7/7/2026 – Indian Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca has never been shy about letting people into his world. Long a familiar face at the ChessBase studio, the 20-year-old from Goa has spent recent years building a genuine chess résumé, headlined by his surprise victory in the 2024 Tata Steel Challengers. Now the man who became India's 67th grandmaster back in January 2021 is channelling that same openness into his own YouTube channel, where he shares tournament battles, game analysis and glimpses of life on the professional circuit. His tagline says it all — "Just here to play chess and have fun".

7/6/2026 – Svitlana shows her final-round game from the Canadian Women’s Championship, which she describes as one of the best games of her life. Facing WIM Yunan Li in a sharp Sicilian Taimanov, Svitlana surprises her opponent with the rare and aggressive 7.g4, launches a powerful kingside attack, and keeps finding precise tactical resources. The game reaches a spectacular climax with a rook sacrifice, a queen sacrifice and a clean attacking finish, helping Svitlana secure third place and likely qualification for the Canadian Olympiad team.

7/1/2026 – Bodhana Sivanandan took on the virtual version of José Raúl Capablanca in Fritz 21 at Master Candidate strength and impressed with her calm, confident decision-making throughout the game. Despite facing one of history's greatest positional players, she consistently found strong plans, converted her advantage into a favourable endgame, and secured a convincing victory. The post-game analysis highlighted her excellent endgame understanding and tactical awareness, showing why she is regarded as one of the brightest young talents in chess.

6/30/2026 – Chris Ward looks at a sharp Dragon main line from the French League, featuring GM Surya Ganguly with Black. The focus is on the fashionable Bishop c4 system and Black’s fresh-looking plan with ...a5, which helps activate the queenside pieces and create pressure before White can build a dangerous kingside attack. The game becomes a model Dragon victory, with Black taking over the b-file, pushing ...d4 at the right moment, and finishing with a powerful interference tactic that forces resignation. | Photo: John Upham

6/27/2026 – Svitlana Demchenko introduces the Ukrainian Variation from the Old Indian Defence and explains why it can lead to surprisingly comfortable positions for Black, especially if White accepts an early queen trade. The featured Soviet-era game between Lev Polugaevsky and Rashid Nezhmetdinov becomes a spectacular attacking lesson, where Black keeps the white king trapped in the centre and launches a dangerous pawn and piece storm. The episode ends with a beautiful queen sacrifice, a wild king hunt, and a forced mate that makes the line both instructive and highly entertaining.

6/26/2026 – Anastasia Corotcova challenged the virtual version of Mikhail Tal in Fritz 21, hoping to experience the legendary attacking style that made the former World Champion famous. After gaining a promising position, she and Arne Kaehler struggled to find a series of critical defensive moves, allowing Tal’s relentless sacrificing attack to take over. The game was full of tactical fireworks and captured the feeling of facing the real “Magician from Riga,” making it an entertaining and memorable experience.

6/13/2026 – Yağmur Gündüz takes on Fritz 21 and shows that even club-level players around 1200 Elo can have exciting and entertaining games against the engine. Although Yağmur quickly gets into a difficult position and loses several pawns, she keeps fighting actively, finding creative tactical ideas involving forks, pins, and mating threats. The game suddenly turns around as the “Fork Queen” uncorks a series of strong tactical combinations and reaches a winning position. The episode demonstrates perfectly that Fritz 21 is not only enjoyable for grandmasters, but can also provide fun, learning moments, and real excitement for ambitious hobby players.

6/11/2026 – Svitlana Demchenko explores the fascinating concept of attacking a king castled on the same side, using a brilliant classic game by former world champion Alexander Alekhine as the main example. She explains how strong attacks do not always require reckless pawn storms, but can instead be built slowly through piece improvement, central control, and restricting the opponent’s counterplay before striking at exactly the right moment. The episode culminates in a stunning tactical finish beginning with a central breakthrough and ending in a beautiful double check mating pattern, while also teaching important attacking concepts such as identifying hooks near the king, preparing attacks patiently, and coordinating pieces before launching the final assault.

