8/31/2020 – In 1949, four years after the end of World War II, the Allies divided Germany into West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany, FRG) and East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, GDR). For chess composers, the main restriction was that they were unable to travel into western countries and the fact that they could not always send chess compositions to western sources, nor receive them. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker tells us how the chess composition scene was kept alive in the GDR. | Pictured: Leipzig in the 1980s

8/30/2020 – Many users have comfortable — one could almost say “huge” — computer screens. So it is not surprising that texts in our databases and also those of ChessBase Magazine look almost “ridiculously small”. But that does not have to be the case! Solution: in the latest versions there is a zoom function which becomes available after you update your software online!

8/30/2020 – Thank you for your commentaries about the last riddle and for clarifying the riddle before finding a solution. The chess logic-riddle community is very active — thanks for your engagement! Today’s riddle fits perfectly well into the chess world. It is a little odd though, I have to admit.

8/30/2020 – The quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad scheduled to take place between Friday and Sunday (Augusto 28-30). After a draw in the first mini-match of the final between Russia and India, two Indian players lost connection to their games and forfeited on time in the second encounter. FIDE decided to declare both teams as joint winners! Follow the games live with commentary and computer analysis. | See the report on the semifinals!.

8/30/2020 – India and Russia defeated Poland and the United States respectively to reach the final of the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad. After losing the first mini-match, India came back with a convincing win in the second. In the Armageddon decider, Humpy Koneru comfortably defeated Monika Socko to give her team overall victory. Meanwhile, the Russians defeated USA in the first mini-match and drew the second encounter to advance to the final. | Pictured: Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photos: Austin Fuller / Russian Chess Federation

8/29/2020 – A few months ago we reported about Nakamura making a cameo in the award-winning and critically acclaimed series Billions. He did not stop there, he kept growing the game by involving more mainstream stars in chess. He even taught chess to World Strongest Man 2018, Hafþór J. Björnsson a.k.a. ‘The Mountain’ of Game of Thrones. Moreover, a few days before his impressive performance at the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals, Nakamura crossed 500K followers on Twitch. With that rapidly-gaining momentum, the esports teams TSM tweeted about their signing with Nakamura. This is only going to be good for chess in every aspect one can fathom. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

8/29/2020 – It was not quite the apocalypse. But the pandemic wreaked death and destruction of a magnitude never seen before. While many are still struggling to survive, the worst is over. The human spirit remains indefatigable and there are efforts to rebuild and rehabilitate lives. Amidst this chaos chess has survived and indeed flourished in the virtual world. This issue offers coverage of two major events, the Magnus Carlsen Invitational and the FIDE Online Nations Cup and offers all available games (405 of them!) from the Silkway Online Blitz Cup, the proverbial icing on the cake. It includes games annotated by Anish Giri, Alireza Firouzja and Romain Edouard, just to mention a few. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look at some of the decisive encounters featured in this issue. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/28/2020 – If it weren’t for the bishop on h6, White could give checkmate with Qxh8++ in the diagram. But the attempt to remove this piece with 21.Bf8? would actually backfire. Happy countering!

8/28/2020 – In this Power Play Show, Grandmaster Daniel King looks at a couple of recent online games that feature typical King's Gambit tactics — the kind that are both instructive and beautiful! | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess.com. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

8/28/2020 – The newest Master Class has arrived with Armenian Grandmaster Tigran Petrosian. The former world champion has left a huge legacy with his positional and strategical play. No wonder his nickname was “Iron Tigran” — he could defend positions better than almost anybody else! Dr. Karsten Müller, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Yannick Pelletier present high quality analysis and tactics training in the 13th instalment of the series. A must-have for your collection!

8/28/2020 – Eight teams are left standing in the FIDE Online Olympiad, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final scheduled to take place between Friday and Sunday. In the preliminary knockout to decide four of the eight spots in the quarterfinals, Armenia, Poland, Hungary and Ukraine knocked out Greece, Bulgaria, Germany and China respectively. Two matches went to Armageddon. | Pictured: Members of the Hungarian team at the 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiad | Photo: David Llada

8/27/2020 – Besides the Biel Triathlon played in July, no elite over-the-board tournament has been organized after the coronavirus crisis prompted the chess world to focus on online events. In a little over a month, however, we will get to see a strong field fighting over the board. The Altibox Norway Chess Tournament with Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Alireza Firouzja and Aryan Tari kicks off October 5! | Photo: Lennart Ootes