12/15/2024 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 208th episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman takes a look at the career of Gukesh D. | Photo: Pascal Simon

12/14/2024 – On Monday the 2024 Nobel Prizes were awarded in a Stockholm, Sweden. The prize for chemistry went to three scientists, one of whom has an illustrious background in chess. Demis Hassabis was a chess prodigy with a 2300 rating at the age of 13. He founded DeepMind, a subsidiary of Google, and went on to develop the groundbreaking artificial intelligence program AlphaZero. Frederic Friedel has known Demis since he was 17. | Photo European Biotechology/Nanaka Adachi

12/14/2024 – The new ChessBase Training Course ‘Modern Classics’ by GM Dorian Rogozenco presents 33 important games from modern chess history (1935-1999) and offers an excellent basis for deepening your own understanding of chess through detailed explanations, background information and interactive tools. He continues the tradition of his predecessor course and makes important parts of chess culture accessible to players of all levels.

12/14/2024 – In the diagram position Black played 26...d4! and after 27.Rc1 he found a remarkable way to save his skin. The art of drawing - half a point, all the fun!

12/13/2024 – Completely new possibilities for strategy training: ChessBase 18 searches games for you according to 30 (!) different strategic themes! In the new search mask you can select strategic themes from 3 categories. In the category ‘Structure’ you will find topics such as ‘Space advantage’ or ‘Majority on the queenside’. The ‘Pieces’ section deals with the value of individual pieces, i.e. ‘opposite coloured bishops’ or ‘strong rooks’. And under ‘Plans’ you can search for ‘Attack weakness’, ‘Successful defence’ or ‘King's attack’. ChessBase 18 then provides a list of games sorted according to the importance of the strategic theme and when you click on it, ChessBase 18 jumps to the relevant part of the game! Chief developer Matthias Wüllenweber shows in the video how quick and easy it is!

12/13/2024 – The young Russian grandmaster Andrey Esipenko (photo) won the highly competitive Qatar Masters with 7½ points after 9 rounds of play. Second and third place were shared by Arjun Erigaisi and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, each with 7 points. Arjun missed the opportunity to overtake Fabiano Caruana in the FIDE Circuit. Whoever has the most FIDE Circuit points at the end of the year will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / Qatar Masters

12/10/2024 – Currently, World Champion Ding Liren and Challenger Gukesh D fight for the World Championship in Singapore. They will certainly be keen to have the right equipment - board, pieces, and, perhaps underrated, chairs. Which chair will sit right with them? A question that is probably as old as the World Championship matches. Let’s have a closer look back, filled with some nostalgia. | Photo: Chess paradise in Formentera, Spain, from the annual Sunway Formentera Festival, official website

12/10/2024 – At the beginning of December Fabiano Caruana was the sole winner of the U.S. Masters in Charlotte, but at the Saint Louis Masters he had to share victory with German Grandmaster Alexander Donchenko. With one round to go, Caruana led the field by one point, but in the final round he lost to Donchenko with White and both finished with 6.5/9. | Photo: (from left to right) Tony Rich, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Donchenko, Sabina Foisor | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

12/10/2024 – Yes, it is that time of the year again. Time to leave your copy of CHESS Magazine open, ‘non-suspiciously’, hoping that the family will take the hint and place a big order at Chess & Bridge. If the hint is not taken, then just order one or more of the items yourself, safe in the knowledge that there are much worse things you could be doing.

12/10/2024 – The tenth game was nothing more than a boring draw, but games eleven and twelve were quite exciting as the two opponents traded wins to keep the score at 6-6 with two classic games left (after the third day off). Ding Liren played the eleventh game miserably (although he missed some good chances), while Gukesh D. lost the twelfth game without any real fight! The match seems to be quite balanced and nobody can make any predictions. There are plenty of mistakes made by both opponents and although the quality is low, the fighting spirit is high! | All photos by Eng Chin An.

12/10/2024 – Zugzwang is a typical endgame weapon. Usually the attacker uses it to force concessions, but when both sides are in zugzwang things can be different. In the diagram position it is White to move and draw. What should she do?

12/9/2024 – Ding Liren delivered a stunning performance in game 12 of the World Chess Championship match in Singapore, levelling the score at 6-6 against Gukesh D with two classical games remaining. The reigning champion, who described the victory as "the best game I have played in recent times", showed impeccable strategic prowess to outmanoeuvre his younger rival in 39 moves. Both players now face immense pressure as they battle for the ultimate chess crown. | Photo: FIDE / Eng Chin An