Huffington: Carlsen Wins Grand Chess Tour

12/19/2015 – Many chess fans complained about the cumbersome tie-breaking rules of the Grand Chess Tour. The three-way tie for first in London was decided by a playoff in which Vachier-Lagrave beat Anish Giri, but then a single loss to Carlsen decided the tournament and an overall Tour victory. In his Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek analyses key games and tells us how the Chess Grand Tour points could have been simplified.

Watch the University Challenge on Monday

12/18/2015 – It is one of the oldest quiz shows, pitting teams of students from two British colleges against each other, with questions that are anything but trivial or easy. There is no prize money involved – the participants compete solely for the honour of representing their alma mater. Why do we tell you all this? Because for the first time in over a thousand shows a chess grandmaster is involved.

Strike or own goal?

12/18/2015 – 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.

25th World Senior Chess Championship

12/18/2015 – The 25th World Senior Chess Championships in Acqui Terme, Italy, was an amazing event. The four groups drew more than three hundred participants, including over 100 titled players, among them 18 GMs and 34 IMs. Georgian chess legend GM Nona Gaprindashvili won the Women’s 65+ section with 7.0/9, GM Predrag Nikolic the Open 50+ with 9.5/11. Report from a Jamaican perspective by Ian Wilkinson.

A Magnuficent Sunday at the LCC 2015 (2)

12/17/2015 – After the regular games at the London Chess Classic 2015 three players, Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had tied for the top spot. In the rapid playoffs MVL eliminated Giri but then succumbed to the World Champion in the finals. Magnus Carlsen thus not only became the London winner but also the Grand Chess Tour Champion. Big pictorial report with instructive analysis by Sagar Shah.

The knight wants to have control

12/16/2015 – 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!

A Magnuficent Sunday at the LCC 2015 (1)

12/16/2015 – Okay, it is not in the OED, the word does describe the super Sunday at the London Chess Classic 2015. Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave went into the final round leading with 5.0/8 points. Both drew their games, while World Champion Magnus Carlsen, trailing half a point behind, managed to outwit Alexander Grischuk to force a tiebreak. Sagar Shah watched it all unfold and sent us a two-part in-depth report.

Chess books on computers and tablets

12/15/2015 – Technology now enables us to keep an entire chess library on a portable electronic device and to play over the moves on screen while reading your favourite book. Grandmaster John Nunn, author and Director at the prominent publishers Gambit, talks about the growing range of books his company is converting to app format, to run on iPads, Android tablets and smartphones. You can try it out for free.

Agon/FIDE sign record-breaking media deal

12/15/2015 – Agon is the commercial partner of FIDE, NRK a leadin Norwegian TV network. The latter has paid a record sum to secure long-term broadcasting rights for World Championship events on TV, from now until 2020. NRK has developed exciting ways to make chess interesting for TV audiences in countries around the world. The exact amount of the deal was not revealed, but it is in the low seven figures.

LCC R9: Video analysis by Daniel King

12/14/2015 – Before the last round 5 players could still win the tournament. After Giri and MVL drew their games it was Carlsen vs Grischuk to decide wether it's a three-way or two-way tie break. Daniel King picked this game and a game from the tie break for his highlights video. In his usual manner Daniel King explains the ideas of the players in a comprehensive and lively way. Click here for the video...

ChessBase Account: test and register

12/14/2015 – Of course you can simply test it – completely free of charge, for three months. But at some stage you will want to create a proper ChessBase Account which will give you full and permanent access to our new services – Playchess, Live Database, My Games Cloud, etc. They run in a browser on Windows, Mac, iPads, Androids, smartphones. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to register.

London Rd9: Three-way playoff, Carlsen is champion

12/14/2015 – Three players finished with 5.5/9 points, leading to a very exciting three-way playoff. Due to the nature of the rules, Vachier-Lagrave and Giri first squared off, with MVL prevailing in a dramatic turnaround. He then faced Carlsen for the title. More playoff tension, but in the end Magnus Carlsen claimed both the London Classic title and the Grand Chess Tour. Express report.

