Richard Wang to win the tournament on tie-break. With seven wins and two draws Shankland finished with 8.0/9 as did Indian Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly.

Erwin l´Ami is Dutch online Blitz Champion

6/27/2016 – The Dutch online Blitz Championship was played on 23rd June on the ChessBase playchess server as a 16-player knock-out tournament with a time-limit of 3+3 - three minutes for the whole game plus three seconds increment per move. Reigning champion Erwin l´Ami dominated the tournament from the start and in the final defeated Loek van Wely 5-2 to defend his title.

l‘Ami: A gambit guide through the Open Game

6/27/2016 – Erwin l’Ami is a member of the Dutch national team, and was the second of former World Champion Veselin Topalov. In two remarkable new DVDs – almost seven hours of recordings on each – he takes you on a journey through time and shows gambit lines in Open Games (after 1.e4 e5). You will encounter the infamous Frankenstein-Dracula Gambit, the Cochrane, the Belgrade and, of course, the King’s Gambit. Don't miss it!

Farrukh Amonatov wins Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup

6/27/2016 – Having to rush, having to run, being under time-pressure, having only minutes or seconds for an important decision is a feeling more and more people of today share - and do not like. But chessplayers sometimes seem to enjoy the lack of time and many top players came to play in the Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup in Almaty. Alina l'Ami sends a big illustrated report.

When the warlord was young

6/27/2016 – Seventy years ago a young boy made his debut in competitive chess. Our thumbnail shows him a few years later, at the start of a great career. For decades tournament halls resonated with his astonishing victories and disasters no less. Time and again he fell and rose like a Phoenix. Here Nagesh Havanur remembers those early steps in a legendary career, which recently sadly came to an end.

Edmonton: Shankland beats Ganguly

6/26/2016 – Indian Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly started the Edmonton tournament with 7.0/7, American Grandmaster Samuel Shankland began a bit less furiously but still scored 6.5/7. Their crucial encounter came in round eight and brought Shankland a smooth victory. With one round to go Shankland now leads with 7.5/8 and has good chances to win the tournament.

Edmonton: Ganguly leads with 7.0/7

6/25/2016 – Part of the 11th Edmonton Chess Festival in Canada is an international round-robin tournament with ten players, in which Canadian talents have the chance to play against strong grandmasters such as Alexei Shirov, Shekhar Ganguky, S.P. Sethuraman or Samuel Shankland. Shirov started as favorite but Ganguly decided to win all his games and leads with 7.0/7.

Kortschnoj Classic II

6/24/2016 – 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.

A month in the life of Garry Kasparov

6/24/2016 – What does a legendary World Chess Champion do when he retires? Appear as a VIP guest at chess events, or as a celebrities at social events. Not the 13th World Champion who jets across the globe holding political, business and chess speaking events, with participation in a world class blitz tournament as a quick interlude. Garry Kasparov sent us a description of hs recent activities. You should especially watch the video lecture at the end of the report.

Andrew Martin: Nimzowitsch Defence 1.e4 Nc6 - Review

6/24/2016 – The Nimzowitsch Defence (1.e4 Nc6) is an underestimated answer to 1.e4. But it is a fully valid line with possible transpositions to the French, the Scandinavian or the Pirc-Defence. On his new ChessBase-DVD IM Andrew Martin explains the chances this opening offers for Black. Markus Reinke, a Nimzowitsch expert himself, took a critical look at the DVD.

New in Chess 2016/4 is out

6/23/2016 – The current issue of the Dutch chess magazine honors Garry Kasparov's impressive performance in the St. Louis Blitz Challenge and has a frank interview with Magnus Carlsen about his success at the Norway Chess tournament. Nigel Short ponders about pleasant ways to improve one's chess performance while Judit Polgar praises the pawns. And much more...

Chess Festival Lublin: Europe wins against Poland

6/23/2016 – This year the 8. European Chess Festival in Lublin, Poland, was a match between Poland and "Europe". The two teams consisted of three players who played twice against all players of the other team. Top scorer of the event was Czech player David Navara who finished with 5.0/6 and secured the "European" victory by winning against Jacek Tomczak in the last and decisive round.

Masterclass weekend at luxury villa in Marrakech

6/23/2016 – Looking for something special – we mean really special? How about a weekend of chess, with two well-known British GMs (Short and Conquest) providing daily classes and lectures, in the most luxurious surroundings you can imagine (in Marrakech, Marocco)? It will set you back £2,000 per person, all inclusive, plus £600 for a partner in the same room. Before you shelve the idea take a look at these pictures.

Jon Speelman's Agony Column #7

6/22/2016 – Playing regularly against the same opponent can be tricky. Openings have to be prepared differently and psychology becomes even more important than in"ordinary" games. In today's column Jonathan Speelman presents two games by 17-year old Clara McGrew which illustrate such a struggle while revealing something about the art of annotating games.

Kurt Schneider: from chess to music

6/22/2016 – One of the most popular youtube video channels is run by Kurt Hugo Schneider. The young US-American can boast of seven million followers which makes him more popular than the NBA. Schneider is also an excellent chessplayer and was once one of the most promising talents in the US. But he then decided to use his creativity to change modern music.

Ivanchuk wins 51. Capablanca Memorial

6/21/2016 – The Capablanca Memorial is a tournament with a long tradition. The first of these events to honor the Cuban Champion was played in 1962, this year saw the 51st edition. Six of the previous 50 tournaments were won by Vassily Ivanchuk. This year he won for the seventh time. With four wins and six draws Ivanchuk scored 7.0/10 and was one point ahead of his closest rival.

Breakthroughs

6/21/2016 – 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. Today on the playchess server, 4 pm: Endgame Magic

The case of the falling queen

6/21/2016 – Imagine you are playing an important blitz tiebreak game, and an Armageddon no less. Your team's progress depends on it. You have a winning position and plenty of time. You move your queen to capture a pawn. You press the clock, but while you are doing so the queen falls over. Are you allowed to replace it – on your opponent's time? Here, from an Indian chess league, is a forensic analysis of the situation and the rules involved.

Carlsen wins Grand Chess Tour Leuven

6/20/2016 – In Paris, at the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, Hikaru Nakamura was able to get the better of World Champion Magnus Carlsen. But at the second Grand Chess Tour tournament 2016 in Leuven Carlsen came back with a vengeance. He showed an impressive performance in the second part of the blitz tournament and won the event convincingly.

Ortisei: strong chess in idyllic surroundings

6/20/2016 – Ortisei is a small village in the Italian Dolomites. At the beginning of June the idyllic village was host to the 3rd Ortisei Open, which attracted 140 participants, among them several strong grandmasters. After nine rounds GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu first with 7.0/9. Dutch GM Jan Werle also had 7.0/9 but Nisipeanu had the better tie-break.

Leuven Day 3: Hard-fought blitz keeps Carlsen in lead

6/19/2016 – It was an incredibly hard-fought nine rounds of blitz in which only Levon Aronian managed squeak ahead of the rest by half a point with 5.5/9, allowing him to take clear third in the combined standings with 15.5 points. Carlsen, So, Nakamura and Kramnik all scored 5.0/9 leaving Magnus Carlsen still in clear first with 17 points, trailed by Wesley So with 16. Illustrated report.

Leuven Day 2: Carlsen wins rapid after 4/4 day

6/18/2016 – If day one of the rapid games in Leuven was full of surprises, day two was no less so, though thankfully not due to record numbers of blunders. Vishy Anand started the day with a win, but after two losses lost the lead as he was caught up by Wesley So. In the meantime, Magnus Carlsen showed he was back and managed to win the rapid phase after a fabulous 4/4. Illustrated report.