12/25/2023 – For two decades we ended each year with traditional Christmas puzzles – here are some of the best from the early years. Many of our younger readers will not have seen them – remember, some of them were not born when we started. For others it will hopefully bring back nostalgic memories. And perhaps some additional joy on the big festive day. From today until January 1st 2024 we revive the tradition, with new contributors who will hopefully maintain it in the decades to come.

8/31/2022 – There are many ways to train tactics, from methodical themes, to deep positions, and while all have their place in a player's arsenal of training tools, there is one that specifically targets speed of recognition and play: the Tactics Sprint. If you feel like you want a method to improve your ability to see and play tactics in minimal time see this intro with video!

6/14/2022 – Almost eight years ago, in 2014, it was with deep chagrin that we announced the demise of the decades-old chess column in the venerable New York Times. Its most recent upkeeper at the time was the New York Times journalist, Dylan Loeb McClain, who still writes about chess affairs for the paper. It is with pleasure that we can trumpet its resurrection at the hands of GM Daniel Naroditsky.

2/8/2021 – It's a little late for New Year's celebrations, but never too late to have some fun. In the January issue of the UK CHESS magazine readers were challenged to solve eight unusual problems, which we shared with you last week – with live diagrams on which you could work things out. Today we have added full annotated solutions.

7/27/2020 – The main theme for this logic riddle is the world of Combinatorics. Although it requires some calculations, it is a lot of fun to try to correctly compare probabilities. Of course, we also have the solution for Logic Riddle #5 available!

7/10/2020 – Part five of our “Logic Riddles” series is here! This time it is all about a chess-related riddle, pertaining colours. We recently posted a philosophical brain-teaser which can be solved in more than one way. One of the many possible answers is shared in this article!

6/10/2020 – Can you get better at chess by solving Sudoku puzzles? After all, Sudoku requires you to calculate several moves ahead and some variations of Sudoku make use of chess which makes these Sudokus even more fun to solve. But the question remains: can Sudoku really help to improve your chess?

5/26/2020 – What to do during the corona crisis? The German magazine "Schach" came up with an interesting idea: a "Corona Composition Tournament". Only compositions qualify in which the pieces keep "social distance" and do not touch each other. Sounds easy? Maybe, but keep in mind that the board has only 64 squares. Try your skills as a composer and win ChessBase vouchers.

5/23/2020 – In our fourth logic riddle for chess players we have to deal with a pawn who is not very good with numbers. Similar to the previous logic riddles, the chess theme again carries the logic riddle and should not be taken too seriously. You are more than welcome to write the answer to the riddle and to detail your approach to find the solution in the comments.

5/9/2020 – This is the third entry of logic riddles for chess players. In this case the riddle is a bit different compared to the previous logic riddles. It doesn't require too much mathematical skill and some people have a very hard time solving it. Others can find the answer in a finger snip. Keep in mind, you don't need a chess board for the solution, just your imagination and cleverness.

2/10/2020 – The 4NCL provides insiration for a new tactics-focus Simon Says. GM Simon Williams curates a selection of puzzles for your enjoyment and improvement. | Puzzle time: In the position below it's White to play and win! | Watch for free live and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

2/3/2020 – GM Simon Williams curates a selection of puzzles for your enjoyment and improvement. | Watch for free on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

1/12/2020 – Last year we rivived our twenty-year tradition of giving you unusual puzzles for the Christmas holidays — puzzles that cannot be easily solved with a computer (the point of this endeavour), tasks which require you to think all by yourself. Sadly the greatest problematist, Pál Benkö, who faithfully contributed to this endeavour, could only make one contribution, for Christmas day, before passing (at 91 last August). We hope you enjoyed the puzzles and were able to solve some yourself.

12/29/2019 – When grappling with a challenging chess puzzle, there's often the temptation to feed it to a chess engine to a little help. For today's puzzles, that's not an option. Emeritus Editor FREDERIC FRIEDEL has selected problems by Dr Karl Fabel and Thomas Rayner Dawson, "the father of Fairy Chess". Not sure what that means? Read on!

