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...
The American master Arthur Dake had an extraordinary talent for chess. He learnt the rules of the games when he was 17 but only four years later, at the age of 21, he won gold with the US team at the Chess Olympiad in Prague 1931. Dake was born 110 years ago, on April 8, 1910, and had a...
Obviously, there are no top tournaments running at the moment, but the talk of the town this week was an amazing bishop endgame, which looks like chess from another planet. Endgame expert Karsten Müller took and Merijn van Delft takes a close look. | Merijn is on air from 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST,...
Feeling locked up? Are you missing the chess club, tournaments that came fast and furious? In order to combat depression, the sinking feeling that comes with abstinence, we bring you a number of classical chess problems that will doubtlessly brighten up your day. They are from Werner Keym's...
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
Whitney Houston sang “I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.” With frequent news stories about adult chess cheaters, chess coaches and parents may take a “Do as I say, not as they do” approach to promoting chess honesty in children. WIM ALEXEY ROOT...
Most chess players are fascinated by films about their favourite game even though they often critically check whether everything is "correct" chess-wise. Okay, some films about chess have shortcomings but others are simply fun to watch - and here is a selection of very short films in which chess...
The first official World Chess Champion William Steinitz (1836 - 1900) is regarded as a pioneer of modern chess strategy. His theories pushed back the gambit style that had prevailed until then and led to a much more cautious approach. How did Steinitz get his insights and what principles did he...
In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at a classic and analyses a typical and typically instructive win by Capablanca. | Lawrence is on air from 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can always...
The Benoni Defense leads to asymmetrical, double-edged positions that give Black good chances to play for a win. On his new DVD, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, coach and second of Fabiano Caruana, shows why the Benoni is much better than it's theoretical reputation and that it is an entirely solid line...
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...
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.
A poem written in Valencian by Francesc de Castellví, Bernat Fenollar and Narcís de Vinyoles was the first literary work to describe a game with the modern rules — the queen could move multiple squares in all directions and the scope of the bishops widened importantly. SERGIO NEGRI tells us the...
In these strange times with no live tournaments going on, GM Simon Williams jumps aboard his time-machine and looks to the past. | Watch for free live and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 17:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST).
There's a new book in the making, one that contains the classics of chess, but also of the intricate art of chess problems and studies. The author is Werner Keym, one of the most versatile composers in the chess world. The book starts with the most famous games in history. Most of them you will...
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 ChessBase author, she delivers an insider's report on...
Chess enjoys a good reputation and the creators of the popular online game "Auto Chess" probably wanted to use this reputation when naming their product. However, chess players might wonder how much chess really is in "Auto Chess"? A bit but not that much. | Photo: Courtesy of Drodo Studio
With all over-the-board chess action cancelled or postponed, this is a great moment to explore new territories. Our “Study of the Month” columnist SIEGFRIED HORNECKER sent us some tips to start composing an endgame study or two, or try solving some puzzles for fun.
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...
The protagonist of this week's column was defeated by “quite a strong player”. JON SPEELMAN finds out who was the mysterious opponent and annotates the game in detail. | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will...
In the times of corona online chess is more popular than ever and more than 1,100 players took part in the German Internet Chess Championship which was organized by the German Chess Federation and ChessBase. But online or not - the tournament is still affected by the corona pandemic.
Are you 27 years old or younger? Then you can take part in a competiton run by "Schwalbe", the German society for problem chess – on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the "German Chess Youth". You get ten (actually very delightful) problems to solve. You mail your answers to the supervisor...
Murray Chandler is author, chess organizer, philanthropist, New Zealand's only grandmaster and owner of a church in Auckland. Chandler has lived in Europe for many years, was a successful Bundesliga player and has played at Chess Olympiads for England and for New Zealand. Today, April 4, he...
Statistics play a major role in any sport. More so in chess, where FIDE ratings have their weight in gold. FIDE does publish its rating list every month, but in between those 30 days a lot of action happens when some of the top tournaments are taking place. Where do we keep a track of all the...
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...