7/30/2119 – From July 20th to the 31st, the Swiss watch metropolis of Biel/Bienne will once again be a focus of chess activity in Europe. The festival features many interesting and young players as well as a new format that combines rapid, classical and blitz chess. Vidit won again with Black adding to his immpressive run. Shankland is second. Live games and commentary from 12:00 UTC (14:00 CEST / 8:00 AM EDT).

8/29/2019 – The 2019 Sinquefield Cup playoff ended up with Ding Liren beating world champion Magnus Carlsen to win the title and take home $82.500. After two draws in the rapid games, the Chinese star beat Carlsen in both blitz encounters. The commentators and the world champion deservedly praised Ding's performance. Express report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

11/17/2019 – Alexander Grischuk won a thrilling tiebreak match against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The latter took the first rapid game but lost the second. Grischuk dominated the 10+10 games to clinch his victory in Hamburg, and with it 10 Grand Prix points. His total of 20 points will be difficult to beat. The pair played to a draw in the second game of their final match, after Game 1 also ended in a draw. Sixteen players began the tournament competing for Grand Prix points in the penultimate event of the series from November 5th to November 17th, in Germany's Hanseatic metropolis. Games and commentary. | Pictured: Duda during his final match with Grischuk. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

12/5/2019 – Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are the finalists of the GCT closing event of the year, as they overcame Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen at the rapid and blitz phases of the semis. While Ding won almost unopposed, Vachier-Lagrave only managed to defeat the world champion in overtime — five draws were followed by an exchange of blows that led to the playoffs. Vachier-Lagrave won a wild game out of a Sicilian Najdorf and drew the last 10-minute game to get match victory. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/8/2019 – Ding Liren won the 2019 Grand Chess Tour final match against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave by taking the first rapid game and drawing the second. The Chinese ace won their second classical game on Saturday to take a sizeable lead into the final day. World Champion Magnus Carlsen finished in third place after closing out his match against Levon Aronian in blitz! Live games and commentary from 14:00 UTC (15:00 CET, 9:00 EST).

1/1/2020 – A Women's World Championship match and two traditional elite events will keep chess fans busy during the first month of the new year. On the one hand, the Tata Steel Tournament, which has Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja among the Masters, and a nice mix of strong talents in the Challengers. On the other, the Gibraltar Chess Festival, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Wang Hao as top seeds. In parallel, Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina play a match in China and Russia. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

1/19/2020 – In this week's column, GM JON SPEELMAN, brings you two of his own instructive games against grandmasters, played in a recent weekend of the Four Nations Chess League. | Send in your own games! Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

12/9/2019 – Ding Liren defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the match for the title at the Grand Chess Tour in London. The Chinese star dominated the confrontation from start to finish, securing first place after the rapid stage. In the battle for bronze, Magnus Carlsen got the better of Levon Aronian despite blundering mate in the first encounter of the day. The world champion was the biggest earner in this year's tour nonetheless, collecting a little over USD 300,000 throughout the series. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/8/2019 – Magnus Carlsen's last classical game of 2019 almost ended in defeat, as he was about to lose his (now) 107-game undefeated streak against Levon Aronian in the match for third place of the Grand Chess Tour finals. Meanwhile, in the fight for the title, Ding Liren obtained a nice win with White over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The British Knockout Championship took place alongside the GCT finals — Michael Adams won the event after beating David Howell in the final. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

11/24/2019 – Japan has hardly appeared on the chess map so far. But since Yumiko Hiebert took over the office of President of the Japanese Chess Federation, but seems to sprout a small plant. GEORGIOS SOULEIDIS spoke during the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg with Hiebert (photo), who belonged to the tournament's Appeals Committee.

