Chess Talent: Vincent meets Garry

10/23/2015 – He comes from a family of musicians: father teaches at the university, mother plays concert cello. Vincent himself is a budding pianist – and a very strong chess player, as became clear in a coaching session at ChessBase. So we took him to meet the 13th World Champion to get a really profound evaluation. Garry Kasparov confirmed: a truly extraordinary talent. Now guess how old Vincent is.

Super bishops

10/23/2015 – 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.

Exclusive World Blitz videos

10/22/2015 – Last weekend you may have been like us, avidly watching the World Blitz games either on Playchess for the complete experience, or via the live video. The problem with the video was that it only ever showed one single board, almost always Carlsen. Fair enough, but that meant a lot of great players and games missed. Not so! Pascal Simon brings many exclusive videos and analysis.

The Global Chess Festival 2015

10/22/2015 – Judit Polgar became a grandmaster in 1992 when she was 15 years and four months old. At that time she was the youngest grandmaster of all time, breaking Bobby Fischer's record from 1958 by one month. She soon developed into the best female player of all time. Now she helps to make chess more popular, for instance, by organising the Global Chess Festival.

High quality chess in Skopje

10/21/2015 – The European Club Cup for the open section as well as women is being held in the historical city of Skopje. It is a gathering of the best players in the world – six of the top ten grandmasters in the rating list are participating. A lot of fighting chess is on show and stars like Nakamura and Giri have already had to bite the dust. We have six instructive game annotations for you. Learn and enjoy.

Hoogeveen: Timman strikes first

10/21/2015 – After two draws Jan Timman showed his strategic skills to win the third game of his match against Jorden van Foreest in fine style. In the second match in Hoogeveen between Sopiko Guramishvili and Anna Maja Kazarian Guramishvili continues to dominate and won her third game in a row. After five rounds Sengupta Deep emerged as sole leader in the open tournament.

The king in the cage

10/21/2015 – 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!

Chess and art in Hoogeveen

10/20/2015 – Last weekend the 19th Hoogeven Chess Festival began. Most visitors come to watch the strong players in action, but they also got to see an exhibition of the Dutch painter Tjerk Zijlstra. In his works he makes use of the Lewis chessmen, and is inspired by studies by Richard Réti. Tjerk describes the artistic, philosophical, and spiritual motifs of his paintings. A study of chess and art.

Hoogeveen celebrates chess

10/20/2015 – The 19th Hoogeveen Chess Festival is an attractive event. This year Dutch legend Jan Timman plays a match against Jorden van Foreest, the youngest Dutch GM of all time. Anna Maja Kazarian, recently crowned U16 European Champion challenges Sopiko Giri-Guramishvili. Moreover, there is a strong open, two amateur events and a tournament in Basque Chess.

Isle of Man winner: Harikrishna in interview

10/19/2015 – As the Isle of Man tournament came to an end the tournament winner, Pentala Harikrishna, packed his bags to travel to the World Blitz Championships in Berlin. In between his travel and intense schedule he found time to give us a small interview. Apart from this we have a beautifully annotated game by one of the GM norm scorers from this tournament. Big pictorial report.

Hou Yifan wins Monaco by two points

10/17/2015 – After a 2.5/4 start, Chinese GM Hou Yifan went on a rampage, scoring 6.5 in the last seven rounds to win the first leg of the 2015/16 FIDE Grand Prix. At 9.0/11 she finished two full points ahead of her nearest rivals Mariya Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru. Along with pictures, analysis and videos, we have zeroed in on a game where Hou Yifan played exactly like a former World Champion.

Huffington: Chess Feasts in Europe and America

10/16/2015 – Magnus Carlsen was in Berlin to defend his rapid and blitz world championship titles. He succeeded in the former but succumbed to Alexander Grischuk in the latter. Hikaru Nakamura won the Millionaire Open, collecting the $100,000 first prize. Hou Yifan dominated the Women's Grand Prix and finished two points ahead of the field. GM Lubomir Kavalek provides game analysis.

