11/14/2019 – In the past decade brute force programs became stronger than any human chess player, and now self-learning artificial intelligence programs like AlphaZero, Leela and Fat Fritz take these skills even further. What this all means is of great interest, and chess is simply the first area in which we are acutely feeling the impact of Artificial Intelligence. Thankfully computer experts, philosopher, and thinkers are beginning to discuss the subject seriously — as in this fairly profound podcast with Judea Pearl and Sam Harris, who use the chess paradigm extensively in their discussion. Definitely worth listening.

11/6/2019 – Are strong chess players generally better at logical thinking than people who rarely play the game? Can super-talented youngsters, of GM strength, solve logical puzzles better than amateurs or non-chess kids of the same age? Or are both equally good, or are the chess kids perhaps worse? ChessBase chief editor emeritus Frederic Friedel is conducting an experiment to find out. Today he tells us how his experiments so far have been conducted. Perhaps you can join in and supply your own results. Or at least have fun with his problems!

11/4/2019 – When Paul Morphy played Adolf Anderssen in 1858, only two games of the eleven in total were drawn. Steinitz vs Lasker in 1894 produced four draws in 19 games, but when Capablanca played Lasker in 1921 there were already ten draws in 14 games. In the Carlsen-Caruana match last year all twelve regular games were drawn, so the title had to be decided in tiebreaks. But such tiebreaks involve rapid chess game, blitz and even the ominous Armageddon. Is there a way to decide the World Championship in classical games only? Problemist Werner Keym has proposed a format that does exactly this. What do you think?

10/17/2019 – It is arguably one of the most elegant problems ever composed. The author is the late Pal Benko, a world class grandmaster and World Championship contender, who earned an additional ticket to immortality with his problems and endgame studies. The problem he composed when he was fifteen still occupies the nonagenarian. It has a dual, and we challenged our readers to find a modification to cure that. A large number tried. Today we show you Pal Benkös's own "correction".

10/7/2019 – Problem solving is a challenging field, with young participants generally dominating. There is one exception. Year after year a British mathematician, grandmaster and chess writer gives the strongest and brightest a run for their money. This year 64-year-old John Nunn finished a close second, and reported on this success. Today he presents, in his own inimitable style, the solutions to seven of the problems he had to solve at the 43rd World Chess Solving Championship in Vilnius. Our picture shows John Nunn winning the silver medal at the WCCC2019 in Vilnius and composing a chess problem, in the mid 1980s.

9/12/2019 – It is inspired by the remarkable Google/DeepMind development that shocked the world: AlphaZero. Using the open source code of Leela we generated a neural network based on millions of auto-play games — but also added millions of high level human and computer-vs-computer games, and endgame tablebases. The result: a program that strong GMs are experimenting with — and they are fascinated with the ideas our engine produces. Even very young chess geniuses are fans of Fat Fritz. | Photo Frederic Friedel

9/4/2019 – As we reported last week, Vladimir Kramnik conducted a special training camp in Chens-Sur-Léman, France, for six very talented Indian youngsters, all in their early teens, but already GMs or close to winning the title. The camp was sponsored by the Chennai-based company Microsense Private Limited and ended last Saturday. ChessBase editor Frederic Friedel visited the camp and watched the interaction between the kids and the former World Champion. | Photos: Amruta Mokal and Frederic Friedel

8/30/2019 – It was with great sorrow that we learned, last Monday, of the passing of grandmaster Pal Benko, a world class player who earned an additional ticket to immortality with his problems and endgame studies. Recently we had shown you one of his most elegant chess problems, composed when he was just fifteen. It was a problem that still occupied the nonagenarian. In one line it has a dual, and at Pal's behest we challenged our readers to find a modification to cure that. A large number tried. Today we announce the winner of the competition.

