MegaBase 2023 is Chess History in action. Regularly updated every month, the Main Database currently offers 10 million games, many of them annotated. Our columnist offers a review with focus on modern master play. There is a lot more to discover in this treasure trove: grand battles, opening novelties and exemplary endgames.
Actually more players in the top 100: 13 US grandmasters vs 12 from Russia, down from 22 five years ago. But even the total is closing: In total Russia still has 246 grandmasters, compared to 101 from the US. Many Russian GMs from the older generation, like Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, have dropped out of the rating list, but the main reason for the decline is the reaction of players to Russia's war invasion of Ukraine. | Newsweek photo Getty
Yury Averbakh is the world's oldest living Grandmaster. In his prime, he was one of the strongest players in the USSR and the world, and in 1953 he took part in the legendary Candidates Tournament in Zurich. After his active career Averbakch worked as author, editor, theoretician, second and official. Today, 8 February, he turns 100! Congratulations! | Photo: Averbakh at the match USA vs. USSR, New York City, 1954 (via D. Griffith)