2/10/2026 – Netflix launched a new documentary on the life of Judit Polgar, "The Queen of Chess". The documentary is extremely well-made and is definitely worth a watch if you are a chess fan. It brought back to life an incident that had happened 32 years ago in 1994, when an 18-year-old Judit took on the world number-one Garry Kasparov for the first time. It involved a famous touch-move incident. | Photo: Judit Polgar Chess Foundation

2/10/2026 – One more miniature from the Tata Steel Masters. In round 10 the game between the two Candidates Matthias Bluebaum and Anish Giri featured a rather unusual opening line. After the moves 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 c5 5.d5 Black gives up its dark-squared bishop on c3 and locks up the centre and places its pawn on e5. This invention was made back in 1969 by the Dutch IM Johan Barendregt and has recently been seen in quite a number of games. The imbalances in the structures guarantee fire on the board and one mistake may decide one's fate. In this episode of the Fast & Furious show you'll learn more about the ins and outs of this trendy line!

2/10/2026 – In this “Best Games of 2025” episode, Lilit Mkrtchian takes us through a deeply instructive win from the Tegernsee tournament, showing her full ChessBase-style preparation workflow and how she chose an offbeat setup to get her opponent out of comfort early. The lesson then turns into a masterclass on positional pressure: exploiting the weakened d5-square, improving pieces step by step, and using concrete calculation to avoid tempting but incorrect tactics. The game finishes with clean technique—converting a queenside advantage and a dangerous passed a-pawn—while the big takeaway is clear: smart prep + strong squares + not spoiling a better position wins games.

2/10/2026 – Sipke and Karsten show one endgame highlight from the Tata Steel rapid tournament. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/10/2026 – The Futures tournament at the Prague International Chess Festival 2026 brings together ten of Europe’s most promising young female talents. Held under the patronage of Czech First Lady Eva Pavlová and with chess legend GM Pia Cramling (pictured) as ambassador, the event provides top-level junior chess and inspiration within one of Europe’s most attractive chess festivals. | Photo: Prague Chess Festival

2/10/2026 – Check promotion: Pure opposite colored bishop endings have a large drawish tendency. But the race of passed pawns is of a different nature: White to move and win.

2/6/2026 – Just two years after its launch, the New Zagreb Classic has become one of Europe's largest open tournaments, attracting more than 500 players from dozens of federations. Conceived by local organisers to give young talents broader competitive opportunities, the event combines a compact weekend format with wide participation across rating levels. The 2026 edition in Zagreb featured established masters, emerging juniors and first-time competitors, reflecting the tournament’s growing place on the European chess calendar. | Photos: Official website

2/6/2026 – On Sunday you have the opportunity to see a legendary chess mind: Alexander Beliavsky, a four-time USSR Champion, three-time Olympiad Champion, who has defeated no fewer than nine World Champions. In a live training session at the Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy "Big Al", as he is known for his bold, uncompromising style, offers a rare chance to understand how grandmasters think when the stakes are highest. Keep February 8, 18:00 CET to listen to him.

2/6/2026 – The President of the Georgian Chess Federation and FIDE official Akaki Iashvili visited the ChessBase office in Hamburg to familiarise himself with the company’s training and educational programs. He was particularly impressed by the children’s chess learning program Fritz & Chesster. ChessBase CEO Rainer Woisin (pictured, on the right) and Akaki Iashvili (pictured, on the left) agreed on a cooperation in the field of scholastic chess.

2/6/2026 – Take as look at this position. Is there any way you can stop the two black pawns that are ready to promote? And actually win this game? There are three challenging positions to solve on our live diagrams. And in a few days we will provide full explanations and strategies – in video clips. It is a learning experience.

2/6/2026 – After 20...Ra7? (diagram) White powerfully gained access to the king e7 without losing sight of the black queen b6. Please emulate!

2/6/2026 – A regular fixture in the German "Schachkalender", edited by Wolf Böese and Stefan Löffler, is the biographical puzzle. The task is to identify a player who is celebrating a milestone birthday this year.