Blitz Championship in Berlin: Errors and emotions

10/16/2015 – After five intense days the chess world crowned an old and a new World Champion. Magnus Carlsen is the old and the new Rapid Champion, Alexander Grischuk is new Blitz Champion. The public saw spectacular, entertaining chess, and witnessed how even the very best players made mistakes and showed a lot of emotions. Impressions and missed chances...

File blockers

10/16/2015 – 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.

Pentala Harikrishna succeeds on Isle of Man

10/15/2015 – Pentala Harikrishna is the winner of the PokerStars Isle Of Man tournament 2015. In the last round Nigel Short tried hard to beat the Indian Grandmaster but finally had to content himself with a draw. The tournament had a strong field and a superb organisation. And the island itself made Alina l'Ami ask some fundamental questions. Report, pictures, analyses...

Showdown in St. Louis

10/15/2015 – American chess is getting stronger and is on the rise. This fall, Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, the top two players in the United States, will visit the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) and compete in a series of games over four days: Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15. Press release.

World Blitz 2015: Grischuk wins third title

10/14/2015 – After his crushing victory in the World Rapid championship, it seemed as if Magnus Carlsen was going to pull off a three-peat by securing all three titles a second straight year. However, during the last day of the World Blitz, the world no. 1 suffered a meltdown that opened the way for the others, and suddenly the title was wide open. It was pure excitement until the end.

Daniel Gormally: English Attack

10/14/2015 – Are you an 1.e4 player? And are you looking for an effective weapon against the Sicilian? English GM Daniel Gormally might help you. He recommends the English Attack, one of the strongest ways to fight the Najdorf and the Scheveningen. On his first ChessBase DVD Gormally teaches how to play against the Sicilian and entertains by showing famous and exciting games.

Millionaire Chess 2: Nakamura is supreme

10/13/2015 – Millionaire Monday was all that it was cracked up to be. Not only did the top stars fight it out for a grand $100 thousand, but dozens of amateurs also fought for unheard of prizes in the tens of thousand of dollars. For many, if not all, these were life-changing matches, everything the organizers Maurice Ashley and Amy Lee had dreamed the event could be. Fantastic games and magic moments.

World Rapid 2015: Magnus Carlsen retains his title

10/13/2015 – It was an exciting finish to the World Rapid championship, with many thrilling battles. For some, the event never really took off, while others rose and fell, but Magnus Carlsen gave a vintage performance as he scored a 11.5/15, a full point ahead of the field, and taking the no.1 spot to boot. In second was Ian Nepomniachtchi, and third was Dominguez. Report and analysis.

Chess in style on the Italian Riviera

10/13/2015 – Malcolm Pein is the organiser of the London Chess Classic but in his holidays he decided to switch sides and to play a tournament. He picked the open in Gabicce at the Italian Riviera in Gabicce - a tournament that had a lot to offer. Right after Gabicce players had a chance to play more chess at the Riviera - in Fano. Diana Mihajlova reports.

Hou Yifan leads Monaco Womens' Grand Prix

10/13/2015 – After eight rounds of the Monaco Grand Prix it is Hou Yifan who is in the lead with a score of 6.5/8. Half a point behind her is the current Women’s World Champion Mariya Muzychuk. With three rounds to go it promises to be an exciting finish. In this report we have game analysis, a lot of very nice pictures, and interesting videos of the post game conferences.

A wandering knight

10/13/2015 – 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!

Millionaire Chess 2: Fighting for a million

10/12/2015 – The Millionaire Open is in its second edition, and is the first serious open in history to bring three of the Top Ten players in the world. More than that, it offers unbelievable prizes for each and every category, with tens of thousands of dollars even for under-1200! The competition is well underway, with four lucky players fighting for the top prizes. Massive illustrated report.