7/13/2022 – Paul Morphy needs no introduction. On the occasion of his 138th death anniversary, Eugene Manlapao revisits the exploits of the chess genius and the peculiar circumstances of his success that seemingly recurred in the rise of succeeding American champions.

7/2/2022 – Chess legends Paul Morphy, Adolf Anderssen, Henry Bird, Ernst Falkbeer, and Johann Löwenthal were star sign cancer in the age of romantic chess. With Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Gelfand, Anish Giri, Alexei Shirov, Alexander Morozevich, and of course Ian Nepomniachtchi, we have the almost 200 year older equivalent in the present time. Of the players listed, their merciless attack is often in focus. Does cancer really feel most comfortable with fire on board, or does the aggressive strategy have other reasons? | Photo: Pixabay

9/26/2020 – "Critical Thinking", the directing debut of well-known and successful actor John Leguizamo, is a film about chess, passion, friendship and overcoming the odds. It is based on real events and tells the story of a group of teenagers from an underprivileged neighbourhood in Miami, Florida, who win the 1998 U.S. National Team Chess Championship. The well-made film with a fine cast of actors is a must for every chess player! | Photos and exclusive film clip from "Vertical Entertainment"

8/12/2020 – The ChessBase Master Class deserves its name. On twelve DVDs our top experts had a close look at some of the best players in the history of chess. You now have the opportunity to get these twelve DVDs with lessons about the world's best chess players per download - and for a short while you can buy the complete "Master Class Bundle" for a reduced price! Per download, right to your computer. And whoever buys the bundle, automatically takes part in a raffle!

3/27/2020 – How close are you to Paul Morphy? Probably not that close. After all, Morphy was by far the best player of his time but he had a short life (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) and a short career. Still, Bob Jones in CHESS Magazine wanted to know how close he is to Morphy, and his search for an answer to this question brought back a lot of remarkable memories. You can make a similar connection to chess superstars with our utility WinChain!

11/25/2019 – Paul Morphy is an eternal source of fascination, and this week GM Simon Williams continues his look at some of Morphy's "magical" games. Watch live for free (or on-demand for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

11/18/2019 – Paul Morphy is an eternal source of fascination, and this week GM Simon Williams has curated a selection of his most "magical" games. Watch live for free (or on-demand for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

10/10/2019 – A Britannica Special Feature: ChessBase has received special permission from Encyclopaedia Britannica to highlight several sections from the classic article by Grandmaster ANDREW SOLTIS on chess, aimed at newcomers to the game. Chess theory consists of opening knowledge, tactics (or combinations), positional analysis (particularly pawn structures), strategy (the making of long-range plans and goals), and endgame technique (including basic mates against the lone king).

6/27/2019 – With Falkbeer's Countergambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4!?) Black tries to spoil the fun White wants to have in the King's Gambit. A number of top players have tried this countergambit which led to entertaining games. Today, the line is only rarely seen but today, June 27, 2019, Ernst Karl Falkbeer, who gave the countergambit its name, would have celebrated his 200th birthday.

1/29/2018 – Review: Certain legendary champions form the foundation on which every player should learn and improve one's chess. Morphy is definitely among the first players one must learn from, as his games can be used for teaching, for learning on one's own, or simply for enjoying the beauty of human creativity. Thanks to a team of ChessBase titled players we have a selection of the most beautiful combinations, endgames, and openings played by Morphy.

11/11/2017 – Curiosity, asking ourselves questions, engaging actively our opening study — what we really need on the road to chess mastery. In this review Davide Nastasio was curious to discover what made GM Bauer begin to play the Scandinavian, and thanks to Megabase 2017 he shares his findings in this review, through showing some critical games everyone should know.

10/25/2017 – Even at the age of 12, Paul Morphy (1837-1884) was regarded as an extraordinary chess player in the USA. But on his European tour of 1858-59 he showed himself to be also superior to players across the continent. We've taken several opportunities to celebrate Morphy of late, and now here's one more. The new masterclass DVD — the ninth in the series — we attempt to decipher the "Mythos Morphy".

10/18/2017 – Occupying the center, developing pieces, opening lines, mating the enemy king: Paul Morphy knew how to win quickly. His most famous game also followed this pattern. Morphy played it November 2, 1858, against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard in the Duke's loge in the Paris Opera. Morphy's brilliancy is more than 150 years old but the strategic pattern is still relevant. As Magnus Carlsen knows. | Photo: (left) Engraving by Daniel John Pound, based off a photograph by a Parisian photographer named Thompson) was first published in "The Drawing-Room Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages," vol. II, London. 1859 | (right) Morphy in New York City, 1857 by Mathew Brady

5/24/2017 – Did you ever wonder who was (or is) the best player of all time? Who would win if all 16 World Champions, plus Philidor, Labourdonnais, Anderssen and Morphy could play against each other in a tournament? How would Steinitz, Lasker or Capablanca cope against the best players from today? Such questions have no answer, of course, but are hotly debated.

4/24/2014 – In part one of his article Paul Lillebo claimed that the list of “official” world champions of chess, which begins in 1886 with the Steinitz-Zukertort match, does not do justice to the several earlier masters who were acclaimed by their contemporaries as the champion of chess. To the two masters from part one, Philidor and La Bourdonnais, he adds three more who were supreme in their time.

10/14/2013 – A month ago we published a rare video of the legendary American World Chess Champion Robert Fischer analysed a game. We asked our readers for information on the footage and for pointers to any other footage of this kind. Both were provided quickly. Today we provide a second video, and once again we have reconstructed Fischer's analysis so you can watch the video and simultaneously replay the moves he is talking about on a JavaScript board.

8/31/2008 – Over the years a number of correspondents have submitted to the Editor of Chess Notes their photographs of the final resting-places of various chess masters, including Anderssen, Capablanca, Grünfeld, Morphy and Nimzowitsch. There is even the remarkable case of the two masters who share the same grave. A pictorial record is presented here.