6/22/2018 – Pia Cramling was born in 1963, the same year as Garry Kasparov, and she is also a chess legend. 40 years ago, when she was 15, she played in her first Olympiad. But this year she won't in play the Olympiad in Batumi 2018. In an extensive interview, the Swedish grandmaster reveals what drove her decision and reflects on her long career. | Pictured: Juan Bellon, Anna Cramling, Pia Cramling; Photo: Swedish Chess Federation

5/1/2018 – As we are privileged with so many interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg and frequenting our studio, we often try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This time it was GM Simon Williams who visited us in Hamburg in order to prepare two new FritzTrainer video series. Of course, he also took time out for an impromptu interview. | Photo: ChessBase

4/25/2018 – At the beginning of April the 13-year old German talent Vincent Keymer created a sensation by winning the strong Grenke Open in Karlsruhe. In an interview Keymer reveals how he experienced the last day of the tournament, how a positive, optimistic approach helped him to play, and why he likes bike-riding to keep in shape. | Photo: André Schulz

4/12/2018 – The unending stream of interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg, and frequenting our studio, continues. Often, we try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This time it was GM Yannick Pelletier who visited us in Hamburg in order to prepare a new FritzTrainer. Here's the latest, brief impromptu interview. | Photo: Pascal Simon (ChessBase)

4/11/2018 – The final part of the interview with the Tigress of Madras Aruna Anand! While in the first two parts we got to know Aruna better, in the third part we turn up the heat with rapid-fire questions! For each question, Aruna has very little to time decide on her answer and this gives us some great insights into the mind of one of the greatest managers in the world of chess. India is lucky to have an icon like Vishy Anand and Vishy Anand is lucky to have a pillar like Aruna in his life! | Photo: Mandatory selfie with Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

4/9/2018 – As we are privileged with so many interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg and frequenting our studio, we often try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This time it was GM Erwin l’Ami who visited us in Hamburg in order to prepare a new training DVD. Here's a brief (off-camera) impromptu interview. | Photo: ChessBase

3/30/2018 – Right from a very early age, everyone knew that Vishy Anand would make it big in the world of chess. His talent and work ethic combined with the love for the game took him to the top. But what is it that kept him at the top for so many years? If you had to ask us, we would say: a very important role was played by his wife Aruna Anand. She gave Anand the emotional support that helped him keep going for years and years. Even at the age of 48 he is going strong. In Part II of our interview with the Tigress of Madras - Aruna Anand, we ask her about her role as a manager, the biggest challenge, how she deals with Vishy's losses and how Akhil's presence has brought new colours into their lives!

3/16/2018 – When 26-year-old Vishy Anand got married to Aruna, his career was at a very delicate juncture. He was one of the top chess players in the world, but had not yet become a world champion. If the marriage didn't suit him well, he would have bled a lot of rating points. However, the marriage worked like a charm. Within a few years Vishy not only reached the number one ranking in the world, but also became multiple time World Champion. If there was one person who would get the major credit for all of Vishy's successes, it has to be his wife and manager Aruna Anand. Today being the Women's day, there could be no better time to acquaint you with the Iron lady of Indian chess, the Tigress of Madras - Aruna Anand.

3/13/2018 – ChessBase was founded in 1986 and back then no one talked about "start-ups". But 30 years later ChessBase still feels like a start-up, and between shelves full of ChessBase DVDs and lots of computers new ideas are tossed around day after day in the ChessBase office in Hamburg, where new software is developed with cheerful enthusiasm. As ever, Matthias Wüllenweber, ChessBase founder, associate and chief developer is the driving force. We asked him what makes him tick. | Pictured: Matthias (left) in a meeting with Hou Yifan | Photo: Frederic Friedel (ChessBase)

3/10/2018 – Meet Mathias Feist, the soul of Fritz, and a core member of the ChessBase team. Matthias has been the lead developer of Fritz since its inception, over 25 years ago. Fritz has been a world computer chess champion, but nowadays the focus is more on how to make it increasingly useful for humans as a fun and engaging training tool. Fritz 16 has raised the bar in this regard and in this interview with the Spanish magazine Peon de Rey, Jorge Casado seeks to uncover how the program and computer chess generally has evolved over the years. Mathias Feist has had a front row seat! | Photo: Nadja Wittman

3/3/2018 – Positivity, ambition, a never say die attitude and an enterprising style of play make Adhiban Baskaran one of the best and most loved chess players in India today. Recently, at the Indian National Team Championship, he proved his mettle yet again. After a rather dismal performance at the Tata Steel Masters which concluded a few weeks ago, Adhiban made a strong comeback scoring an unbeaten 8.0/9. In this interview, he talks about how he keeps himself motivated, his first ever head to head encounter with his idol Vishy Anand, his recent gold medal-winning performance at the National teams and a lot more!

