2/7/2024 – In the Endgame Magic Show #260 Karsten Müller and his guest Grandmaster Daniel Fernandez take a look at some endgame highlights from the tournament in Wijk aan Zee. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/7/2024 – Vincent Keymer won Division II of the Chessable Masters by beating Levon Aronian in the Grand Final Reset — i.e. Aronian, who came from winning the losers’ bracket, beat Keymer in their first match of the day (the Grand Final per se). Similarly, Alexey Sarana won Division III in the Grand Final Reset, as he defeated Alexander Grischuk in a rematch. | Photo: WR Chess / Lennart Ootes

2/6/2024 – Winning at chess is hard work. It is difficult and it costs a lot of energy. Especially calculation. Therefore, it is no surprise that our brains and minds are trying to find all the possible shortcuts. Sometimes, avoiding hard work equals being practical. However, often it is simply laziness. We are often being lazy, and we don´t have enough willpower to force our minds into exact calculation. And thus, we often play a move that looks good, instead of looking for one that actually is the best. | Photo: RalfDesign, Pixabay.

2/6/2024 – In the 15th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2023 that concluded on the 22nd of December 2023, the rise of teens of South East Asia was truly apparent. Besides local favourite FM Poh Yu Tian, the other regional juniors that shone during the event included 17-year-old Indonesian IM Arfan Aditya Bagus, 14-year-olds Ivan Travis Cu and Sidabutar Uriel Noah Oloan besides Uzair Shahar of Malaysia. Edwin Lam Choong Wai reports. | Photos: Penang Chess Association’s Facebook page

2/6/2024 – Passed pawns can be dangerous and often lead to tactical opportunities. In the diagram position it is White to move and win. What should he do?

2/6/2024 – Jan Henric Buettner is the man behind the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge in Weissenhaus, which starts on Friday and sets new standards in terms of the line-up and the presentation of a chess tournament. In an interview with André Schulz, the successful entrepreneur introduces the tournament: “It’s going to be mega fun!”

2/5/2024 – Alireza Firouzja took down Ian Nepomniachtchi and Denis Lazavik in back-to-back matches to reach the Grand Final in Division I of the Chessable Masters. Firouzja will get a rest day before facing Carlsen in Wednesday’s showdown. Tuesday will see the Grand Finals in Division II (Vincent Keymer v. Levon Aronian) and Division III (Alexander Grischuk v. Alexey Sarana). | Photo: Alireza Firouzja’s X account

2/5/2024 – To get active play and fresh positions against the Catalan, you have to come up with something. GM Yago Santiago succeeded in doing just that in his search for his own Black repertoire. Already with the fourth move - 4...Nc6!? - Black steers the game into largely unexplored territory, and after 5.Bg2 Bde6!? 6.0-0 0-0 the starting position of his analysis in ChessBase Magazine #217 is reached. You are invited again this week: Have a look at the article with all our author's analyses as a free reading sample - directly via your web browser in the new ChessBase Books format. CBM #217 is the first issue to include full mobile access. So, you can load it directly in your web browser on your iPad, tablet or Mac. Have fun!

2/5/2024 – Magnus Carlsen advanced to the Grand Final of the Chessable Masters by beating young star Denis Lazavik in a hard-fought match. Lazavik will face either Alireza Firouzja or Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket to decide who gets to challenge Carlsen in Wednesday’s deciding match. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio

2/4/2024 – The Northwest Cup took place for the first time in Oldenburg and then moved to Bad Zwischenahn. This year it celebrated its 25th anniversary. The railway strike in Germany made it difficult for participants to travel to the event, but well over 380 chess enthusiasts made it to the tournament hall, including Bettina Trabert. | Photos: Bettina Trabert

2/4/2024 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 163rd episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to take a look at the legacy of Vassily Smyslov, the seventh World Champion in the history of chess. | Photo: Pascal Simon

2/4/2024 – In the final round of the Tata Steel Masters, five players started first equal and four of them won. Big pile ups do occur quite often at the end of open Swiss tournaments, but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen this before at the end of a top-class all-play-all. The last round was a fantastic spectacle, so I thought I’d add some of my own observations now, augmented by some incredible moves from our silicon lords and masters. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess