New: Mega DataBase 2022

12/1/2021 – Start the new year well-prepared. In the updated Mega Database 2022 you will now find over 9.2 million games, from the first recorded games in the history of chess to games played in October 2022. The Mega is chess history and contains almost all top games ever played, many of them annotated by top players of the past and of today. The huge database is an invaluable tool to prepare for your opponents, to study chess and to enjoy chess!

World Championship: Game 4 annotated by Luke McShane

12/1/2021 – On first sight, game 4 of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi does not seem to be particularly spectacular. Nepomniachtchi went for the Petroff and appeared to be well prepared for Carlsen's novelty 18.Nh4 and after 33 moves the game ended with a repetition and a draw. But as English Grandmaster Luke McShane points out in his analysis, the game contained a lot of hidden tactical possibilities.

The Weekly Show

11/30/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent talks about the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi and takes a look at game 4 of the match. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

World Championship Game 4: Hesitant birthday boy

11/30/2021 – The match for the World Championship in Dubai is still tied, as Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi signed a fourth consecutive draw on Tuesday. The defending champion went for his first 1.e4 with the white pieces, to which Nepo responded by setting up a Petroff Defence. Carlsen spent quite a while investigating options that might create trouble for his opponent, but ended up going for a triple repetition on move 30. | Photo: Niki Riga

The Return of the King... and Queen... and Rooks, Bishops etc....

11/30/2021 – Covid might have knocked the Banff Open down, but it certainly didn't knock it out. The popular tournament was back with a vengeance this year, after being cancelled in 2020. The fifth ever Banff Open was held over the Remembrance Day long weekend and welcomed the strongest (and largest) group of players in its history, with one GM (Joel Benjamin), 3 IMs and 6 FMs taking part. | Photos: Banff Open

The Kasparov Chess Foundation announces University Cup

11/30/2021 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation announces the second annual KCF University Cup, which will take place online, February 5 - 6, 2022. The tournament is open to teams from colleges and universities from all over the world.

Going round and coming back

11/30/2021 – Pawn endings must be calculated precisely. In the diagram position it is Black to move and win - if he finds the right square(s) for his king. What should Black do?

Chess arbiters and the three-fold draw

11/29/2021 – "The difference between not the best arbiter and a good one," IA Tomasz Delega writes, in the October issue of the ECU E-magazine, "is that the first one knows the rules and the second one understands also, what these rules are for." He explains the situation using the example of the three-fold draw claim: how must this be correctly handled?

Karsten Müller’s Endgame Magic Show #172: Endgame highlights from the European Team Championship

11/29/2021 – In the Endgame Magic Show #172 Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler look at interesting endgames from the European Team Championship. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

Fritz 18: Play and share brilliancies - and win in the Fritz 18 lottery!

11/29/2021 – The new AI-based training method "Easy Game" helps you to play brilliancies against Fritz18! After mating Fritz18 you can publish your game with one click or you can send it per email to ChessBase to take part in the great Fritz 18 lottery. Join the action!
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Grotesque chess problems

11/29/2021 – Look at this position. Black still has all his pieces on the board, while White has just a single pawn, on its original square. So what is the task? "White to play and win" says the composer, one of the most imaginative in history. Born in 1860, Ottó Titusz Bláthy composed a large number of "Grotesques", extremely unusual positions in which White must win against much larger black forces. These problems are generally intended to be humorous. We hope you enjoy our examples, which should also serve to remind you how you can move the pieces, play and analyse right there on our news page diagrams.

World Championship: Game 3 annotated by David Navara

11/29/2021 – Game 3 of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi was full of opening subtleties and refined maneuvering that, however, eventually led to the third draw of the match. David Navara took a closer look at the game and its hidden subtleties.

World Championship Game 3: A ‘dumb’ move, a draw

11/28/2021 – The battle of theoretical preparations continues at the World Championship match, with Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi signing a third consecutive draw on Sunday before the first rest day in Dubai. Once again, the defending champion deviated from mainstream theory only to see his opponent well prepared and ready to discuss the ensuing sidelines. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Understanding before Moving 55: Pawn vs knight (2)

11/28/2021 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 55th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to talk about pawns which terrorize knights. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

World Championship: Game 2 annotated by Luke McShane

11/28/2021 – A remarkable battle between the protagonists of the 2021 World Championship match ended in a draw on Saturday. It was the second tense draw in a row, with both contenders showing deep theoretical preparation. Game 2 was a Catalan, and by no means was it a boring positional struggle. Grandmaster Luke McShanes analyses. | Photo: Niki Riga

World Championship Game 2: Sharp Catalan ends drawn

11/27/2021 – A second consecutive tense draw was seen on Saturday at the World Championship match in Dubai. Once again, Magnus Carlsen deviated from mainstream theory early in the game, pushing his opponent to solve difficult problems over the board from the get go. Ian Nepomniachtchi showed great nerves to keep things under control, and even got some winning chances in a complex middlegame. The tension continues to rise in Dubai! | Photo: Eric Rosen / FIDE

Sagar and Amruta in Dubai: Day 2 impressions

11/27/2021 – Want to get a glimpse of how things look in Dubai at the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi? The dynamic duo of Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal have made their way to the venue and are producing plenty of content on their YouTube channel. Take a look! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

World Championship: Game 1 annotated by Michael Adams

11/27/2021 – The 2021 World Championship match kicked off on Friday, with a fighting draw. English star Michael Adams annotates the first game of the confrontation between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Adams concludes: “An interesting opening encounter, it will be intriguing to see if Magnus repeats his opening choice in game 3”. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Study of the Month: Strong law of small numbers

11/27/2021 – Richard Kenneth Guy was a British mathematician, with a passion for chess. Siegfried Hornecker's "Study of the Month" is all about this great "Guy", his life, and his studies. The professor of mathematics, who composed almost 200 endgame studies for the "British Chess Magazine", died last year at the age of 103. | Photo: Wikipedia

Light square invasion

11/27/2021 – In the diagram position, 26.Rxb7! paves the way for ... Well, that's for you to find out. Checkmate on the horizon - enjoy!

Sagar and Amruta in Dubai: Day 1 impressions

11/26/2021 – The dynamic duo of Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal (pictured) have made their way to Dubai to follow closely the highly anticipated World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. As usual, they are producing a ton of video material for their YouTube Channel. Not to be missed! | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich

World Championship Game 1: Tension in the air

11/26/2021 – The much-anticipated confrontation between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi kicked off at 16:30 local time in Dubai. The first game of the World Championship match finished in a draw. Playing black, Carlsen was the first one to deviate from well-known theoretical lines, but Nepomniachtchi proved to be prepared to face the variation chosen by the defending champion. A tense endgame developed, with both contenders missing small chances here and there. The draw was signed after 45 moves. | Photo: Eric Rosen

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Spectacular Shirov - again

11/26/2021 – In this week’s show, GM Daniel King presents puzzle positions from games of Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen but for the main dish of the day he shows another spectacular attack from Alexei Shirov. | 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.

Trent's Tactics - World Championships Special (I)

11/26/2021 – What do Tal, Euwe, Botvinnik, Petrosian and Alekhine have in common? They all appear on today's episode! Lawrence Trent shows us a couple of World Chess Championship games, of the earlier mentioned Grandmasters. We also advance to a 2250 rating, of the ChessBase training app, but fail to solve a 2497 points high rating. Can you guess it correctly?