3/20/2024 – We just witnessed beautiful chess in Weissenhaus, Germany, played by the top players, which may have led you to start believing you can do the same! But openings can be a great challenge when dealing with Chess960, since one may not know where to start. Thus, we share five tips which may help in battling through the hazy storm of displaced pieces.

3/15/2024 – The Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Challenge in Weissenhaus caused quite a stir. Now Magnus Carlsen and Jan Henric Buettner are following suit and announcing the founding of the Freestyle Chess Players Club. They are also launching the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. Four to six tournaments a year are planned, the first in India in November 2024.

3/8/2024 – Freestyle Chess, formerly known as Chess960 or Fischer-Random, has recently shot into spotlight after eight of the world’s top grandmasters played in a recent tournament conducted in Weissenhaus, Germany. But what made this so intriguing, and what parallels can be drawn between regular chess and Freestyle? And: how can I train Freestyle using my current ChessBase software?

3/2/2024 – The Freestyle Chess Tournament in Weissenhaus generated a great deal of interest in the chess world. Perhaps we got to see the chess of the future. Given the success of the event, Jan Henric Buettner announced that he plans to continue supporting the royal game. The entrepreneur is now planning a Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. And he wants to sponsor Vincent Keymer and other talented players on their way to the top. | Photos: Freestyle Chess / Weissenhaus Resort

2/19/2024 – Jan Henric Buettner, the driving force behind the G.O.A.T. Freestyle Challenge, had promised that the tournament in Weissenhaus would set a new milestone in the presentation of chess. This was indeed the case, and expectations were exceeded. It was the players themselves who had the most fun. The focus was not on opening knowledge, but on creativity and talent. Gregor Poniewasz has collected sounds and pictures from the final day of play.

2/17/2024 – Magnus Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana with the white pieces to claim overall victory at the first edition of the Freestyle G.O.A.T. Chess Challenge. The Norwegian took home the US$ 60,000 first prize for his efforts. Levon Aronian grabbed third place after beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Alireza Firouzja secured an invitation to the next edition of the event by beating Gukesh D in the fight for fifth place. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

2/12/2024 – Magnus Carlsen is set to face Nodirbek Abusattorov in the semi-finals of the Freestyle G.O.A.T. Challenge after beating Alireza Firouzja in rapid tiebreaks. Abdusattorov drew Ding Liren to get a 1½-½ victory in their mini-match. In the other pairing of the semi-finals, Levon Aronian will play Fabiano Caruana. Aronian defeated Vincent Keymer in the second encounter of their match, while Caruana obtained the half point he needed to beat Gukesh D in their 2-game confrontation. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

2/9/2024 – A new super tournament starts in Weissenhaus, near Hamburg, Germany, today. But it is not just any other super tournament. This event is introduced by none other than the World no.1 Magnus Carlsen himself and it will be in Fischer-Random format or as Carlsen likes to say, Freestyle. Hence, the name WEISSENHAUS Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge. Carlsen's handpicked opponents for this eight-player tournament are: Fabiano Caruana (USA), Ding Liren (CHN), Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), D Gukesh, Vincent Keymer (GER) and Levon Aronian (USA). There will be four rounds of Rapid games played today in Playoffs. Round 1 starts today at 1 p.m. CET, 5:30 p.m. IST, 7 a.m. EST. | Photos: Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

2/8/2024 – Chess960 or Freestyle chess will soon be the centre of attention. The 1st German Chess960 Championship will take place in Berlin, Germany, on 9 February and in the German spa Weissenhaus at the Baltic see the world's best chess players will compete in the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge. But who invented this form of chess? Chess historian Hans D. Post has been searching the archives. | Picture: Philip Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt, who probably was the first to come up with the idea of Chess960 or Freestyle chess.

2/6/2024 – Jan Henric Buettner is the man behind the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge in Weissenhaus, which starts on Friday and sets new standards in terms of the line-up and the presentation of a chess tournament. In an interview with André Schulz, the successful entrepreneur introduces the tournament: “It’s going to be mega fun!”

