12/17/2025 – At the European Team Championship 2025, Ukraine’s men won gold and the women won silver — an exceptional achievement under difficult circumstances. In an in-depth interview, team captain Alexander Beliavsky and coach Adrian Mikhalchishin reflect on the role of team spirit, emerging talent, and resilience in one of the most remarkable successes in Ukrainian chess history. | The photos in the text come from the Ukrainian team

12/17/2025 – There are many stories about chess changing individual lives. This one is about a small coastal village in Tamil Nadu, called Neerodi, where the game slowly changed everyday habits. For years, the village was known for gambling. When chess entered the scene, it brought a new way to spend time. The change slowly started becoming visible through IA Ephrame's "Chess Replaces Gambling" project. With the dedication of Jain Marlet, chess reached more children and families across the village. Today, the change is visible in the choices people make in the village.

12/17/2025 – Alexander Donchenko has recently made positive headlines at the World Cup, reaching the quarterfinals. Along the way, the German grandmaster scored a sensational victory against Le Quang Liem before being eliminated by Nodirbek Yakubboev. Donchenko is now competing in Poland at the Wroclaw Open A, where he is the top seed but has already suffered one defeat. | Photo: Donchenko at the World Cup | Photo: Michal Walusza

12/17/2025 – Faustino Oro has reached his goal: with a draw in the final round of the Magistral Szmetan-Giardelli in Buenos Aires, the twelve-year-old Argentine made his second grandmaster norm. He now needs just one more norm to earn the title. Norway’s Aryan Tari won the tournament, but his strong performance was somewhat overshadowed by Oro’s chase for a GM norm. | Photos: FADA

12/17/2025 – Momentum changed suddenly on the third day of the Global Chess League in Mumbai, as the early leaders were brought back into a tightly packed field. All three matches produced decisive results, reshaping the standings and leaving four teams level at the top. The day featured a notable top-board victory by Vishy Anand over Gukesh Dommaraju in the battle of Indian world champions, while Alireza Firouzja maintained his perfect start, extending his run to three wins from three games. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

12/16/2025 – Last week, Vlastimil Hort found his final resting place at Prague's Vyšehrad National Cemetery. It was "Vlasti's" wish to be buried in his hometown. His family, friends and companions gave him a final send-off – with a glass of champagne, for a special reason.

12/16/2025 – High tension in Buenos Aires: with his draw against Julio Granda Zuniga, Faustino Oro stayed in contention both for the tournament victory and for the second grandmaster norm that is so important to him. A lot would have to go his way to win the tournament, but the norm is firmly in his own hands: a draw in the final round would be enough. First place is still shared, yet after Alexei Shirov’s fighting win against the former co-leader Ivan Cheparinov, Shirov and Aryan Tari have the best chances to win the tournament. | Photo: Faustino Oro at the World Cup 2025 | Photo: Michal Walusza

12/16/2025 – Crushing checks: Often the rook belongs behind the passed pawn, but sometimes other methods have priority: The deep: White to move and win.

12/16/2025 – This week we are having a look at a spectacular miniature played in the Greek Championships. The game Nikolaidis-Alexakis featured the Benko gambit in which Black opted for the modern treatment with 5...e6. Black even got the chance of sacrificing a knight on move 10, how often do you see that happening still in grandmaster play?? | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

12/16/2025 – The Clash of Generations II featured a six game match between 34-year-old former number two of the world Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and 14-year old super talent Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. The result was amazing: Erdogmus hardly experienced any problems at all, comfortably drew five of the games and even won one! This remarkable fifth game of the match is our Game of the Week, it saw the suprising use of the Ruy Lopez exchange variation and turned into a positional masterpiece. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

12/16/2025 – In the diagram position Black has two possibilities to protect the f7-pawn: 21...0-0 and 21...Rf8 (game continuation). Would you have a moment to refute both?

12/16/2025 – The Global Chess League began with a clear early hierarchy, as two teams emerged with perfect records after the first two days of action. Defending champion Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumba Masters both secured back-to-back victories, while the remaining teams experienced mixed fortunes. The top scorers for the leading teams are Alireza Firouzja (Continental Kings), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Bardiya Daneshvar (Mumba Masters), who have won both their games in Mumbai. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy