9/1/2025 – The best news in the new FIDE world rankings from a German perspective is Vincent Keymer's leap into the world's top ten. For the first time since Robert Hübner, a German chess professional belongs to the absolute world elite. Never before has a German player achieved an Elo rating of 2751.

9/1/2025 – In the Endgame Magic Show #309, Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler talk about the British Championships in Liverpool, where Michael Adams won his ninth national title. Karsten and Arne present endgame highlights and share stories from the tournament. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

9/1/2025 – Kirill Shevchenko's bid to overturn sanctions for alleged cheating at the 2024 Spanish Team Championship has failed. The FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission’s Appeal Chamber has unanimously confirmed his guilt and strengthened the penalties originally imposed. The decision follows earlier controversy in Melilla, where the 22-year-old grandmaster was excluded after suspicions arose over repeated absences to the same toilet cubicle, with mobile phones later discovered and linked to him.

9/1/2025 – Pranav Venkatesh kept the sole lead at the Fujairah Global Chess Championship after drawing with Abhimanyu Mishra in round eight, reaching 6 points. Two players closed in on the leader, as Brandon Jacobson defeated Aydin Suleymanli and Amin Tabatabaei (pictured) outplayed Andrew Hong, both moving to 5½ points. In the final round, Pranav will face Alan Pichot, while Jacobson and Tabatabaei meet Nihal Sarin and Alexander Donchenko respectively, all with tournament victory still in sight. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

8/31/2025 – The FIDE Grand Swiss, one of the most competitive events in the chess calendar, has been held three times so far, each edition producing distinct winners in both the open and women's sections. In the open, the champions were Wang Hao, Alireza Firouzja and Vidit Gujrathi. The women's tournaments, introduced in 2021, saw victories for Lei Tingjie and Vaishali Rameshbabu. The much anticipated 2025 edition is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 4 September. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE Grand Swiss 2023

8/31/2025 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look at CBM 226. All games from the European Championship, 27 annotated games, 11 opening surveys, 4 opening videos, 7 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include two-time European champion Matthias Bluebaum (pictured), Frederik Svane, Daniil Yuffa, Maxim Rodshtein and Gabriel Sargissian, among others. | Photo: European Chess Union

8/31/2025 – In this Smart Moves episode, Svitlana explains the Stonewall pawn structure, most often arising from the Dutch Defense, and outlines key strategic plans for both sides. White aims to control the e5 square, trade dark-squared bishops, and expand on the queenside with ideas like c4–b4, while Black typically seeks kingside play with a knight on e4, improving the bad bishop via maneuvers, or breaking with c5. She then illustrates these concepts through a model game by Jon Ludvig Hammer, showing how White successfully opened the c-file, traded bishops, exploited weaknesses, and converted into a winning endgame — demonstrating both the strengths and vulnerabilities of the Stonewall.

8/31/2025 – How to use ChessBase 18 effectively in training — that is the subject of this three-part series in our tutorial line. Using it effectively also means being able to send your files to your training group, since the material you created in the earlier parts should, after all, be made available to your students in a useful way. ChessBase 18 offers several practical methods for doing this, which we explain in this part.

8/31/2025 – A turning point arrived in round seven of the Fujairah Global Chess Championship's Superstars event, as Pranav Venkatesh defeated Amin Tabatabaei to become the sole leader on 5½ points. The chasing group, now a point behind, includes Zhu Jiner, who remained unbeaten with a steady draw against Sanan Sjugirov. Also among them is Pranav's next rival, 16-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra, who let a winning chance slip in a lengthy battle against Aydin Suleymanli. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

8/30/2025 – The 2025 FIDE Circuit is entering its decisive months, with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu holding a commanding lead mainly thanks to victories earlier this year in Wijk aan Zee, Bucharest and Tashkent. With 107 points, he sits well ahead of Anish Giri and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, his closest pursuers. Attention now turns to the Grand Swiss in Samarkand, where results will both influence the Circuit standings and play a key role in shaping the Candidates lineup. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/30/2025 – In the newest episode of Monthly Dragon, Chris Ward explores recent games in the Dragon, focusing on the fianchetto system where White plays g3. He analyzes key ideas, such as when White captures on c6 and pushes e5, showing how Black can calmly defend and even gain the upper hand, illustrated through a game where an English IM defeated a GM. Finally, Ward highlights a Magnus Carlsen game in the hyper-accelerated Dragon, where Magnus outmaneuvered his opponent with patient queen shifts, central tactics, and a brilliant finish, proving once again the richness of the Dragon.| Photo: John Upham

8/30/2025 – Thirty years ago, on August 30, 1995, Soviet Grandmaster Lev Polugaevsky died in Paris from cancer. To commemorate the renowned theoretician, who for many years was among the world’s leading players, Johannes Fischer takes a look at his book "Grandmaster Preparation", in which Polugaevsky recounts his decades-long passion for the line that bears his name: the Polugaevsky Variation of the Najdorf. | Photo: Anefo / Croes, R.C.