1/5/2024 – Magnus Carlsen is missing from this year's Tata Steel Chess, but World Champion Ding Liren has returned from his sabbatical. Otherwise, the Masters and Challengers are once again very colourful, with superstars, women and young talented players. The tournament starts in a week's time. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

12/3/2023 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 154th episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to take a look at the legacy of Mikhail Botvinnik. | Photo: Pascal Simon

12/1/2023 – With a final-round win over Richard Rapport, Fabiano Caruana secured tournament victory at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. This was Caruana’s third victory in this event, as he had previously won it in 2014 (when he famously grabbed seven wins in a row) and in 2018. Sole second place went to Leinier Dominguez, who drew Levon Aronian with the black pieces on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

12/1/2023 – From 9 to 16 February 2024, the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort on the Baltic Sea in Germany will be the venue for a super tournament in "Freestyle Chess", also known as Chess960. Seven world-class players, including world champion Ding Liren and Vincent Keymer, will challenge the G.O.A.T (Greatest of all Times), Magnus Carlsen, in a Chess960 tournament with classical time control.

9/3/2023 – Presented by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the highly anticipated ‘2023 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX’ returns this September 8-10, 2023 at the World Chess Hall of Fame with another exciting line-up featuring the top players from the United States, including World No. 3 and reigning World 960 Champion GM Hikaru Nakamura and World No. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana competing alongside legendary former World Champion Garry Kasparov. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (2022)

7/27/2023 – There is a new celebrity chess couple: Atousa Pourkashiyan and Hikaru Nakamura announced their wedding and now join the list of prominent chess couples. Given their playing level, they are surely near the top of the unofficial couples’ rating list. | Photo: Atousa Pourkashiyan’s Instagram profile

7/22/2023 – Arjun Erigaisi, who came from struggling in classical chess at Biel’s Grandmaster Triathlon, was the top scorer in the tournament’s blitz section. The day’s results also saw David Navara catchin Vincent Keymer in the lead of the event’s overall standings. | Photos: Official website

7/21/2023 – Vincent Keymer won the duel of pursuers in the Biel Grandmaster Tournament on International Chess Day, as he defeated Le Quang Liem with the white pieces. Keymer is now sharing the lead with David Navara. Bassem Amin also won in round 4, as he got the better of Arjun Erigaisi to claim 4 points for the standings (in the classical section of the Triathlon, wins grant 4 points while draws grant 1½ points). | Photos: Official website

7/10/2023 – In about a week, on 15 July, the traditional Biel Chess Festival will begin. In a Grandmaster Triathlon eight top players will show their skills in classical, rapid and blitz chess, and this Grandmaster Tournament is embedded in a wide range of open tournaments for all tastes and playing levels. | Photo: Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: ChessBase India

6/15/2023 – The fifth edition of the Prague Chess Festival will take place on June 21-30 at the Don Giovanni Hotel in the Czech capital. The Masters Tournament is a 10-player single round-robin with Wang Hao, Sam Shankland and defending champion Pentala Harikrishna (pictured) as the top seeds. The lineup also includes German star Vincent Keymer and David Navara who, like Shankland, has been invited to all five editions of the Masters. | Photo: Vladimír Jagr

5/6/2023 – D Gukesh made a fantastic start at 28th TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2023 in Sweden. He destroyed Germany's No. 1 Vincent Keymer with a spectacular bishop sacrifice. This win takes the 16-year-old's live rating to his career highest at 2741, and elevates him to the World's No. 15. Listen to Sagar Shah of ChessBase India explain and enthuse over the game.

3/2/2023 – GM Sethuraman S P gave himself the best gift on his 30th birthday, as he won the 2023 Cappelle-la-Grande Open. He and GM Harsha Bharathakoti scored an unbeaten 7½/9 each. Sethuraman won the tournament on tie-breaks. The game between them in the penultimate round ended in a draw. WIM Mounika Akshaya Bommini won the Best Woman prize. | Photo: L'Echiquier Cappellois

2/23/2023 – The traditional Biel Chess Festival seemed to be in danger after the city of Biel wanted to cut its subsidies. After a petition, the situation has improved and in summer the strongest "Triathlon" will continue - among others with Vincent Keymer again.

2/9/2023 – The WR Chess Masters is a classical chess tournament which boasts the participation of 10 World-class Grandmasters. With a mix of youth and experience, this dynamic field will battle each other from February 15th-26th in a 9-game Round Robin event. The most special thing about the event is its time control. It has the same time control as the World Championship Match. How difficult is it to organize a super tournament from scratch? In this article, we talk to the man behind the WR Chess Masters - Wadim Rosenstein and get some insights.