5/13/2026 – A little over a hundred years ago, the Dresden Chess Club celebrated its 50th anniversary with a major international tournament. It was not the favoured Alexander Alekhine, who became World Champion a year later, but Aron Nimzowitsch who emerged as the winner of the tournament.

5/12/2026 – About a month ago, the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament concluded in the picturesque village of Pegia, near Paphos, Cyprus. Yevgeny Levanzov had the privilege of spending an extended time at the event and delivering three lectures there. In the following review, he covers the tournament both from a professional chess perspective and by describing the surrounding atmosphere, including the various activities offered to spectators, notable figures who came to visit and some touching human stories. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

5/12/2026 – Karsten looks at 3 endgames by Leon Luke Mendonca and emphasises the importance of this principle. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

5/12/2026 – The power of the pair: The bishops are often stronger than bishop and knight: White to move and win.

5/12/2026 – Frederik Svane won the Sardinia World Chess Festival outright with 7½/9 points, defeating Karthikeyan Murali in the final round after both had entered the day tied for first place. The event in Orosei also saw 12-year-old Faustino Oro secure his third grandmaster norm, completing the title requirements and becoming the second-youngest grandmaster in chess history. | Photo: Sardinia World Chess Festival / KNZO Photography

5/11/2026 – With a superb performance, a 15-year-old prodigy dominated the international Baku Open: Sina Movahed (pictured left in the title photo) won seven games and drew twice. The young Iranian GM thus won the strong tournament with 8/9, finishing a point and a half ahead of the rest of the field. The best tiebreak scores among the players tied for second place were achieved by IM Santhosh Parvathareddy Ajay — the Indian is also still an U16 player — and Khazar Babazadar (AZE), ahead of five other players on the same score. | Photos: Organizers / Azerbaijan Chess Federation

5/8/2026 – Recently we had the remarkable British rapid chess champion Bodhana Sivanandan, 11 years old, for a visit. Now we learn that English chess has found another primary school super-talent: nine-year-old Kayal Vijay, from Hertfordshire, triumphed at the 2026 European School Chess Championships in Croatia. The two London schoolgirls have something in common: Indian heritage.

5/8/2026 – What drama at the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament in Malmö: for a long time it looked as though there would be a three-way tiebreak. Surprisingly, Arjun Erigaisi had his back to the wall against Andy Woodward, while the game between long-time dominant force Magnus Carlsen and young star Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was drawn. But then Erigaisi escaped with a draw and Carlsen won in his inimitable style. So there was a playoff between Carlsen and Erigaisi - and Carlsen prevailed. | Photo: Peter Doggers / Official website

5/8/2026 – In the diagram position Black has just attacked the white queen with 40...Rd8, completely unimpressed by the strike 41.Rxg6+. A game with fire - who do you think will end up burning their fingers?

5/8/2026 – Bent Larsen was the strongest chess player in Danish history and, for many years, the leading Western challenger behind Bobby Fischer, winning the Danish Championship six times and achieving major international successes. This ChessBase training course explores his brilliant attacking style, creative positional ideas, and opening innovations such as 1.b3 and his contributions to the Accelerated Dragon, while also examining his middlegame, endgame, and tactical mastery. Renowned experts including Peter Heine Nielsen, Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller, and Oliver Reeh provide deep analysis, personal stories, and insights into Larsen’s unique chess legacy.

5/7/2026 – Hans Niemann won the rapid section of the Super Rapid & Blitz tournament in Warsaw, scoring 13/18 as the only unbeaten player across the nine rounds. The 22-year-old Californian enters the 18 blitz rounds with a one-point lead over Wesley So and a two-point lead over defending champion Vladimir Fedoseev, while Fabiano Caruana, Gukesh Dommaraju and Jan-Krzysztof Duda share fourth place on 9/18. | Pictured: Hans Niemann and commentator Cristian Chirila | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/7/2026 – Since 2012, chess has played a prominent role at Webster University in Saint Louis, as part of a chess scholarship programme. Now, despite great sportive success, the university has abruptly ended the programme and its collaboration with Susan Polgar's SPICE institute. | Photos: Webster University / SPICE