ChessBase Magazine Online

Chess helps hostages in Colombian jungle
12.07.2008 – Here's a harrowing and uplifting tale. Three Americans had spent more than five years as hostages of the FARC rebel group in the jungles of Colombia. Last week they were rescued in a daring mission. They carried with them a metal lock, a bullet and – a chess board made of cardboard. One of the captives had carved the pieces with a a broken machete. The game helped them survive. CNN video report.
 

Kramnik: 'My task is to play the very best chess'
12.07.2008 – Shortly after his rapid chess match against David Navara in Prague Vladimir Kramnik gave Czech journalist Pavel Motocha an indepth interview on Navara, chess ethics, the world championship title, his upcoming match against Anand and Garry Kasparov's political activities in Russia. An English language translation has appeared on the Kramnik web site. Here are the highlights.
 

Would you like a blindfold?
11.07.2008 – Blindfold chess has a long and colorful history. But did you know that blindfold chess isn't just for public exhibitions and special grandmaster events anymore? You can play blindfold chess in the privacy of your own home, as you'll learn in the latest ChessBase Workshop.
 

Women's World Championship in Nalchik
10.07.2008 – The Women's World Chess Championship will be held from August 28th to September 18th 2008 in Nalchik, a city in the Caucasus region of southern Russia and capital of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. 64 top qualified players take part in the knockout event for the highest title. Nalchik is not very well-known, but it is located in a hotbed region for chess. You can convice yourself by clicking on our map.
 

Ashley on CNN: 'I just knew I would be a great chess player'
10.07.2008 – Maurice Ashley is the first black chess grandmaster in history. He is also one of the games finest ambassadors, an ardent spokesman and advocate of the intellectual and character building effects in young people for over 15 years. In a short CNN report, part of the series on "Black in America", he speaks about the driving forces in his life and his career. We bring you Maurice unsquished.
 

The Russians are coming – in chessboxing
09.07.2008 – Having enjoyed recent success in soccer, basketball and ice hockey, Russia is now also able to boast a world champion in the little-known sport of chessboxing. Russia's Nikolai Sazhin, a 19-year-old mathematics student from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, defeated light heavyweight defending champion Frank Stoldt, a 37-year-old policeman from Germany, to lift the world chess boxing title.
 

ChessBase 10 – you don't need to wait!
08.07.2008 – It's been a couple of years in the making, but now the latest chess database program is in production, a product from the company that pioneered the the technology. ChessBase 10 provides you super-fast access to an online database with the latest chess games, kept topical and up-to-date by ChessBase. the perfect preparation tool you cannot afford to miss. Order now.
 

Viktor Korchnoi vs the King's Indian Defense
08.07.2008 – Few players have been as implacably opposed to a major opening as Viktor Korchnoi has been to the KID. For at least five decades he has been in the vanguard of those combating this opening, developing countless new ideas in the struggle to prove an advantage for the white pieces. In his Playchess lecture Dennis Monokroussos shows a milestone example from 1987. Learn and enjoy.
 

Kiev Life Rapid: Karjakin beat Short 7.5:2.5
08.07.2008 – They worked together in Nigel's home in Greece, and almost got themselves killed in a traffic accident. But Sergey Karjakin, 25 years younger than Nigel Short, completely outmatched him in the rapid chess match in the Academic Puppet Theatre in Kiev, Ukraine. On the final day the youngster won both games to finish with a five-point lead. Illustrated report.
 

Putting chess through the satirical grinder
07.07.2008 – Uncyclopedia is a satirically themed encyclopedia, formatted as a parody of Wikipedia. Its logo is a hollowed potato that serves as a spoof of Wikipedia's globe logo. Uncyclopedia has a longish article on chess, with many links to satirical subarticles. Funny or not, you must decide. You can also compare it to the 'best short humorous chess sketch ever written’
 

Tweaking Fritz - PART 9
07.07.2008 – In the final installment of the ChessBase Workshop series on tweaking the various general settings in Fritz, we explore the ins and outs of the "Design" tab settings. Find out more in the latest Workshop.
 

Kiev Life Rapid: Karjakin wins after eight of ten rounds
06.07.2008 – Sergey Karjakin, 18-year-old GM from Ukraine, scored in games five and seven to clinch the Life Rapid Chess Match against Nigel Short, 43, from Great Britain, a full day before it ended. The score after eight of ten rounds: 5½-2½. Together with the games and results we bring you new pictures from the action in Kiev's beautiful Academic Puppet Theatre. Savour the atmosphere.