6/1/2026 – Grandmaster Amin Bassem takes on the Swindler on GM level and quickly guides the game into a strategically rich King's Indian structure. Throughout the game, Amin demonstrates deep positional understanding, carefully evaluating dynamic imbalances and resisting tempting material gains when they would strengthen Fritz's active pieces. After a tense middlegame battle full of subtle decisions, both sides agree to a draw, and the post game analysis reveals just how finely balanced the struggle had been.

5/30/2026 – In this episode of The Underdog, Robert presents a game from the 25th European Women's Chess Championship 2026 in Batumi, Georgia. As he has done in several previous episodes, the featured game is not from the opening round but from round four. The talented Armenian player Polina Kobak faced IM Stavroula Tsolakidou of Greece, one of the tournament favourites, and met the King's Indian Defence with impressive play. Interestingly, both players had opportunities to force a draw, but neither was willing to settle for half a point.

5/21/2026 – Chris Ward and Arne Kaehler dive deep into dangerous attacking ideas against the Sicilian Dragon, especially early h4 and g4 pawn storms in the Yugoslav Attack, showing several brutal games where Black gets crushed if unprepared. The episode also highlights rising young Dragon specialist Havard Haug again, whose energetic blitz wins demonstrate that the Dragon is becoming fashionable once more among a new generation of players. | Photo: John Upham

5/18/2026 – Aram Hakobyan speaks about his journey from a passionate chess obsessed child in Armenia to becoming a world under 12 champion, studying at Webster University in the United States, and eventually returning home to continue pursuing professional chess. He reflects on the importance of passion over pressure, explains how mentors like Levon Aronian shaped his mindset, and shares honest thoughts about sponsorship struggles, modern chess preparation, and why enjoying the process matters more than chasing rating goals. Aram also discusses his upcoming ChessBase training course on the Ruy Lopez Opening from Black’s perspective, while offering practical advice on studying openings, experimenting with different training methods, and developing genuine curiosity for chess.

5/10/2026 – Today we have a special guest on Svitlana’s Smart Moves: Leon Mendonca. Since we all got to know each other well during the Biel Chess Festival 2024, we decided it was finally time to record a show together. In this episode, Svitlana Demchenko introduces the tricky Cowboy Attack in the Sicilian, and surprisingly, Leon turns out to be a genuine fan of the opening as well, making this an opening variation that is definitely worth a closer look.

5/9/2026 – In this episode of Monthly Dragon, Chris Ward presents three entertaining and highly tactical Dragon games, focusing on key themes such as the thematic d5-break, the power of the Dragon bishop and active king play in the endgame. Particularly impressive are the games featuring Havard Haug, Emre Can and Hikaru Nakamura, where Black repeatedly seizes the initiative through tactical motifs, loose pieces, and aggressive rook and queen activity. The main lesson throughout the episode is that in the Dragon, dynamic play, piece activity, and tactical awareness are often far more important than perfect pawn structure. | Photo: John Upham

5/6/2026 – Discover the secrets of the Hippopotamus Defense with Andrew Martin, a unique and flexible opening that thrives on patience, timing, and psychological pressure. This course shows why many aggressive players fail against the Hippo, often attacking too early and falling into devastating counterplay. Learn how to stay calm, choose the right moment to strike, and turn this seemingly passive setup into a powerful weapon against your opponents.

5/6/2026 – Since Leon Mendonca and Aram Hakobyan were both visiting the ChessBase office, we handed them a beta version to puzzle fight each other. The app launched this weekend, it's free, and you can try Puzzle Fight yourself. Fair warning: it's hard to stop, as the video proves.

4/16/2026 – Vaishali Rameshbabu won the Women's Candidates Tournament by defeating Kateryna Lagno in the final round, finishing clear first on 8½/14 and earning the right to challenge Ju Wenjun in the match for the world title. In this interview, Vaishali looks back on the months of preparation that followed her Grand Swiss victory, discusses the support of her family and team, and explains how she coped with the pressure of a tense and closely contested tournament. | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde

4/16/2026 – The ChessBase crew travels to Cyprus to cover the Candidates Tournament, bringing you daily impressions from one of the biggest events in chess. What is the atmosphere like around the world’s best players? How is the venue, and where do the stars spend their time? What happens behind the scenes in the media centre and beyond? And what is Cyprus like as a host for such a prestigious event? From travel moments and unexpected encounters to exclusive insights into the tournament environment, we take you along for the journey—day by day. Experience the Candidates from the inside.