3/30/2018 – Right from a very early age, everyone knew that Vishy Anand would make it big in the world of chess. His talent and work ethic combined with the love for the game took him to the top. But what is it that kept him at the top for so many years? If you had to ask us, we would say: a very important role was played by his wife Aruna Anand. She gave Anand the emotional support that helped him keep going for years and years. Even at the age of 48 he is going strong. In Part II of our interview with the Tigress of Madras - Aruna Anand, we ask her about her role as a manager, the biggest challenge, how she deals with Vishy's losses and how Akhil's presence has brought new colours into their lives!

3/25/2018 – In 2013 the classical candidates tournaments celebrated a comeback. With success: the Candidate Tournament in London 2013 was exciting, dramatic, and full of brilliant games. It also brought Magnus Carlsen one step closer to the title. The candidate tournaments 2014 and 2016, both held in Russia, were also fantastic. And you'll recognise many familiar names currently battling in Berlin. | Photo: Magnus Carlsen © Ray-Morris Hill

3/23/2018 – Harvard professor Ken Rogoff is also a grandmaster who has appeared in the pages of ChessBase on numerous occasions, despite not being an active player since the 1970s. On March 22nd, he turned 65 years old, and we reached him by phone at his office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to chat about the Candidates, ageing, Harvard, cheating, and a lesson learned 45 years ago. | Photo: INSM (CC BY-ND 2.0)

3/16/2018 – When 26-year-old Vishy Anand got married to Aruna, his career was at a very delicate juncture. He was one of the top chess players in the world, but had not yet become a world champion. If the marriage didn't suit him well, he would have bled a lot of rating points. However, the marriage worked like a charm. Within a few years Vishy not only reached the number one ranking in the world, but also became multiple time World Champion. If there was one person who would get the major credit for all of Vishy's successes, it has to be his wife and manager Aruna Anand. Today being the Women's day, there could be no better time to acquaint you with the Iron lady of Indian chess, the Tigress of Madras - Aruna Anand.

3/10/2018 – The players for the next Grand Chess Tour circuit have been announced, settling the question of whether or not Magnus Carlsen would return to defend his 2017 win — he won't. The demanding schedule of the GCT was too much to commit to fully during a World Championship match year. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/6/2018 – 13 rounds of blitz is tiring. If you are not playing well you want to get over with it as soon as possible. But if you are winning like Sergey Karjakin was at the Tal Memorial Blitz 2018, you would want to keep playing forever! Sergey was in top-notch form as he mustered up 10.0/13 (+8,=4,-1) and finished 1½ points ahead of second-placed Nakamura. The American tried hard but couldn't keep up with Karjakin's pace. Third place was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi. We have the full coverage with interesting games, positions and lot of videos!

3/5/2018 – In memory of Mikhail Tal, the 11th Tal Memorial takes place in Moscow from March 2nd-4th, with a blitz tournament on March 5th. The venue is the Museum of Russian Impressionists in Moscow. Participants are Mamedyarov, Kramnik, Svidler, Nepomniachtchi, Anand, Dubov, Nakamura, Gelfand, Karjakin and Grishuk. Watch live with video updates and more from the venue by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

3/5/2018 – Chess is considered as a young man's game, but a 48-year-old gentleman from India is changing that perception! Vishy Anand seems to be on a mission - to win just about every rapid event that he plays. Gold at the World Rapid Championship 2017 was difficult, but winning the Tal Memorial Rapid was tougher. The field had some of the best rapid players on the globe and Vishy simply cruised to the finish line with 6.0/9, one point ahead of the rest. In this article we try to analyze the reason for his spectacular performance. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

3/4/2018 – We are heading towards an exciting final day at the Tal Memorial 2018. Vishy Anand won his sixth round game against Hikaru Nakamura and came back to the lead along with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with 4.0/6. Two players: Kramnik and Grischuk follow them on 3.5/6. In this report, you can find a wealth of instructive content including videos, analysis, interviews and much more. We also discuss the question of whether chess in museums is a good idea or not? Report from Moscow by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

3/3/2018 – Positivity, ambition, a never say die attitude and an enterprising style of play make Adhiban Baskaran one of the best and most loved chess players in India today. Recently, at the Indian National Team Championship, he proved his mettle yet again. After a rather dismal performance at the Tata Steel Masters which concluded a few weeks ago, Adhiban made a strong comeback scoring an unbeaten 8.0/9. In this interview, he talks about how he keeps himself motivated, his first ever head to head encounter with his idol Vishy Anand, his recent gold medal-winning performance at the National teams and a lot more!

3/2/2018 – The Tal Memorial 2018 begins on the 2nd of March 2018. It consists of two events - nine rounds of rapid and thirteen rounds of blitz. The Candidates tournament is about to begin in a week, yet four of them are playing here: Kramnik, Karjakin, Mamedyarov and Grischuk. Competing with them are Anand, Gelfand, Nakamura, Svidler, Nepomniachtchi and Dubov. It is going to be a wonderful event and we have Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal present at the venue to bring you high-quality coverage. In this first report apart from the opening ceremony we bring you a very interesting experiment that was conducted with the players using Tal's famous games.

2/6/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CET (5pm UK time, Noon EST) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. This week features games from the German Bundesliga.

2/6/2018 – Carsten Hensel was manager of Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik and was directly involved in the most important chess events during a very tumultuous time for chess. Now he wrote a book about the life of Vladmir Kramnik which will appear soon. In an interview Hensel talks about the book, his work with Kramnik and various World Championship matches. | Photo: Vladimir Kramnik on the cover of the book

1/29/2018 – Magnus Carlsen scored his record sixth Tata Steel Chess tournament win, on the same day tennis legend Roger Federer won his sixth Australian Open title. Draws from the tournament leaders in the Masters forced a playoff blitz match, which Magnus won with seeming ease. Challengers leader Vidit made a solid draw which secured him the top spot and automatic invitation to next year's Masters. And there will be a next year; at the conclusion of the round, it was announced that the tournament was guaranteed for January 11-27, 2019. Analysis and commentary by GM Daniel Fernandez | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/28/2018 – Magnus Carlsen won the 80th Tata Steel Masters which was decided in a blitz tiebreak over Dutch number one Anish Giri. The players contested two blitz games with 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move, with no sudden death Armageddon game needed. Vidit played solidly to earn a draw that was enough to win the Challengers, as Korobov could not manage to pull off a win with black on-demand. | Photo: Alina l'Ami TataSteelChess.com

1/28/2018 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov made a quick draw with Gawain Jones in under 30 minutes. That gave both Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen an opening to grab the lead with a win, heading into the final round on Sunday. In the Challangers, Vidit got a critical win with black against Girya, and takes a half point edge into round thirteen. Analysis and commentary by GM Daniel Fernandez | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/27/2018 – A draw between co-leaders Carlsen and Mamedyarov did not change the basic calculation, as Giri had the unenviable task of black against Caruana, and also drew. Anand's win over a downtrodden Hou Yifan, gives him some momentum heading into the final weekend half point behind. Karjakin beat Kramnik, but both (along with Wesley So) still have theoretical chances, just a point back. Vidit and Korobov keep their edge with a safe draw in their head-to-head game. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/25/2018 – Wins from Carlsen and Mamedyarov — the latter with the black pieces — re-established a three-way tie between the pair and Anish Giri, who drew with Sergey Karjakin. Kramnik also won to move within a half point of the leaders. Anand too notched a full point and is a full point back. In the Challengers no change at the top but newcomers Dmitry Gordievsky and Matthias Bluebaum improved to plus one scores with their victories today. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/24/2018 – Kasparov has been making the media rounds as he does, but lately he's been fielding questions on chess rather than the subjects that are more often in his sights: Russia, politics, and AI. He's recently been featured in a serious conversation with conservative commentator Bill Kristol, a not-so-serious Q&A session with Twitter users published by Wired Magazine, and a wonderful mini-history lesson for The New Yorker magazine. | Photo: WIRED YouTube

1/24/2018 – Giri grabbed a chance after an oversight from Maxim Matlakov and notched an important win heading into the homestretch of this year's Masters tournament. With all other games drawn, there remain several players within striking distance, including Magnus Carlsen. GM Daniel Fernandez is back with the play-by-play. The Challengers has been status quo for several rounds, with Vidit and Korobov at the top by a safe margin. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/22/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CET (5pm UK time, Noon EST) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. This week features Trent's games from recent Gibraltar editions.

1/22/2018 – A tumultuous day in Wijk aan Zee as Anish Giri won his head-to-head with Mamedyarov and Magnus Carlsen recovered from a huge blunder, as the three players are now in a dead heat heading into the second rest day. GM Mikhail Golubev annotates the game that stole the show more than any other. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/21/2018 – 'Shak' Mamedyarov won again — his third straight and took a full point lead through the half-way mark of the Masters. Vladimir Kramnik put a big dent in Anand's tournament by winning with black against his successor to the World Champion title. Sergey Karjakin got his first win of the week, breaking his drawing streak and dealing Fabiano Caruana his third loss. And Magnus Carlsen handed Hou Yifan her fifth loss, as the World Champ moves up into a four-way tie for second place. GM Mikhail Golubev annotates all the decisive games of the round. Meanwhile, the Anton Korobov train keeps chugging along in the Challengers, as he drew with Black against Mikhail Krasenkow, keeping his full point lead over Vidit. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/20/2018 – The rest day after round five obviously did not hurt the fighting spirit at the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Round 6 brought dramatic games, two wins and a new leader: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. He won with some luck against Adhiban Baskaran and is now the sole front runner with 4½ out of 6. Peter Svidler and Magnus Carlsen had an entertaining exchange and Wesley So pulled a rabbit out of a hat to beat Wei Yi from a losing position. In the Challengers Anton Korobov leads with 5½ out of 6. | Photo: Alina l'Ami, Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel