1/14/2022 – At the end of 2013, a match facing chess legends from the 20th century against young female talented players was organized in Podebrady, the Czech Republic. A 20-year-old Alina Kashlinskaya was the top scorer in the winning team of the Snowdrops, while Boris Gulko and Iossif Dorfman were the strongest for the Oldhands.
7/20/2020 – FIDE has been celebrating International Chess Day on the 20th of July since 1966. To commemorate this date, we have chosen four articles that remind us why we have made of this game such an important part of our lives. An astounding move made by a 13-year-old Bobby Fischer, Vlastimil Hort reminiscing on his encounters with David Bronstein, a Mexican author comparing chess with poetry and a useful piece of advice by an extraordinary player. Happy International Chess Day!
10/11/2018 – David Bronstein was certainly one of the most creative players in the history of chess. In 1951 he drew a World Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik who thus narrowly defended the title. Vlastimil Hort remembers encounters with "my David Ionovich", including how a promise to play the King's Gambit in 1970 came back to haunt him 24 years later!
5/26/2014 – He was noted for his attacking style and possessed a great gift for visualizing sacrificial possibilities. Whilst spectacular chess made him popular with onlookers, each game required a great effort and this handicapped his quest for international success. Dragoljub Velimirovi died last Thursday. In his eulogy Andrew Martin honors the Master of Attacks with a beautiful annotated game.
4/7/2014 – If you google her images you might mistake her for a Hollywood actress or a fashion model. And IM Tania Sachdev has taken part in some fairly extravagent shows. But her greatest talent is chess, and specifically chess teaching. Which makes her latest ChessBase DVD we predict a surefire bestseller. Is there a more pleasant way to study chess? Review by Sagar Shah.
3/26/2014 – At the turn of the last century an Austro-Hungarian mathematician shook up the chess world with revolutionary new ideas ("hypermodernism"), and with some of the most original endgame studies ever devised. To celebrate his upcoming 125th birthday another great chessplayer and endgame specialist, GM Pal Benko, has sent us some examples of Reti's works.
12/24/2013 – On December 20th, the traditional ChessBase Christmas party was held at the ChessBase headquarters in Hamburg. While a merry-for-all, something different was organized this year in the form of a game between GM Vlastimil Hort and the second-best women in the Bundesliga, WGM Melanie Ohme. Our colleague Nadja Wittman, editor of the Spanish news page, brings a photo essay with video.
12/17/2013 – There is more to chess than tournament games. The area of chess studies and problems is equally creative and breathtakingly imaginative. One of its greatest composers is grandmaster (and world championship candidate 1959 + 1962) Pal Benko. The 85-year-old author of some of the most famous studies of all time has sent us an essay on the remarkable process of chess composition.
12/10/2013 – Round six of this battle in the Czech city of Podebrady brought the first win of a veteran GM against a young female talent. But the fight back came too late: in the end the Snowdrops – average age 22 – clinched the team match by three points. WGM Alina Kashlinskaya, 20, scored five points in eight games, with a performance of 2561. Final illustrated report. Final illustrated report.
12/8/2013 – After five rounds the score is 12.5-7.5 in favour of the female chess players, who have all scored better than their veteran male counterparts. The latter, with an average age of 71, are not in the best shape and feeling the heat from their young opponents, whose average age is 22. Especially Russian WGM Alina Kashlinskaya, 20, has scored 3.5/5 points. Second illustrated report.
12/6/2013 – From November 30th to December 8th the historical spa city of Podebrady is once again hosting a match between a rising generation of female chess players and chess legends of the 20th century. The games are being played in Hotel Zámecek in Podebrady, and after three rounds the Snowdrops were leading by 7.5:4.5. Read all about it in our first illustrated report.
12/23/2012 – How does one analyse fortress like positions with a computer? In the London
Chess Classic round eight game Anand vs Nakamura the World Champion had set
up a fortress which Nakamura was unable to penetrate. Using Let's Check and
Houdini our ChessBase Magazine
columnist GM Karsten Müller was able to do just that and find a clear win – specifically a missed mate in 93 moves.
12/21/2012 – Russian Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh is ninety year old, but hale and healthy enough to travel to the Czech Republic and hold a lecture on Chess and Art and show spectators some fascinating studies. Two young female talents visit the historical city of Prague, and a "Snowdrop" from India bravely encounters snow for the first time. Big illustrated report.
12/18/2012 – After the first three rounds of this Czech team tournament the young female talents were leading the legendary GMs by five points. But what seemed like a walkover turned into a demonstration of teamwork and fighting spirit: the veteran players – average age seventy! – worked their way back into the match and then actually won it. But the best performance was by
an Indian Snowdrop.
12/13/2012 – A team of legendary grandmasters (Uhlmann, Olafsson, Romanishin and Hort) are struggling in a double round team competition against a rising generation of women grandmasters in the Czech Coal Chess Match 2012. The "Snowdrops" are Valentina Gunina, Tania Sachdev, Alina Kashlinskaja and Kristýna Havlíková. So far the Old Hands have won one out of four round. Big illustrated report.
4/19/2012 – 'International master Andrew Martin is a natural teacher, especially for those
below 2200,' writes Setven Dowd in this Chess
Cafe review. He gives the software six out of six stars (excellent) and
says: 'This trainer is a hit with me for its ability to supply the club player,
in slightly less than five hours, with a repertoire that can be used for the rest of one's chess-playing career.'
12/2/2010 – Dragoljub Velimirovic used to be one of the most feared attackers in the world, always looking for the impossible. His imaginative play was compared to the colorful world champion Mikhail Tal's razzle-dazzle. His playing style was unique, daring and often falling off the edge. He made risky moves and so many of them that you wondered how much punishment his chess pieces could take. Latest column.
11/30/2010 – Victory came with the penultimate round, which the young female talents won 3:1. It mattered not that the legendary veterans could score a revenge 3:1 in the final round. The young ladies took the match by four points. Humpy Koneru was the top player with 6.0/8 points, Vlastimil Hort the top male with 5.0/8. We bring you a final illustrated report with pictures and portraits of the players.
11/26/2010 – Snow has come to Mariánské Lázne, tons of it, and the Snowdrops are apparently thriving. They lead the Oldhands by 14:10. The event is extraordinary: in the last three rounds, the subject of this report, there was one single draw. Best player with 4.5/6 is GM Humpy Koneru, the only undefeated player Vlastimil Hort. Big illustrated report with beautiful pictures by Vladimir Jagr.
11/23/2010 – That's Marianske Lazne in Czech, and it is where once a year a rising generation of female chess players faces a team of chess legends of the 20th century. They are represented by Portisch, Hort, Velimirovic and Uhlman, while the ladies are Humpy, Cmilyte, Caoili and Olsarova. They were tied after two rounds but the Oldies took a thumping in the third. Illustrated report.
11/29/2009 – We take the nomenclature from the organisers on the official site. Czech Coal is staging a match between "chess legends" (Korchnoi, Timman, Hübner, Hort) and young "grandmistresses" (Humpy, Muzychuk, Lahno and Jackova) in the famous chess town of Marianske Lazne (Marienbad). After two of eight rounds the "Snowdrops" are leading 4.5:3.5. Big pictorial report with videos.
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it.
€299.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.