6/8/2025 – After all the analysis tips from the past few weeks, this time it’s simply about aesthetics! But that’s not unimportant — after all, you spend a lot of time with ChessBase 18, so the look should be appealing and match your personal taste. Discover how to customize “your board” exactly the way you like it.

6/8/2025 – The Arbiters’ Council of the European Chess Union asked Prof. Kenneth W. Regan to write a dissemination article about his system, to let every arbiter get acquainted with this very important anti-cheating tool. The article has been written in aw way to make the system understandable without any particular mathematical skill, in order to have the concept behind known to every arbiter. It appeared in the April issue of the ECU Magazine.

6/7/2025 – The 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss and Women's Grand Swiss will take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 3 to 16 September. With 170 players set to compete in the 11-round Swiss events, the tournaments serve as key qualifiers for the 2026 Candidates and Women’s Candidates. An increased prize fund - $625,000 for the Open and $230,000 for the Women's event - adds further significance to one of the most important competitions in the chess calendar.

6/7/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris has fun analysing a game in which White tried an old line of the Flohr-Mikenas System (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 c5), which led to wild and entertaining play! | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

6/7/2025 – Magnus Carlsen claimed his seventh Norway Chess title in a dramatic final round, drawing with Arjun Erigaisi from a losing position to secure overall victory by the narrowest of margins. Fabiano Caruana nearly snatched first place after building a winning position against Gukesh Dommaraju, but late mistakes left both players short of the top. Gukesh finished third ahead of Hikaru Nakamura, who lost to Wei Yi in Armageddon, capping off a fiercely contested edition of the tournament in Stavanger. | Photo: Michal Walusza

6/7/2025 – The diagram position saw 29...Rd8 30.Rd1, after which the two rooks in the d-file are only separated by the black Nd7. Who will benefit from this constellation? Your assessment, please!

6/4/2025 – The conversation with Matthias Wüllenweber about Fritz 20 highlights the numerous innovations in the new version: A key focus is on the new opponent characters, including legends like Fischer, Lasker, Capablanca, and Karpov. Another highlight is the AI-powered voice commentary, featuring over 170 chess-related themes that provide both entertainment and educational value—available in multiple languages if desired. In addition, the opening repertoires of real chess legends like Fischer have been integrated, and the new "Bullet Training" mode offers practical time-management training against realistically acting opponents. The newly improved engine is also a major upgrade and presents an independent analysis alternative to Stockfish.

6/4/2025 – Tuesday's eighth round at the Norway Chess tournament saw setbacks for Fabiano Caruana and Gukesh Dommaraju, who both lost their classical games to Arjun Erigaisi and Hikaru Nakamura, respectively. Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, was defeated by Wei Yi in Armageddon for a second time. Despite the loss, Caruana remains the sole leader with two rounds to go, holding a slim lead in a tightly contested event entering its final stretch in Stavanger. | Photo: Michal Walusza

6/4/2025 – Last year FIDE celebrated its 100th anniversary. The book "100 Years of FIDE" is an illustrated history of the World Chess Federation. From it we excerpt passages, with kind permission, this time from the first World Championships in the post-war era – after the sudden death of World Champion Alexander Alekhine. It is a great chance to brush up your knowledge of chess history.

6/4/2025 – Eight days ago, on Saturday, 24 May, the funeral service for Grand Master Vlastimil Hort, who passed away on 12 May, took place in Eitorf. His wife, Brigitte; his son; his grandson; and his friends and relatives said goodbye to this kind-hearted man. One fan expressed his grief by posting a song on YouTube.

6/4/2025 – Humpy Koneru reclaimed the sole lead at the Norway Chess Women tournament by defeating Sara Khadem for a second time in classical play. With two rounds to go, Humpy leads on 13½ points, ahead of Anna Muzychuk and Ju Wenjun. While Muzychuk won in Armageddon against Lei Tingjie, Ju lost to Vaishali Rameshbabu in the tiebreaker. The tournament pauses for a rest day on Wednesday before resuming with the final two decisive rounds. | Photo: Michal Walusza

6/3/2025 – Sam Shankland won the 2025 American Continental Chess Championship in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, after finishing in a seven-way tie for first place and prevailing on the Buchholz tiebreak criterion. The event, held from 23 to 31 May, awarded four places for the 2025 FIDE World Cup. José Eduardo Martínez and Alexandr Fier joined Shankland on the podium, while José Gabriel Cardoso secured the final qualification spot. | Photo: FIDE Americas