2/14/2023 – At the Women's Grand Prix in Munich, chess goddess Caissa smiled on Alexandra Kostenuk. Before the last round Kosteniuk was one point ahead of her closes rival Humpy Koneru and only needed a draw to win the tournament. However, Kosteniuk lost against Zhu Jiner, but still won the tournament because Koneru only drew. Ullrich Krause, President of the German Chess Federation, opened the last round. | Photos: Mark Livshitz (FIDE)

2/14/2023 – In the diagram position the white knight has to fight against the black pawns. Black's d-pawn and Black's f-pawn are both weak and seem to fall quickly. But the position is still tricky though White has a hidden way to win. Can you find it?

2/13/2023 – There is no accusation that is more guaranteed to get under a chess player’s skin than dismissing his beloved game as a ‘waste of time’. There is no better way to antagonize a chess player than to say that. But many famous thinkers and writers have done so. In chapter two of his book "Chessays", a collection of thought-provoking essays about a wide range of chess-related issues, Howard Burton has compiled a list of statements by detractors and defenders. Now available: a four-part docuseries directed by Howard, which examines the remarkable impact of chess on culture, art, science, and sport.

2/13/2023 – In his Endgame Magic Show #227 Karsten continues to show endgame highlights of the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/13/2023 – From 1 to 13 February, Munich is hosting the second stage of the 2022-23 Women’s Grand Prix series. The two best players from four tournaments will qualify for the Candidates Tournament. The action kicks off at 15.00 CET. Follow the games live, with commentary by Stefan Kindermann and Veronika Exler. | Photo: Mark Livshitz

2/13/2023 – The British band Depeche Mode is preparing a new album and has just released the title track in which the remaining founding members David Gahan and Martin Gore say goodbye to their friend and colleague Andy Fletcher, who died last year. The chessboard images in the music video quote Ingmar Bergman's famous film "The Seventh Seal".

2/10/2023 – In his 'Fast & Furious' show, Robert Ris looks back at a rollercoaster game, in which Ian Nepomniachtchi used the Deferred Steinitz Variation of the Ruy Lopez to initiate an early (and eventually successful) attack on the kingside. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

2/10/2023 – Today: Jeroen van den Belt explains how the new ChessBase 17 evaluation graph works, and how to enable it. ChessBase 17 offers many new features. We help to use them optimally! In our new video series, our developers personally explain the new features they have developed themselves. From the new data format to the beauty index. In no time at all, you'll learn how it's done.

2/10/2023 – In a round that could have been a bloodbath at the Munich Grand Prix, Nana Dzagnidze scored the only win to close the gap with tournament leader Alexandra Kosteniuk to a full point. Dzagnidze beat Alina Kashlinskaya with white, while Kosteniuk escaped with a draw in an entertaining game against Mariya Muzychuk. Like Muzychuk, Humpy Koneru missed a tactical shot that could have secured her a full point. | Photo: FIDE / Mark Livshitz

2/9/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura will face Magnus Carlsen in the Airthings Masters’ Grand Final on Friday. The famed streamer drew Wesley So with black in Armageddon to win the losers’ bracket and set up a rematch against the world champion. So had gained the right to face Nakamura by scoring a 1½-½ victory over Arjun Erigaisi in the semifinal of the lower bracket.

2/9/2023 – One of the most common things that chess players obsessed with Elo ratings (which is almost all of them) do when selecting tournaments to play is to look at the nationality of the players already entered, to see if they come from countries that are considered to have "deflated" ratings or "inflated" ratings, which might add to the attraction of playing. Javier Perea analyses the phenomenon.

2/9/2023 – In his “Game of the Week” show #554, Merijn van Delft takes a look at a fantastic attacking game that was played in the German Bundesliga last weekend, and in which Daniel Yuffa defeated Frederik Svane with a number of surprising sacrifices. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.