2/12/2019 – Europe's largest (and most influential) news portal, Der Spiegel, recently published a three-part series on the history of chess programming. It was authored by Frederic Friedel, emeritus editor of the ChessBase news page. In the early 1980s Frederic was intrumental to bringing computer chess to the attention of the German public, and in 1987 he co-founded ChessBase. Here is part two of his series. Read part one.

2/7/2019 – Our Christmas Day problem article really made the rounds. First eminent mathematician and problemist Noam Elkies sent rapid feedback, and then one of truly great problem composers (and GM, and World Championship candidate) sent us his comments. It is none other then Pal Benko who helped convert Frederic Friedel's amateur composition into an "Excelsior", and tried himself to construct a full Excelsior (where the pawn starts with a single step). It's a lesson in problem composition.

2/5/2019 – The recent World Championship in London was closely followed by Europe's largest (and most influential) news portal. Der Spiegel had live coverage and game commentary. They also posted a three-part series on the history of chess programming, authored by Frederic Friedel, emeritus editor of this news page. In the early 1980s Frederic was instrumental to bringing computer chess to the attention of the German public, and in 1987 he co-founded ChessBase. Here is part one of his series.

1/25/2019 – It's a new discovery — a collection of the most interesting chess problems and puzzles, from the tenth century until today. The unique thing is that each puzzle has a little story attached to it, telling you something about the circumstances of its composition and its place in the history of chess problems. We bring you a small sample from the book "Chess Compositions". Try working out the positions before you peek at the solutions.

1/2/2019 – On Christmas day we published an article by Frederic Friedel, describing the process of composing a chess problem. It was based on his own effort to generate a proper helpmate back in 2002. A number of readers followed his invitation and send in amateur compositions themselves. We also received feedback from a remarkable personality: Noam Elkies is a professor of mathematics, a musician and music composer, chess master and problemist. He explained how to use an online problem database to assist in such tasks. We share his instructions with our readers.

12/31/2018 – It is another entertaining type of chess problems. The point of retro is you must consider the moves that led up to the given position. They are often quite difficult to guess – you have to think out of the box. We are not going to slay our doubtlessly inexperienced readers with complex retrograde analysis, but instead show you a number of fairly simple examples, some of which will still have you frowning in puzzlement. One thing for sure: they are all very entertaining.

12/22/2018 – Playing blitz is a lot of fun. But is it useful? This is the question on the minds of many chess players, parents and trainers. The answer is a resounding "Yes!" We have a great instructional video by IM and chess trainer Sagar Shah, who shows how you can make the best use of your blitz games using the normal ChessBase tools. It's a 16-minute tutorial that you shouldn't miss. Follow his instructions and watch the rating points pour in.

12/12/2018 – Most chess players who have visited Iceland have stayed and played in Reykjavik. Northern Iceland is another story, quite different from the capital area. This spring there is a chance to visit an exotic part of the country to play in an international tournament – in beautiful surroundings and excellent conditions. The Icelandic Open 2019 will take place from May 25th to June 1st in Akureyri, just 60 km south of the Arctic Circle. Plan it in.

12/1/2018 – Remember our article on the Babson task? Tim Krabbé told us the tragic story of how a fanatical problem composer failed, after 22 years of exhausting labour, to find a position that required quadruple echo promotion — only to see a 26-year-old soccer trainer succeed with multiple examples. Today there are 20 known examples, but none are free of duals. A very erudite 99-page paper by Peter Hoffmann describes the current state of affairs, and problemist Werner Keym is offering substantial cash prizes for the perfect Babson.

11/26/2018 – Did you catch the world-class blitz at the Tata Steel tournament in India? For the vast majority the venue, like with so many other events, was just too far away. Thankfully Sagar Shah, who set up ChessBase India, was there and filmed the most interesting games from the best possible angle. You can watch the action at close range, see the players think and react to the opponent's moves, and even analyse on the replay board with engine support. It's highly enjoyable — just ask 1.3 million viewers on YouTube you have watched Praggnanandhaa vs Anand!

11/20/2018 – Rarely do we get to see the thought process of a player of the very highest caliber. How does a 2765 rated player actually think? When Wesley So, whose highest rating was 2822, was in India for the Tata Steel Chess India 2018, IM Sagar Shah gave him three studies to solve. The catch? Wesley had to work everything out in his mind, without a board. Sagar had a camera rolling while he did this! The video discussion gives us a unique insight into the mind of a world class grandmaster. We invite you to perform a similar experiment on yourself.

11/17/2018 – On Friday American comedian, talk show host and political agitator had, for the third time at least, former World Champion Garry Kasparov on his show. Kasparov, who lives in quasi-exile in New York, is a ferocious critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and in recent years has been equally critical of the US President Donald Trump. You can watch the Real Time with Bill Maher show on HBO, or catch the section with Kasparov on YouTube.

10/9/2018 – Chess is not only about games and analysis, about wins and losses. It can also be deeply entertaining. And there are authors who have specialized on this aspect of our game. Foremost among them is the Dutch journalist and novelist Tim Krabbé, himself a very strong chess player, who has devoted a lifetime to collecting curiosities in the game. We have been enjoying his writing for more than three decades. For those who are not even that old here a beautifully poignant example from Tim's collection.

10/4/2018 – A Russian politician is the new FIDE President. Arkady Dvorkovich defeated incumbent Georgios Makropoulos by 103 votes to 78, after the third candidate Nigel Short withdrew his application. The election was held during the 89th FIDE general assembly in Batumi – where the Chess Olympiad is currently under way. Dvorkovich has announced an annual budget of three million Euros for developing countries. Read the international news reports. Full report and analysis on the FIDE election.

9/21/2018 – It was none other than Vladimir Putin, who dropped in at the training camp in Sochi. There he spoke to the men and women team members, about the importance of Russia regaining their dominating role in chess, about young talents and talent schools — like the one initiated by former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. "Sirius" has already produced a number of children's champions. Watch this 1TV report — it is in Russian, but we provide a rough transcript for you to read.

9/19/2018 – The match for the highest title in chess is always very exciting. But it is somewhat spoiled if the result is a tie. In previous times it meant that the reigning champion kept his title; later a tiebreak was installed, with rapid chess games, blitz and then Armageddon. Not a satisfactory solution, with the championship not decided by classical games. Werner Keym, a chess problem composer, has an alternate solution, one that like most of his problems is out of the box. Tell us what you think.

9/8/2018 – Recently we did an article on Retro Chess, purely for entertainment. Amongst the many letters we received, one was particularly gratifying. "I was very pleased to read the article — simply entertaining, because I have been occupied with the subject for 50 years." It was from the former Mayor of the town of Meisenheim, located near Frankfurt, Germany. His letter and subsequent gift were quite invaluable. We will tell you why.

8/18/2018 – Everyone knows — and some even love — chess problems. But apart from straightforward "mate in x tasks" there are also other very interesting types: helpmates, selfmates, and retrograde analysis, a genre where the legality of a position or a move is what we are looking for. Sound boring? Well, take a look at some examples and decide for yourself. You may find it fascinating.