World Team 09: Russia takes gold; China silver

12/6/2013 – There was little chance of any surprises in the last round as the leader Russia defeated Egypt as expected, taking gold. Ukraine managed to overcome Armenia, but was outscored by China's 3-1 victory over Turkey, giving the Chinese Silver, and Ukraine Bronze. Aronian was the biggest performer, but of note is Nakamura moving into no.3, only the third American in Elo history.

Small Nations with big dreams

12/5/2013 – The European Small Nation Team Championship was organized by the Monaco Chess Federation in Monte Carlo. Ten nations competed in the round robin tournament, and in spite of the seemingly modest lineups compared to the World Team, for them it was just as important since dreams and goals lay behind a grand result. The event brought in anecdotes and history with Bobby Fischer and Princess Grace.

Chess Problems: Excelsior Again

12/5/2013 – We recently published a very famous chess problem by the great Samuel Loyd, in which a pawn that moves from its original square all the way to promotion to deliver mate. This theme became known as an "Excelsior", and we asked our readers to provide other examples of the theme. Problem expert David Friedgood collected four examples and traces the full history of the Excelsior.

2013 National Chess Congress

12/4/2013 – Niclas Hushenbeth first made a name for himself when still an international master, he won the German Championship at age 18. He is now studying in the United States and took the time off to play in the National Chess Congress during the Thanksgiving holiday, where despite a lack of play managed to come in third. He brings here his personal account with video analysis.

World Team 08: Goliath beats David

12/4/2013 – Russia was able to topple a team that seemed completely untouchable. Nepomniachtchi was Ukraine's executioner as he took advantage of a strange time trouble blunder by Kryvoruchko who basically trapped his own queen. With this result Russia leads, China leapfrogs over Ukraine on tiebreaks and the team lead by Ivanchuk is now third. A dramatic round.

Attacking with the Italian and Ruy Lopez

12/4/2013 – When it comes to openings DVDs, there are essentially two types: the instructive work endeavoring to teach the theory, the plans, or both, and the thematic games collections. Sergey Tiviakov's "Attacking with the Italian and Ruy Lopez" defies easy classification as it teaches opening ideas, shares 30 exciting games, and is a master class in attack. Review by Albert Silver

World Team 07: A close one

12/4/2013 – The Ukrainian team survived a potential disaster as they narrowly beat Egypt, the lowest rated team and the only team that has scored no points at all in this event. However they were almost victorious against the leaders and only mistakes in time pressure allowed Ukraine to remain on the top. A predictable day, and Russia and China are now in the second and third spots.

World Youth Championship 2013 in Al Ain

12/4/2013 – Between December 17th and December 29th 2013 the most important youth chess event of the year will be organized by Al Ain Chess Club in United Arab Emirates in the country’s »Garden city« Al Ain. A spectacle that is already promising new records, since around more than 1780 players and 1715 accompanying persons from 107 different countries have already registered to participate in the event.

Battle of Generations: Shirov-Dubov

12/3/2013 – As the brainchild of Russian businessman Oleg Skvortsov, a match called the Battle of Generations is being held at the Digital October center between rising junior Daniil Dubov and legendary Alexei Shirov. It is a six-game match with blitz games if any end in a draw, and enjoys high-res video broadcast via ChessTV. The opening ceremony was a party at a chic Moscow restaurant. Great games and pictures.

World Team 06: Dutch defeat Ukraine

12/3/2013 – Ukraine has finally been stopped and it was done by a resilient Dutch team. Despite being worse in almost every board at some point, the team led by Anish Giri was able to win thanks to Loek Van Wely outplaying Anton Korobov with black. Russia crushed Turkey and is now in close striking distance. Replay today's beautiful combinations.

World Championship Chennai: Reports and opinions

12/3/2013 – It's ten days since Magnus Carlsen snatched the most valuable title from India's Viswanathan Anand. There are literally hundreds of reports in the international press – and a number of remarkable interviews with the players. In case you missed them we bring you a selection, with titles like "My turn to teach Anand now" and speculation on the super-secret men who helped Magnus.

Profile of a prodigy: Vladislav Artemiev

12/2/2013 – In the wake of the generational change represented by Magnus Carlsen winning the World Championship, the obvious focus is who is next, whether boy or girl. Many are on the rise, and among this younger generation is Vladislav Artemiev, winner of the Russian U21 at age fifteen, and was chosen the young Russian player of 2012 by Sergey Shipov. Here is an in-depth profile.

1st Srefidensi Chess Celebration - Suriname (2/2)

12/2/2013 – In this second part of Alina l'Ami's report on Suriname, she takes readers on a visual trip through this micronation with astonishing religious diversity and acceptance. The capital itself has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its innumerous colonial buildings that remain a throwback to its origins. You don't want to miss this lovely pictorial.

Homecoming of a champion

12/1/2013 – The World Champion turned 23 years old yesterday. His plane's arrival was rgreeted at the airport by a mob of fans and news media giving him a grand entrance worthy of a movie star. Still, in spite of the interviews and autograph-giving, he was probably even happier with the gift that none other than his favorite soccer team gave him: the official kickoff to Real Madrid's game.

Anand: I was outplayed by Carlsen

12/1/2013 – After a number of interviews by Magnus Carlsen, it was now the turn of now former World Champion Vishy Anand. In an extraordinarily frank and candid interview, conducted a week after his defeat at the hands of the Norwegian, Anand describes his opponent, the course of the match, his thoughts on retirement (spoiler: he's not going to!) and life after five world titles. Video and text transcript.

World Team 05: Ivanchuk's team in command

12/1/2013 – The Ukrainian squads keeps plowing through the tournament, this time narrowly defeating the host country of Turkey. Their rivals keep slashing at each other, such as China trading punches with the USA, beating it in the end, and Russia, who squashed Germany today, are the only ones at somewhat close striking distance - still a full match and a half point away from Ivanchuk's team.

2013 World Senior won by Vaisser and Ankudinova

11/30/2013 – In southwest Croatia, in the city of Opatija, on the Adriatic coast, the 2013 World Senior championship was held. The event was a great success and brought in players from all corners of the globe from 40 plus nations, ranging from Russia to Brazil. The tournment was won by Anatoly Vaisser and WFM Yelena Ankudinova, who earned the WGM title for her success. Enjoy this illustrated report.

World Team 04: China shocks Armenia

11/30/2013 – China shocked Armenia with two victories by Bu Xiangzhi and Ding Liren to give the Asian team a 2.5-1.5 win. This allows Ukraine, who won their fourth match in a row, this time against Germany, to be in the sole lead by a full one and a half matches! Russia won thanks to Karjakin and America demolished Egypt. Report of an absolutely key round

1st Srefidensi Chess Celebration - Suriname (1/2)

11/30/2013 – On the Atlantic coast of South America lies a little nation where everyone speaks... Dutch. The lovely micro-nation of Suriname hosted a chess celebration in its capital Paramaribo, inviting international players to give chess a shot in the arm. The event was a big success and drew many children with the many prizes and conditions. Alina l'Ami brings a beautiful illustrated report.

New: ChessBase Magazine 157 – with free sample

11/29/2013 – The new ChessBase Magazine provides star analysis by some of the world's best players. There is also a wealth of openings analysis and surveys, like Michal Krasenkow's uncompromising 4.h2-h4 in the A85 Dutch. White follows up with h4-h5 and then he must not be afraid to offer an exchange on h5, and Black is faced with a difficult defensive task. Download this sample analysis for free.

World Team 03: Ukraine in the lead

11/28/2013 – Ukraine took out Azerbaijan with a win by Moiseenko on board three to secure its lead. The only other team that could have caught it, Germany, fell to the Netherlands after Giri convincingly outplayed Khenkin. Aronian came through big today as he was able to vanquish Nakamura and gave Armenia a 2.5-1.5 victory. Report, results and standings.

Lending your private Cloud Engine

11/28/2013 – As demonstrated in the previous tutorial "How to set up your private Cloud Engine", configuring Deep Fritz 14 so you can remotely access your desktop engine from anywhere in the world is incredibly easy, but that is only the first step in the Cloud Engine functionality. The next is setting it up so that not only you can access it, but also select friends or colleagues. Here is a How-to guide.

World Team 02: USA 3-1 Russia

11/27/2013 – The big news of the day is the convincing victory by the American team taking out the top seed Russia. Nakamura cleanly beat Kramnik while Robson managed to trick his opponent in a crazy game in which he was probably lost, albeit it was very complicated to find. Ukraine, Germany and Azerbaijan are the teams with two match wins Analysis of today's round.

Chess Prodigies Uncovered: Sergey Karjakin

11/27/2013 – This is one of a brand new range of DVDs, with Sergey Karjakin being subject of the first volume. The big difference between it and other ChessBase DVDs is the interactive aspect. Questions follow the main games: author Lorin D’Costa asks the viewer questions, and the answers must be played as moves on the on-screen board. "This is solid start to the new series which will probably evolve favourably as time goes by," says reviewer Sean Marsh.