9/23/2024 – Can you mate with two bishops? And how about with bishop and knight? Really, can you do it, if it comes up in a tournament game? Before that happens, it would be well to check. You can do it easily by playing it against our diagrams. And if you have trouble, let Gauri Shankar, chess trainer from Chicago, give you instructions. In addition try and solve our puzzle by finding the long-range strategic solution.

8/27/2024 – Take a look at this position. Looks simple enough – just five pieces on the board. But we are asked to find a clear and forced win for White. That requires some unusually subtle strategic moves. Try and solve it, and two other similarly clever problems, which you are sure to find pleasing. Full video explanations will follow in a week.

8/20/2024 – He has been writing his weekly chess column in The Guardian uninterrupted for, believe us, 69 years – breaking all records for this area of publication. Leonard's observations on the contemporary chess scene are well written and meticulously researched. Each column contains a game and, very enticingly, an instructive chess puzzle. Visit the Guardian chess page on Friday – you will never regret it. | Photo by Linda Nylind in 2016 for the Guardian

7/20/2024 – Today, on July 20, 2024, FIDE has scheduled a celebration in Paris to mark 100 years since it was officially formed in the French capital. FIDE is marking its centenary with many different programs aimed at existing and new chess fans around the globe – be they schoolchildren, refugees, people in prisons, charities, club players, or newcomers to the game! The highlights: an Olympic-style torch relay and a Guinness Book record attempt.

6/28/2024 – When FIDE created the inaugural list of grandmasters, in 1950, there were 27 of them. Today, there are more than 1,850. “There are too many grandmasters,” said GM Nigel Short, FIDE director for chess development. “To call me grandmaster adds nothing. They are two a penny.” Dylan Loeb McClain writes about the situation in this interesting New York Times article.

5/3/2024 – It's all over the news: Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder will be teaming up for a new cutthroat film, based on a book proposal by author Ben Mezrich (“The Social Network” and “Dumb Money”). A24, the independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, won the rights to the feature package, striking a seven-figure deal that left competitors' head-spinning. Subject of the film: take a deep breath and proceed to the main body of our article to find out.

4/23/2024 – A couple of weeks ago Leon Mendonca turned 18. After many spectacular successes — like a 9.0/9 score in a very strong GM Open a year ago and winning the Challegers group in Wijk aan Zee — Leon just won the Spring Chess Classic 2024 at the Saint Louis Chess Club – outright. The round robin event had ten grandmasters with an average rating of 2625. This remarkable young player has recorded a very interesting FritzTrainer for us. | Photos by Austin Fuller

4/15/2024 – In this New In Chess podcast episode, after the first half of the Candidates, Super-grandmaster Anish Giri gives his take. In an hour-long interview by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, he candidly shares his assessment of the players so far. Anish sees Ian Nepomniachtchi as one of the top favourites to win the Candidates and qualify for the World Championship match. But he also speaks at great length about the other players.

4/10/2024 – It was all so nicely planned: during the Candidates Tournament a total eclipse of the sun was scheduled to pass over the venue in Canada, and FIDE scheduled the tournament to have a free day exactly when this happened. And they arranged a yacht cruise for players and visitors to witness this rare occurrence. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, clouds got in the way. Still, it was a lifetime experience for so many. | All images by Michal Walusza for FIDE

4/9/2024 – He was born on 3 June 2011 in Bursa, Turkey. On April 1st (no April Fool's joke) the twelve-year-old, playing in the very strong GRENKE Chess Open, Yagiz Kaan Erdpgmus scored 7.0/9 points with a 2646 performance. With that he had fulfilled his final GM norm and become the youngest grandmaster in the world – the fourth youngest in chess history. We will be watching this young boy carefully. | Photo Ugur Medya

3/11/2024 – Chess is a fun game – ask the countless millions who play it. But apart from the contest at the board, there are additional forms for you to enjoy, like chess puzzles and studies. Many of them defy the imagination. Today we start a new column, and have three deceptively simple – but enchanting – examples for you to solve. The sources and solutions will be provided in a week. Until then, have fun working things out all by yourself.

2/9/2024 – To the surprise of everyone he won the 2023 World Championship in Astana, but then disappeared from public view. Ding Liren played just a very few games – until the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk ann Zee. There he did not do well at all. We invited him, like so many others, to come to Hamburg to do a refresher course in the use of the ChessBase software, which he did. Frederic Friedel reports. | Photos ©Nils Rohde/ChessBase

1/16/2024 – Last Tuesday, this young lad turned 15. Shreyas Royal gained his IM title in 2022, the youngest English player to do this. As a result he was invited to the London Chess Classic in December. There he was the lowest ranked player, but finished with 2630 performance, 226 points above his FIDE rating. In the Hastings Congress he missed his third GM norm by a whisker. It is time to take a closer look at this bright young talent, from whom we will be hearing a lot in the future. | Photo: Olympics.com

1/10/2024 – The ChessBase Christmas Puzzle week has concluded, but one final competition remains! To all amateurs and aspiring composers, now is your chance to gain fame by submitting a composition with chance for prizes too – with ChessBase publications in the brand-new eBook format up for grabs! The deadline for submission is January 21st – this article provides all other details! So good luck and happy composing to all!

1/5/2024 – How did you fare with the three fun-to-solve puzzles we provided on December 30? They were fairly subtle, one quite amuzing. We got them from Gauri Shankar is a FIDE Master with eight IM norms. He lives in Chicago and produces entertaining video shorts explaining problems and studies. You can watch them for the solutions to our Christmas selection.

1/3/2024 – In part four of our Christmas Puzzle Week we had some seasonal chess problems – a candle and two Christmas trees. But we also included a helpmate in two, with a devilishly difficult retroanalytical part. Were you able to find the two solutions, and explain why one of them was illegal? Try and follow the analysis of our problem expert.

1/1/2024 – Today we bring you the first instalment of solutions, to the puzzles on our Christmas Day page. It includes charming video of two 14 year old lads solving one of the problems. Today, both are Candidates for the World Championship. Solutions to the next six puzzle pages will follow soon – together with details on our composition competition, which will end on January 15.

12/28/2023 – Problemists love to construct problems in shapes that symbolize something auspicious. The great composer (and World Championship candidate) Pal Benkö sent us a problem shaped like a candle. Today we bring you two problems shaped like Christmas trees. They are not too hard, which we cannot say about the third problem, which taxes the brain.