10/6/2022 – In his “Game of the Week” show #536 Merijn van Delft looks at a fascinating game Magnus Carlsen played in round 2 of the European Club Cup in Mayrhofen, Austria. The World Champion had White against the German Grandmaster Alexander Naumann and impressed with surprising maneuvers in the opening and a couple of pawn sacrifices for positional compensation. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

10/6/2022 – After three rounds, six teams in the open section of the European Club Cup have won all their matches in Mayrhofen. The top scorers on individual boards are Silla Valencia (Korobov, Santos), Offerspill (Carlsen, Tari) and Viernheim (Kryvoruchko, Kuzubov). In the women’s event, Superbet (Bulmaga, Saduakassova) and Pamhagen (Danielian, Ushenina) have collected 6 match points in the first three rounds. | Photos: European Chess Union

10/5/2022 – That's how chess can be: You cheerfully let the knights rush forward and threaten everything that's standing there. The dear pawns lash out so much that it's a real joy - and suddenly the cerebrum announces: T-R-A-P. Unfortunately too late. That doesn't have to be. With the tactics app in your ChessBase account, you can work on your tactics at any time: Solve tasks at your level without time pressure, measure yourself against others in the tactics fight or compete against the clock in the tactics sprint. In the second episode of his account tutorial, Martin Fischer explains how best to use the tactics app. So that you don't fall into a trap again...

10/5/2022 – A few hours ago, the Wall Street Journal published a lengthy article sharing the findings emerging from an investigation conducted by chess.com. According to the piece, chess.com asserts that Hans Niemann “likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games, as recently as 2020”, including in many tournaments with prize money on the line. Niemann did not respond to requests for comments.

10/5/2022 – No major upsets were seen in round 2 of the European Club Cup in Mayrhofen, with the favourite teams mostly securing comfortable wins. Superbet’s Vishy Anand was rested, while Offerspill’s Magnus Carlsen played and beat Solingen’s Alexander Naumann. In the women’s event, the top two teams, Monte-Carlo (pictured) and Superbet, scored wins. Both teams will face difficult challenges in round 3, as they will play Pamhagen (third seeds) and Odlar Yurdu (fourth seeds) respectively. | Photos: European Chess Union

10/4/2022 – There is a sense of frustration at this stage by parties wide and large, and while the quote in the headline will hit closer to home for chess players, the venerable British newspaper 'The Guardian' also took an unprecedented step by declaring their own official position regarding the entire scandal.

10/1/2022 – Mikhail Tal was the third of the twelve World Chess Champions whom Frederic met. In our new weekly series he tells us how he met and befriended the top players, and the adventures they experienced together. Frederic has written a new book, together with Professor Christian Hesse, with fascinating chess stories from the last 50 years. It will appear (first in German) in October.

10/1/2022 – Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez and Sam Shankland all have something in common. They play for the US national team, and they are all Libra. Although many Libra grandmasters play excellent chess, none have won a world championship title, except for Ruslan Ponomariov, who won the FIDE title in 2002. Even legends like Ossip Bernstein, Viacheslav Ragozin and New York-born Reuben Fine were close, but not close enough. Maybe it's because Libras bring too much lightness to the game? | Photo: Pixabay

10/1/2022 – Today your defensive skills are needed: Can you refute Black's 35...Ng6? or 35...Rg6? in the diagram position?

9/30/2022 – There are many ways to train chess or to entertain yourself with chess: relaxed tactics training without time pressure or in competition with others? Or do you love the artistic appeal of studies? Do you like to follow live world-class tournaments or to watch training videos? Do you like to hone your opening repertoire by using the opening trends from the live ticker? The ChessBase Account offers you all this - and much more. Fully integrated in the ChessBase world, the WebApps work together and can be used perfectly with the ChessBase and Fritz programmes. The ChessBase Account offers a comprehensive access to the world of chess, no matter whether you play chess as a sport or as a hobby. In a new tutorial series Martin Fischer explains how to use the ChessBase Account. Part 1: Set up & get started!

9/30/2022 – In his Power Play Show, Daniel King takes a close look at the game Saric-Ivanchuk, played at the Julius Bär Generation Cup. We see a bold attacking idea right out of the opening that almost catches Ivanchuk. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

9/30/2022 – A few days ago Europe's biggest news portal, SPIEGEL Online, had YACS – yet another cheating story. It concentrated on a portrait of the accused Hans Niemann, and traced his chess development over the years. Did you know you can easily track the Elo progress in the ChessBase Players service? And also his best games, his best and his most difficult opponents, his favourite openings and most/least successful openings. If not, take a look at what you have been missing.