12/30/2025 – White knight magic: Usually a rook is much stronger than a knight in a pure endgame. But there are exceptions: White to move and win.

12/30/2025 – In August 2019 I spent a week in France, at the training camp I had organized (together with ChessBase India) for young Indian super talents. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik did the chess training, while I pestered the kids with logic puzzles. Most did not involve chess, but some did. Here are a couple for you.

12/30/2025 – The World Blitz Championship got under way in Doha with 13 rounds played in the open section and 10 in the women's event. Fabiano Caruana, Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (pictured) share the lead in the Open tournament, while 19-year-old Eline Roebers heads the women's standings after the first day. With several rounds still remaining and only four knockout places available, the early standings leave plenty unresolved. | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

12/29/2025 – This video is a valuable chess lesson by IM Mkrtchian. Watch Lilit walk through a full "real tournament" prep routine in ChessBase 26. Find out how she scouts an opponent in the Mega Database, predict their openings, and steer the game into a line she specifically prepared. The payoff: a sharp Rossolimo move-order trap explained in a super teachable way, plus how she converts the advantage into a clean endgame win.

12/29/2025 – Some years ago, Alan McGowan published a remarkably comprehensive biography of the German chess writer Kurt Richter (born 24 February 1900, died 29 December 1969). But then McGowan encountered the fate of every biographer: he found new information. While it does not change the overall picture, it does lead to corrections in the details. A detective story on the anniversary of Kurt Richter’s death.

12/29/2025 – This end-of-year edition of the Monthly Dragon with Chris Ward wraps up 2025 by diving deep into early deviations against the Sicilian Dragon, with a special focus on the tricky and provocative Knight d5 idea. Ward explains why grabbing the e4-pawn is often a trap, illustrates the dangers with classic games and sharp tactical examples, and shares practical recommendations for Dragon players to stay calm and choose safer setups like …Nxd5 or …Bg7. Blending serious opening theory with anecdotes, humour, and historical games, the episode delivers a memorable “anti-Christmas variation” lesson to take into the new year. | Photo: John Upham

12/29/2025 – In rotary problems the board is rotated by 180° for a second position with a different solution. It is usually pawns that make a different when you turn the board around. Or the king/queen positions, or castling is involved. Can one devise problems where these factors do not play a role? Yes one can, as our expert for out-of-the-box problems, Werner Keym, proves.

12/29/2025 – The concluding day in Doha saw the World Rapid Championship take final shape after thirteen rounds in the open and eleven in the women's event. Magnus Carlsen won his sixth world rapid title, finishing a full point ahead of four players. Vladislav Artemiev and Arjun Erigaisi completed the podium on tiebreak scores. In the women's tournament, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Zhu Jiner and Humpy Koneru tied for first place. The title was settled in a blitz playoff, in which Goryachkina defeated Zhu by a 1½-½ score to secure the title. | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

12/28/2025 – Garry Kasparov has been put on a wanted list for arrest in absentia by a Russian court. The court followed an indictment against the former world champion on charges of justifying terrorism and planning a coup. The 13th world champion, who lives in the United States, has been placed on an international wanted list. | Photo: Kasparov.com

12/28/2025 – These days it is not easy to challenge anyone with problems or studies. Loading the PGN and clicking Start will usually get you the solution in seconds. So we are trying to provide you with "computer resistant" puzzles in this year's Christmas Puzzle Week. Today the subject is taking back a move in a given position and looking for a move to fulfil the condition. As in this 100-year-old problem by Thomas Dawson: it requires you to take back one move and then mate the opponent in two. Can you think how?

12/28/2025 – Day two of the World Rapid Championship in Doha reshaped both title races as the standings tightened near the top. In the Open section, Vladislav Artemiev (pictured) and Hans Niemann moved into a shared lead after nine rounds, closely followed by a strong chasing group. The women's event saw Humpy Koneru draw level with Zhu Jiner at the top, with several players still within striking distance ahead of the final day. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

12/27/2025 – There is a certain simplicity in how meaningful initiatives begin. In this article, we look at one such story that started with four schoolboys and a game they loved. Aaditya, Nehan, Krish and Vivaan are young chess players from Mumbai who chose to share the joy of chess with more people. They named the initiative Chess4Change. It began as a few teaching sessions at the AngelXpress Foundation in Sewri and slowly grew into something larger, moving from in-person workshops to online sessions, and later into partnerships that helped distribute chess sets in tribal schools and paediatric care centres. | Photo: Mid-day