10/9/2025 – The European Team Championship has started and we are spoiled every day with exciting matches between countries. Germany is number one seed with their dream team Vincent Keymer/Rasmus Svane/Matthias Bluebaum/Dmitrij Kollars/Frederik Svane, but the team of coach Jan Gustafsson is having a bumpy start in the tournament. Our Game of the Week is the masterpiece Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (Greece) created against Ivan Schitco (Moldova) in the first round. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

10/9/2025 – Defending champions Serbia took the sole lead in the open section of the European Team Chess Championship after defeating Greece in round four, their fourth consecutive 2½–1½ victory. Ukraine moved into clear second place by beating top seeds Germany, while seven teams now share third. In the women's event, Poland and Germany remain perfect on 8/8 match points, with Bulgaria, Georgia, Ukraine and France two points behind. | Photos: European Chess Union

10/8/2025 – Two former world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov, will face each other in "Clutch Chess: The Legends", a 12-game Chess960 exhibition match held from 8 to 10 October at the newly expanded Saint Louis Chess Club. The event will feature rapid and blitz games with increasing point values and prize stakes each day, marking the official reopening of the club's renovated campus and celebrating its role as a global centre for chess. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/8/2025 – Who else but Vlastimil Hort would have deserved a memorial tournament? Although it is sad that the Czech chess legend passed away on 12 May this year at the age of 81, it is remarkable that the first memorial tournament in his honour took place just a few months later. The last Sunday in September is set to become a fixed date for this rapid tournament. Brigitte and Daniel Hort attended the premiere. | Photos: Organiser / Teaser photo: André Schulz

10/8/2025 – After three rounds at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi, clear leaders have begun to emerge in both sections. Serbia and Greece share the lead in the open event, while Poland, Bulgaria and Germany top the standings in the women's tournament, with Germany scoring an upset victory over top seeds Georgia in Tuesday's third round. | Photos: European Chess Union

10/8/2025 – You may have seen it before. In this very famous position, composed almost exactly a century ago, it is White to play and draw. Which do you think is the stupidest move White could make. Right, that is the solution – it is the only move that saves the game. Problem expert Werner Keym illustrates this in a book which he has made available, as an eBook, to everyone, free of charge. Here are some excerpts to give you a taste. You can play them out on the diagrams we provide.

10/7/2025 – In his latest column, GM Jon Speelman explores a key psychological theme in chess: the art of refusing the opponent’s narrative. Using examples from his own games, classic encounters such as Szabo–Reshevsky (Zürich 1953), and instructive cases from Karpov–Kasparov and Smyslov–Keres, Speelman reflects on when to accept or decline sacrifices and how independent thinking at the board can overturn assumptions and disrupt momentum. | Photo: A. Hasson / Hastings 1991-92

10/7/2025 – A pawn that shelters the king from the rain of rook checks is called umbrella: White to move and win?

10/7/2025 – Team USA claimed a 5-0 victory over Team India in "Checkmate: USA v. India", a new-format exhibition held at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event combined top-level chess with a live sports-style presentation, featuring unconventional rules such as no resignations and active audience participation. Hikaru Nakamura sealed the clean sweep by defeating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, capping an evening that tested how far chess can be taken as a stadium spectacle. | Photo: Ashwin Subramanian

10/6/2025 – The round-one pairings for the 2025 FIDE World Cup in Goa, India have been unveiled, setting the stage for an intense start to chess' most prestigious knockout event. From 30 October to 27 November, 206 players will compete for a $2 million prize fund and three coveted Candidates spots. With wildcards including Abhimanyu Mishra, Andy Woodward, Faustino Oro, Divya Deshmukh and world rapid champion Volodar Murzin, the opening battles promise plenty of intrigue.

10/6/2025 – The European Team Championships began in Batumi with a number of early surprises. Denmark upset top seeds Germany in the open section thanks to Mads Andersen's win over Dmitrij Kollars, while Georgia edged Hungary and Switzerland held Spain to a draw. In the women's event, Georgia and Poland started strongly, though Ukraine were held by Austria and Slovakia defeated Spain to produce the day's biggest shock. | Photos: European Chess Union

10/6/2025 – Christian and Karsten show 2 recent endgames from the FIDE Grand Swiss. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.