2/19/2025 – In their new episode of their "Two Knights Talk", Johannes Fischer and Arne Kähler talk, among other things, about the luxury at the Weissenhaus luxury resort and about the attraction of playing chess in such an environment. They consider how things are going and could go with Freestyle Chess and wonder why one should be careful with Boris Becker moments. And they pay tribute to Vincent Keymers skills in Freestyle Chess.

2/19/2025 – Magnus Carlsen, Arjun Erigaisi, Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja reached the semifinals of the winners' bracket in the knockout phase of the Chessable Masters. Firouzja managed to defeat Fabiano Caruana in a contested match that went to tiebreaks. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

2/19/2025 – The third stage of the Women's Grand Prix 2024/25 began in Monte Carlo, with three players securing victories in the opening round. Humpy Koneru and Kateryna Lagno (pictured) showcased strong endgame technique to defeat their compatriots, while Batkhuyag Munguntuul achieved a notable win over former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Series leader Bibisara Assaubayeva settled for a draw against Sara Khadem. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

2/18/2025 – The Freestyle Chess tournament at Weissenhaus attracted many prominent visitors from the chess world. Among them was the well-known and popular commentator Danny Rensch, chess.com's Chief Chess Officer. In an interview with Arne Kähler Rensch talked about Freestyle, fitness programmes, why he rarely plays chess anymore, the art of relaxation and revealed why he came to one round in his bathrobe.

2/18/2025 – The Chessable Masters Play-In saw 174 players compete for eight spots in the final knockout stage, where they will join top grandmasters such as Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. Wei Yi secured direct qualification by winning the Swiss event, while the remaining seven spots were decided through placement matches. Five of these were resolved in Armageddon, with Sam Sevian's victory over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave standing out as the biggest surprise. Alongside Wei and Sevian, Yu Yangyi, Anish Giri, Andrey Esipenko, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vladislav Artemiev and Alexander Grischuk also advanced.

2/18/2025 – Knights often need outposts to defend against bishops. In the diagram position Black's knight has no safe outpost and this allows White to win. How?

2/17/2025 – In his Endgame Magic Show #289, Karsten Müller looks back to 2024 and presents a highly subjective selection of endgames that have impressed him in the last year. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/17/2025 – Did you know how to play freestyle chess with ChessBase 18? By clicking on the board, and after that on "new game", a new tab opens with some options to choose from. One is Chess 960! Have fun playing against Fritz.

2/17/2025 – Anna Cramling is one of the most popular chess streamers, and she also streamed from the Freestyle Chess Tournament in Weissenhaus. Arne Kähler took the opportunity to interview Anna, and she shared her bittersweet feelings about the end of the Freestyle Chess event, expressing how much she would miss the atmosphere and the people. She also reflected on her experience of playing against Alexandra Botez, emphasising how Freestyle Chess made her think from the very first move. Anna also discussed her journey as a chess streamer, how her content has evolved through travel and street chess, and her excitement at winning the Twitch Streamer Award. She revealed plans for extensive travel, including a secret event in Paris, and expressed hope for more women's freestyle chess tournaments in the future.

2/17/2025 – The Catalan Opening is a very ambitious weapon against various Black defences. Depending on how Black reacts, different, usually very challenging structures emerge. Jan Werle has presented the opening in two Fritztrainer volumes, and Hannes Langrock took a close look at volume one.

2/17/2025 – Recently, the game Thomas-Alekhine, Baden 1925, from move 34...Qc4, was published on this site, with a request that readers get involved to help solve this riddle. Was the position really lost for White? And did Black maintain his winning advantage until the end of the game? Today we give the solution.

2/17/2025 – The Chessable Masters Qualifier took place online on Sunday, featuring 115 players competing for a place in the Play-In stage. IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (Turkmenistan, pictured) won the event with 7½/9 points, while IM Read Samadov (Azerbaijan) and Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov (Uzbekistan) also secured qualification. The three will now face a grandmaster field in the Play-In on Monday, where eight players will advance to the final stage alongside elite competitors such as Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. | Photo: TKF Tarapyndan Berlen