8/23/2025 – Yes, 19.Bxd5! in the diagram position wins for White. But it's anything but trivial - let's see if you can provide the necessary 'trappings'. In any case, have fun!

8/23/2025 – In the late 1980s, a company was founded in Hamburg that created a revolutionary product for the chess world: a chess database program for personal computers, destined to change the game forever. As one of the very early ChessBase users, I would like to share the story of its development from my own perspective.

8/23/2025 – For a long time in the seventh round, Matthias Bluebaum had real chances of scoring a win and getting closer to leader Nodirbek Yakubboev in the standings – but in the end, the two-time European champion remains a full point behind the Uzbek grandmaster. On Saturday, the two will play each other, and Bluebaum must win with black to catch him in the lead. Radoslaw Wojtaszek and David Navara will be keeping their fingers crossed for him, as both are also one point behind the leader. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (Chess Olympiad 2022)

8/23/2025 – In the latest episode of his Power Play Show, GM Daniel King analyses two wins by Michael Adams, which helped him to become British Champion for the ninth time - an extraordinary achievement for the 53-year-old. | Watch Power Play on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

8/23/2025 – The Abu Dhabi Masters, the main event of the 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, is currently under way in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Bringing together a strong international field, the nine-round Swiss event is played at classical time control with a prize fund of 55,000 USD. With two rounds remaining, China's Zeng Chongsheng leads the standings, pursued closely by a group featuring a few higher-seeded contenders. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

8/22/2025 – Suspense in Vichy. The semifinals of the French Chess Championship offered thrilling duels between experience and youthful vigour. Marc'Andria Maurizzi (pictured) and Laurent Fressinet prevailed in the open competition, while Mitra Hejazipour and Yosha Iglesias will contest the women's final. Etienne Bacrot v. Sébastien Mazé and Deimanté Daulyte-Cornette v. Anastasia Savina will be the matches for third place. | Photos: Nathalie Daubry / French Chess Federation

8/22/2025 – For the first time in this year’s Rubinstein Memorial A-Group, three games ended decisively. However, the top encounter of round six between Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Matthias Blübaum was not among them: the two players, both in the leading trio after round five, agreed to a draw. Nodirbek Yakubboev did better, regaining sole lead with a win over Pawel Teclaf. The third winner of the round was David Navara, the 2003 Rubinstein Memorial champion, who defeated Jan Klimowski. | Photo: Petr Vrabec/Chess Festival Prague

8/22/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show Merijn van Delft presents an instructive game from the Sinquefield Cup: Praggnanandhaa's impressive first round win against World Champion Gukesh. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/22/2025 – Fabiano Caruana took the sole lead at the Sinquefield Cup after defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round four, his second straight win. The Uzbek player's aggressive strategy with opposite-side castling and a speculative knight sacrifice backfired, leaving him with a third loss in four games. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave again missed a clear winning chance, this time against world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, while Alireza Firouzja's sharp encounter with Wesley So also ended in a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/22/2025 – The Saint Louis Chess Club is set to reopen this October with a newly expanded 30,000-square-foot campus, reinforcing its position as a global hub for chess. The month-long celebration will feature "Clutch Chess: The Legends", with Garry Kasparov facing Viswanathan Anand, the U.S. and U.S. Women's Championships, Hall of Fame inductions, and the Champions Showdown with Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana and Gukesh. The transformed venue combines elite competition with education, community engagement and cutting-edge technology. | All photos: Saint Louis Chess Club

8/21/2025 – After five rounds, the Rubinstein Memorial in Polanica-Zdrój has three leaders at the top of the table: Nodirbek Yakubboev, Radosław Wojtaszek, and reigning European Champion Matthias Blübaum (pictured). In round five, Blübaum scored a notable win with the black pieces against Michael Adams, who now finds himself at the bottom of the standings. The biggest surprise of the day, however, came from Jan Klimkowski: the Polish player defeated top seed Aravindh Chithambaram with Black, delivering the upset of the tournament so far. Round six will feature the direct clash between Wojtaszek and Blübaum. | Photo: SZS / Luka Rifelj (Archive)

8/21/2025 – Fabiano Caruana scored the only win on day three of the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis, defeating Alireza Firouzja to join Levon Aronian and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa at the top of the standings on 2 points. The most eventful game of the round came from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s clash with Aronian, where the Frenchman obtained a winning position in a sharp French Defence but was unable to convert, eventually allowing his opponent to escape with a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes