12/13/2025 – FIDE and Norway Chess have confirmed the qualification routes for the Total Chess Tour 2026, the pilot event of a new world championship concept combining Fast Classic, Rapid and Blitz. The initiative, approved by FIDE, aims to identify the most versatile elite players and will lead into a full championship cycle from 2027. With places allocated through world titles, major championships and rating lists, the new Tour is set to add a distinctive pathway to the top level of competitive chess.

12/13/2025 – Fritz Your Chess Coach 2 lets you play chess at seven strength levels, from beginner to world class, including games against legendary players like Morphy, Fischer, and Karpov with authentic playing styles adapted to you. It actively coaches you during games with AI-powered move hints, text and audio explanations, witty commentary, and dedicated tactics training for checkmates and material gains. You can also play online via Playchess, train openings, customize 2D/3D boards, and track your progress through saved games and achievements.

12/13/2025 – ChessBase'26 is certainly the highlight of the new releases in November, but the other databases also offer a wealth of study material. There are many new options to discover, such as the new episodes of Karsten Müller's Endgame Academy and Ivan Sokolov's middlegame strategy series that have helped a lot of players to improve. | All photos: ChessBase

12/12/2025 – In this reflective column, GM Jon Speelman examines sportsmanship and self-control at the highest level of competition. Drawing on recent examples from the FIDE World Cup and the Candidates Tournament, as well as personal experience, he contrasts online habits with over-the-board conduct under pressure. Speelman argues that blunders are part of chess, even for elite players, and that maintaining composure and dignity in public moments of success or failure remains an essential virtue of the game. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

12/12/2025 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy Preseason Special is now in full swing. This is a unique opportunity for ambitious players to get a head start before the Main Season kicks off in January 2026. The Preseason program runs on nine Saturdays, with 90-minute interactive sessions focused on practical thinking, providing students a strong foundation and momentum heading into the full season. Don’t Miss Your Chance to Register for Season 2026.

12/12/2025 – Dorian Rogozenco explains how to access the ChessBase Magazine directly in the browser via the ChessBase Books page and shows that it works on PC, tablet, and even on a phone, including board display and videos. He demonstrates that with just a few clicks you can reach a huge range of training material: opening articles with full analysis and engine support, video lessons on top events, strategy topics, interactive “Move by Move” sessions, modern classics, and tactical/combinational exercises.

12/12/2025 – In the diagram position, the g7-knight is under attack. But it is precisely this piece that will ultimately deal White the deathblow - can you guess how? Black's move!

12/12/2025 – In a recent "Ask Me Anything" session organised by FIDE, Hou Yifan addressed a wide range of questions from chess fans, touching on her competitive career, views on elite play and her current relationship with the game. The discussion also covered her academic path, advice for younger players and her approach to balancing chess with other pursuits. | Photo: FIDE

12/12/2025 – Levon Aronian won the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals in South Africa after defeating Magnus Carlsen in a controlled 1½–½ match, securing the event's $200,000 top prize. The final brought the four-day competition to a close, with Vincent Keymer taking third place against Javokhir Sindarov. Further down the table, Fabiano Caruana beat Arjun Erigaisi to finish fifth, while Hans Niemann prevailed over Parham Maghsoodloo in the match for seventh place. | Pictured: Levon Aronian with wife Anita Ayvazyan and their daughter | Photo: Freestyle Chess / Lennart Ootes

12/11/2025 – 11 December 2025 marks the 120th anniversary of Ludwig Engels's birthday. He was one of the best German chess players in the 1930s. Following the 1939 Chess Olympiad, he, like many others, remained in South America due to the outbreak of the Second World War and settled in Brazil. At the height of his career, Engels defeated renowned players such as Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Keres and Maroczy. | Photo source: Friedrich-Karl Hebeker

12/11/2025 – Anastasia Corotcova explains how ChessBase allows beginners to easily enter, edit, and save chess games, starting from creating a new board to recording moves directly on the screen. She highlights powerful ChessBase features such as assisted analysis, automatic move recognition, colour-coded move quality, and tools for correcting or inserting moves, showing that the software isn’t just for notation but a full analytical environment. In the end, she demonstrates how ChessBase helps players organize their own databases, store complete game information, and build a personal library—capturing the essence of ChessBase as a professional tool for learning, analysing, and managing chess games.

12/11/2025 – Chess weeks in Argentina: The national championships recently came to an end with one successful and one failed record – Diego Flores triumphed for the eighth time as Argentine champion, while Faustino Oro, who wants to become the youngest GM of all time and has till March to reach that goal, missed the GM norm. Just a few days later, both play in a tournament in Buenos Aires. At the Magistral Szmetan-Giardelli, they face other Argentine talents and greats such as Alexei Shirov, Ivan Cheparinov, Julio Granda Zuniga and top seed Aryan Tari. | Photos: FADA, Mar Melero