8/17/2025 – Chess trainers love ChessBase 18 — and for good reason! With just a few clicks, you can create outstanding training material and even enrich it with interactive exercises. In this first part, we’ll show you how to set up a thematic database in no time — perfect for your own practice or for your students. In the upcoming parts, you’ll discover powerful ways to use it to boost training results quickly and effectively.

8/16/2025 – Duobeniajan Costa Calida from Murcia obtained their third consecutive title at the Spanish Team Championship. In the final round, the team could even afford to lose to Magic Extremadura. Second place went to C.A. Silla from Valencia, while Magic from Extremadura completed the podium. | Photos: Spanish Chess Federation (FEDA)

8/16/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris goes over two very interesting games featuring the Slow Slav. He shows some thematic ideas which serve to illustrate the dangers and opportunities found in such setups. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/16/2025 – White should definitely have refrained from 33.Qxh6?? in the diagram position. But he did grab the pawn - and I wish you lots of fun with Black afterwards!

8/16/2025 – Whether it’s strategy, technique, or opening knowledge – the July releases from ChessBase leave nothing to be desired! Renowned authors such as David Navara, Robert Ris, and Andrew Martin open their toolkits and share a wealth of professional tips. For those who want it all in one package, ChessBase Magazine issue 226 is the perfect choice, packed once again with training material straight from the pros’ lab. Opening enthusiasts take note: there’s a whole range of new Powerbases and Powerbooks! Take a look at all the products from the past month!

8/16/2025 – Vincent Keymer concluded the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters tournament with a commanding overall victory, finishing two points ahead of his nearest rivals after defeating Ray Robson in the final round. The result gave the 20-year-old a 2917 performance rating, a gain of over 20 Elo points, and secured his place in the live world top-10 for the first time in his career. In the Challengers, a dramatic last round saw all three leaders lose, allowing M Pranesh to claim the title despite his own defeat. | Photos: Anmol Bhargav

8/13/2025 – Pavel Eljanov, the top seed by Elo rating, has won the Zeeland Open at the HZ University of Applied Science in Vlissingen, a Dutch city in the county of Zeeland, edging out Eelke de Boer on tiebreaks after both finished level on points. Full report by Gerd Dening. | Photos: Gerd Densing and Tina Rouwendal (teaser photo)

8/13/2025 – Vincent Keymer retained his one-point lead in the Masters section of the tournament in Chennai after drawing with Arjun Erigaisi in their much-anticipated round-six clash. Wins for Jorden van Foreest, against Nihal Sarin, and Awonder Liang, over Pranav Venkatesh, brought the latter level with Arjun in second place. In the Challengers, Abhimanyu Puranik suffered his first loss to M Pranesh, who joined him and Leon Luke Mendonca in a three-way tie for first with three rounds remaining. | Photos: Anmol Bhargav

8/12/2025 – “Pin and win” may be a well-worn saying, but it still carries plenty of truth. Keeping it in mind can help you spot tactical chances — as White did in the diagram position. Can you find how he wins with a pin?

8/12/2025 – Recently, a 17-year-old player in Germany won the national girls' under-18 tournament. The head of the German commission for women's chess was less thrilled. The winner, you know, who identifies and officially categorizes as female, was born as a boy. Dominic Lawson, who writes for many major British newspapers, a strong chess player (and president of the English Chess Federation), in his words "managed to smuggle in chess as the subject" in his Sunday Times column.

8/12/2025 – Levon Aronian made the best start at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, winning all three games on the first day to take the lead with six points (wins are worth 2 points each). Fabiano Caruana did not finish the day far behind, scoring two wins and a draw. In round two, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju dazzled with a queen sacrifice. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/11/2025 – In the 2025 Vlissingen Open, 2117-rated Joel Van der Werf, playing Black, faced Dutch GM Erwin l’Ami, nearly 500 rating points higher, and impressively outplayed him for much of the game. Using precise, prophylactic pawn moves and harmonious piece coordination, Van der Werf steadily restricted White’s activity, expanded on the kingside, and reached a clearly superior position. However, in a critical moment on move 40, he traded his strong bishop for a knight, and the game eventually ended in a draw, a fine underdog result but one that could have been an upset win.