9/14/2020 – Publishing chess problems on this news site has a long tradition: especially at Christmas time we publish a set of entertaining puzzles for our readers to solve. But over the years – two decades actually – it became progressively more difficult to find problems that chess engines could not solve in seconds. It became pointless to issue a challenge and provide prizes. So we have taken to giving you problems which cannot be solved by computers. Here are some samples from a collection by Burt Hochberg.

9/14/2020 – Ivan Sokolov is well-known for his stunning attacking games. Most of them originate from middlegames, so no wonder he wrote various books about this topic. We are delighted to now present his "Understanding Middlegame Strategies" Fritztrainer series, starting with Vol.1 - "Dynamic Pawns", and Vol.2 - "Practical Play". While Volume 1 concentrates on several ideas and tips for dynamic pawn play, Volume 2 is focusing on decision taking and creating crisis. GM Sokolov coached the Iranian national team (Alireza Firouzja, Parham Maghsoodloo) for many years, so he is capable of guiding you through the topics professionally and interestingly. Those Fritztrainers will take your middlegame to the next level.

9/14/2020 – Simon Says: Today, we look at some of the most influential opening and early middlegame ideas that have left a major influence on me over the course of my career. Ideas that were unique at the time in history when they were played. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 14:00). | Photo: Bobby Fischer 1970

9/14/2020 – This is our second philosophical riddle, and they will continue to jump in to our logical riddle series every now and then. The first philosophical riddle was a paradox and unsolvable. This riddle takes the same route, and if you haven't heard of it before, it will make your head steam. We also offer the solution of logical riddle number 8.

9/14/2020 – Before the third and final day of the Champions Showdown Chess 9LX Online Tournament Levon Aronian was sole first but he scored only 1.0/3 from his last three games, and that allowed Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura to pass the Armenian and to share first place. On Tuesday, September 15, Nakamura and Carlsen will continue they rivalry in the Rapid & Blitz tournament.

9/13/2020 – On Sunday, 1 p.m. CDT (8 p.m. CEST), the Chess 9LX 2020 tournament goes into its final stage. The Chess 9LX tournament is a Chess960 round robin at rapid time controls (20+10) with ten top players: Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiana Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez, Peter Svidler, Alireza Firouzja and Garry Kasparov(!). Follow the event and the games live, with commentary – live transmission will begin about ten minutes before the start of round 7.

9/9/2020 – On September 9, 2010, ten years ago, the Danish Grandmaster Bent Larsen died in Argentina where he lived with his wife Laura Benediz Benedini, a lawyer, whom he had met in 1980. Larsen was born on March 4, 1935, and in the 1960s he was arguably the most successful tournament player and definitely one of the best players in the world. He is famous for his fighting spirit, his optimism, his original play and his entertaining writing. | Photo: Bent Larsen © Hans Peters

9/9/2020 – In his "Game of the Week" show, Merijn van Delft takes a look at a theoretically interesting win which French Grandmaster Maxime Lagarde scored against the Sicilian Najdorf. | Merijn's show is freely available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) for a limited time, and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

9/9/2020 – Before the 9th and last round of the Spanish Championship Alexei Shirov was sole first with 8.0/9, but in the last round he lost with Black against Jaime Santos. This allowed David Anton, who won against Manuel Perez, to pass Shirov to become Spanish National Champion 2020. Sabrina Vega won the Women's Championship, it was her seventh title.

9/9/2020 – The Ragozin Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4) has become more and more popular in recent years. Many top Grandmasters play it these days. But how do Grandmasters fight the Ragozin at top level? Peter Svidler brought 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 into play. Ding Liren, Caruana and others took up the idea, and Carlsen has also tested the bishop move. In the new ChessBase Magazine, CBM #197, Alexey Kuzmin checks the latest trends.

9/9/2020 – Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik are friends, but they were also rivals. They played a World Championship match and about 150 games against each other, and for two decades both were among the three best players in the world. In the Indian sports program "The Finish Line" Anand now talks about his World Championship match 2008 against Kramnik. Anand shares insights about his surprising choice of 1.d4, about match strategy and he reveals why this was one of the most important matches of his career. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

9/8/2020 – In round eight of the Spanish Championship the two leaders, Ivan Salgado and Alexei Shirov, played against each other. Shirov won and is now sole first with 7.0/8 and with one round to go he has good chances to become Spanish Champion 2020. | Photos: Patricia Claros/ Feda