10/2/2020 – Some might think that ChessBase was the inventor of the chess database. That is true to some degree, but there is a predecessor, and Frederic Friedel was a part of it. In the video we talk about one of the very first commercially available chess database systems, called "Intelligent Chess", and we opened our little ChessBase museum to present to you, the original prototype including a database on audio cassette.

9/27/2020 – After diving into a philosophical puzzle, we are back on track with our logic riddles for chess players. In our ninth part of the series, we have two chess engines competing against each other. Funnily enough, they seem to be exactly equally strong, and the championship cannot find a decisive winner until someone is able to find a solution to this problem.

9/23/2020 – An 8x8 board with black & white pieces is water under the bridge. We take a step further and play on a 16x16 board with twelve different colours now - thanks to the beautiful "Sovereign Chess" by Mark Bates. Pretty much all the normal chess rules apply, which makes this game even easier to understand for chess lovers. But the most interesting difference is that you can take control of other colours by conquering the same coloured square! | Photos: Mark Bates

9/22/2020 – When was the first time in your life you played chess? Most probably at the age of six to eight years? Whatever the answer is, we have an adorable quiz about young titled chess masters for you. If chess is a big part in your life, which isn't a bad thing at all, you should be able to guess at least seven out of twelve correctly. Here is your challenge!

9/18/2020 – A few weeks ago we offered a number of great Fritztrainers in a summer special for reduced prices. If you bought one of the offered bundles, you had the chance to win DVDs, signed by famous players such as like Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Nihal Sarin, etc. But we haven't announced all winners yet. Until now.

9/14/2020 – This is our second philosophical riddle, and they will continue to jump in to our logical riddle series every now and then. The first philosophical riddle was a paradox and unsolvable. This riddle takes the same route, and if you haven't heard of it before, it will make your head steam. We also offer the solution of logical riddle number 8.

9/12/2020 – Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world size-wise and the sixth biggest by population. It brought us famous football stars like Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario and Neymar. Chess-wise, Brazil is a bit more of an underdog. Juliana Terao on the other hand won the Brazilian Woman's Championship five times in a row (2015 to 2020), and sticks out with achieving a rating of over 2300 in 2017, which no other Brazilian woman has ever reached before. In our interview with the FM and WIM, we talk about chess in Brazil, why her middle-name is "Sayumi", and how she and other South-Americans deal with the coronavirus situation.

9/10/2020 – It is already September, the trees are slowly changing colour and the summer is coming to an end, as are our summer offers. This is the last chance to strike again, and to do so properly. Twelve DVDs by Daniel King will lighten up the coming months for every chess player. With over 50 hours of material on the subject of "Attack" and "Strategy", King discusses all the important chess motifs. Every serious chess player should have these classics in their collection. Our final offer once again promises the chance to win a signed DVD for every buyer of the bundle.

9/2/2020 – The second-to-last week of our Summer Special has arrived, and we are offering yet another great DVD bundle, this time with Fritztrainers by Victor Bologan. The Moldovan grandmaster teaches us how to win with the King’s Indian attack, an opening which is very popular amongst several titled players. We have also added his DVD “King’s Indian: A modern approach”, where Bologan presents a full repertoire in over seven hours of instruction. To sum the bundle up, you will also get the opening’s 2019 Powerbook and Powerbase DVDs, with over 100,000 games. And finally, we add another signed-DVD raffle to all buyers!

9/2/2020 – In our “The Best in” series, we already talked to talented players from the Bahamas and Aruba. This time around, we will explore another island from the Caribbean — Trinidad and Tobago. While Jasel Lopez stands out in Aruba, Alan-Safar Ramoutar is the best chess player in Trinidad and Tobago, as he recently surpassed the 2300 rating barrier! He started playing chess in 2015, and only five years later he is getting closer to his goal of reaching a 2700+ Elo rating.

8/30/2020 – Thank you for your commentaries about the last riddle and for clarifying the riddle before finding a solution. The chess logic-riddle community is very active — thanks for your engagement! Today’s riddle fits perfectly well into the chess world. It is a little odd though, I have to admit.

8/26/2020 – Our summer special continues with the Fritztrainer on the Nimzo-Indian by Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov. The charismatic star from Uzbekistan presents a complete Nimzo-Indian repertoire for the black pieces. This opening is part of every serious chess player’s arsenal. Our special offer also includes the Nimzo-Indian Powerbook 2019 (300.000+ games) and the Nimzo-Indian Powerbase 2019 with almost 10.000 games to replay, analyse and add to your own repertoire. If you were not sure what you were going to do in the next couple of weeks, now you know!

8/25/2020 – A new series has entered the stage with "Guess the right price!". You have to guess the correct price of a chess-related object. We start our journey with four chess sets of different origins, material and obviously — price. Do you have a good feeel of how much the different chess objects can cost? | Photo: VintageChessShop

8/23/2020 – The Carlsen Chess Tour is over. What a pity, because the finals between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura were outstanding! The most used opening by far was the Ruy Lopez, leaving the Sicilian opening behind. A clear sign of how much this opening is in fashion momentarily, and we all know that everybody will jump on the Ruy Lopez train sooner or later this year. To prepare you in the best way possible, I highly recommend taking a look at Fabiano Caruana's: Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol. 1-3.

8/19/2020 – From the small country Aruba comes one of the strongest chess players of the Caribbean Islands - Jasel Lopez. Aruba has roughly 100.000 inhabitants and hardly any chess tradition but Jasel Lopez still managed to become an IM and to reach an Elo-rating of 2416. In an interview he talks about his development as a player, chess in Aruba and his plans for the future.

8/17/2020 – The last logic riddle was really hard, and only a few readers were able to calculate all outcomes and find the correct solution. The riddle today is easier. You have to figure out how to adjust the odds in your favour. Keep in mind, you might not be able to solve the puzzle fully, but maybe your result is good enough to save the life of a grandmaster.

8/12/2020 – Grandmaster Adhiban Baskaran tested his skills with the ChessBase tactics training, and did so while streaming with a cowboy hat on his head. But he didn't need a gun to be explosive. Adhiban made upper-cuts, flying kicks and used his Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique combos, because every correct move you make in the ChessBase tactic-training is accompanied by "punching sounds". It is a pleasure to watch a Grandmaster making beautiful tactical moves in split seconds. In his stream Adhiban shows us all the moves.

8/12/2020 – The ChessBase Master Class deserves its name. On twelve DVDs our top experts had a close look at some of the best players in the history of chess. You now have the opportunity to get these twelve DVDs with lessons about the world's best chess players per download - and for a short while you can buy the complete "Master Class Bundle" for a reduced price! Per download, right to your computer. And whoever buys the bundle, automatically takes part in a raffle!