12/12/2019 – What distinguishes the Mega Database from other databases? For one, it does not become obsolete and remains "up to date" with just a few clicks! Because the delivery of the Mega Database 2020 includes not only approximately 8 million games but also the weekly mega update service. Every week we provide you with a database of around 5,000 new games. (Plus, the included 85,000 annotated games alone corresponds to a set of over 1,000 or more chess books!) With a few clicks in ChessBase 15, your Mega Database will always be up to date. A "mega help" for every tournament player. Here's how...

12/12/2019 – The fourth and final stage of the 2019 FIDE Grand Prix kicked off in Jerusalem. The first classical games of all eight single-elimination matches finished peacefully. The Israeli city sees the race to the Candidates coming to an end, with two spots still in contention at the series — theoretically, Alexander Grischuk can still be eliminated, although he is a clear favourite to get one of the two tickets. | Photo: Niki Riga

12/11/2019 – This week IM Merijn van Delft brings you his analysis of one of his own games from the recent German League weekend which he considers quite instructive. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is live this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

12/11/2019 – Viswanathan Anand, who turns 50 years old today, is a legend who has played many masterpieces throughout his illustrious career spanning decades. At the end of Tata Steel Chess India 2019, IM SAGAR SHAH caught up with the chess virtuoso to discuss nine of his career-best games. In this interview Anand talks about old times, untold behind-the-scenes stories of the pre-computer chess era and much more. Chess fans are in for a nostalgic treat!

12/11/2019 – Both Goryachkina and Humpy won their respective games to stay in the lead with 5.0/7. Harika trails behind the leaders by a half point. She made a short draw with Anna. Pia Cramling, Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are tied at the fourth spot with 4.0/7 each. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/11/2019 – The International Chess Festival "Aeroflot Open 2020" will be held in Moscow from 18 February (the date of arrival) to 29 February 2020 (the date of departure). Details courtesy the organiser.

12/11/2019 – December 11th, 2019, is the 50th birthday of Viswanathan Anand, the subject of ChessBase's most recent Masterclass Vol.12. TANMAY SRINATH critically examines ChessBase's latest offering in this series, a foray into the mind of a chess genius who has influenced the game in countless ways. | Pictured: Anand and his wife Aruna in Kolkata. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/10/2019 – From London IM Lawrence Trent is on the scene at both the Grand Chess Tour Finals and the London Chess Classic ancillary events, and brings you his take in this Weekly Show. | Puzzle time: In the diagram, it's Black to move! | Lawrence is on-demand this week beginning at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / Noon EST) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

12/10/2019 – The first part of the "Opening training with Fritz 17 Tutorial" showed how to create an opening repertoire in Fritz 17 by using the "Move-by-Move" principle. The second part of the tutorial shows how you can upload and edit games or previous analyses to the Fritz 17 Opening Trainer.

12/10/2019 – Vlastimil Hort is a charming and elegant story teller and likes to share his memories of past and present masters. Now he published a book with 64 chess stories: "Meine Schachgeschichten" (My Chess Stories). The book is in German but maybe Hort will one day publish an English version. Till then, the non-German speaking Hort fans can find consolation by (re-)reading Hort's stories on ChessBase!

12/10/2019 – In chess, opposition means that the square around the kings has corners of the same colour. However, all four (or two) corners must have the same colour. Then the side which is not to move has the opposition.

12/9/2019 – From lay fans to top grandmasters, more or less everyone in the world of chess feels upset today about the significant number of draws that take place in virtually every classical elite tournament. Too much theory reinforced by extensive engine work is seemingly rendering the game of chess sterile and lifeless. One alternative is Chess960 and FIDE sanctioned the first Fischer Random World Championship this year. Recently the legendary Vladimir Kramnik has also proposed a solution to the problem that is simpler and more efficient than the Fischer Random, and which he believes will ensure more than 50% decisive games in top-level play.