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).

3/1/2020 – There will be plenty of action to keep chess enthusiasts entertained in March. The month will kick off with the third leg of the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne, and four days after that event comes to an end the long-awaited Candidates Tournament will begin in Yekaterinburg. Team tournaments (Nutcracker and Senior Teams), strong opens (HD Bank and Dubai) and a couple of invitational events in Saint Louis will serve as first-rate complements. | 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.

11/17/2019 – 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).

2/1/2020 – Two strong tournaments that are about to celebrate their second editions will take place in February — the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis, an elite-level tournament for top female players, and the Prague Festival, modelled after the Tata Steel Chess Masters and Challengers. The highly competitive Aeroflot Open, a massive festival in Graz and a fun-filled weekender in Bunratty will also keep chess fans entertained. | 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.

1/1/2020 – 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

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.

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

11/13/2019 – 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.

11/18/2019 – Alexander Grischuk defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2½:1½ in the rapid tiebreakers of the final match at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg. He thus claimed tournament victory and greatly increased his chances of reaching next year's Candidates. The Russian lost the first game of the day but bounced back with two straight victories. In the fourth encounter of the day, he had a winning position when the draw was agreed. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

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

3/26/2020 – The Candidates Tournament is postponed! In a statement from March 26, 8:42, the FIDE announced that the "FIDE President decided to stop the tournament. It will be continued later, with the exact dates to be announced as soon. ... The results of the 7 rounds played remain valid, and the tournament will be resumed in the same composition starting with the games of the 8th round."

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

3/30/2020 – French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who jointly leads the now suspended 2020 Candidates is back in Paris. After an eventful fortnight, that included a surprise call to the event, the consequent last-minute scramble for a visa, an impressive performance at the tournament and returning home after passing through an empty airport. In an exclusive interview with Dhananjay Khadilkar, MVL, as he is popularly known, speaks about his surreal experience. | Photos: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

3/25/2020 – Originally, the 44. Chess Olympiad was scheduled to take place from 5-17 August 2020 in Moscow and Khanty-Mansiysk. But yesterday, 24 March, the FIDE declared in a statement that it decided to postpone the Olympiad "to the summer of 2021 at the same locations".

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

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

4/2/2020 – The ten best players of the Soviet Union play against the ten best players from the "Rest of the World". Today we will see the decisive fourth and last round. After three rounds the Soviet team leads 15.5-14.5. Live transmission of the games starts at 17.00 pm CEST (11.00 EDT, 15.00 UTC). With commentary by IM Merijn van Delft.

1/22/2020 – Chinese defending champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina from Russia are playing a twelve-game match at locations Shanghai and Vladivostok. Game 11 of the Women's World Championship Match ends in a draw after 40 moves. Defending champion Ju Wenjun is leading 6-5. In the final game on Jan 23, the challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina has White in a must-win situation. Ju Wenjun took the lead with back-to-back wins in Game 9 and Game 10. 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)

4/5/2020 – Last month, on March 9 2020, Bobby Fischer would have turned 77. We could have commemorated it with a detailed biography of the 11th World Champion – but who doesn't know all the details of the life of the most charismatic and enigmatic player in the history of the game? So instead I would like to retell one of my favourite stories, a birthday present to Fischer, wherever he might be. It is a lovely story, and has ideas that you can use in your own games.

2/5/2020 – In a 20-minute interview with Tania Sachdev in Gibraltar, the twelfth undisputed world champion Anatoly Karpov talked about some of his world championship matches, the effect a 6:0 loss might have had on Garry Kasparov in 1984, the current FIDE administration, the use of rapid and blitz to decide the world champion, and much more. We transcribed the interview and added some of the games mentioned by the Russian star. | Photo: Gibraltar Masters YouTube channel

3/30/2020 – Up to the last minute Max Euwe has tried to convince Bobby Fischer to play in the "Match of the Century" that starts today in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. With success! Ten of the best players from the Soviet Union will play four rounds against ten of the best players from the "Rest of the World" and Fischer has agreed to play on board two behind Bent Larsen. The match is one of the biggest chess events this year and will certainly lead to a number of classical games. It will also be remembered for a long time. ChessBase will follow the games "live". Start of the transmission: 16.00 pm CEST (10.00 EDT, 14.00 UTC).

