10/20/2022 – You've seen videos using it, and articles displaying it, and here is the tutorial on how to use it in all its glory. The Engine Correlation in Let's Check can be a wonderful tool when used properly and comes with a variety of options in both ChessBase 16 and the Fritz interface. Here is the easy-to-use definitive guide.

9/30/2022 – There are many ways to train chess or to entertain yourself with chess: relaxed tactics training without time pressure or in competition with others? Or do you love the artistic appeal of studies? Do you like to follow live world-class tournaments or to watch training videos? Do you like to hone your opening repertoire by using the opening trends from the live ticker? The ChessBase Account offers you all this - and much more. Fully integrated in the ChessBase world, the WebApps work together and can be used perfectly with the ChessBase and Fritz programmes. The ChessBase Account offers a comprehensive access to the world of chess, no matter whether you play chess as a sport or as a hobby. In a new tutorial series Martin Fischer explains how to use the ChessBase Account. Part 1: Set up & get started!

8/11/2022 – André Hollstein is a professor for information technology and digitisation at the International University of Applied Sciences (with over 90,000 enrolled students). In a podcast for his students and for the general public he interviewe ChessBase co-founder Frederic Friedel. The subject of their discussion: the digitization of chess, and the revolutionary changes ChessBase brought to the game. The podcast is in German, but André sent us a full English transcript.

6/29/2022 – The German Grandmasters Karsten Müller and Luis Engel developed a model that allows to classify players according to their playing style: The 4 Player Types model. According to Müller and Engel there are "Activists", "Pragmatists", "Theorists", and "Reflectors". Each group of players has distinctive strengths and weaknesses and knowing which type of player you are - and the opponents you play against - can be extremely helpful. Tanmay Srinath liked the model.

4/3/2022 – A strong 20-player round-robin tournament took place in 1961 at the traditional chess city of Bled. Mikhail Tal won the event ahead of a young Bobby Fischer, who impressed with his undefeated performance. In the final round, Tal converted an endgame with rook and bishop against rook and knight in his game against Miguel Najdorf. But was the endgame winning all along? Or could have Najdorf held a draw? Help GM Karsten Müller find the answer to these questions!

11/18/2021 – Researchers at DeepMind and Google Brain, in collaboration with Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, are working to explore what chess can teach us about AI and vice versa. Using Chessbase’s extensive historical chess data along with the AlphaZero neural network chess engine and components from Stockfish 8, they ask: what can we learn about chess history by studying AlphaZero, how does AlphaZero learn to evaluate positions, and is AlphaZero computing anything human-like? Their paper, “Acquisition of Chess Knowledge in AlphaZero”, has just been published.

9/12/2021 – Your computers and computer components are feeling a bit long in the tooth, and although still good (or not), you know you are behind the curve. Or perhaps you are buying a dedicated machine for chess and unsure what will be best for you. Either way, this long-awaited guide will help you plan your purchase with confidence for all budgets.

7/8/2021 – Grandmaster Dr Karsten Müller returns with his "Endgame Magic" show after a break of more than a year. With Episode 151, the endgame puzzles of the past year are once again revealed and solved! Be it that the famous game Fischer - Petrosian from 1971, thanks to Albert Silver and his Fat Fritz, gets the necessary kick, or the game between E. Torre against O. Jakobsen from 1973 is turned upside down by the diligent readers and solvers. There are quite a few groundbreaking surprises to examine.

6/22/2021 – The man behind the Komodo Dragon 2, Larry Kaufman, was a successful broker in the mid-80s. He earned enough money to retire for the rest of his life and lie in a hammock, reading books. But instead, he won the senior chess championship in 2008 to become a chess Grandmaster at the age of over 60 years, worked on several chess engines, like Machack, Rybka, and of course, the Komodo series, steadily played on the highest "Shogi" level for decades, and wrote plenty of books - his newest one "Chess Board Options" just came out a week ago. In the interview with Kaufman, there is even more to discover about his fascinating life. | Photos: Larry Kaufman

5/29/2021 – In his latest column, Siegfried Hornecker writes about the work of judges in endgame studies tournaments. He first introduces how computers have also made their way into this field, before noting that, however, “it will always be down to an individual judge, or a panel of judges, to finally evaluate a composition”. | Pictured: Clifford E. Berry and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, or ABC, c. 1942 | Photo: Iowa State University

5/19/2021 – The latest iteration of the renowned program belongs to the strongest chess engines in the world, especially now that it draws its strength from the tremendous tactical power of a classic Alpha Beta engine, combined with deep positional play drawn from an advanced neural network. It also has different modes of play which you may find very interesting. For instance in MCTS mode it will show you not which is the objectively best move, but the one that gives the opponent the best chance of going wrong.

