11/26/2023 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The latest issue, CBM 216, is out. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look. Included are 968 games (34 annotated), decisive encounters from the World Cup deeply annotated, 11 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 6 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Anish Giri, Peter Heine Nielsen, Nijat Abasov, Vidit Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, among others. The icing on the cake is a feature on Hou Yifan with 22 annotated games. She has just won the Julius Baer Women’s Speed Championship for the second consecutive time. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

11/26/2023 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 153rd episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and takes a look at the play of Mikhail Botvinnik. | Photo: Pascal Simon

11/26/2023 – Levon Aronian became the second player to grab a win in the Sinquefield Cup, as he beat Alireza Firouzja with the white pieces in round 5. This result allowed Wesley So to overtake Firouzja in the live ratings list, while it also reduced the rating gap between Firouzja and Anish Giri. The three players are fighting to get one of the two remaining spots in the 2024 Candidates — one will be granted via the ratings list and the second via the FIDE Circuit. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/26/2023 – Carissa Yip (pictured) grabbed her second U.S. women’s title last month — at 20 years of age! The youngster scored an incredible 8½/11, leaving the over-performing Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova a half point behind in the final standings. As ever, GM Karsten Müller followed the games closely, looking for interesting setups to analyse. Find here instructive analyses of six outstanding endgame positions! | Photo: Crystal Fuller

11/26/2023 – After eleven exciting rounds, the World Youth Championships — under 14, 16 and 18 — in the open and girls categories concluded in Montesilvano, Italy. A number of honorary guests delivered awards to the newly crowned world champions and the top-finishers. | Photos: Przemek Nikiel

11/25/2023 – At first glance, Fritz 19 is all about fun, with its quirky opponents and trophies. But there's also highly useful new functionality for serious opening training. Now, any database, opening article, or your own opening analysis can be loaded directly as an opening book to play against.

11/25/2023 – In the new episode of his Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris analyses the amazing game between Nikolas Theodorou and Teimour Radjabov. The Greek grandmaster was incredibly well-prepared and crushed his opponent with the aid of some amazing sacrifices. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

11/25/2023 – Following three rounds without decisive games, an exciting fourth round in the Sinquefield saw the draw streak being broken. Wesley So was the first to grab a win in the classical tournament, as he got the better of an adventurous Richard Rapport, who employed the King’s Indian Defence with the black pieces. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/25/2023 – In the diagram position White comes to success by wow moves - let your imagination run wild!

11/24/2023 – We told you about Ohad Munder-Zichri, who was abducted by Hamas from the kibbutz of Nir Oz, where he was visiting his grandparents. That was one day before his 9th birthday. Since then, he has spent 48 days in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza, together with more than 200 hostages taken during the devastating Oct. 7 incursion. We have just seen in the news that today (November 24, late evening) Ohad has been set free!! We rejoice for this young chess talent.

11/24/2023 – No decisive games have been played in the first three rounds of the Sinquefield Cup, despite players entering fighting lines out of the opening more often than not. In other news, Jan-Krzysztof Duda withdrew from the tournament due to health issues, and his round-1 game will be taken out of consideration for the final standings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/24/2023 – In October, the ACO - the Amateur Chess Organisation - held its sixth tournament at the 5-star Hotel Fodele Beach in Crete. More than 160 participants from 24 nations enjoyed pleasant temperatures, ideal tournament conditions and a great social programme.