Hunting norms in Budapest

11/21/2014 – The very first "First Saturday tournament" in Budapest was played in 1987. The idea behind this successful series is simple: make it easier for young players to get round robin norms you need for the title. Since 1987 countless ambitious talents, among them several future chess superstars, have made their norms in Budapest. But that is not always easy.

Sochi G9: A quick draw tightens the noose

11/20/2014 – While the fans will have been disappointed to see a quick draw in game nine with Carlsen playing white, it will have been much less surprising for the experts. At this point, match strategy is the reigning factor, and with three games left at most, and a one point lead, it is up to the challenger to find a way to make a fight of it with an uncooperative opponent. Report and commentary.

Simon Williams: Most amazing moves

11/19/2014 – Chess is often beautiful when you encounter unexpected, surprising, stunning, amazing moves, moves that seem hard to believe. The English Grandmaster Simon Williams has always enjoyed the beauty of the amazing in chess and on his new ChessBase DVD he now presents the "Most amazing moves" he came across in his career. Entertaining and instructive.

Intense fights at the Ukranian Championships

11/19/2014 – With 85 GMs and 198 IMs Ukraine is one of the strongest chess countries in the world. And this year a lot of the top players start in the National Championship, among them Vasily Ivanchuk, Ukraine's number one. He is one of five players in the category 17 tournament with an Elo of 2700+. However, after seven rounds another player emerged as sole leader.

Tal Memorial blitz won by Mamedyarov

11/19/2014 – After the Petrosian Memorial ended in Moscow, a number of the elite players who took part in it, came to Sochi on a double mission: the first was obviously to see first hand the World Championship match, but the second was to play in the Tal Memorial Blitz, a fitting tribute to one of its most passionate aficionados. Mamedyarov took clear first and is now world no.3.

Sochi G8: An easy draw for Carlsen

11/18/2014 – In a match the players usually tend to play for a win with white and for a draw with black. In this sense, game eight of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand was a success for Carlsen. He played with Black, repeated the Queens Gambit Declined from game three, but this time was excellently prepared and came to an easy draw.

The bishop and its passed pawns

11/18/2014 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. This week he chose the game Mamedyarov - Gelfand. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!

Sochi G7: Unbreakable Anand

11/17/2014 – Today's game was truly a make-or-break deal for the challenger, with all the signs of a 'break' as he got into trouble in a Berlin and had to give up a piece for two pawns in a position many said was lost. There then followed a titanic struggle as Magnus tried in vain to break Vishy and his impenetrable fortress, but the Indian never gave ground. Report of round seven!

D’Costa: ABC of the English Opening

11/17/2014 – The English Opening is not played as often as 1.e4 or 1.d4. But it is an entertaining, solid opening which a lot of strong players employ regularly or occasionally. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is one of them. In his new ChessBase DVD International Master Lorin D’Costa shows why the best players of the world were and are attracted to this versatile opening.

Chess blindness of the Champions

11/16/2014 – Strange things happened in the sixth game of the World Championship in Sochi: Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand both suffered from an attack of chess blindness and overlooked a combination a lot of amateurs would have seen in a blitz game. In the end Carlsen was lucky and won the game. But has such a double blunder ever occurred in a World Championship match? Have a guess!

Sochi G6: Carlsen won, Anand missed big chance

11/15/2014 – In the sixth game of the World Championship match Magnus Carlsen won but could have lost. He got a good position from the opening but later overlooked a simple tactical trick with which Anand could have won. However, Anand missed his chance. Unable to put up much resistance afterwards he lost without much of a fight. As Carlsen said in the press conference: "I was very lucky."

Lisa: a chess novel

11/15/2014 – Jesse Kraai, 42, has a PhD in philosophy and is also a strong, active chess player who got his GM title in 2007. Jesse took three years off of the game to write his first novel about a female chess enthusiast with Asperger Syndrome and her Russian émigré chess coach. The book has been greeted very enthusiastically by American GMs and IMs. Review by Glenn Mitchell.