LCC R08: Giri wins, exciting finish expected

12/13/2015 – The eighth round produced only one decisive game – Anish Giri beating Hikaru Nakamura. However, the other games were filled excitement, most notable being Carlsen’s draw against Topalov, where the 50 move rule hampered the World Champion’s chance to win the game. The last round promises to be an especially exciting one as five players have a chance to win the title. We have an illustrated round eight report with lots of pictures and game analysis.

Ivanchuk wins ACP Masters in Ashdod

12/12/2015 – Vassily Ivanchuk from Ukraine is the winner of the ACP Masters rapid super tournament that ended on Thursday in the Israeli city of Ashdod. The Ukraine No.1 beat Frenchman Etienne Bacrot in the final match with a flawless two wins and one draw to take home the title and the US$10 thousand first prize. Here is the final illustrated report.

London Rd8: Giri joins MVL in the lead

12/12/2015 – It was not for lack of trying, but round eight saw four of the five games draw, a scene the fans are all too familiar with. The only win was Anish Giri's victory over Hikaru Nakamura, still not recovered from yesterday's disheartening loss. Magnus Carlsen pressed Vesselin Topalov for the longest time, but could not crack the Bulgarian. Express report with video analysis by Daniel King.

London Rd7: Three decisive games!

12/11/2015 – Three decisive games! The moment we saw that there was no Berlin played on any of the boards we knew that this round was going to be different. Carlsen ground down Nakamura after a marathon seven hour struggle. Maxime played a beautiful game to down Anand, and so did Aronian to beat Veselin Topalov. In the FIDE Open Dutch GM Benjamin Bok won the event with an impressive 8.0/9. We have game analysis, interviews and pictures from London.

John Hartmann: Diving into Databases

12/11/2015 – "You can buy the fanciest GUI," writes John Hartmann, "and you can collect all of the strongest engines around, but if you’re working with poor quality data, your research will suffer for it." He takes a look at the chess databases that are available for ambitious players and takes a special look at the Big and Mega Databases from ChessBase, each currently with 6.46 million games.

LCC R6: Video analysis by Daniel King

12/11/2015 – Another round with four draws and one decisive game finished yesterday. Even with such a high number of draws Daniel King found some interesting positions which he included into his round report. The games Topalov vs Adams and Grischuk vs Anand got his attention. In his usual manner Daniel King explains the ideas of the player in a comprehensive and lively way. Click here for the videos...

Watch out!

12/11/2015 – 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.

London Rd6: Grischuk grinds down Anand

12/10/2015 – Four draws one win – that’s the trend at each round of the London Chess Classic. Alexander Grischuk scored a full point against Vishy Anand by playing a highly consistent game. Topalov drew a winning position against Michael Adams. The other three games were not exactly dramatic. David Howell won the British Knockout with a score of 4:2 and Benjamin Bok leads the FIDE Open with a score of 7.0/8. Pictures, videos and analysis from London.

ACP Masters starts in Ashdod, Israel

12/9/2015 – It is described as the strongest event ever held in Israel, and the twelve-player rapid event in Ashdod has not disappointed. With star power such as Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Nepomniachtchi, as well as names such as Bacrot and Sevian, there were all the ingredients to a thrilling event. The players were split into two groups with four qualifiers, with plenty of fun chess.

London Rd5: Anand beats Topalov in virtuoso endgame

12/9/2015 – Vishy Anand’s victory over Veselin Topalov was the highlight of the day. Caruana missing a one move win against Grischuk, with loads of time on his clock, was quite shocking. Going in to the rest day we have three leaders – Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura and Giri, all with +1. In the British Knockout Howell inched closer to the title with another draw. The open event is heating up with ten players on 5.0/6. High quality pictures and analysis from London.

LCC R4 and R5: Video analysis by Daniel King

12/9/2015 – There's a high chance of 4 draws and one decisive win per round if you look at the first five rounds of the London Chess Classic 2015. The decisive wins from round 4 and 5 are reviewed by Daniel King in his usual comprehensive manner. Being present at the Classic, he's the right man to show you some insights to the games. Click here for the videos...

Huffington: Ups and Downs of Chess Champions

12/9/2015 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen, 24, has been slipping a bit lately, but still sits at the top of the rating list – alone against three forty-plus players. The conflict of the generations is a never-ending topic that dominates one of the most important novels of the 19th century, Fathers and Sons, by prominent Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. GM Lubomir Kavalek explains.