12/16/2025 – High tension in Buenos Aires: with his draw against Julio Granda Zuniga, Faustino Oro stayed in contention both for the tournament victory and for the second grandmaster norm that is so important to him. A lot would have to go his way to win the tournament, but the norm is firmly in his own hands: a draw in the final round would be enough. First place is still shared, yet after Alexei Shirov’s fighting win against the former co-leader Ivan Cheparinov, Shirov and Aryan Tari have the best chances to win the tournament. | Photo: Faustino Oro at the World Cup 2025 | Photo: Michal Walusza

12/16/2025 – The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League returns for its third season from 14 to 23 December, continuing its franchise-based format that combines elite male and female players. Featuring a team structure with fixed lineups, the league again brings together established stars and juniors, with the title to be decided through a double round-robin stage followed by a two-match final. | Follow the action live starting at 12.30 CET (6.30 ET, 17.00 IST)

12/16/2025 – Crushing checks: Often the rook belongs behind the passed pawn, but sometimes other methods have priority: The deep: White to move and win.

12/16/2025 – This week we are having a look at a spectacular miniature played in the Greek Championships. The game Nikolaidis-Alexakis featured the Benko gambit in which Black opted for the modern treatment with 5...e6. Black even got the chance of sacrificing a knight on move 10, how often do you see that happening still in grandmaster play?? | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

12/16/2025 – The Clash of Generations II featured a six game match between 34-year-old former number two of the world Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and 14-year old super talent Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. The result was amazing: Erdogmus hardly experienced any problems at all, comfortably drew five of the games and even won one! This remarkable fifth game of the match is our Game of the Week, it saw the suprising use of the Ruy Lopez exchange variation and turned into a positional masterpiece. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

12/16/2025 – In the diagram position Black has two possibilities to protect the f7-pawn: 21...0-0 and 21...Rf8 (game continuation). Would you have a moment to refute both?

12/16/2025 – The Global Chess League began with a clear early hierarchy, as two teams emerged with perfect records after the first two days of action. Defending champion Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumba Masters both secured back-to-back victories, while the remaining teams experienced mixed fortunes. The top scorers for the leading teams are Alireza Firouzja (Continental Kings), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Bardiya Daneshvar (Mumba Masters), who have won both their games in Mumbai. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

12/16/2025 – Last year Indian GM Iniyan Panneerselvam won the 9th Johor International Chess Open. In second place was Indian IM Raahul VS. This year the 22-year-old Raahul returns to the Johor Open as the second-highest ranked player in the field – fresh from receiving his full GM title and thirsting for more. It is an exciting chess festival which you can attend. Here are all the details.

12/15/2025 – We take a unique behind-the-scenes look at how top chess masters organize their digital workspace. Grandmasters and trainers reveal their personal ChessBase 26 setups — from meticulously clean desktops to chaotic databases full of ideas. They show us their board designs, current projects, and discuss their favourite or most-used ChessBase functions, offering fascinating insights into how great minds prepare, study, and work with chess every day.

12/15/2025 – At the FIDE General Assembly, which was held digitally, the majority of delegates voted to lift sanctions against Belarus and Russia. At youth competitions, anthems may be played and the flags of both federations may be displayed again. Their teams are once again eligible to participate in official FIDE competitions.

12/15/2025 – The Global Chess League began its third season in Mumbai with three matches played in succession at the Royal Opera House. Day one combined a revised time control with the league's established scoring system and immediately produced several high-profile encounters on the top boards. Defending champions Triveni Continental Knights, led by Alireza Firouzja (who defeated Fabiano Caruana), opened with a win, much like Upgrad Mumba Masters and Fyers American Gambits. | Photo: Official website

12/14/2025 – The 11th edition of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial was held in Khankendi as a combined rapid and blitz tournament featuring six players. Organised in memory of the late Azerbaijani grandmaster, the event followed a double round-robin format in both sections, with the overall standings determined by combined results. A closely fought contest at the top between rating favourites Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vladimir Fedoseev was only decided on tiebreaks after the final blitz round. | Photo: Official website