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

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.

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?

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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

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