4/13/2020 – ChessBase offers a window to the world of professional chess. The current issue offers a bird’s eye view of three major events, Jerusalem Grand Prix, London Grand Chess Tour and Wijk aan Zee 2020, including 1249 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training. Games annotated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Romain Edouard, David Navara, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Igor Stohl, Jorden van Foreest and Peter Heine Nielsen, to mention a few. PROF. NAGESH HAVANUR takes a look. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

12/25/2019 – This week IM Merijn van Delft looks back on an exciting and critical Grünfeld encounter from the FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is available on demand this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

12/23/2019 – A draw in the second game of the Jerusalem Grand Prix Final gave Ian Nepomniachtchi tournament victory and secured him a spot in next year's Candidates Tournament. Wei Yi managed to mix things up with the black pieces, only to get an inferior position which came to a close when a draw by repetition was agreed. The one remaining spot in the Candidates still up for grabs is the organizer's wildcard, and the Russian Chess Federation will more than likely grant it to Kirill Alekseenko. | Photos: Niki Riga

12/22/2019 – A draw in the second game of the Jerusalem Grand Prix Final gave Ian Nepomniachtchi tournament victory and secured him a spot in next year's Candidates Tournament. Wei Yi managed to mix things up with the black pieces, only to get an inferior position which came to a close when a draw by repetition was agreed. The one remaining spot in the Candidates still up for grabs is the organizer's wildcard, and the Russian Chess Federation will more than likely grant it to Kirill Alekseenko. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/22/2019 – Game one of the final in Jerusalem favoured Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won a 96-move game with the black pieces after Wei Yi declined to force a draw by repetition in the middlegame. Nepomniachtchi now only needs a draw in the second classical game to reach the Candidates Tournament, leaving Maxime Vachier-Lagrave out of the race to challenge Magnus Carlsen in the next World Championship match. | Photo: Niki Riga

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!

12/20/2019 – Wei Yi will face Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the Jerusalem Grand Prix. The 20-year-old from China defeated David Navara in game two of tiebreaks after having split the point in a lengthy first encounter of the day. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and his fans will be following the final closely, as the French grandmaster will be granted a spot in the Candidates if Wei Yi gets match victory. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/19/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi drew Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in their semi-final rematch encounter to reach the final of the Jerusalem Grand Prix. The Russian is now one match win away from securing a spot in the Candidates, as Vachier-Lagrave is still leading the overall standings of the Grand Prix by a single point. David Navara and Wei Yi signed another draw, which means the winner will be decided in tiebreaks. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/18/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi obtained a crucial victory over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in their first encounter of the semi-finals in Jerusalem. The Russian needs a draw to reach the final and get a step closer to next year's Candidates Tournament. For Vachier-Lagrave, this surely brings back bad memories, as he fell just short of qualification in the previous cycle. Meanwhile, Wei Yi and David Navara signed a 52-move draw. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/17/2019 – Two of the three players that arrived in Jerusalem as favourites to get the remaining spot in the Candidates will face-off in the semi-finals. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave went through by defeating Wesley So and Dmitry Andreikin in the first pair of rapid games during Monday's tiebreakers. The other winner of the day was Wei Yi, who knocked out Sergey Karjakin. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/16/2019 – David Navara was the first player to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Jerusalem Grand Prix, as he got a clean 37-move victory over Dmitry Jakovenko. The rest of the games finished drawn, which means three match-ups will be decided in Monday's tiebreaker rounds: Vachier-Lagrave v Andreikin, So v Nepomniachtchi and Wei Yi v Karjakin. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/15/2019 – The first classical games of the quarter-finals at the FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem all ended in short draws. The longest game of the day lasted 23 moves and a little over an hour and a half. In the key encounter between Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi, it was the American who conceded a draw with the white pieces. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/14/2019 – The pairings for the quarter-finals of the Jerusalem Grand Prix are now set, after seven round-one match-ups were decided in Friday's tiebreaks. Out of those with serious chances to get the remaining spot in the Candidates, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was the one leaving the race early on. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is still ahead in the overall standings, but Ian Nepomniachtchi or even Wesley So could overtake him in the coming rounds. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/13/2019 – Wesley So is the only player that has so far advanced to round two of the Jerusalem Grand Prix, as he knocked out Yu Yangyi with a 26-move victory in their rematch classical encounter. Despite the abundance of draws, day two of action in Israel was quite entertaining, as no fewer than five of the seven remaining games featured hard-fought struggles. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/12/2019 – The fourth and final stage of the 2019 FIDE Grand Prix kicked off in Jerusalem. The first classical games of all eight single-elimination matches finished peacefully. The Israeli city sees the race to the Candidates coming to an end, with two spots still in contention at the series — theoretically, Alexander Grischuk can still be eliminated, although he is a clear favourite to get one of the two tickets. | Photo: Niki Riga