11/13/2019 – Alexander Grischuk knocked Maxime Vachier-Lagrave out of the Grand Prix in Hamburg by beating him in the second classical game of the semi-finals. Grischuk thus massively increased his chances to reach the 2020 Candidates Tournament through the series. Meanwhile, Daniil Dubov got a slight edge against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but could not make much of it — their semi-final match-up will be decided in tiebreaks. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

12/7/2019 – Two long and exciting games kicked off the final stage of the Grand Chess Tour in London. Ding Liren had a large advantage but could not convert it into a win against a resilient Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Magnus Carlsen defeated Levon Aronian with the white pieces to get ahead right out of the gate in the match for third place. The duels continue on Saturday, starting two hours earlier than usual. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/4/2019 – Two more draws were signed on Tuesday at the Grand Chess Tour semi-finals in London. Magnus Carlsen once again looked to surprise Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the opening, to which the Frenchman responded with cautious play. Meanwhile, Ding Liren found himself in an inferior position in his game with White, but Levon Aronian was not in physical conditions to push for more. Rapid and blitz games will decide the finalists on Wednesday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/3/2019 – Two very different draws set the GCT semi-finals in motion at the Olympia Conference Centre in London. Levon Aronian played it safe with White against Ding Liren as he did not feel well after a bad night's sleep, while Magnus Carlsen decided to challenge Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a rare line of the Sicilian Najdorf. The draw signed by the world champion and the Frenchman was as memorable as it was complex. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/2/2019 – It will be a jam-packed December in the world of elite chess. The Grand Chess Tour and the Grand Prix series will come to an end with events in London and Jerusalem respectively. European rapid and blitz tournaments will be the prelude to the World Rapid and Blitz Championships that will take place in Moscow. The second leg of the Women's Grand Prix will be played in the luxurious Yacht Club in Monaco. And a couple of strong opens will be organized in Spain and the United Kingdom. Don't miss any of the action! | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

8/30/2019 – Ding Liren carried the day in St. Louis, surprising spectators by winning a rapid and blitz tiebreak against World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen was consistently behind on the clock which proved a decisive factor, as a tentative move in the first blitz game actually resulted in his losing on time, despite the 3-second delay. After that Ding needed only a draw to secure his first Sinquefield Cup and a nearly certain ticket to the Grand Chess Tour final in London later this year. IM VENKATACHALAM SARAVANAN reports all action from the venue. | Photo: Lennart / Grand Chess Tour

11/10/2019 – Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin surged in the final day of blitz to finish joint first in the overall standings in Bucharest. Aronian won a two-game rapid playoff to be declared the winner of the Superbet Rapid & Blitz. Live games and commentary from 13:00 UTC (14:00 CET, 8:00 AM EST). | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/10/2019 – From London IM Lawrence Trent is on the scene at both the Grand Chess Tour Finals and the London Chess Classic ancillary events, and brings you his take in this Weekly Show. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's Black to move! | Lawrence is on-demand this week beginning at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / Noon EST) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

1/7/2020 – The Women’s World Chess Championship match is from January 5-26, 2020. The first six games will be played in Shanghai, China and the remaining six games, plus any tiebreak games, will be played in Vladivostok, Russia. The match features Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun of China against challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina, of Russia. Here, Alexey Root, a lecturer teaching courses about chess in education at The University of Texas at Dallas, answers questions about the Women’s World Chess Championship. | Photo: Lewis Liu

9/20/2019 – The new FIDE administration headed by Arkady Dvorkovich has made a number of organizational changes in its first year in charge. Some are more visible than others, and most have been generally regarded as positive. Now the FIDE website has received a fresh new look. What do you think?

10/24/2019 – A jury appointed by FIDE, headed by Vladimir Kramnik, has chosen the coaches of the year 2018. The awards go to John Donaldson (pictured), Yu Shaoteng, Michal Konopka, Ramachandran Ramesh and Adrian Mikhalchishin. | Photos: FIDE

10/7/2019 – An editorial from CHESS Magazine's executive editor IM MALCOLM PEIN announcing the 11th London Chess Classic, the latest news from Chess in Schools and Communities, thoughts on the FIDE calendar, and the standings of the Grand Chess Tour.

7/25/2019 – FIDE continues to encourage public participation in its wide-ranging survey with research firm Nielsen and the survey closes this weekend. Now is your last chance to participate! Meanwhile, another Nielsen, Magnus Carlsen's second Peter Heine Nielsen, continues to engage FIDE leadership in a public discussion around financial transparency and leadership.

