11/12/2023 – Raymond Keene OBE is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971 and was the first player from England to earn a Grandmaster norm, in 1974. In 1976, he became the second Englishman (following Tony Miles) to be awarded the Grandmaster title. Today we reproduce an insightful interview with Keene as it appeared in the current issue of the magazine CHESS.

11/11/2023 – Fernando Peralta defended his national title in the 98th Argentine Chess Championship. A native of Lomas de Zamora, he won this event for the fifth time, following his success in 2006, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Peralta defeated Federico Pérez Ponsa in a two-game rapid playoff to take the title. Leonardo Krysa and Pablo Actosta tied for third place, netting 7/11 points each. | Photos: Federación Argentina de Ajedrez

11/11/2023 – In the diagram position, four rooks are facing each other on the b-file, separated only by the white Nb3. Your task is to skilfully resolve this visavis in White's favour - liquidation is the keyword!

11/10/2023 – Albin's Counter Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5) has been, and still is, a rare guest at top level tournaments, and is hardly ever seen in the practice of the world champions. The variation is considered theoretically dubious and as an overly aggressive attempt to gain counterplay in the rather solid Queen's Gambit. However, the opening has found its way into literature - in the novel "Gambit" by American crime writer Rex Stout.

11/10/2023 – In his new Power Play Show, GM Daniel King tests viewers’ tactical and calculating skills using games from the FIDE Grand Swiss. Some exercises are very easy, and some the opposite — and there is some real beauty here too! | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

11/10/2023 – The first round of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz will take place on 14 November. This will be followed by three days of rapid chess and two days of blitz. After a short break, the Sinquefield Cup, a ten-player round-robin with classical time control, begins on 21 November. Last year's match between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann caused quite a stir. Neither will be taking part this time. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

11/10/2023 – In chess, there are many key elements: opening theory; endgame theory; middlegame strategy; and calculation of variations, based on tactics. In every area there are the most efficient and logical ways to perform chosen manoeuvres or improvements of the positions. Generally, we call these “technique”.

11/10/2023 – A bit over three years into his chess career, Faustino Oro, aged 10, continues to set record after record in Argentina. The “golden boy” (‘oro’ means gold in Spanish) became the youngest player to achieve an IM norm in history, as he broke the record previously set by Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov. Oro is also referred to as “the Messi of chess”, since his incredibly quick ascent has created major expectations among Argentine chess fans! | Photo: Emmanuel Fernández / Clarín

11/9/2023 – Wally and Käthe Henschel were twins, born in Hamburg on 09.09.1893. In the 1920s and 1930s they were among the best players in Hamburg, and in 1930 Wally even beat Vera Menchik at the Women's World Championship Tournament in Hamburg - the only game Menchik ever lost in a Women's World Championship Tournament. But after the Kristallnacht pogrom on 9 November 1938, the twins, who came from a Jewish family, decided to flee to the USA, where they went on to play in the U.S. Women's Championships and where Wally may even have played against Bobby Fischer. | Photo: The Henschel family

11/9/2023 – Over the course of their careers, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana have played some epic games against each other. The last one was played in the penultimate round of the Grand Swiss Tournament on the Isle of Man. Nakamura won the game and later qualified for the Candidates. In Game of the Week #593, Merijn Van Delft takes a closer look at this encounter. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

11/9/2023 – Jozsef Pinter is 70 years old today. He is known as a long-standing and important member of the Hungarian team, having won several strong international tournaments during his career, as well as an individual gold medal at the 1984 Chess Olympiad and the first World Team Chess Championship in 1985. Pinter is also a distinguished writer and teacher.| Photo: sakkmezo.hu

11/9/2023 – The 62nd edition of the Brazilian Women's Chess Championship took place between 29 October and 4 November in Timbó, in the state of Santa Catarina. The municipality, located in the southern region of Brazil, is recognised as an important centre for the promotion of chess. The event was organised by the Brazilian Chess Federation (CBX) and the Santa Catarina Chess Federation (FCX). In the end, FM Juliana Terao won her eighth national title. | Photo: (from left to right) Marlon Rahn (arbiter), Isabelle Tamarozi (runner-up), Kathiê Librelato (fourth place), Julia Alboredo (third place) and Juliana Terao (winner). | Photo: Kaiser Mafra