1/10/2025 – The highly anticipated training program at KCF Academy is set to begin on January 11, 2025, bringing together some of the brightest young chess talents from Europe and America. Renowned for its cutting-edge training methodologies and distinguished coaching staff, KCF Academy has become a hub for nurturing the future stars of the chess world.

1/9/2025 – The Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Tournament is set to kick off the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam with an exciting lineup of top players, including Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Vishy Anand. However, it was a gripping online play-in stage that determined the final spot in the elite 10-player field. Javokhir Sindarov and Vladimir Fedoseev battled through a fierce knockout bracket to reach the dramatic final. Fedoseev emerged victorious following a sensational Armageddon decider.

1/9/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show Merijn van Delft presents another fine attacking game played at the World Rapid Championship in New York. The opening was modern, but the game ended with a well-known sacrifice leading to mate. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

1/9/2025 – At the start of the World Championship in Singapore, on November 25th 2024, a new chess puzzle game, inspired by the incredibly popular 'Wordle', was launched. It was developed by a young lad from Singapore, a problem expert, together with a member of the ChessBase family. We have been experimenting with the World Championship game, to see how people who are confronted with it, react. We recorded a strong chess player's first interaction with the game. It was instructive and entertaining.

1/8/2025 – Welcome to 2025, a rare "square year" (45×45), and a time for both reflection and prediction. Chess fans enter the new year with excitement after a historic 2024, crowned by Gukesh's ascension as World Champion, marking India's growing dominance in chess. Meanwhile, Ian Nepomniachtchi's dazzling ...Ne3+!! in the World Blitz final against Magnus Carlsen provided a fitting finale to a dramatic year. As we look ahead, will 2025 unveil a new prodigy destined for greatness? Share your thoughts and favourites in the comments. | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

1/8/2025 – The WEISSENHAUS Freestyle Chess Grand Slam starts on 7 February, with 10 participants competing, 9 of whom have already been determined. The tenth will be determined in a play-in. After a Swiss system tournament, 16 players competed against each other in a knockout format. Four of them are still in the running: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yu Yangyi and Javokhir Sindarov. These four will compete today in the semi-finals and finals to determine who will take part in the Grand Slam. Starting at 17.00 CET (11.00 ET, 9.30 pm IST), live and with commentary.

1/5/2025 – Robert Hübner died on 5 January 2025 after a long and serious illness. For decades after the war Robert Hübner was the best German chess player, with countless successes in individual and team competitions. In addition to his career as a tournament player, Hübner gained great importance as a profound chess historian and incorruptible analyst. With his death the chess world loses one of its outstanding minds. | Photo: R. Bogaerts / ANEFO via nationaalarchief.nl

1/5/2025 – Svitlana's Smart Moves first episode of 2025 is all about juicy tactics, and tragical blunders of the Rapid & Blitz World Chess Championship. Some chess tactics were especially significant. A couple of games by top players like Carlsen, Nepo, and Pragg were already won, and one more correct move would have sealed the deal. Instead, some blunders occurred, mostly in time trouble of course, and the tables turned.

1/4/2025 – The dispute over Magnus Carlsen's trousers in the rapid tournament and the crowning of two world champions in the blitz section, which was not provided for in the rules, dominated the news cycle surrounding the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2024 - with one important sporting decision taking a back seat: thanks to his performance in New York, Fabiano Caruna won the FIDE Circuit 2024 and thus qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/4/2025 – The Hastings International Chess Congress, steeped in tradition since 1895, remains a cherished fixture in the chess world. This year's edition, held from 28 December to 3 January, showcased both seasoned grandmasters and emerging stars. In a gripping 9-round Swiss open, China's untitled player Haowen Xue triumphed with an undefeated 7 points. Close behind were grandmasters Pengxiang Zhang and Pierre Laurent-Paoli, alongside England's rising talent Shreyas Royal. | Photo: Official website

1/4/2025 – To make 24.Bxh6! work in the diagram position requires all of White's pieces - and of course a shrewd tactician like you!

1/3/2025 – Are there any advantages of moving to the latest ChessBase 18? Are strong chess players doing it, and finding the software useful in their every-day tournament activity? A decided 'Yes!' is given by Indian grandmaster Pa. Iniyan, who sent us an in-depth three-part review. You would do well to read about his experience carefully, and learn how you too can dramatically improve your level of chess study and preparation.