German chess magazine SCHACH launches first English edition as CHESS INSIGHT

by Press release
10/6/2026 – For the first time in its history, the renowned German chess magazine SCHACH is available in English. Published under the title CHESS INSIGHT, the new edition was released on October 1, 2026, and is available digitally through Forward Chess.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.

A 180-year publishing tradition enters a new chapter

Including its predecessor magazines, SCHACH’s publishing tradition stretches back around 180 years. The magazine is known for in-depth tournament coverage, extensively annotated games, interviews, background stories and contributions from leading players, coaches and chess journalists.

Chess has always crossed borders. Players from different countries, cultures and generations meet over the same 64 squares and share a language that needs no translation. With this English edition, we want our journalism, analysis and stories to cross another border as well.

CHESS INSIGHT aims to offer more than tournament results and moves. Its focus is on the stories behind the games: what happened behind the scenes, what players were thinking at critical moments and what readers can learn from their decisions.

CHESS INSIGHT 01/2026

The first issue contains 84 pages and is available from Forward Chess for US$2.99:

CHESS INSIGHT 01/2026 on Forward Chess

It covers major recent events including the Grand Chess Tour and Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, the Sparkassen Chess Meeting Dortmund and the Esports World Cup in Paris.

A particular highlight is an extensive feature with Peter Leko, coach of German grandmaster Vincent Keymer, offering insights from the perspective of a world-class player and trainer.

The issue also includes the regular SCHACH Questions feature with photographer Lennart Ootes, as well as training material, combinations, problems and studies, reviews and chess history.

Among the contributors to the issue are Peter Leko, Dr. Karsten Müller, Elisabeth Pähtz and Dmitrij Kollars.

Interactive reading with Forward Chess

On Forward Chess, games and analyses can be followed directly on an interactive chessboard. Readers can play through variations and examine positions move by move while reading the accompanying text — an ideal format for the deeply annotated games that are one of SCHACH’s traditional strengths.

With CHESS INSIGHT, one of Germany’s longest-standing chess publishing traditions is now opening itself to an international readership.

Contact and cooperation

If you are interested in subscribing to CHESS INSIGHT, distributing the magazine or exploring a cooperation or partnership, please contact our Editor-in-Chief:

IM Jonathan Carlstedt
jonathan.carlstedt@exzelsior.de

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Video

60m English New ideas in the Najdorf_E

‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are: • 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2 • 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc) • 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation • 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1 • 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3) It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.