7/10/2025 – This week only (7–14 July), take advantage of ChessBase's Summer Special with major discounts on top training material. Ivan Sokolov's full "Understanding Middlegame Strategies series (Vol. 1–11)" is available for €209.90, down from €299.90. Also on offer: Martin Breutigam's German-language "1.d4! A Modern Repertoire (Vol. 1 & 2)", now €49.90 instead of €69.90. Ideal resources for serious club and tournament players looking to improve!

7/10/2025 – Twelve matches at the FIDE Women's World Cup will be decided in Friday's tiebreaks after a tense day of chess saw both solid draws and dramatic turnarounds. While many favourites, including Lei Tingjie, Humpy Koneru and Tan Zhongyi, secured qualification, others must battle again for a place in round three. Meanwhile, 15-year-old WFM Elnaz Kaliakhmet caused the day's biggest upset by eliminating Georgian GM Nino Batsiashvili. | Photos: Anna Shtourman, Polina Bovina and Andrei Anosov / FIDE

7/9/2025 – Chinese grandmaster Wei Yi secured a convincing victory over US representative Levon Aronian in the 2025 Yanwu Cup Grandmaster Match, held in Yancheng, China. Originally scheduled for eight games, the match concluded early after Wei Yi built an unassailable lead. Featuring both classical and rapid formats, the event highlighted Wei's consistent form and boosted his international rankings. | Photo: Frans Peeters / Tata Steel Chess

7/9/2025 – Svitlana presents an unconventional yet effective way to combat the English Opening by responding with 1...e5 and then an early ...h5, aiming to unsettle White's typical kingside fianchetto plans. The line offers dynamic attacking potential with ideas like ...h4, or even ...g5, depending on how White responds, and even top blitz players have experimented with it. While engines consider some White responses (like Nf3 followed by h4) slightly better, the surprise value and aggressive intent behind this line make it a strong practical weapon, especially in blitz and rapid games.

7/9/2025 – The Albin Counter Gambit is a provocative attempt to combat the Queen's Gambit: after 1.d4 d5 2.c4, Black sends the second centre pawn forward unprotected with 2...e5. After 3.dxe5, the idea behind the pawn sacrifice is to advance boldly with 3...d4, limiting White’s queen's knight and claiming space advantage in the centre. This is an ambitious move, but one that promises active play for Black. While analysing a highly topical variation, our author Luc Henris recently came across the astonishing piece sacrifice 10...Bc5 – which turned out to be ‘a completely new and incredible concept for Black’! He shares his discovery with you in the current ChessBase Magazine #226. Take a look at this week's free sample!

7/9/2025 – "Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity and splendid insincerity," wrote Vladimir Nabokov. Problem expert Werner Keym illustrates this in a new book which he makes available, as an eBook, to everyone, free of charge. Here are some excerpts to give you a taste.

7/6/2025 – Magnus Carlsen took the lead at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia tournament after scoring 7½/9 on the first day of blitz. Gukesh Dommaraju, who had led by three points after the rapid section, managed just 1½ points and fell to third place. Jan-Krzysztof Duda is now in second with 16 points, while Wesley So had the second-best blitz score of the day. The final nine rounds of blitz will be played on Sunday, as the action kicks off one hour earlier than usual. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/6/2025 – Do you know the powerful training tool in ChessBase 18? It's called "Replay Training"! This great feature lets you actively go through games move by move—sharpening your strategic and tactical understanding in a targeted way. Whether under time pressure or not, the choice is yours. Train in a realistic setting, get instant feedback, and systematically improve your play—whether you're a beginner or an ambitious tournament player. In this tutorial, we'll guide you step by step through how Replay Training works. Let's get started!

7/5/2025 – In this video course, Grandmaster David Navara teaches when deep calculation is truly necessary and when simple, solid moves are more effective. Through examples from top-level games, he explains how to recognize critical positions, avoid overcalculating, and use candidate moves and hidden tactics wisely. The course is designed to improve decision-making and efficiency, making it ideal for tournament players aiming to strengthen their practical skills.

7/5/2025 – In the new episode of his Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft analyses the all-important game facing Nodirbek Abdsuattorov against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in the final round of the UzChess Cup. Pragg won on demand and went on to claim tournament victory in tiebreaks. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/5/2025 – Right, 45...Rxh3+! leads to a win for Black in the diagram position - provided he doesn't let up after 46.Kg2. Do you see the way to go?

7/5/2025 – Gukesh Dommaraju takes a three-point lead into the blitz section of the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia tournament after an impressive performance in the rapid phase. The world champion scored 14/18 points, winning five games in a row after an early loss to Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Duda and Magnus Carlsen trail in second and third place respectively, as the players prepare for 18 blitz rounds to conclude the event over the weekend. | Photo: Lennart Ootes