12/14/2021 – Fortunately, most of you knew that the correct solution for door 13 was "A". Far fewer, however, were aware that the green squares are called "key squares". Another lesson learned. In the video, there is more information about the squares, and the task for today. We checkmate the opponent's king with nothing more than a knight!

12/14/2021 – The award-winning program "Fritz & Chesster" (Vol. 1) that has helped hundreds of thousands of children all over the world to learn and to enjoy chess is now available in eight languages! English, Spanish, French, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Slovakian and German. The online version of the program runs on practically all systems without the need to install software. All graphics have been redrawn and enlarged! | Photo: lemi-consulting.com

12/14/2021 – Endings with opposite coloured bishops often have drawish tendencies. But things are rarely that simple. In the diagram position material is equal but Black's king and Black's bishop are far more active than their counterparts. How should Black proceed to exploit these advantages?

12/13/2021 – On Sunday, December 12, Magnus Carlsen of Norway lifted the trophy for the World Championship aloft for the fifth time in a row. The closing ceremony was broadcast live on a range of media and culminated with the champion, a gold medal around his neck, trophy raised, in a long, breezy shower of gold confetti. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/13/2021 – Robert Ris is Karsten Müller's guest in the Endgame Magic Show #175. Robert and Karsten will look at games 6-10 of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, which Carlsen won convincingly 7.5-3.5. Karsten and Robert will focus on the endgames that occured in these games, but they will also take a brief look at the openings played in the match. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

12/13/2021 – When Beth Harmon defeated a series of top male grandmasters, and then went on to wrest the title from Russian world champion Vasily Borgov, it was not real life. It happened in the Queen’s Gambit, a Netflix series that did more for chess than anything else in 2020. In reality, today there is not a single active female player in the top 100. But FIDE wants to change that, as the Guardian reports.

12/13/2021 – Ten players took part in the English Rapidplay Championship 2021, which was part of the London Chess Classic 2021. After nine rounds Gawain Jones (pictured) and Luke McShane shared first with 7.0/9, but Gawain Jones won the play-off with a clear 2-0 to become English Rapid Champion 2021. | Photo: London Chess Classic

12/13/2021 – The bishop was hanging, and yet it was not allowed to be taken! But almost everyone knew that, and took the knight instead. Today there is a correct move again, and if you like, a correct designation of the green marked squares.

12/12/2021 – 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 57th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about "The Elephant", an animal that particularly likes the jungle of Nimzo-Indian variations. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

12/12/2021 – This year, the main event of the London Chess Classic was the match between England and the Rest of the World, with each team consisting of three players. Before the final round, the squads were tied at 7½ points each. In a very hard-fought final round, the Rest of the World won the match. Boris Gelfand and Nikita Vitiugov provided the winning points.

12/12/2021 – Today the first authorized NFT series of world chess champions has been minted! World chess champions, NFT and blockchain? What is that supposed to mean? You may have heard that NFTs can establish ownership of digital art: In March 2021, an NFT by digital artist Beeple fetched the auction value of $69 million at Christie's. However the NFTs of the world chess champions are not about crazy auctions, but about honoring outstanding chess achievement. In a series that currently consists of 14 entries, the classic world champions are now immortalized with selected games. The unique thing about this series is that many players participate through their authorization. This makes it the first of its kind in history.

12/12/2021 – You only had to find the correct move Bd3 yesterday, but a huge amount of participants also knew about "Rauser's drawing zone". I congratulate you, for your endgame knowledge. Today, your task is to find a rather beautiful way to win, and as always, only one move is the right one!