8/16/2025 – Duobeniajan Costa Calida from Murcia obtained their third consecutive title at the Spanish Team Championship. In the final round, the team could even afford to lose to Magic Extremadura. Second place went to C.A. Silla from Valencia, while Magic from Extremadura completed the podium. | Photos: Spanish Chess Federation (FEDA)

8/16/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris goes over two very interesting games featuring the Slow Slav. He shows some thematic ideas which serve to illustrate the dangers and opportunities found in such setups. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/16/2025 – White should definitely have refrained from 33.Qxh6?? in the diagram position. But he did grab the pawn - and I wish you lots of fun with Black afterwards!

8/16/2025 – Whether it’s strategy, technique, or opening knowledge – the July releases from ChessBase leave nothing to be desired! Renowned authors such as David Navara, Robert Ris, and Andrew Martin open their toolkits and share a wealth of professional tips. For those who want it all in one package, ChessBase Magazine issue 226 is the perfect choice, packed once again with training material straight from the pros’ lab. Opening enthusiasts take note: there’s a whole range of new Powerbases and Powerbooks! Take a look at all the products from the past month!

8/16/2025 – Vincent Keymer concluded the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters tournament with a commanding overall victory, finishing two points ahead of his nearest rivals after defeating Ray Robson in the final round. The result gave the 20-year-old a 2917 performance rating, a gain of over 20 Elo points, and secured his place in the live world top-10 for the first time in his career. In the Challengers, a dramatic last round saw all three leaders lose, allowing M Pranesh to claim the title despite his own defeat. | Photos: Anmol Bhargav

8/15/2025 – Wasselonne is one of the many picturesque towns in France's Alsace region. The local Mossig Chess Club invited players to an open tournament. In addition to many French players, several chess enthusiasts from neighbouring Germany also accepted the invitation, including Bettina Trabert and her son Max. Vladyslav Larkin from Ukraine won the tournament on tiebreak criteria. | Full report with photos and anecdotes by Bettina Trabert, who participated alongisde her son Max.

8/15/2025 – After the summer break, Svitlana shares one of her favourite tournament games, where she tried the O’Kelly Sicilian for the first time against a 2357-rated FM, using it to steer her opponent out of theory. She explains the strategic ideas behind the variation, demonstrates her pawn-storm attack on the kingside, and navigates through complex middlegame tactics while maintaining the initiative. The game concludes with a precise tactical finish, combining long-term piece coordination and threats to secure victory in a well-prepared and creatively played encounter.

8/15/2025 – The fourth event of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour is the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. Taking place on 11-15 August, the event starts with 9 rounds of rapid action, followed by 18 rounds of blitz. Included in the field are the three frontrunners in the race to win the Grand Chess Tour: Alireza Firouzja, R Praggnanandhaa and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST)

8/15/2025 – After the first day of blitz at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, the cross table is split into two parts. Five players scored six points, including Levon Aronian, who has taken the lead in the overall standings. Gukesh Dommaraju and especially Fabiano Caruana suffered setbacks. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

8/15/2025 – In the penultimate round of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025, all games in the Masters section ended in draws, confirming Vincent Keymer as tournament winner with a round to spare. The German number one, who now enters the live world top 10, maintained his 1½-point lead over Arjun Erigaisi and Karthikeyan Murali. In the Challengers, M. Pranesh took sole lead on 6½ points and can secure victory - and promotion to next year's Masters - with a final-round win. | Photos: Dr. Vidhi Karelia

8/15/2025 – In his youth, Jason Kouchak had two great idols: lyricist Don Black and designer and game inventor Ernö Rubik. He later had the opportunity to meet both of them in person, and all three share a love of chess. Kouchak's two heroes from his youth are now over 80 years old, but they draw a great deal of inspiration and strength from their involvement with chess.

8/14/2025 – The Babson Task, one of the most difficult feats in chess composition, has finally been achieved in an endgame study for the first time in history. Italian composer Daniele Guglielmo Gatti succeeded where others, including leading figures, had fallen short, creating a fully legal, perfectly economical and thematically pure version. Published in EG in January 2025, the work marks a historic milestone in the art of chess composition.