6/3/2022 – Leon Mendonca recently won the HSK GM Invitational tournament, with 7 out of 9. Lawrence Trent played in the very same tournament, and reached the 50% mark, with 4.5 out of 9. Their game ended in a draw. Since Leon was still in Hamburg, we managed to have a Trent's Tactics show together. Maybe Lawrence, and Arne, thanks to Leon, finally went beyond the ChessBase tactics training rating of 2500? But, perhaps it was actually a huge challenge? Watch the video to find out how it went.

5/28/2022 – In the diagrammed position Black wins with 22...Nxf4!, this much is revealed - all the rest will be up to you. Enjoy!

5/22/2022 – Another fantastic chess player, who was able to play defensive, aggressive, tactical, strategical, and creative. Boris Spassky has solved some juicy tactics in his games. Also, this is the very first time, that Lawrence and Arne have to face the so-called "nightmare" of the ChessBase tactics section. With limited amount of time, they have to solve this beast. Can you solve it?

5/21/2022 – By hindsight, it's easy to say that in the diagram position White must play 29.Rxd3! - but is it just as easy to refute the game continuation 29.f3?? Your call!

5/14/2022 – In the diagram position White just played 12.Rd1 to attack Black's knight on d5 and to force Black to make a difficult choice: should Black play 12...Qa5 or 12...Be6 - which move gets your okay?

5/13/2022 – The sixth World Chess Champion was certainly not known for his cunning tactical manoeuvres. He actually confessed that he was relatively weak with tactics. Nonetheless, he was one of the best chess players in the world, and had to face a fair amount of tactical challenges over the board, which he solved brilliantly. Lawrence shows us more!

5/7/2022 – In the diagram position, White found a stunning way to strengthen his attack decisively. Your call!

5/6/2022 – Lawrence thought about showing us some tactics of one of the greatest chess players in the world. The world champion from the US was excellent with everything that chess has to offer. Obviously, Bobby Fischer played some tremendous tactical combinations during his career. We start with a game from 1961 against Mikhail Tal!

4/30/2022 – Getting active when you are underdeveloped is rarely a good idea - in the diagram position Black has just played 9...Qc7? intending to capture on c4. Can you punish this move with White?

4/23/2022 – The diagram shows a theoretical Sicilian position in which White has just opened the g-file. Recapturing with 16...Nxf6? now is a well-known mistake - do you see why?

4/22/2022 – Today at Trent's Tactics, we are about to solve one of the hardest puzzles we ever had on the show. The three examples by GM Alexander G. Beliavsky are beautifully gathered, and have a twist!

4/16/2022 – In the diagrammed position, White has just answered the typical KI advance 8...e5 with the space-gaining 9.d5. Black's Nc6 is attacked - where would you put it?

4/9/2022 – In the diagrammed position, White had a spectacular way to attack Black's exposed king. Readers of this column may dare anything - just trust your intuition!

4/2/2022 – In the diagrammed position, Black has full control over the long diagonal and the e-file. Now it's time to turn these factors into something concrete. How would you proceed?

4/1/2022 – Rashid Nezhmetdinov was largely considered to be one of the sharpest players in the chess world, although he never reached the Grandmaster title. Certainly, it is worth to spend a few days in the Mega Database browsing through his 500+ games.

3/29/2022 – Lawrence has found a position, which looks familiar to many of us. We just have to calculate, as good as we can, how to win the game. The important lesson is, that many variations can lead to a position which is slightly better, but not clearly won. A so-called insurance. We can put this variation in the back of our head, and keep on finding a better way to win. If everything fails, we use the variation with the small advantage.

3/26/2022 – In the diagrammed position Black found a fantastic way to make White's loose position collapse - please follow in the footsteps of Rustam Kasimdzhanov!

3/21/2022 – Actively participate in some tactics training again! This time we concentrate on the process of solving tactics, and how to use your pattern recognition to conquer interesting puzzles. Lawrence chose two examples, played in Moscow and Leningrad. In the ChessBase tactics training, we solve one of the most beautiful tactics.

3/19/2022 – The task regarding the diagrammed position is plain and simple: "White to play and win". Your call!

3/12/2022 – Trent's Tactics has a new format since today! From now on, this is your personal, interactive tactic trainer, and Lawrence Trent is your tactical coach. Try to solve the puzzles on the interactive board on your own, pause the video when we tell you to, and use your brain to find the tactical approaches. Lawrence will give you some hints, advice, and techniques to get to reach your goal. Also, please tell us how you like it in the comments.

3/12/2022 – In the diagram position 35.Rxg6+! would have led to victory for White - if followed by the right checks after 35...Kh7. Can you find them all?

3/5/2022 – Black king on e7, unprotected queen a5 - White's threat in the diagrammed position is obvious, and not even 17...Bb6 could prevent him from making a good catch. Your call!

3/3/2022 – Due to the current events, Lawrence and Arne decided to show this episode from early February today, instead of last week. Lawrence built his setup up in Barcelona, and shows us some golden Keres tactics right from the openings. The more often we keep repeating, and recognizing the patterns, the better we will get. In the tactics training, we slowly move towards 2500.

2/26/2022 – The diagram shows a seemingly normal position with an isolated pawn on d4. However, White has played the loosening move b2-b4, and this allows Black to get the advantage. What can Black do?