4/8/2020 – 50 years ago today, on April 8, 1970, Herceg Novi in Yugoslavia hosted a blitz tournament that might well be the best blitz tournament of all time. Twelve of the world's best players competed in a double round-robin. Bobby Fischer won with 19 out of 22. | Photo: Chess Life

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

4/9/2020 – Fans, professionals and anybody who follows the world of professional chess agree on the fact that Magnus Carlsen is on a class of his own. Besides reigning as World Champion in all three formats (classical, rapid and blitz), the Norwegian has managed not to lose a single classical game in over twenty months. Let us recap Carlsen's astounding — and ongoing — streak! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

4/9/2020 – After 18 months in hiding Fischer is back and in the two events he has played since his return to the chess arena he has shown superb chess. But only in a four-game match and a blitz tournament. Now, at the Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/ Zagreb things get serious and Fischer has to show if he is indeed the best. However, the opening ceremony in Rovinj did not go smoothly. | Photo: turnir-mira

4/7/2020 – The match between the USSR and the "Rest of the World" in Belgrade 1970 – the "Match of the Century" – was a fantastic event. Vlastimil Hort played in Belgrade for the "World" and in an interview with ChessBase he shares his memories and talks about Fischer and Keres and rumours that the Soviet cheated in the final round.

1/30/2020 – Live games and commentary with GM David Howell and Fiona Steil-Antoni from 10:00 UTC (11:00 CET, 5:00 EST). The penultimate round produced a quintet of leaders. Now-familiar names like Esipenko, Wang, Maghsoodloo and Paravyan, joined by Mustafa Yilmaz top the standings with 7.0/9. After Round 10, the top four finishers with 7½ were Esipenko, Wang, Yuffa and Paravyan, who contested a four-way playoff. Paravyan and Wang reached the final match, and in a stunning upset Paravyan wins the Gibraltar Masters by defeating Want 1½ to ½. | Pictured: Live webcast

3/31/2020 – The first round of the match between the USSR and the "Rest of the World" is over and the USSR leads with 5.5:4.5. A detailed report with analyses of key games will follow shortly but Vlastimil Hort was ready to share first impressions about the mood in his team, the atmosphere in Belgrade, and the difficulties to find the best line-up. | Picture: Hort's telegram to the German editors

4/3/2020 – Grandmaster Daniel King reflects on some online games between Carlsen vs Firouzja and wonders if this is the chess of the future. Power Play is live most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

4/6/2020 – The chess year 2020 began with a highlight, the Women's World Championship match between World Champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina. The match was hard-fought and Ju Wenjun won the tie-break. Here, at her premiere as a ChessBase author, she delivers an insider's report on this exciting match. | Photos: FIDE

3/3/2020 – The Candidates Tournament 2020 will begin on March 17th and surely is one of the highlights of the chess year 2020. Until April 3rd, eight of the best players in the world will fight for the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the world title. To get into the mood for the tournament which will take place in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, Daniel King introduces all eight participants in his Power Play Show on YouTube. So far King has made portraits of four candidates, four more will follow, each with an introduction to the player and typical and beautiful games.

4/1/2020 – Although ChessBase is the international standard for top players, it also facilitates teaching chess to groups of children. For the past 15 years, for 10-20 hours per week, US Chess Master Jeff Ashton has taught using ChessBase. Ashton’s Panda Chess Academy transitioned from in-person classes to online instruction, due to his city’s closure of non-essential businesses. WIM ALEXEY ROOT interviews Jeff Ashton.