8/27/2019 – He was a world-class grandmaster, twice World Champion candidate, friend of Bobby Fischer (whose participation in the 1972 World Championship match he directly enabled), inventor of the eponymous Benko Gambit and the 1.g3 Benko Opening (which he used to beat Fischer and Tal). He is also known as the composer of some of the finest endgame studies and chess problems we have ever seen. Pál was also a loyal friend who provided us with countless articles over the last decade. He will be deeply missed. | Photo Diana Mihajlova.

7/28/2019 – 41 years ago Wolfram Runkel, (1937-2019) wrote a piece in the prestegious Hamburg weekly "Die Zeit". It was the first major article on computer chess in a German broadsheet. A young science journalist, Frederic Friedel, read it and, with Runkel's help, produced two science documentaries on the subject. And he went on to co-found the chess software company ChessBase. Today, with kind permission of Die Zeit, we bring you the historic article that set everything off.

7/24/2019 – Wolfram Runkel (1937-2019) was a journalist and writer of the prestigious Hamburg weekly "Die Zeit". In this role he was the founder of the tradition of chess reporting in a mainstream outlet. He was also a pioneer in bringing the subject of computer chess to the attention of the German public and, notably, of a young journalist who went on to co-found a large chess software company. Runkel died last Friday after a long illness. Read Frederic Friedel's personal eulogy. | Photo: Hans Walter Schmitt

7/15/2019 – He was a world-class grandmaster, twice World Champion candidate, friend of Bobby Fischer (who enabled Fischer's participation in the 1972 WCh match), inventor of the eponymous Benko Gambit and the 1.g3 Benko Opening (which he used to beat Fischer and Tal). But he is probably best known as an author and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. He is also a loyal friend who has provided us with countless articles over the last ten years. We offer our heartfelt wishes for his 91st birthday today. Like to join in?

7/8/2019 – This is one of the most elegant chess problems we have ever seen. It was composed by the master, Pal Benko when he was just fifteen. Five pieces, four on their original squares, and the task is to force mate in three moves. That is quite difficult: Bobby Fischer failed to find the solution in half an hour. Can you do better – and can you find a correction for the minor dual that was found in the problem? You can win a nice prize if you do.

7/7/2019 – The final round of the Zagreb Grand Chess Tour takes place on Sunday. Will Magnus Carlsen maintain his half-point lead over Wesley So? How will Caruana fare against Karjakin? To find out, and to follow the action live requires just a click or two on our news page. You get not just the moves, but running machine commentary, openings analysis, engine evaluation, and a lot more. Here is how you can really enjoy the round.

5/17/2019 – 22 years ago Garry Kasparov played an ill-fated match against Deep Blue. There were many interesting visitors at the event in New York, amongst them a young Women's Grandmaster who, in an interview, said: "I don't think it's my place to criticize a World Champion, but ...". She went on to give a frank opinion of Kasparov's strategy. Today Anjelina Belakovskaia, who is doing remarkable work for American chess (and finance), turns fifty. FREDERIC FRIEDEL looks back at his first encounter with her, and the early days of ChessBase Magazine.

4/26/2019 – As in the previous year we decided to abandon our decades-long tradition of tricking our readers with false stories on April 1st. For those who are disappointed by this decision we brought you a really fun (and fully genuine) task proposed by Pal Benko for this auspicious day. Initially there was an error in the task, but after we corrected that we received valid solutions. The best came from Mihály Berkics from Hungary, who receives a special prize.

4/10/2019 – You know what the Knight's Tour is: move the knight so it visits every square of the chessboard just once. There are around 30 trillion ways to do this, but it is certainly not easy for humans to execute a single one correctly — least of all blindfolded and starting from a random square. Or is it? If you invest a couple of hours into the task you stand to entertain people at parties — or even appear on a hit television show.

4/1/2019 – Last year we decided to abandon our decades-long tradition of tricking our readers with fake stories on April 1st. Instead, we said, we are going to stick to straight and truthful news. For those who are disappointed by this decision we bring you a really fun (and fully genuine) task proposed by Pal Benko for this auspicious day, and also take a look back at an historic prank we perpetrated in the past — just to prove we have not lost our sense of humour.