1/2/2022 – Jon Speelman looks forwards and backwards as we enter the new year, looking at a game between Magnus Carlsen and World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov after recapping what went on in 2021. He also analyses three games from previous editions of the traditional Hastings Tournament, incluidng one of his, in which he played his “most outrageous move ever”! | Photo: Nigel Short, Lev Psakhis and Jon Speelman in Hastings (c. 1987) / Nigel Short’s Facebook page

1/2/2022 – The Ukrainian Championships took place in Kharkiv on 8-17 December 2021. The tournaments were nicely organized in the library of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. Andrei Volokitin clinched first place in the open section by winning both his games in the two final rounds, while Kateryna Dolzhykova surprisingly got the gold in the women’s tournament. | Photos: Ukrainian Chess Federation

1/2/2022 – In his ChessBase Magazine column "Topical opening traps", GM Rainer Knaak regularly examines examples from current tournament practice. He also presents three of them in the video analysis in each CBM. Especially for club players, his contributions offer exciting suggestions. Thanks to the range of topics, you should be able to find something for your own repertoire in every issue! In addition, the trap expert often shows variations that are rarely seen in top-level chess but must be on one's mind as a club chess player. We offer you an excerpt from Rainer Knaak's collection from ChessBase #205 here, including a video on the Budapest Gambit.

1/2/2022 – 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 60th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman shows how to convert the advantages of having the pair of bishops. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

1/1/2022 – In the diagram position White can start fireworks to hunt down the black king, and you are invited to ignite all the rockets - have fun!

12/31/2021 – Nona Gaprindashvili wrote referring to Milunka Lazarevic: “A literary person by profession, lively and impressionable, Lazarevic is one of the brightest figures in women’s chess of the sixties”. Milunka attracted attention by her exciting, uncompromising style: sacrificing pawns and pieces and despising draws, which made her famous and endeared her to chess audiences! | Photo: Balkan Chess

12/28/2021 – For 24 days, you mastered fierce end-game puzzles. We received over 6800 emails this year! This topped last year's calendar, bravo! From all entries we randomly selected three winners for each day, who can look forward to ChessBase Shop vouchers or two Fritztrainer DVDs signed by Karsten Müller. Those who guessed all 24 doors correctly, entered into our super raffle for one of three grand prizes.

12/28/2021 – Usually, in open positions a bishop is stronger than a knight. But in chess there's no rule without exception! In the diagram position it is White who has the knight, and it is White to move and win. What would you do?

12/27/2021 – In the history of the Chess World Championships Viktor Korchnoi is an extremely successful player, even if he was ultimately denied the title. If you count the 1974 Candidates Final for challenging Fischer, he played three 'World Championship matches'. The era of Korchnoi's participations in the WCh cycle stretches from the Curacao Candidates Tournament in 1962 to the 1991 quarterfinal match against Timman, which he played at the age of 60. The dramatic fight against Anatoly Karpov in Baguio City in 1978 stands out in particular: hypnosis, cheating accusations with blueberry yoghurt, X-ray examinations on chairs, mirror glasses worn at the board, Korchnoi's comeback to 5-5 after trailing 4-1 are a few of the external circumstances involved!

12/27/2021 – The first five rounds of the World Rapid Championship were played on Sunday. Three players are sharing the lead on 4½ points: defending champion Magnus Carlsen, local hero Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Baadur Jobava from Georgia. On the women’s tournament, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina have a perfect 4/4 score after the first day of action. | Foto: Michal Walusza

12/26/2021 – It was just a few weeks ago that Markus Ragger published a complete repertoire on two FritzTrainers for his favourite opening against 1.d4: the Gruenfeld Defence. In the new ChessBase Magazine #205 he provides an update on the variation with 5.Bd2, since the new idea of 5...c5 has recently proved very attractive at the highest level. Among others, it was used by Carlsen, Giri and Dubov. While Markus Ragger in his FritzTrainer still recommends the common and still fully valid continuation 5...Bg7, his appeal in ChessBase Magazine is clear: "Let's make 5...c5 the main line against 5.Bd2!" You can watch an excerpt from his video analysis here!

12/26/2021 – 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 59th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about the battle between static and dynamic factors. | Photo: Tommy Grooten