3/5/2021 – One of Argentina’s and the world’s greatest chess players, a man shaken by life, a victim of war and its inevitable pain, a passionate man who never lost faith. Najdorf reminisces on his life story. | An interview from 1988 by José Luis Barrio for “El Gráfico”.

3/5/2021 – Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort, who loves to travel, is severely restricted in his activities by the coronavirus crisis. What can he do? He is writing his second book of chess stories, and he keeps his friends busy solving chess puzzles. He sent us two.

3/4/2021 – A bit over ten years ago, Hou Yifan became the youngest-ever women’s world champion by winning a 64-player knockout tournament in Hatay, Turkey. The Chinese prodigy defeated her compatriot Ruan Lifei on tiebreaks in the final match of the competition. Hou eliminated Zhu Chen, Kateryna Lagno and Humpy Koneru on her way to the final.

3/4/2021 – In the anniversary edition CBM #200, Grandmaster Rainer Knaak, who regularly writes about "Opening Traps" in the Magazine presents his Top Ten opening traps. Traps that again and again lead to success - not only in blitz, but also in high-level tournament! Some of the traps Knaak presents are well-known but his Top Ten list also include lesser known examples that might catch you or your opponent unaware.

3/4/2021 – The Philidor Defence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6!? was often underestimated in the past. But World Champion Alexander Alekhine, who used the Philidor Defence several times with good success, showed the dynamic possibilities of the opening. Stephan-Oliver Platz takes a closer look.

3/4/2021 – Every chess fan knows about the "Man vs Machine" matches between the IBM computer Deep Blue and World Champion Garry Kasparov in 1996 and 1997. But in the 1960s IBM had already developed a computer that could play chess reasonably well: the IBM 305 Ramac. At an industrial fair in Milan, Ramac even defeated the Italian champion Mario Monticelli - with a little trash-talk to spice things up. A find by Adolivio Capece.

3/1/2021 – As you surely know, in chess, as in other fields, it is important to study the past. But why is this the case? Our ChessBase Author tells us how he was told by his trainer to sit down at home with a book of the classics and think about what he found in them. Mattis discovered that – apart from the historical dimension – the process greatly enhanced his enjoyment and understanding of chess. He has a unique way of visualising the process.

2/28/2021 – Two strong grandmasters from different generations, currently living in countries far apart from each other, gave an online masterclass about a week ago. Levon Aronian and Oscar Panno discussed two impressive wins obtained by Aronian with the help of Robert Hungaski, who served as translator.

2/28/2021 – 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 16th part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman looks at ways to restrain the activity of your opponent. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

2/28/2021 – Hovhannes Gabuzyan goes into the last round of the 2021 Armenian Championship as the sole leader, a whole point ahead of Arman Pashikian and Samvel Ser-Tahakyan. The leader faces Tigran Petrosian with the black pieces. The games start at noon CET (11:00 UTC, 7:00 ET). Follow the action live.

2/28/2021 – The ChessBase Magazine celebrates its anniversary! The new issue, number 200(!), offers various extras, for example an exclusive collection of "My favorite game of the young Magnus Carlsen", a selection of 100 exquisite games with analyses by top players such as Carlsen, Kramnik, and many others, a review of the history of CBM by Rainer Knaak, and much more. The issue also includes "Pearls from Wijk": Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri, the winners of Tata Steel 2021, annotate their best games, as do Nils Grandelius, Pentala Harikrishna, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Plus training material and videos on openings, tactics, strategy and the endgame. Take a look!

2/27/2021 – Burkard Starke was first an enthusiastic chess player and later a committed trainer in Leipzig. He wrote instructive material and (chess) history books. He died a few days ago at the age of 79. An obituary by Rainer Knaak.