6/10/2025 – Blending culture, history and chess, the "Clash of Generations" match in Pietrasanta, Italy, formed the centrepiece of the Chess Roads Festival. Held at the historic La Versiliana venue and featuring a ceremonial opening with rare chessboards, traditional carriages and the presence of Andrea Bocelli (pictured, during the simultaneous exhibition), the event celebrated the game's artistic and cultural legacy. On the board, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand defeated 11-year-old Faustino Oro 2–0 in a match marked by professionalism and mutual respect.

6/9/2025 – The Cairns Cup returns to Saint Louis for its fifth edition, featuring ten of the world's leading female players in a nine-round classical tournament. With a record prize fund of $250,000 and a playoff in place to decide any tie for first, the event continues to highlight elite women's chess. Top seeds include Tan Zhongyi, Humpy Koneru, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Nana Dzagnidze. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/9/2025 – Indian grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram claimed victory at the 2025 Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Armenia, edging out Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu on tiebreaks after both scored 6½/9 points. The tournament, a 10-player round-robin held from 29 May to 6 June, marked a key milestone in Aravindh's career as he entered the world top 10 for the first time. His result also moved him to second place in the 2025 FIDE Circuit standings. | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

6/8/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer, and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 233 of his "Understanding before Moving" show, Herman continues his exploration of brilliant moments from chess history. | Photo: Pascal Simon

6/8/2025 – After all the analysis tips from the past few weeks, this time it’s simply about aesthetics! But that’s not unimportant — after all, you spend a lot of time with ChessBase 18, so the look should be appealing and match your personal taste. Discover how to customize “your board” exactly the way you like it.

6/8/2025 – The Arbiters’ Council of the European Chess Union asked Prof. Kenneth W. Regan to write a dissemination article about his system, to let every arbiter get acquainted with this very important anti-cheating tool. The article has been written in aw way to make the system understandable without any particular mathematical skill, in order to have the concept behind known to every arbiter. It appeared in the April issue of the ECU Magazine.

6/5/2025 – This year, Valencia is celebrating the 550th anniversary of the birth of modern chess. The date of birth is considered to be 15 May 1475, when the book by Francesch Vicent, who came from Segorbe, was printed in Valencia. For this reason, 15 May has now been declared Chess Day in Valencia. Viswanathan Anand was the guest of honour at the celebrations.

6/5/2025 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace, and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world’s best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?

6/5/2025 – What was the chess world like, 32 years ago? How many players were there, how strong were they, how many were grandmasters? In 1993 the newly founded Professional Chess Association, seeking to win Intel as its main sponsor, commissioned the collection of statistics. Today we look at the results, and ask you to comment on the numbers you see. The follow-up article will compare them with those of the current chess world.

6/4/2025 – Nach Weissenhaus und Paris ist das Wynn in Las Vegas die dritte Station der Freestyle Grand Slam Tour. Am 13. Juli spielen ehemalige NBA-Spieler im einem K.o.-Schachturnier gegeneinander. Vom 16. bis 20. Juli wird das Freestyle-Turnier der Schachprofis gespielt. Wer vor Ort dabei sein möchte, kann jetzt schon Tickets ab 90 US-Dollar.

6/4/2025 – The conversation with Matthias Wüllenweber about Fritz 20 highlights the numerous innovations in the new version: A key focus is on the new opponent characters, including legends like Fischer, Lasker, Capablanca, and Karpov. Another highlight is the AI-powered voice commentary, featuring over 170 chess-related themes that provide both entertainment and educational value—available in multiple languages if desired. In addition, the opening repertoires of real chess legends like Fischer have been integrated, and the new "Bullet Training" mode offers practical time-management training against realistically acting opponents. The newly improved engine is also a major upgrade and presents an independent analysis alternative to Stockfish.

6/4/2025 – Tuesday's eighth round at the Norway Chess tournament saw setbacks for Fabiano Caruana and Gukesh Dommaraju, who both lost their classical games to Arjun Erigaisi and Hikaru Nakamura, respectively. Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, was defeated by Wei Yi in Armageddon for a second time. Despite the loss, Caruana remains the sole leader with two rounds to go, holding a slim lead in a tightly contested event entering its final stretch in Stavanger. | Photo: Michal Walusza