12/5/2022 – The 1972 World Championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spasski is regarded as one of the most critical moments in the history of chess, occurring 50 years ago. To present you with this year's Christmas calendar in the proper setting, Arne swiftly constructed a time machine, and went back 50 years. Of course, the 1972 World Cup is the main calendar focus this time! You have the opportunity to guess, count, and conduct research every day for a chance to win one of 90 ChessBase prizes. Your chances of winning one of the major prizes increases, the more questions you can correctly guess. | Photo: Original by World Chess Hall of Fame

12/5/2022 – Mustafa Yilmaz emerged as the winner of the 2022 Turkish Championship. The native of Mamak claimed his third national title, repeating his triumphs of 2009 and 2017. The 2022 Turkish Championship, a 10-player round-robin tournament with classical time control, took place in Kemer, a seaside resort in the province of Antalya, from 25 November to 3 December. | Photos: Turkish Chess Federation

12/4/2022 – Following Daniel King’s recap of ‘Novotny’ patterns, Jon Speelman could not deny himself the pleasure of analysing the game played by Vasyl Ivanchuk which motivated the theme’s resurgence. Speelman writes of Ivanchuk: “Of all the players that I’ve ever faced over the board, I’ve always considered Ivanchuk the most talented, with no exceptions”. | Photo: Amruta Mokal / ChessBase India

12/4/2022 – At the Women’s Candidates Tournament in Khiva, Tan Zhongyi and her opponent Kateryna Lagno played the tiebreak of their quarterfinal match on Sunday. Tan won the first 15+10 game and drew the next three encounters to make it to the semifinals, where she will face Aleksandra Goryachkina in a similar 4-game match starting Tuesday. | Photos: FIDE / Timur Sattarov

12/4/2022 – Two young rising stars claimed titles in the blitz section of the Tata Steel Chess India event. Arjun Erigaisi and Vaishali Rameshbabu made their country proud as they got clear victories in the 18-round tournaments organized in Kolkata. The Indians outscored top-notch opposition on their way to memorable triumphs at the imposing National Library of India. | Pictured: Nihal, Arjun, Ushenina and Vaishali | Photo: Lennart Ootes

12/4/2022 – In 1968, the American magazine Chess Review introduced Michael Basman as “another bright B” in the tradition of famous British chess players represented by Bird, Blackburne and Burn. "Basman would never be the brightest chess star in this constellation of Bs, but he became the most doggedly extra-terrestrial of all of them," writes Jonathan Manley in the December issue of CHESS Magazine. Here's his fine tribute.

12/2/2022 – There has been little change at the top of the FIDE world rankings. Magnus Carlsen leads ahead of Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The best woman player is Hou Yifan and the best juniors are Alireza Firouzja and Zhu Jiner.

12/2/2022 – The 1972 World Championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spasski is regarded as one of the most critical moments in the history of chess, occurring 50 years ago. To present you with this year's Christmas calendar in the proper setting, Arne swiftly constructed a time machine, and went back 50 years. Of course, the 1972 World Cup is the main calendar focus this time! You have the opportunity to guess, count, and conduct research every day for a chance to win one of 90 ChessBase prizes. Your chances of winning one of the major prizes increases, the more questions you can correctly guess. | Photo: Original by World Chess Hall of Fame

12/2/2022 – The 9-round rapid tournaments — open and women’s — at the Tata Steel India Chess event came to an end on Thursday. Nihal Sarin had a dominating performance in the open, securing first place with a round to spare after collecting back-to-back wins over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Parham Maghsoodloo. Earlier in the day, Anna Ushenina had defeated Nana Dzagnidze in blitz tiebreaks to claim the women’s title. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

12/1/2022 – This week Robert Ris takes a look at the Van Geet Opening: 1.Nc3!?, a move that helped Arjun Erigaisi to achieve a miniature victory against his compatriot Praggnanandhaa at the finals of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

12/1/2022 – Much like on the first day of the Women’s Candidates (Pool B) in Khiva, two tense draws were signed by the contenders looking to get a spot in the final against Lei Tingjie. After a rest day on Thursday, two more games will be played in this phase, with tiebreaks scheduled for Sunday in case of a 2-2 result in the classical portion. | Photo: Xushnud Baltaev

12/1/2022 – The ChessBase Magazine Extra is the perfect addition to the ChessBase Magazine and keeps you informed about everything that happens in tournament chess. The current issue - CBM Extra #210 - contains training videos with Robert Ris and Mihail Marin (total playing time: just under 1 hour) and 38 deep and comprehensive analyses by Anish Giri, Romain Edouard, Lubomir Ftacnik, Michal Krasenkow, and many others.