Sochi G5: A few palpitations, but no heart attack

11/14/2014 – Today we saw a very well-prepared Carlsen, in contrast to the round three rout, and he rattled off his Queen's Indian at lightning speed. Vishy Anand was unfazed with White and never backed down from the sharp decisions. It seemed like a sedate draw until Magnus took a risky pawn on b2, providing chances for Anand, but in the end it petered out. Report of a short and sweet game.

Invitation to the Al-Ain Classics

11/14/2014 – If you want to play a strong tournament in idyllic surroundings, the Al-Ain Chess Classics might be just the tournament for you. From 18th to 27th December a lot of Grandmasters, International Masters and also rank amateurs will travel to the United Arab Emirates to play for a sizeable prizefund in Al-Ain, the so-called "Garden City" in the Arabian Gulf. Sagar Shah offers a preview.

The missed combination of a lifetime

11/14/2014 – We’ve all had games where we have overlooked a dazzling combination, and in fact went on to lose. It’s an extremely painful feeling when you find out that you missed out on winning the game with a beautiful finish. Akshat Chandra spotted a particularly dramatic example from the Asian Continental in 2012, and discussed it with the player involved. It's a jewel of a combination.

Into the pin

11/14/2014 – 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.

Review: Parimarjan Negi on the Modern Scotch

11/13/2014 – The Scotch is an opening that evolved from the swashbuckling games of the 19th century. It has long been associated with exciting play, but people often doubt its positional base. In recent times, however, it has evolved into an aggressive alternative to the Spanish. In his first Fritz-Trainer DVD Parimarjan Negi explains the latest revolution in Scotch theory. Review by Diana Mihajlova.

Who will win the match?

11/13/2014 – The match between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand is getting exciting. Four of twelve games are played, in the first two Carlsen dominated, but in game three Anand inflicted the first loss in a World Championship match on Carlsen. The fourth game was an unspectacular, hard-fought draw. Today's a rest day. A good opportunity to predict who will win the match.

World Senior brings back legends

11/13/2014 – One of the wonderful things about the World Seniors Championship is that it brings back former giants in chess back to what they did best: play chess. At the 24th edition held in Katerini, Greece, there were many such legends, and in this detailed illustrated report, you will find pictures, profiles, plus analysis by 15-year-old IM Akshat Chandra, ChessBase's youngest ever author.

Analyzing games with Komodo (Part two)

11/13/2014 – In this second part of the tutorial exploring the automated options to analyze your games, you will see how to get quick and efficient analysis of your online games in just seconds, or full analysis with opening references, and human-like verbal commentary. You will also find tips for preferred settings to get you started in this step-by-step guide with a new video tutorial.

Sochi G4: Level game ends in Draw

11/12/2014 – Anand tried to stir things up! Rather than going for a positionally sound line in the Spanish, a Carlsen specialty, Anand tried to enter a theoretical battle in the Sicilian! Which type of Sicilian will remain a mystery as Carlsen avoided a sharp, theoretical confrontation, chose a quieter line, but obtained no advantage. With sound play the game was eventually drawn.

Sochi WCh G3: The Tiger roars

11/12/2014 – After the loss in game two, the expectation was a repeat of the 2013 match, with hopefully a final result whose description did not include words such as catastrophic. So far, as much as his supporters wanted to believe, describing him as a 'different' Anand, a 'dangerous' Anand, the results were missing. Game three changed that. Report wtih analysis by GM Gilberto Milos.

Tashir Final: Quick draw clinches

11/12/2014 – Certainly disappointing for the fans, but a good and fair result for Alexander Grischuk who finalizes his performance in Moscow by forcing a quick repetition against Vladimir Kramnik, giving these players the first and second place of the tournament. Both Aronian and Gelfand won their games against Inarkiev and Leko respecitvely to finish in a tie for third place. Final report!

Analyzing games with Komodo (Part one)

11/12/2014 – One of the chief attractions of the Fritz interface is the many options to automatically analyze your games and help you reach your potential. We often shy away from this, since if the world's elite can blunder, imagine the less privileged players. However, they can do more than show us our mistakes if you look at it from the right perspective. Learn how in this new video tutorial.