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.

1/8/2025 – "ChessBase have truly outdone themselves with the new CB18," say strong GM Iniyan Panneerselvam. "It makes life so much easier for players and coaches alike, thanks to its fantastic new features! We all know how precious time is; and CB18 is designed to save you a ton of time when you need it most." Today he describes how the software works with Mega Database 2025. and which additionsl bonus features it provides.

1/8/2025 – Arne Kähler and Johannes Fischer start 2025 with a review of 2024. They recall the highlights of the past year, talk about the Chess Olympiad, various world championships, Freestyle Chess, the future number 1, the successes of India and consider who the male (Carlsen, Gukesh or Erigaisi) and female (Tan Zhongyi, Ju Wenjun, Divya Deshmukh or Humpy Koneru) players of the year are. And they ask which games were particularly impressive in 2024.

1/8/2025 – One of our viewers’ favourite themes in Svitlana’s Smart Moves is the openings. This is probably due to the way Svitlana can splendidly explain the ideas, patterns, basics, and key points to consider in an opening. In this episode, the Canadian WIM tackles the Benko Gambit, an opening that Magnus Carlsen enjoyed for several years.

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.

1/3/2025 – The discussion about the level of play at the World Championship match in Singapore got out of hand on social media, says Thorsten Cmiel, who visited the event himself. Commentators and streamers, armed with opinionated machines, are criticised the players, claiming that the level of play was not that great. Objectively speaking, this was not the case.

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.