1/3/2025 – As part of the Norwegian Grand Prix, chess is also played far up north, where Europe ends and the arctic region begins. Holger Blauhut travelled with his daughter to Alta for the Power Solutions Arctic Chess NGP tournament. Despite a snowstorm, they got to play a well-organised tournament and learned more about the region's sled dog racing. | Photos: Anna Blauhut, Holger Blauhut und Torill M. Wiggen

1/2/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious episode, Robert Ris analyses a fascinating variation in the Classical Variation of the French Defence. The line was used by Gukesh at the World Championship match in Singapore, and was also seen in game 4 of the final match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi at the World Blitz Championship in New York. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

1/2/2025 – Just in time for the start of the new year, FIDE has published the new world rankings. With an Elo rating of 2831, Magnus Carlsen remains the clear number one, followed in second, third and fourth place by Fabiano Caruana (2803), Hikaru Nakamura (2802) and Arjun Erigaisi (2801). Gukesh Dommaraju, the new classical world champion, follows in fifth place with 2777 points, but is the highest-rated junior (under 20) in the world.

1/2/2025 – Magnus Carlsen is set to marry Ella Victoria Malone this weekend, just days after securing his eighth World Blitz Championship title. The couple, who confirmed the news to Verdens Gang (VG), plan to keep the ceremony private. Malone, who has an American father and a Norwegian mother, grew up in Oslo and now lives with Carlsen, as she has taken on an increasingly vital role in his support team. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

1/1/2025 – The chess world is awash with resources for players looking to up their game, from countless articles and books to videos. Although relatively scarcer, a wealth of instructional material also exists for those interested in chess solving. But few have ventured to teach how to compose a chess study or a problem - no definitive course or authoritative guide for this aspect of chess. Yet, like playing and solving, composing, too, is a teachable skill — or at least that is what Gady Costeff, the writer of the present article, believes. To put his notion to the test, he demonstrates how to craft an endgame study by starting with an attractive mate position and then working backwards, guided by a series of straightforward questions.

1/1/2025 – The second day of the World Blitz Chess Championships, held in New York, provided thrilling action as the knockout stages decided the champions in both the open and women's sections. Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi decided to share the open title after an epic 7-game final, marking Carlsen's eighth blitz crown and Nepo's first. Meanwhile, Ju Wenjun claimed her maiden women's blitz title with an overtime victory against Lei Tingjie. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

12/31/2024 – Victor Wembanyama, the 20-year-old basketball sensation and unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year, recently turned heads off the court during a visit to New York City. Known as "Wemby", the San Antonio Spurs star revealed his passion for chess, taking to Washington Square Park to play in its famous open-air chess scene. Amid chilly weather and enthusiastic fans, Wemby's appearance captured widespread attention. | Photo: Wemby's X account

12/31/2024 – The duel knight against bishop is often difficult and complicated but in general bishops prefer dynamic positions while knights like static positions. In the diagram position Black is better, but White can hold. How?

12/31/2024 – The World Blitz Championships are taking place in New York on 30-31 December. Over 300 elite players, including Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Ju Wenjun, compete in iconic Wall Street venues. The tournaments, open and women's, are played with a time control of 3 minutes for the game plus 2-second increments per move. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 20.00 CET (14.00 ET, 0.30 IST)

12/31/2024 – The opening day of the World Blitz Chess Championships in New York brought electrifying action, with top players battling for a spot in the knockout stages. In the open section, 10 players tied for first place with 9½/13, but only 8 advanced, including Magnus Carlsen, Hans Niemann (pictured) and newly crowned rapid champion Volodar Murzin. Meanwhile, in the women's event, Vaishali Rameshbabu delivered a commanding performance, scoring an unbeaten 9½/11 to finish a full point ahead of her closest rival. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

12/30/2024 – In the latest episode of their "Two Knights Talk" show, Arne Kähler and Johannes Fischer talk about the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York, dress codes, harsh decisions, diplomacy and how Magnus Carlsen and his jeans dominate the coverage of these events. Arne Kähler also presents a position from chess history that was at the beginning of an unfortunate trend.

12/30/2024 – It happened during a training session we arranged for three young talents in the ChessBase office. It was conducted by Dr. Karsten Müller, who is a leading endgame expert. Some time later, Karsten wrote an article in the (German language) Chess Calendar describing how the pre-teen Dommaraju Gukesh refuted a Tal brilliancy by the legendary Mikhail Tal. Here's an English translation of Karsten's article.