10/26/2020 – On Friday, October 23, Netflix started the "The Queen's Gambit", a new series, in which chess plays a major role. The series is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, and caused enthusiastic reactions from chess players and non-chess players alike. Conrad Schormann has collected some of them.

9/15/2020 – From September 16 to September 2020, the Bundesliga Championship Tournament, an over-the-board round robin with eight teams of eight players, will take place in Karlsruhe, Germany. The winner will be German Team Champion 2020. But which of the many top players, who regularly start in the Bundesliga, will make it to Karlsruhe? Conrad Schormann shares information and insights. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

12/24/2019 – Mihail Marin is considered as one of the best opening theoreticians and chess authors. Two years ago he married the painter and chess player Maria Yugina. Conrad Schormann had a chat with the couple that travels around the world, following their passions, painting and playing chess.

10/4/2019 – Fabiano Caruana is already qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2020 and Ding Liren too de facto. They should now be joined by two World Cup finalists. Instead, the situation is less clear. Anish Giri is banking on a rating spot freed up by Ding's new qualification. Radjabov is also in, if he wants it, but that is very much an open question. CONRAD SCHORMANN explains. | Photos: FIDE

2/13/2019 – When, if not now? FIDE tries again to include chess into the Olympic Programme. In 1924 FIDE was founded when the Olympic Games took part in Paris, and in 2024 FIDE wants to celebrate this anniversary by making chess olympic. Conrad Schormann explains why the chances for this to happen are better than ever.

1/17/2019 – Aron Nimzowitsch was an original chess thinker but he liked to share his ideas in a peculiar way. His most important book, "My System", is at times brilliant but CONRAD SCHORMANN thinks the book sometimes simply contains too many warm words. Still, there's much to learn: "We still use some of the terms he used, coined and made popular — but in a different way". As for his eccentricities, you be the judge.

9/13/2018 – The World Chess Championship 2018 is still two months away but some federations are already looking ahead to 2020. Depending on the winner of the forthcoming World Championship match in November in London, the USA or Norway may, of course, want to host the next edition. However, the Austrian Federation would also like to celebrate its 100-year jubilee with a very special event and recently received an official visit. | Pictured: Central Vienna | Photo: Public domain via Creative Commons

9/9/2018 – The World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in London will begin in exactly two months on November 9th, and their last direct encounter before the match in London was at the Sinquefield Cup 2018 in Saint Louis. Together they won the tournament along with Levon Aronian. They drew each other, although Carlsen was close to winning. What does that mean for the World Championship in London? CONRAD SCHORMANN looks for answers, and you can have your say in our poll! | Graphic: World Chess

8/23/2018 – For more than three decades Wolfgang Uhlmann was East Germany's number one player and in the 60s and 70s he was one of the world's best players. Uhlmann is particularly famous for his handling of the French Defense. After 1.e4 he invariably played 1...e6, no matter how well-prepared the opponent might be. Of course, he contributed a lot of ideas to the French. Conrad Schormann takes a look at one particularly useful and important defensive concept Uhlmann introduced into practice. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

8/18/2018 – The Riga Tech University Open from August 6th to 12th was won by a pair of Armenian grandmasters: Robert Hovhannisyan and Manuel Petrosyan, each scoring 7½ / 9. Hovhannisyan was undefeated with six wins; Petrosyan scored a whopping seven wins, one loss and a draw. Among the trailing pack on 7 / 9 were the young and talented Russian GM Andrey Esipenko, and the German GM Rasmus Svane. | Photos: Tournament page

8/6/2018 – For the third time in his career, Sergei Movsesian won the main section of the Czech Open in Pardubice. Polish IM Lukasz Jarmula finished second and the young German IM Christopher Noe came third. Noe had a great performance but could not earn his third grandmaster norm, as he did not meet all the requirements. | Photos: czechopen.net

6/20/2018 – Why, after all, are the Indian openings called "Indian"? Conrad Schormann tried to find an answer to this question and found it in the ChessBase Mega Database. It led him back to a clash of classical and hypermodern theory in old India.

5/10/2018 – Nigel Short wants to become FIDE President. In 2010 and in 2014 Short supported the campaigns of Karpov and Kasparov. It's been a while since three candidates ran for president in the FIDE elections, but now Ilyumzhinov, Makropoulos, and Short are all in the running. CONRAD SCHORMANN recounts a bit of history and shares his opinion of what is bound to be an interesting period in international chess politics. | Photo: British Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic