7/16/2025 – The ninth edition of the Abierto Sesc Caiobá turned the Brazilian city of Caiobá into a prime destination for chess enthusiasts. With over 200 participants and a diverse program, the event combined classical tournaments, rapid and blitz competitions, training sessions, and community activities—all set against the backdrop of a stunning seaside location. Brazil’s Alexandr Fier emerged as the winner of the main event, while Argentina’s Sandro Mareco and the USA’s Conrad Holt claimed victories in the rapid and blitz sections, respectively. | Photos: CEX Paraná

7/16/2025 – In every issue of ChessBase Magazine, our experts present new opening ideas and trends in the video. In the current CBM #226, Luis Engel delivers part I of his analysis of the increasingly popular 6.Bd3 against the Sicilian Najdorf Variation. Daniel King examines the remarkably successful move 5...h5 in the Czech Benoni. And Mihail Marin summarises the current state of theory in the French Advance Variation with 5...Bd7 6.Ne2 Nge7 7.0-0. You can watch all three videos in this week’s CBM reading sample. Enjoy!

7/16/2025 – In chess, escaping with the king is a well-known way of parrying an attack. On the first rest day, the organisers invited the grandmasters from the two invitational tournaments to test their escape skills in the Biel Adventure Rooms. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/16/2025 – The opening round of classical chess at the Biel Chess Festival's Triathlon produced contrasting fortunes across both sections. While the Masters section saw all three games conclude in draws, maintaining the standings from the rapid phase, the Challengers section delivered three decisive results. David Navara's victory over Daniel Dardha marked the day's most significant development, propelling him from last place to third overall. | Pictured: Vladimir Fedoseev and Aravindh Chithambaram. | Photos: Official website

7/15/2025 – The third round of the Women's World Cup concluded with six matches decided in tiebreaks, completing the round-of-16 lineup. While most favourites advanced, 19-year-old Song Yuxin upset Anna Muzychuk to join fellow rising stars Meruert Kamalidenova and Umida Omonova in the next stage. All three had already secured impressive victories earlier in the event. A rest day now follows before the tournament resumes in Batumi with the final sixteen players. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE

7/15/2025 – The chess world is showing increasing interest in what many now refer to as “Freestyle Chess.” Having served as Chief Arbiter at two such events this year - one in Weissenhaus, Germany in February and another in Paris, France in April - Gerhard Bertagnolli has encountered a number of unique challenges. These are worth sharing, as Freestyle Chess differs from classical chess in several subtle yet significant ways.

7/12/2025 – Black's position is hanging by a thread, but you will certainly manage to cut it as White - enjoy!

7/12/2025 – The perfect sacrifice is every chess player's dream. You give your opponent material "for free", but in return you gain overwhelming piece activity, which, combined with creative ideas, can lead to a memorable game. In his new FritzTrainer course, Krishnan Sasikiran - who played no fewer than 11 Olympiads - shows how to correctly sacrifice a piece and obtain sufficient compensation for the material!

7/12/2025 – The second-round tiebreaks of the Women's World Cup saw major developments, including the early exit of defending champion Aleksandra Goryachkina at the hands of Meruert Kamalidenova (pictured). Alina Kashlinskaya was also eliminated, while several top seeds - such as Mariya Muzychuk, Kateryna Lagno and Alexandra Kosteniuk - were pushed to extended matches. Other notable qualifiers included Umida Omonova, Song Yuxin and Lu Miaoyi, who all advanced after strong performances in rapid and blitz. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE

7/11/2025 – The 58th Biel Chess Festival, running from 12 to 25 July, offers a global celebration of chess with 16 tournaments spanning classical, rapid and blitz formats. With participants from 45 countries and events welcoming players of all backgrounds and abilities, the festival blends elite competition with cultural exchange. Highlights include the unique chess triathlons (Masters and Challengers), a Freestyle Chess tiebreaker and inspiring exhibitions tied to FIDE's Year of Social Chess.

7/11/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris analyses a spectacular victory obtained by Wei Yi over Levon Aronian out of a sharp variation in the Italian opening. One inaccurate move by Black was all the Chinese grandmaster needed to demonstrate his impressive attacking skills. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/11/2025 – Chess prevention is one of the most important parts of strategic play in chess. This doesn't apply for chess only but also in life in general. To foresee possible negative outcomes and to protect ourselves from them, or at least to lower their effects, is simpler than having to deal with the consequences. The same applies to chess. Let international trainer Efstratios Grivas explain.