11/19/2119 – When Magnus Carlsen decides to leave the Norwegian Chess Federation or gives interviews in Norway or plays for his new club in Norway's second league it is usually Tarjei Svensen who shares the news with the world, via his twitter account @TarjeiJS, which has thousands of ardent followers. STEFAN LOEFFLER spoke with the Norwegian chess journalist about Carlsen, chess in Norway and his wish to be always up-to-date. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

9/22/2119 – The 2019-2020 FIDE Women's Grand Prix, part of the Women's World Championship cycle, takes place in Skolkovo, a business centre in Moscow also known as the Russian Silicon Valley. Twelve players are competing in the first of four single round-robin events that will grant two spots at the next Women's Candidates Tournament. In the final round, Humpy Koneru earned the final half point needed to clinch victory ahead of Ju Wenjun. | Photo: Official site

1/20/2020 – Chinese defending champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina from Russia are playing a twelve-game match at locations Shanghai and Vladivostok. Ju Wenjun struck by winning the 9th game to even the score: 4½-4½. She built on that momentum in game ten, winning with Black to take the lead. The second half in Vladivostock starts two hours earlier with games commencing at 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST). | Photos: Zhang Yanhong, Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

12/9/2019 – From lay fans to top grandmasters, more or less everyone in the world of chess feels upset today about the significant number of draws that take place in virtually every classical elite tournament. Too much theory reinforced by extensive engine work is seemingly rendering the game of chess sterile and lifeless. One alternative is Chess960 and FIDE sanctioned the first Fischer Random World Championship this year. Recently the legendary Vladimir Kramnik has also proposed a solution to the problem that is simpler and more efficient than the Fischer Random, and which he believes will ensure more than 50% decisive games in top-level play.

11/2/2019 – Wesley So was the winner of the Fisher Random World Championship, defeating the classical World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Fabiano Caruana to finish third. Live game commentary from 16:30 UTC (17:30 CET / 12:30 EDT) Note: Europe has already switched to Winter time! | Photo: www.frchess.com

1/2/2020 – Viswanathan Anand has not only achieved the highest honours in the game of chess but has also led India to become one of the chess superpowers in the world. But how was he when he was young? FREDERIC FRIEDEL (pictured), co-founder of ChessBase, has been a very close friend of his for decades. He has seen him grow from a prodigiously talented teenager into a mature and highly accomplished man. In a recent interview with IM Sagar Shah, Frederic related many of his interesting experiences with a young Vishy when he was still climbing to the upper echelons of the chess world. He winds back the clock and take you on a journey which is as nostalgic as it is insightful.

1/1/2020 – Magnus Carlsen is now the reigning World Champion in classical, rapid and blitz chess. But there's one official World Championship that eluded him in 2019: the newly codified Fischer Random World Championship. Wesley So, the 26-year-old Filipino-American Grandmaster created a sensation by beating the mighty Norwegian in the finals of a knockout tournament with a sweeping score of 13½-2½! How did he do it? IM SAGAR SHAH spent some time with So at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament.

12/25/2019 – Another eventful chess year is behind us, with great events and tournaments, impressive personalities and fantastic chess games. Help us choose the player of the year, the female player of the year, the game of the year, the combination of the year and the endgame of the year in our annual ChessBase reader poll. First up: The Player of the Year...

1/19/2020 – All the rules of chess remain the same, just that both the players cannot castle. How does removing this one rule alter the game? Well, we decided to put this idea to test by getting 13 of the strongest Indian youngsters (average Elo: 2457) and holding the first ever No-Castling chess tournament at the Microsense Kramnik Gelfand Training camp in Chennai. Check out all the games, videos, analysis by IM SAGAR SHAH and some brilliant photos by Amruta Mokal.

12/16/2019 – As Honorary Director of the London Chess Conference, which had the theme in 2019 of Chess and Female Empowerment, Grandmaster Judit Polgár wrote, “I make a point of never separating girls and boys, nor awarding special prizes for girls...Meanwhile, national federations use their resources, and public subsidies are creating more female-only competitions. It is high time to consider the consequences of this segregation — because in the end, our goal must be that women and men compete with one another on an equal footing.” WIM ALEXEY ROOT responds.

12/31/2019 – What an exciting final day we had at the World Blitz 2019. A controversy between the World Champion and one of the brightest young talents of the game, a blitz playoff to determine the winner, a retired player making a comeback, and winning the bronze and the defending women's world champion defending her title! The World Blitz 2019 was filled with exciting moments, and we bring you a detailed report with information of all the things that happened at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

12/20/2019 – Have you ever heard the advice, "while solving positions in your practice sessions, don't think for more than 20 minutes!"? The logic is that usually in practical games we do not spend more than 20 minutes for any move or decision, so we shouldn't be spending too much time when training either. But now and then comes a moment when, in a tournament game, an elite GM digs down deep and thinks for over 30 minutes! In Wei Yi vs Sergey Karjakin at the Jerusalem Grand Prix 2019, we saw the young Chinese GM 'in the tank' for 35 minutes! IM SAGAR SHAH tries to decode his thought process!

12/11/2019 – December 11th, 2019, is the 50th birthday of Viswanathan Anand, the subject of ChessBase's most recent Masterclass Vol.12. TANMAY SRINATH critically examines ChessBase's latest offering in this series, a foray into the mind of a chess genius who has influenced the game in countless ways. | Pictured: Anand and his wife Aruna in Kolkata. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

1/6/2020 – Fourteen of the brightest talents of Indian chess will train with two of the legends in the world of chess: Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand. The Microsense Kramnik Gelfand chess program runs from January 8th to the 17th, 2020, in Chennai. This is the second training camp, after the successful completion of the first one in August 2019. Joining the original six students are eight more, all hand picked by Kramnik and Gelfand to receive intensive training over the next ten days. Microsense Private Limited is the sponsor of the program, while ChessBase India founders Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal manage the camp.

1/14/2020 – The third round of the Tata Steel Masters saw 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja take the sole lead after beating Vladislav Artemiev with the white pieces. Fabiano Caruana and Jorden van Foreest also won, while Magnus Carlsen was in trouble against Jeffery Xiong, but managed to save a half point to tie Sergey Tiviakov's 110-game unbeaten streak in classical chess. Five players are still sharing the lead in the Challengers. Do not miss the thorough analyses provided by GM STEPHEN GORDON. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/19/2020 – 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja continues to stun as he defeated Jeffery Xiong to take the sole lead of the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. Fabiano Caruana and Jorden van Foreest also grabbed full points and are now sharing second place with Wesley So on 4½ out of 7. In the Challengers, only Nihal Sarin got a win in round seven, which means Pavel Eljanov is still first on 5 points. Do not miss the thorough analyses sent by GM DANIEL FERNANDEZ and the round-up video by IM LAWRENCE TRENT. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/15/2020 – Wesley So defeated Alireza Firouzja to leapfrog him in the standings table of the Tata Steel Masters and become the new sole leader before the first rest day of the event. Five players are a half point back, including Vladislav Artemiev, who took down Vladislav Kovalev on Tuesday. In the meantime, Magnus Carlsen salvaged a draw from an inferior position again to set a new record of undefeated classical games. Surya Ganguly is now the sole leader in the Challengers. Expert analysis by GMs STEPHEN GORDON and DANIEL KING. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

11/3/2019 – Wesley So needed only six out of the twelve scheduled games to take down Magnus Carlsen at the final of the Fischer Random World Championship in Bærum. The final score was a resounding 13½:2½ in favour of the American, who thus became the official world champion in this format. In the match for third place, Ian Nepomniachtchi got the better of Fabiano Caruana after recovering from his painful loss against So in the semis. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

11/12/2019 – In our most ambitious release yet, Fritz 17 brings a slew of features such as new functions to help you build your repertoire, special tools to help memorize it, new ways to generate exercises from your games, and more! It also brings not one, but several new engines such as the latest Fat Fritz with new percentage displays, the new Fritz 17 engine, and an easy-to-install Leela for the fans of the open-source project, and more! Get it at a 25% discount!

11/6/2019 – Our recent article on Fat Fritz elicited some criticism and predictions. In one comment a reader concluded "Stockfish is STILL the champion." While we look forward to testing that proposition in formal competition soon, we have naturally "run the experiment" so to speak, already: We ran two engine vs engine matches, a pre-release build of Fat Fritz against Stockfish 8 and then against Stockfish 10. The result? Fat Fritz won both! Here are some of the games along with grandmaster analysis from GM ELSHAN MORADIABADI.

1/9/2020 – But how, some ask, does an ordinary club player or an ambitious lower-rated amateur makes use of this technology to improve? TANMAY SRINATH tells us why having a more 'human' engine makes all the difference in the world regarding chess improvement and shows us how he nearly-refuted the solid 3...Qd6 Scandinavian!