12/27/2019 – During the Christmas puzzle week we normally strive to bring you puzzles that cannot be solved by simply pressing some key on your computer. But here I would like to simply tell you a story of how ancient, well-known problems can electrify budding young chess players. In the board position shown, it's White to play and draw!

12/26/2019 – Christmas Puzzle week, which we bring you for the twentieth year in succession, is time for unusual and entertaining puzzles — tasks that are not amenable to computer assistance, but require human ingenuity. Try, for instance, to imagine how the position in the picture could have possibly arisen. Determining that needs lateral thinking. One of the foremost composers of chess problems "out of the box" sent us some highly entertaining examples. At least one of them looks quite impossible. Merry Boxing Day!

12/25/2019 – Every year Pal Benko, grandmaster, former World Championship candidate, and one of the best problem composers in the world, sent us some very special seasonal greetings. They came in the form of chess problems for our readers. Just weeks before his death (at 91 last August) Pal started working on this year's Christmas puzzles. Unfortunately he was only able to suggest the first one, for Christmas Day. It is a problem by Sam Loyd and was supposed to fool our readers (Pal retained his humour and mischievous nature to the end). We share this puzzle with you today.

11/6/2019 – Are strong chess players generally better at logical thinking than people who rarely play the game? Can super-talented youngsters, of GM strength, solve logical puzzles better than amateurs or non-chess kids of the same age? Or are both equally good, or are the chess kids perhaps worse? ChessBase chief editor emeritus Frederic Friedel is conducting an experiment to find out. Today he tells us how his experiments so far have been conducted. Perhaps you can join in and supply your own results. Or at least have fun with his problems!

10/17/2019 – It is arguably one of the most elegant problems ever composed. The author is the late Pal Benko, a world class grandmaster and World Championship contender, who earned an additional ticket to immortality with his problems and endgame studies. The problem he composed when he was fifteen still occupies the nonagenarian. It has a dual, and we challenged our readers to find a modification to cure that. A large number tried. Today we show you Pal Benkös's own "correction".

9/20/2019 – Problem solving is a challenging field, with young participants generally dominating. There is one exception. Year after year a British mathematician, grandmaster and chess writer gives the strongest and brightest a run for their money. This year 64-year-old John Nunn finished a close second, behind the youthful Polish solver Piotr Górski. John has sent us a full report with examples of the tasks that the solvers faced. You can match your wits against them. | Photo Petra Nunn

4/26/2019 – As in the previous year we decided to abandon our decades-long tradition of tricking our readers with false stories on April 1st. For those who are disappointed by this decision we brought you a really fun (and fully genuine) task proposed by Pal Benko for this auspicious day. Initially there was an error in the task, but after we corrected that we received valid solutions. The best came from Mihály Berkics from Hungary, who receives a special prize.

4/15/2019 – Today GM Simon Williams aims to test your tactic ability with a range of different problems. You'll encounter a number of modern games with a pinch of 'Troitzky' thrown in for good luck. Live today at the usual time: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

2/7/2019 – Our Christmas Day problem article really made the rounds. First eminent mathematician and problemist Noam Elkies sent rapid feedback, and then one of truly great problem composers (and GM, and World Championship candidate) sent us his comments. It is none other then Pal Benko who helped convert Frederic Friedel's amateur composition into an "Excelsior", and tried himself to construct a full Excelsior (where the pawn starts with a single step). It's a lesson in problem composition.

1/25/2019 – It's a new discovery — a collection of the most interesting chess problems and puzzles, from the tenth century until today. The unique thing is that each puzzle has a little story attached to it, telling you something about the circumstances of its composition and its place in the history of chess problems. We bring you a small sample from the book "Chess Compositions". Try working out the positions before you peek at the solutions.