11/19/2025 – Nodirbek Yakubboev became the first player to reach the semifinals of the 2025 FIDE World Cup on Tuesday, drawing with Alexander Donchenko to win their match 1½–½. With the remaining three quarterfinal encounters still level after two games, Arjun Erigaisi v. Wei Yi, Jose Martinez v. Javokhir Sindarov and Andrey Esipenko v. Sam Shankland all head to Wednesday's tiebreaks, where the next Candidates contenders will begin to emerge. | Photo: Michal Walusza

11/18/2025 – A Russian team will be competing in an international team competition at the World Women's Team Championship in Linares for the first time since Russia's attack on Ukraine, albeit under the FIDE flag. While the FIDE Council has approved this, it contradicts the IOC's recommendation. Some critics also believe that FIDE's status as a recognised sports federation within the IOC is now under threat. Photos: Patricia Claros (FEDA), unless otherwise stated.

11/18/2025 – Deceptive simplicity: Pawn endings seem to be simple, but often are surprisingly difficult: White to move and draw.

11/18/2025 – Chess grandmaster Daniel Howard Fernandez of England trains young chess talents in Kuala Lumpur. Twelve talented, young Malaysians attended the workshops and were mentored by England’s 11th ranked player. GM Daniel Howard Fernandez is no stranger to this region, as he had grown up in neighbouring Singapore as a then young chess prodigy. Now he is helping the next generation of talented children.

11/17/2025 – Monday's quarterfinal openers at the FIDE World Cup in Goa saw Nodirbek Yakubboev take an early lead, as the Uzbek GM won his game against Alexander Donchenko. The other three encounters were drawn, though Javokhir Sindarov came close to securing a second win for Uzbekistan before Jose Martinez held firm in a difficult endgame. With three matches still level, the race for semifinal places remains wide open. | Photo: Michal Walusza

11/17/2025 – The 2025 FIDE World Women’s Team Championship will be held in Linares, Spain, one of the most iconic cities in world chess, from November 17 to 24, 2025. Just three days before the official opening ceremony of the championship, FIDE has confirmed the composition of the two competitive pools. The average ratings of the teams range from 2207 (Peru) to 2496 (FIDE).

11/17/2025 – Karsten shows 2 endgames from Goa. The following is nice win for White. How to start? | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

11/17/2025 – Ashwin Subramanian, Software Engineering Leader at Intel and lifelong chess enthusiast, was inspired to take up competitive chess after watching the 1990 Kasparov–Karpov match, with Anand becoming a huge inspiration from the very beginning! After Kasparov retired in 2005, he never imagined he’d get to watch him and Anand play competitively again... until St. Louis happened! Armed with his camera and decades of admiration, Ashwin captured the Anand–Kasparov showdown from just a few feet away and sent us these magnificent pictorial impressions from the Clutch Chess event.

11/17/2025 – The current ChessBase Magazine provides ten opening articles with new repertoire ideas for every ambitious player. Very often concepts are involved that allow you to take your opponents out of their comfort zone early on. One example from CBM #228 is Sergey Grigoriants' article on the King's Indian without c2-c4. In an overview text, the GM from Hungary presents the important variations and ideas. For further study, six games with detailed commentary are included in the article, three of which are by the German GM Rasmus Svane, who has perfected this system for himself. You can view Grigoriants' complete CBM article this week as a free sample in the ChessBase Books format.

11/17/2025 – Eight players now remain in contention at the FIDE World Cup in Goa, where Sunday's round-of-16 tiebreaks completed the quarterfinal lineup. Alexander Donchenko, Jose Martinez, Sam Shankland (pictured) and Andrey Esipenko advanced alongside earlier qualifiers, ensuring a diverse field in which no participant has yet played in a Candidates Tournament. With seven nations represented and three coveted Candidates places at stake, the knockout event enters its decisive phase on Monday. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

11/16/2025 – The group stage of the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship 2025 concluded on Saturday, with Morgan Stanley, Deloitte 1, Greco and Google advancing to the semifinals. A visit from super-GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu added a special moment to the day, which featured the return legs of the double round-robin format. With standings settled in both pools, teams now prepare for Sunday's decisive matches that will determine this year's corporate world champions. | Photos: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

11/16/2025 – Hardly any opening polarises opinion online as much as the London System. Black has numerous ways to achieve a comfortable position. Nevertheless, there are many followers who have remained loyal to this opening for years. What if there were a surprise weapon that could lure White out of his comfort zone and into positions that require precise play instead of formulaic thinking? Andrew Martin has a secret weapon up his sleeve that he wants to share with us – Lukas Koepl presents the course.