7/31/2021 – Rarely was a headline more appropriate - this is a crucial position of one of the most exciting games I have seen recently. In the diagram position White continued with 25.Rxe6 Rxe6 26.exd5 which gave Black a chance to win. Enjoy!

7/30/2021 – The new ChessBase Magazine Extra #202 again contains a wealth of material, e.g. opening videos presenting new ideas in the Sicilian Four Knights and in the English Opening (almost an hour total playing time), plus 29 extensive analyses by Peter Heine Nielsen, Praggnanandhaa, Mariya Muzychuk, Elisabeth Pähtz, Michal Krasenkow, Igor Stohl and others. ChessBase Magazine Extra is available on DVD or for download – as a single issue or as an annual subscription (6 issues per year).

7/27/2021 – Endgames with opposite coloured bishops have drawish tendencies but are also full of surprising tactics. In the diagram position White is a pawn up but Black's bishop seems to have the pawns on the kingside under control. However, White has a way to make his pawns really powerful. What can he do, how can he win?

7/24/2021 – In the diagram position, decentralizing White's queen with 20.Qa5? Rxd4 21.Qxa7 looks unhealthy - and runs into a direct refutation. Full score only if you can see it already in this position!

7/20/2021 – In the diagram position White is a pawn up but can she win? And how? Should White push her h-pawn to break through with her pawns? Or her f-pawn? Or should White wait and bring the king into a better position?

7/17/2021 – In the diagram position Black just played 21...Rxd4!, capturing a knight. However, this move looks dangerous because White has 22.Qc3, pinning the rook on the long diagonal and threatening 23.e3. But Black knew exactly what he was doing. Can you follow his thoughts?

7/13/2021 – Pawn endings must be calculated precisely and the activity of the king is very important. In the diagram position White has a protected passed pawn on b6 but it is not immediately apparent whether this is enough to win. Do you have an idea how White can overcome Black's defensive set-up?

7/11/2021 – Against the Bogo-Indian, White usually builds up with 5.g3. However, a practical disadvantage of this move is the fact that Black is usually very familiar with the variations that arise. Following an example of Sam Shankland, Lars Schandorff got interested in the new idea 5.e3, "that quickly leads to much less explored positions full of new possibilities for both sides". In the new ChessBase Magazine #202, the Danish GM takes a closer look!

7/10/2021 – In the diagram position White has brought almost all of his pieces in position to attack the black king. However, in order to exploit this menacing show of force White needs to play all over the board. But he will be rewarded with checkmating the opponent or a decisive material plus - enjoy!

7/9/2021 – The "Special" of the new ChessBase Magazine #202 is dedicated to Jan Timman, the Dutch legend who will celebrate his 70th birthday this year. "My favourite Timman game" features an exquisite selection of a total of 25 victories annotated by our authors, containing some very personal notes: "... Timman appeared to incorporate a mixture of the hippie, the free spirit and the chess artist, and despite that was world class over the board" (Martin Breutigam). David Navara, Adhiban Baskaran, Yannick Pelletier, Krishnan Sasikiran and many others have contributed to the "Special" of this issue. Today, we present you Igor Stohl's analysis of the game Nigel Short - Jan Timman from Linares 1992. Enjoy!

7/6/2021 – Knights that fight against pawns can be clumsy but sometimes they can also work magic. In the diagram position, Black's a-pawn wants to queen but the white knight can still stop him. On the other hand it is hard to see how Black can stop White's e-pawn from queening. But Black can help her knight to do some magic and win. Do you have an idea how?

7/5/2021 – For a long time, the Classical Variation in the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6) has been considered as slightly dubious for Black. But recently Black found new possibilities and the line became attractive again. In the new ChessBase Magazine #202, opening expert Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows the latest developments of this variation. The French expert uses the game Alekseenko-Grischuk from the Candidates Tournament 2020/2021 as a starting point. Take a look at an excerpt of his video analysis!