12/27/2019 – The World Rapid Championships 2019 kicked off with some exciting chess on day one. In the open section we have five leaders — Smirin, Mamedyarov, Duda, Dominguez and Wang Hao on 4½/5. They are followed by a group of seven players on 4 points, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. In the women's section, we have three leaders — Olga Girya, Meri Arabidze and Irina Bulmaga. We bring you a detailed report from Moscow with interviews, photos, game analyses and more.

12/26/2019 – Another eventful chess year is behind us, with great events and tournaments, impressive personalities and fantastic chess games. Help us choose the player of the year, the female player of the year, the game of the year, the combination of the year and the endgame of the year in our annual ChessBase reader poll. Next up: The Female Player of the Year...

12/26/2019 – The "King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championship" 2019 is here! It is one of the most exciting events of the year with the participation of almost all the top players in the world including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen will be looking to win the title in both rapid and blitz and become triple crown champion again. The opening ceremony was held on December 25th at the Russian Chess Museum on the Gogolevsky Boulevard in Moscow. IM SAGAR SHAH and AMRUTA MOKAL were present at the venue and bring you first-hand impressions from the place. We also have some very interesting interviews with Carlsen, Wang Hao, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, Anton Korobov and Peter Leko.

12/26/2019 – Christmas Puzzle week, which we bring you for the twentieth year in succession, is time for unusual and entertaining puzzles — tasks that are not amenable to computer assistance, but require human ingenuity. Try, for instance, to imagine how the position in the picture could have possibly arisen. Determining that needs lateral thinking. One of the foremost composers of chess problems "out of the box" sent us some highly entertaining examples. At least one of them looks quite impossible. Merry Boxing Day!

12/25/2019 – This week IM Merijn van Delft looks back on an exciting and critical Grünfeld encounter from the FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). Merijn is available on demand this week starting at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 4 PM EST).

12/25/2019 – Another eventful chess year is behind us, with great events and tournaments, impressive personalities and fantastic chess games. Help us choose the player of the year, the female player of the year, the game of the year, the combination of the year and the endgame of the year in our annual ChessBase reader poll. First up: The Player of the Year...

12/25/2019 – Every year Pal Benko, grandmaster, former World Championship candidate, and one of the best problem composers in the world, sent us some very special seasonal greetings. They came in the form of chess problems for our readers. Just weeks before his death (at 91 last August) Pal started working on this year's Christmas puzzles. Unfortunately he was only able to suggest the first one, for Christmas Day. It is a problem by Sam Loyd and was supposed to fool our readers (Pal retained his humour and mischievous nature to the end). We share this puzzle with you today.

12/24/2019 – IM Lawrence Trent signs off on 2019 with a follow-up on his tournament in Sitges, Spain for 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.

12/24/2019 – A picturesque setting, incredible hospitality and attention to detail are three elements that will surely make for a great open tournament. The fourth edition of the Banff Open took place at one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations in Alberta's Rockies and it was an enjoyable experience for all involved. Agnieszka Matras-Clement defeated Belsar Valencia in an Armageddon tiebreaker to take the title. Her husband, PAUL CLEMENT, had a great time as spectator and sent us a report.

12/24/2019 – Endgames with bishops of the same colour are often a draw. Not as often as endgames with opposite-coloured bishops, but they are still difficult to win. In the diagram position White is a pawn down but can still save the game.

12/24/2019 – Mihail Marin is considered as one of the best opening theoreticians and chess authors. Two years ago he married the painter and chess player Maria Yugina. Conrad Schormann had a chat with the couple that travels around the world, following their passions, painting and playing chess.

12/23/2019 – The Ukrainian grandmaster Anton Korobov (pictured) won the strong Sunway Sitges Open with 8½ points from 10 games. Half a point behind were GMs Vasif Durarbayli from Azerbaijan and Rasmus Svane from Hamburg, Germany. They contested a two-game blitz playoff (won by Durarbayli) to determine second and third places. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (archive)