3/27/2020 – The Fat Fritz engine of the Fritz 17 program is currently number 1 on the CCRL ELO list and has a positive score against all tested programs. Stephan Oliver Platz took a closer look at the games of Fat Fritz to find an answer to the question: How does the engine do that? Answer: Fat Fritz plays very originally and without stereotypes.

4/3/2020 – In the diagram position it's Black to play and win - but before you start thinking, please don't forget to take your watch off...

3/5/2020 – As promised in the announcement of the release of Fat Fritz, the first update to the neural network has been released, stronger and more mature, and with it comes the brand new smaller and faster Fat Fritz for CPU neural network which will produce quality play even on a pure CPU setup. If you leave it analyzing the start position, it will say it likes the Sicilian Najdorf, which says a lot about its natural style. Read on to find out more!

3/19/2020 – Every club, school or trainer can open a virtual playing room on the ChessBase server. Everything is possible: casual games, tournaments, online training, simultaneous events, etc. Everything on "your" chess server! The best alternative to keep the club evening running, and a good (virtual) meeting point to play chess together. Creating a virtual club room is easy. Have a look!

4/7/2020 – Bishop endings have drawish tendencies, even if the bishops move on squares of the same colour. Therefore, precision is required to win a better position.

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!

3/27/2020 – In the diagram position Black faces the question of how to exploit the immobilized rook d3. In the game he made the wrong choice. Can you do better?

3/23/2020 – After winning the U16 World Champion title five years ago, things became a bit more quiet for Roven Vogel. Those times might be over now, since he could win the qualifier tournament in Wijk aan Zee just a couple of weeks ago. Preparation is key. International Master ROVEN VOGEL took a deeper look at Wesley So’s DVD and discusses the many benefits of the black secrets in the ‘Modern Italian’.

3/17/2020 – Pawn endings require precise calculation. White to play and win.

3/17/2020 – Do you know what is the Centurini's rule? Do you have an Anti-Reti in your opening repertoire? Would you like to have an IM pose some interactive questions, and test your tactical vision? Do you know how to evaluate a position with no minor pieces, but with queens and rooks on the board? Are you aware of common opening traps in the Caro-Kann, Philidor, English and Sicilian? Do you want to update your opening repertoire with the latest recommendations? If these topics have you intrigued, and interested in knowing more, ChessBase Magazine could become your addictive chess reading while as you self-isolate!

3/31/2020 – With only a few pawns remaining it is often surprisingly difficult to win an endgame with a knight up.

3/30/2020 – In our third tutorial, focusing on our playchess.com virtual rooms, we see how to have an online training session with you as a chess coach. In our tutorial series, we already took a look at how to create a virtual room for your chess club. Furthermore, we had another tutorial about online tournaments in your virtual room. These offers are an excellent option to keep up with your chess activities.

3/28/2020 – With playchess.com you can create a virtual room for your chess club. We recently featured how to do so! The logical follow up is to organize an online tournament in your own club room. It is quite simple: All club members receive a special link, with one click the virtual tournament hall is accessed, the tournament director starts the round and the chessboard game windows open automatically for the participants. Just like in real life, this is a bit more demanding for the tournament director. This tutorial explains how it all works.

3/20/2020 – White's 48.Rcc8! in the diagram position starts the mate finale even if 48...Qe4 gives the black king an escape square on g6. Enjoy!

3/10/2020 – In the endgame the pair of bishops is often a powerful weapon, as you can see in the example below.

2/16/2020 – The English is an opening which can transpose into many others. It is definitely a must for those who want to improve middlegame play, thanks to the huge variety of middlegame themes which can arise from it. One can play very aggressively, or positionally; it's clearly an opening which can satisfy everyone interested in learning strategy and tactics. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is one of the players who has incorporated the English into his repertoire. In this FritzTrainer, IM Lorin D'Costa presents a complete repertoire for White explaining key pawn structures and ideas behind the moves. DAVIDE NASTASIO breaks it down.

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!