9/17/2025 – In his 9/11 memorial article in the German Zeit Magazin GM Helmut Pfleger tells us how William Lombardy, the former youth world champion and, alongside Fischer, the strongest American player, bitterly complained to him during the Kasparov-Anand world championship match that began on September 11, 1995 that he had never been accorded the honour being inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame. In 2016 Maurice Ashley, the first African-American chess grandmaster in history, did it and joined the ranks of Paul Morphy, Bobby Fischer, and Frank Marshall before him.

9/16/2025 – On 12 September, the sixth edition of the popular simultaneous chess series "Grandmaster Meets Amateurs" took place in the café of the Salzgitter-Bad Grammar School – featuring a world-class player: GM Ivan Sokolov. The Dutch-Bosnian grandmaster faced 31 opponents and showed an impressive form, scoring 30½–½. Only Jannes Haverlandt managed to withstand the pressure and secure a draw – surely an admirable achievement.

9/16/2025 – It happened almost without notice, because it is so rare. Yagiz Erdogmus came swooping in and took the record for the second youngest player ever to enter the Top 100. We are conditioned to seek the youngest grandmaster or the youngest 2600 (he's that too), but actually entering the Top 100 before the age of 15 is a feat accomplished by only three players, and Erdogmus is one. | Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE

9/16/2025 – Having time to spare is often a luxury – in chess, it can mean the difference between a win and a draw. In the diagram position, it’s White to move and win. What should he do?

9/16/2025 – Anish Giri captured clear first place at the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, scoring 8/11 and sealing victory with a final-round win over Hans Niemann to book his third appearance at the Candidates. Matthias Bluebaum's undefeated run, which included wins over Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Arjun Erigaisi, earned him second place on tiebreaks and Germany's first Candidates spot since Robert Hübner. Vincent Keymer narrowly missed converting a winning chance in the penultimate round and failed to make the most of an advantageous position against Arjun on Monday. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

9/16/2025 – Vaishali Rameshbabu won her second consecutive Women's Grand Swiss, scoring 8/11 and edging Kateryna Lagno on tiebreaks to take first place. Both players secured qualification to the 2026 Women's Candidates Tournament. In the final round, Vaishali held Tan Zhongyi to a draw with black, while Lagno drew safely against Ulviyya Fataliyeva. Bibisara Assaubayeva missed a chance to join them in a three-way tie for first, settling for third place despite an undefeated run in Samarkand. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

9/12/2025 – On Saturday, December 6, 2025, leading educators, academics, and chess professionals will share their experiences, research, and insights on the dynamic field of chess in education. Drawing broadly on the concept of mindsets, this conference will explore the role of chess in education–ranging from fundamental concerns about curriculum, educational policy, the positive uses of failure, and the nature of play, to practical questions about classrooms and other sites of learning.

9/12/2025 – Having to play Black against the Larsen Defence (1.b3) can be quite unpleasant. This is because the white bishops on b2 and b5 love to attack the opponent's centre. In the main line with 1...e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3, Petra Papp recommends the pawn sacrifice 3...d5 4.Bb5 Nge7!? in the current ChessBase Magazine #227. If White rejects the sacrifice with 5.Nf3, 5...e4 leads to an attractive position for Black. If White accepts the sacrifice with 5.Bxe5, they must part with their bishop pair after 5...a6... Papp: ‘There are many setups against the Larsen Defence, but I particularly like the pawn sacrifice 4...Nge7!?’ Take a look at the new CBM reading sample - on your iPad, tablet, smartphone or PC!

9/12/2025 – Round seven of the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss saw a shake-up at the top as Parham Maghsoodloo suffered his first loss, falling to Nihal Sarin (pictured), who now shares the lead with Matthias Bluebaum after the German defeated Arjun Erigaisi. A large chasing pack on 5/7 includes Abhimanyu Mishra, who held Anish Giri to a draw to extend his unbeaten streak to 63 games, Hans Niemann, who defeated Yagiz Erdogmus in a wild 26-move Petroff, and defending champion Vidit Gujrathi, now back in contention. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

9/11/2025 – In his latest Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft goes over a highly memorable game from the Grand Swiss. Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, aged 14, beats Aditya Mittal in an encounter which featured a number of unusual tactics and an iconic finish. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

9/11/2025 – For the second time, Hamburg played host to a unique combined chess and tennis tournament. To manage the Swiss-system draw, a specially developed combined rating was introduced. Georgi Davidov once again proved his class, successfully defending his title from last year. | Pictured: Group photo at the close of the tournament – champion Georgi Davidov with the knight in the centre, flanked on his right by organisers Christian Kalla and Kai Schönwolf. | Fotos: Eva Maria Zickelbein and Anastasiia Agapitova

9/11/2025 – Hikaru Nakamura is working to meet the requirement of playing enough classical games in 2025 to qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament by rating. The world number two recently entered two state-level events in the United States, scoring perfect results in both. He won all seven games at the Louisiana State Championship in New Orleans, before adding five more victories at the Iowa Chess Open in Iowa City. These results bring his total to 29 classical games, with 11 still needed by year's end. | Photo: Nakamura's X account