2/19/2018 – As we are privileged with so many interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg and frequenting our studio, we often try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. Recently it was GM Karsten Müller who was sitting in the studio for an (off-camera) impromptu interview. | Photo: Pascal Simon

2/6/2018 – Carsten Hensel was manager of Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik and was directly involved in the most important chess events during a very tumultuous time for chess. Now he wrote a book about the life of Vladmir Kramnik which will appear soon. In an interview Hensel talks about the book, his work with Kramnik and various World Championship matches. | Photo: Vladimir Kramnik on the cover of the book

2/2/2018 – As we are privileged with so many interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg and frequenting our studio, we often try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This week it is IM Oliver Reeh who was sitting in the studio for an (off-camera) impromptu interview. | Photo: Pascal Simon (ChessBase)

1/10/2018 – FIDE Master Charlie Storey from Morpeth, Northumberland, shares his backstory and how he got into professional "sniping". In his pet opening, Black plays 1…g6 2…Bg7 and 3…c5 against most of White’s set-ups. "The Sniper fires up the imagination, just like The Dragon — but chess is a game of mediaeval war and I just updated it to modern warfare — rooks, tanks, queens, drones — you can figure the rest out."

12/14/2017 – Geurt Gijssen is one of the most renowned chess arbiters and during his active time witnessed many dramatic and historical moments of chess history. In an interview Vlastimil Hort asked the veteran arbiter about his career, his passion for chess, and his take on incidents and scandals in recent chess history. | Photo: Gerhard Hund

10/28/2017 – What is going on with chess in Bulgaria? Currently the country has no fewer than three chess federations but none of them is recognised by the ministry of sports in Bulgaria or FIDE. In an interview with Vera Jürgens the Bulgarian grandmaster and top player Kiril Georgiev gives insights into this mess, and speaks about his chess career and life as a chess professional.

9/29/2017 – It might seem odd to write a tribute to Hugh Hefner, founder of the legendary Playboy magazine, who died now at the ripe age of 91. However, in its own way, Playboy magazine has had a significant impact on chess and some of its big names. Famed chess figures to mark their presence are Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov, and even Judit Polgar. | Photo: Jeff Rayner / Mirror.co.uk

9/22/2017 – Interviews with Vassily Ivanchuk are rare. The man is happy playing chess and would rather find new ideas, or indulge in a game of draughts, than answer questions from journalists. However, the chess world is always intrigued by his brilliance. They want to know more about him. At the World Cup in Tbilisi, Ivanchuk agreed for a short interview with ChessBase. In it he speaks about his World Cup performance, future plans, checkers, his inspiration for new ideas and whether he still would like to become the World Champion. Video with complete transcript.

6/26/2017 – The third and final part of Ramesh's interview with ChessBase India by Niklesh Jain. In this section coach R.B. Ramesh talks about how ChessBase India has made a positive impact in Indian chess, the most memorable and hilarious moments of his life, how fitness is important for chess players and the correct approach of how the children should be taught chess. Ramesh also talks about his hobbies, family and in the end he signs off by singing a wonderful Hindi song! 23 minutes of video and entire transcript.

6/20/2017 – "I had the pleasure of first meeting Nihal in Stockholm at the end of last year," writes John-Paul Wallace. "He looked even younger than his tender age of 12, but it was immediately clear that he was a powerful chess player. A few days after this event I conducted a Skype interview with Nihal. As I think you will see, he is a very humble young man and undoubtedly he has a fantastic future ahead of him. I wish him all the best!" Interview in the June issue of CHESS Magazine.

6/12/2017 – Erwin l'Ami is a strong grandmaster and a popular author. In an interview with ChessBase he talks about his fascination for chess, how he caught the chess virus, gambit play in modern chess, his favorite games, the Dutch Stonewall, how and why to study the opening and why playing blitz can improve your game.

5/16/2017 – English Grandmaster Simon Williams is a popular commentator and author who recently published a DVD about the London System with 2.Bf4. In an interview with ChessBase he explains why this seemingly quiet line is dangerous and also talks about effective opening study and reveals why it is sometimes a good idea to break rules.

3/28/2017 – Sam Collins is an International Master (with two grandmaster norms) and a prolific author. He was born in Dublin in 1982 where he now works as a barrister. In an interview he talks about his latest DVD about ...Bc5 in the Open Games, his career, how to study openings and his favorite games.