11/25/2019 – A new edition of the Computer Chess Ratings List, published on November 23, ranks Fat Fritz as number one. Now the engine is available to consumers through the new Fritz 17 release. A recurring question by users new to Fat Fritz and Leela, and even by veterans, is: How do I modify the settings in the engine and how do I obtain the best performance with both a standard GPU, as well as a top-end system sporting two powerful graphics cards? Read on to find out!

11/14/2019 – With the release of Fritz 17 with Fat Fritz, you may be strongly motivated to upgrade your computer to enjoy the best experience, or actually upgrade your entire machine if you feel it is time. In this first guide you will be shown the simplest upgrade possible: just adding a fast GPU to your computer. All the major cards as as well current prices and what performance to expect.

11/7/2019 – Yesterday we announced the results of an internal 100-game match pitting our new Fat Fritz engine against two versions of Stockfish. Today, further annotated highlights from Grandmaster ELSHAN MORADIABADI along with some of your feedback and questions. Stay tuned for more news next week on Fat Fritz that you won't want to miss!

11/18/2019 – So you decided you want to upgrade your computer but don’t know where to start? In the following article you will get precise choices for a variety of budgets to help guide you through the maze of choices with precise setups designed to help you get the best bang for your buck. With Black Friday looming around the corner, or even Christmas or Hanukkah to decide on some end-of-the year purchases, this is the one you want to bookmark!

1/2/2020 – ChessBase magazine is a great training tool, but a very important feature not to be overlooked in today's modern world is that it's a time-saver! Want to find the best endgames played in the last couple of months, or the latest opening novelties? It's all well packaged in one neat product, the latest ChessBase Magazine 193! Loads of videos cover the needs of those who are visual learners. Prolific reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO (known by his students as Mr. Checkmate) gives us the details.

1/16/2020 – The new FritzTrainers for Mac are very popular and the new "Shop Assistant" in the ChessBase Shop helps you find them easily. The bestseller among the Mac-titles does not come as a surprise: a lot of chess players simply like how Fabiano Caruana explains the intricacies of the Spanish! | Pictured: The newest title in our ever-growing library, available for Mac as well, is GM Sergei Tiviakov on a weapon against the Sicilian.

1/15/2020 – When top players try out a new opening idea, you will often find an article with analyses and recommendations in one of the next issues of ChessBase Magazine. In the current issue #193 GM Romain Edouard for example takes a closer look at Grischuk's 3.h4!? against Vachier-Lagrave's Gruenfeld. You'll find "fresh unexplored positions" like the aggressive 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4!? Enjoy!

1/17/2020 – In the diagram, after 21.Qh3! Rh8 there are still some power moves to find before the headline becomes a reality, but perhaps you can already outline the first contours. Enjoy!

1/14/2020 – Stalemate can cause trouble. Black can win in the diagram, but not straightforwardly.

1/10/2020 – New opening ideas is one of the main topics of ChessBase Magazine. In this small series we want to present three selected articles from the current issue #193. It starts with GM Krisztian Szabo's aggressive recommendation against the Scandinavian with 3...Qd6. Szabo recommends 6.Ne5 and 7.f4! Have a look!

1/1/2020 – A Women's World Championship match and two traditional elite events will keep chess fans busy during the first month of the new year. On the one hand, the Tata Steel Tournament, which has Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja among the Masters, and a nice mix of strong talents in the Challengers. On the other, the Gibraltar Chess Festival, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Wang Hao as top seeds. In parallel, Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina play a match in China and Russia. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

11/27/2019 – Fritz 17 is your personal opening trainer and it offers a lot of new, exciting and innovative functions! "My Moves" makes it easy to create an opening repertoire and helps to learn and memorize opening variations in a playful way! In two video tutorials ChessBase founder and developer Matthias Wüllenweber shows how!

1/7/2020 – Sometimes knights appear slow and sluggish. But knights can also be nimble, swift and very versatile. To wit, see how this valiant steed in the diagram below does battle against a veritable hoard of black pawns.

1/21/2020 – Apparently simple pawn endings are often, in fact, surprisingly tricky. In the diagrammed position, is there a way for White to win convert his extra-pawn?

12/27/2019 – In the diagram position, White's retreat 30.Bf2! set the stage for the finale — and after 30...Qe7 you are invited to crown the game like the new U18 Girls World Champion Polina Shuvalova. Enjoy!