1/7/2017 – In December he turned 65. For decades Jan Timman was a top GMs – in 1982 in fact the world's number two player, behind Anatoly Karpov, against whom he played a World Championship match. Timman is also an expert in endgame studies, with many prize-winning compositions to his name. It is therefore appropriate that Hans Böhm celebrates his 50 years of close friendship with Jan with a special composition contest, and we present some enchanting pictures.

1/7/2017 – The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess festival with a long and rich tradition. The top event was the Hastings Masters, which took place 29th December to 5th January 2017. Deep Sengupta of India took clear first with 7.0/9, half a point clear of five players with 6.5/9 each. Among them was the world's youngest International Master, Indian talent Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

1/6/2017 – The Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran won the 46th Rilton Cup in Stockholm with six wins, three draws, no loss and 7.5/9. Second place went to Russian Grandmaster Sergey Volkov who scored 7.0/9. Seven players with 6.5/9 shared places 3 to 8, among them Gata Kamsky and Ivan Sokolov. But the most spectacular game was played by Tiger Hillarp Persson.

1/6/2017 – After votinng for "Best Player", "Best Female Player", "Best Game", and "Best Endgame", it's time to vote for the "Best Move" of 2016. Have a look at the spectacular, surprising, paradoxical or simply beautiful moves Oliver Reeh selected from games played in 2016. Which of these moves, do you think, is the best move of 2016?

1/6/2017 – One of the highlights of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin in New York was the live commentary by Judit Polgar. The eloquent charm she displayed while explaining the games between Carlsen and Karjakin also comes out in a short "Blitz Quiz" video recorded during this year's Global Chess Festival, Judit Polgar's initiative to promote chess all over the world. The video is short but helps to understand why chess can make you happy.

1/6/2017 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.

1/5/2017 – Recently Yannick Pelletier was visiting Hamburg to record his trilingual DVD about the Hedgehog in the ChessBase studio. Before he went back to Paris we invited him to a little chat. A chat about counterchances, exchanging queens, Carlsen's limited opening choices and recent opening trends. Interview...

1/5/2017 – The year 2017 is already a few days old and it is time to have a look at the endgame highlights of 2016. Karsten Müller selected six fantastic endgames played in 2016. But which, do you think, is the best endgame of 2016?

1/5/2017 – In a recent press release the Grand Chess Tour announced two things: a new rating system, called Universal Rating System, or URS™, that combines the results players have in classical, rapid and blitz chess, and the Wildcard Selections for the five events of the Grand Chess Tour 2017. More...

1/4/2017 – In his "Agony Column #35" Jon Speelman presents three games: one win, one loss, and a draw. The loss was agonising, the win mildly ecstatic, and the draw had both, agony and ecstasy.

1/4/2017 – 2016 brought a a lot of entertaining, fascinating and amazing games. But what was the "best game" of 2016? Our experts created a shortlist of ten games, now it's your turn. What, do you think, is the best game of 2016?

1/4/2017 – When Bob Jones undertook a trip to buy a collection of chess books he found some treasures, including a letter by the wife of Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964), one of the most prolific writers on chess. Only later did Bob realize that he had purchased the chess library of Bruce Hayden, himself an extraordinary personality in chess: chess correspondent for The Times and a great raconteur of chess tales. Here's a story that looks at one of the most prolific writers on chess.