5/7/2021 – Lawrence Trent and Arne Kaehler talk about what happened chess-wise last week. They give their opinions on various topics, and encourage you to think about the subject, analyse games, or read the articles thoroughly yourself. This week we discuss chess in prison, analyse a game by Fat Fritz 2.0, take a look at some past Grandmasters, and finally find out, why noodles and spring rolls cost a fortune in Iceland, if the timing is wrong.

4/11/2021 – It isn't often one sees a game between top programs in which a queen is trapped in the middlegame, but just such a thing happened in a game shared by Peter Grayson. What stood out was how both programs differed on a key juncture, leading him to comment, "Fat Fritz 2 exhibits almost human-like qualities to threaten the snaring of the queen". Enjoy this fun tussle and his kind analysis. | Photo: National Portrait Gallery, London

3/1/2021 – As you surely know, in chess, as in other fields, it is important to study the past. But why is this the case? Our ChessBase Author tells us how he was told by his trainer to sit down at home with a book of the classics and think about what he found in them. Mattis discovered that – apart from the historical dimension – the process greatly enhanced his enjoyment and understanding of chess. He has a unique way of visualising the process.

2/17/2021 – "It's just a machine. It has no consciousness or feelings as we understand them. We have specific connections in our brain that make us react according to the circumstances, the situations we are experiencing. We interpret them as pleasure, pain and all other kinds of emotions. We would have to invent a new word to express what computers 'feel'." Here's the second part of the Europe Échecs discussion with Frederic Friedel on the subject of Artificial Intelligence.

2/15/2021 – In 1987 Frederic Friedel co-founded ChessBase – a company that leads the world in chess software. It created the first professional chess database in history and the iconic Fritz chess playing program. The "guru" of ChessBase believes that Artificial Intelligence can be the key to mankind's future. He is as optimistic and enthusiastic, as ever, expressing hopes, but also his fears and doubts. How will we coexist with computers of a new type when they have become as intelligent as we are, and even more so?

12/12/2020 – Mikhail Botvinnik became world champion for the first time in 1948. After defending the title twice, he lost it to Vasily Smyslov in 1957. Botvinnik reclaimed the title with a clear victory in a rematch the very next year. In game 14, he played what he called “maybe his most subtle rook ending”. Endgame specialist Karsten Müller now wonders whether a few mistakes have not been discovered yet. You can help him solve the historical riddle! | Pictured: Botvinnik v Smyslov on April 19, 1957 | Photo: Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo

11/18/2020 – One of the most amazing moves in Bobby Fischer’s rich career was 22.Nxd7+ in the seventh game of the Candidates final match against Tigran Petrosian. Endgame specialist Karsten Müller wonders whether the move was objectively the best in the position or if an alternative pawn push might have been a better try. You can help him solve the historical riddle!

10/9/2020 – Many players believe that Mark Dvoretsky's "Endgame Manual" is one of the best chess books of all time. Recently, Russell Enterprises released the 5th edition of this legendary work. In an interview with Johannes Fischer, Karsten Müller, who edited and revised the 5th edition of the "Manual", talks about his passion for the endgame, why studying Dovretsky's manual is fun and worth the effort, and what makes this book so special.

9/4/2020 – The chess periodical SCHACH is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the German language. It appears once a month and usually includes an interview with a chess personality, who answers twenty set questions. In their September 2020 issue they turned their attention to ChessBase co-founder and editor emeritus Frederic Friedel, who had just turned 75. We reproduce the interview with kind permission of the publishers.

8/27/2020 – The World Championship match from 1910 still contains several mysteries. One is the famous fifth game. Schlechter won in the end and thanks to that almost won the match, but that is another mysterious story. Can you help Karsten Müller to find the truth of the famous queen and rook fight? | Photo: Das interessante Blatt, 20 January 1910, page 6. | Retrieved from Edward Winter’s Chess Notes

8/25/2020 – On his DVD “King’s Indian: A modern approach”, Victor Bologan presents a complete repertoire for those wanting to try their hand at the exciting King’s Indian Defence. Jana Schneider watched the DVD to prepare this opening. Here is her opinion about the DVD.

7/29/2020 – Bobby Fischer obtained an astounding 18½ out of 23 score to win the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca. In round 5, the American genius defeated Vlastimil Hort with black in an opposite-coloured bishops endgame, but it is not clear whether the ending was always winning or not! Endgame specialist Karsten Müller asks for your help.

7/24/2020 – 1933, Moscow. Michael Botvinnik had just won the USSR Chess Championship. A match was arranged between him and one of the top players at the time, Czechoslovakian Champion Salomon Flohr. The 12-game match was drawn, after Flohr took an early lead. In one of his games he showed the chess world how to force a win in the 2B vs 2N endgame. But did he really, or did Botvinnik simply misplay it? Can you help endgame specialist GM Karsten Müller answer this question?