1/9/2023 – The new generation of chess stars is here, with no fewer than nine players aged 19 or younger rated above 2650 at the time. In a 7-part series, we will look at the performances of the top juniors in 2022. In fifth place is US grandmaster Hans Niemann. Chess blew up in mainstream media after Magnus Carlsen implicitly accused Niemann of cheating. But that did not prevent the Californian from continuing his rapid ascent in classical chess, as he broke the 2700-barrier for the first time (in an official FIDE ratings list) just this month! | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

1/9/2023 – In his Endgame Magic Show #222 Karsten shows endgame highlights from the FIDE World Team Championship in Jerusalem. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

1/9/2023 – Viktor Kortschnoi was one of the greats in chess. He played twice for the World Championship and only narrowly failed to win the title. His fighting spirit and his passion for chess is legendary. On the new Masterclass Fritztrainer "Viktor Kortschnoi" you can follow his long career game by game and in the remastered Fritztrainer "Kortschnoi: My Life for Chess" you can watch how the master presents his best games himself. Christian Höthe has taken a look at the two Fritztrainers.

1/9/2023 – Mikhail Tal's meteoric rise shook the chess world in the late 1950s, taking him straight to the very top. His victory over Botvinnik in the 1960 match won him the world title. In the process, the 'Wizard from Riga' thrilled fans with his unprecedented combination style – “There are two kinds of sacrifices - correct ones and mine!” For CBM 211 we invited our authors to comment on their favourite Mikhail Tal games. The total of 21 encounters, the last played in 1991, show the eighth World Champion above all, in his element - as a brilliant tactician. A little-known game from the National Open in Chicago 1988 is presented by Yannick Pelletier in CBM 211 - you can watch his analysis in abridged form here. Enjoy!

1/9/2023 – From Friday, 6 January, to Sunday, 8 January, the 32nd Keres Memorial was held in the Estonian capital Tallinn and featured a blitz and a rapid tournament. GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy from Ukraine won the blitz, GM Yuriy Kuzubov (also from Ukraine) won the rapid event.

1/9/2023 – The Covid pandemic in the last two years have led to a chess boom online, and the young guns have benefited the most from having ‘extra time’ on hand due to being at home a lot throughout the years 2020 and 2021. They seem to have done well to widen their learnings of the game, making large gains on the rating scale. Edwin Lam Choong Wai, chess enthusiast and coach, has a suggestion how FIDE should handle this. We would be interested to hear you opinion on the subject.

1/5/2023 – The new generation of chess stars is here, with no fewer than nine players aged 19 or younger rated above 2650 at the time. In a 7-part series, we will look at the performances of the top juniors in 2022. Let us start with the clear leader of the pack, Alireza Firouzja. | Find here analysis of a remarkable victory by Firouzja, annotated by Romain Edouard. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

1/5/2023 – Over the turn of the year, the Indian Chess Federation organised its 59th National Championship, an open event that attracted almost 200 players. After a very exciting tournament the 23-year old Karthik Venkataraman won with 10.0/13. | Photos: All Indian Chess Federation

1/5/2023 – As a chess player, you probably know this problem: The openings for the next chess tournament are all perfectly prepared, but then shortly before the tournament starts you start to wonder: what should I wear? ChessBase presents the new spring fashion, with prints that will impress your opponent. Also for the children and the dear four-legged friends. Now in the New Year's Sale!

1/5/2023 – In his “Game of the Week” show #549 Merijn van Delft looks at a recent but historically important game: Magnus Carlsen's win against Parham Maghsoodloo in the last round of the Rapid World Championship 2022. Carlsen had to win and he outplayed Maghsoodloo in a fine mix of attack and defense. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

1/5/2023 – Can a unit of our army be a friend or foe depending on the circumstances? From experience, we know that the answer is a resounding yes! GM Sundararajan Kidambi explains the beautiful concept of using your opponent’s piece to your advantage instead of always being bent on automatically going for the recapture.

1/4/2023 – The 3rd World Chess Championship between Wilhelm Steinitz and Isidor Gunsberg that ran from December 9, 1890 to January 22, 1891 was a closely fought match. At the end of 19 games, Steinitz emerged victorious, 6-4, to retain his title. Gunsberg's good result in this match was no coincidence. Gunsberg was one of the strongest players of his time though today he is almost forgotten. Eugene Manlapao takes a look at the life and career of this relatively unknown World Championship challenger. | Photo source: Wikipedia