Chess players have had to change their routine in light of the Coronavirus, with online tournaments and practice from home. Not the same as physical, over the board encounters. There are differing ways of adapting to the changes, but chess players will always find a way. We should all remember...
October 2020 will mark an extraordinary chapter in American chess history, as due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Saint Louis Chess Club will host the 2020 US Chess Championships online for the first time. This unique combination of the five top national tournaments will showcase competitors that...
In his "Game of the Week" show, Merijn van Delft takes a look at a game from the Bundesliga Championship Tournament: Erwin l'Ami's fascinating win against Fabiano Caruana. | Merijn's show is freely available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) for a limited time, and on-demand with a ChessBase...
During the lockdown caused by pandemic of Covid19 virus, almost all chess players throughout the world were forced to turn to online chess. Many over-the-board chess events were postponed, altogether with the FIDE Olympiad and the biggest European official events. The first international Chess...
An 8x8 board with black & white pieces is water under the bridge. We take a step further and play on a 16x16 board with twelve different colours now - thanks to the beautiful "Sovereign Chess" by Mark Bates. Pretty much all the normal chess rules apply, which makes this game even easier to...
Who is better, the bishop or the knight? It depends. In the endgame, when both sides fight on both wings, the bishop is usually better than the knight. One such exception is the diagram position. Here, the knight is better than the bishop. But how does Black win?
In memory of chess legend Wolfgang Uhlmann, who sadly passed away a month ago, we translate the interview he gave to Dagobert Kohlmeyer earlier this year. In the 1960s and 1970s, the grandmaster from Dresden was one of the absolute top chess players in the world. | Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer
When was the first time in your life you played chess? Most probably at the age of six to eight years? Whatever the answer is, we have an adorable quiz about young titled chess masters for you. If chess is a big part in your life, which isn't a bad thing at all, you should be able to guess at...
"Before you move, take a deep breath to calm down," might be good advice for nervous players, but it was definitely good advice for the 13 chess players who took part in the first "Diving Chess" tournament of the Austrian Company Sports Organisation. After all, in this discipline of chess, you...
The Russian IM Semen Khanin started at the Panchenko Memorial in Chelyabinsk as number 26 on the seeding list, but after nine rounds he finished first on tiebreak. Anastasia Bodnaruk dominated the Women's Tournament and finished clear first with 8.0/9. | Photo: Galina Popova
In the last instalment of a seven-part series, Sergio Negri presents a list of the knowns and unknowns regarding the origins of chess. The Argentine researcher concludes, “For now, it might be better not to know everything yet. [...] A suggestive and primordial mystery continues to haunt us: when...
Simon Says: Today, we look at some games the highly original and creative Richard Rapport played in the Bundesliga Team Championship that ended on Sunday. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 18:00 UTC (20:00...
In this Power Play Show Grandmaster Daniel King looks at a tense strategic battle from the recent Bundesliga Championship, Michael Adams (pictured) vs Vincent Keymer, that culminated in an explosion of tactics. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess...
In the last 15 years the OSG Baden-Baden has won the title of German Team Champion no less than 14 times, and in 2020 they won it again. Though it was close. In the dramatic seventh and decisive round of the Bundesliga Championship Baden-Baden only narrowly won the top match against the SC...
Last week we gave you a series of chess problems which cannot be solved by computers, taken from a book called "Outrageous Chess" by Burt Hochberg. Were you able to find the out-of-the-box answers? And do you like this kind of problem? In any case, today we reveal the correct solutions and...
Star columnist Jon Speelman reminisces on the days chess players indulged in a post-mortem discussion — across a table — after their game was over. Speelman also talks about the very strongest players never to become world champion, particularly two that he faced repeatedly during his career —...
Grandmaster Peter Svidler is an eight-time Russian chess champion. Svidler’s peak rating placed him fourth in the world. National Master Mike Walder annotates one of Svidler’s wins and has a recipe for a dish that Svidler likes. WIM Alexey Root tells why Svidler is a Grandmaster Chef honoree. |...
In an appropriate turn of events, given how the tournament had developed, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So tied for first place at the Saint Lous Rapid & Blitz online tournament. Carlsen beat the American in their direct encounter and had a one-point lead with three rounds to go, but So was not...
Zhansaya Abdumalik is one of the most promising young talents of our time. She is from Kazakhstan, a country which has experienced a huge boom in women's chess, especially in recent years. She is a multiple youth and junior world champion, known for a very aggressive and dynamic playing style. ...
Magnus Carlsen reclaimed the lead at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz online event after scoring 6½ points in the first nine rounds of the blitz section. Wesley So, who obtained the highest score in the rapid, is a half point behind. With the second half of the blitz left to go, it is very unlikely...
The Norwegian holiday resort Kragerø is a popular venue for Norwegian Grand Prix tournaments. Recently, another one of these tournaments was played, though this year under special conditions. Holger Blauhut reports about a live tournament in times of corona.| Photos: Tanja Cecilie Kveim (TCK),...
A few weeks ago we offered a number of great Fritztrainers in a summer special for reduced prices. If you bought one of the offered bundles, you had the chance to win DVDs, signed by famous players such as like Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian,...
The OSG Baden-Baden is the clear favourite to win the Bundesliga Championship 2020, and they score better and better: in round 1 they won 6½-1½ against Deizisau, in round 2 they scored a 7-1 win against Bavaria Munich, which they followed up with a 7½-½ victory against SF Berlin in round 3. The...
In the diagram position Black would like to close the position, while White wants just the opposite - he would like to open the position to give his pieces space. But it is White to move! How would you continue?
On Saturday September 19, 2020, there will be another big tournament on Playchess, organised by ChessBase India, with a Rs.50,000 ($ 680 or €575) prize fund. Time control: 3 mins + 0 second increment, number of rounds: 10. Expect strong GM and IM participation – highest rated GM so far: 2611....