10/7/2021 – Solving tactical puzzles can be fun, but what if you could automatically create your own, even from your own games? Nothing could be easier thanks to the analysis tools in both the Fritz interface or ChessBase. In fact, it can be a fun way to review your online games and be tested on the moves where you or your opponent missed a shot. Read on to learn how!

9/30/2021 – Since the earliest days of Fritz, there have been automated ways to analyze games, and over time the sheer variety of tools and options has expanded to cover just about every choice, from the shallow blunder check to the deep full game analysis. But calling the blunder check shallow is to not do it justice, so see why it deserves to become your go-to tool for all your online games.

9/11/2021 – Twenty years ago, on September 12, 2001, we launched our brand new database-driven news page. The very first report we were forced to file was about the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, which had been perpetrated on the previous day. It had a special meaning for chess. Six years earlier the World Chess Championship had been staged on the Observation Deck on the 107th floor.

7/25/2021 – Many of the ChessBase products have been around for more than 30 years, and we now have ChessBase 16, Fritz 17, over 200 ChessBase magazines, as well as more than 500 training programmes from chess masters. With so much choice, it is easy to lose the overview, and sometimes you ask yourself: what is which software good for, what can I do with it, and what are the main functions? With the newly made shopping assistant, we have created a guide for you in a short description + videos.

7/5/2021 – It was a great shock to wake up and learn that Yury Dokhoian had died, at the age of just 56, struck down by the accursed virus that has immobilized the world. Yet another reminder that we are not over it, yet. It is still going to take friends and loved ones. Frederic Friedel shares some memories of his friend Yury, with whom he spent a great deal of time. | Photo: Wiki, Porto Carras, 2011

6/26/2021 – In a fascinating look at the possibilities granted by knight moves in endgame studies, practical games and mathematical problems — exploring, among others, underpromotions, stalemates and magic squares — columnist Siegfried Hornecker demonstrates the width of potential finesses that can be created with one of the two types of minor pieces appearing on a chessboard.

6/24/2021 – Recently an article went up on a colleague’s site that expounded on a series of positions that still eluded, not to mention baffled, modern engines today. The question that mattered was simply: is it true? In this article we take a look at some of these positions and give them to Fat Fritz 2. See the results!

6/15/2021 – There are sacs, and there are sacs. This turn of phrase that suggests not all are the same could not be more true of piece sacs in chess. Some are just flat out blitzkrieg tactics to gain material or reach for the jugular, but this one was a long-term attacking sac by Fat Fritz 2 that took no fewer than 20 moves to convert, with many a deep idea as demonstrated in this article. Not to be missed!

5/3/2021 – The title comes from Bobby Fischer's description of how he handles the Dragon, and is quite appropriate for the game presented here. In a classic Keres Attack, with just seven moves given to them, Fat Fritz 2 and a top-notch Leela duke it out on powerful hardware. White builds up a massive position and then starts dropping bombs. Don't miss this spectacular game!

4/24/2021 – How do you know that there is exactly one way to solve an endgame study? Tablebases are a proof, but unlike many other genres, there is no way to heuristically solve a study to find a complete proof of it being correct. That is where cook hunters come in. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker introduces us to the world of ‘cooks’ within the fascinating community of chess composers. | Pictured: Dutch composer Harold van der Heijden

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.

2/27/2021 – What is the best continuation? Which rook should you to move to the half-open b-file? You look at the 30 games in Mega, but cannot find a convincing answer. So you consult the latest chess engines, the NN variety with the most profound understanding. But even there you find clear differences of opinion. ICCF GM Stephen Ham, who represents Team USA on Board #1, uses this practical example to explain why he prefers one engine to assist with his deep preparation. His conclusion: Fat Fritz 2 is the best overall chess analysis tool available.

2/21/2021 – To say that Fat Fritz 2 has been making waves is an understatement. In this article the author describes the process of its creation as a powerful new neural network that runs inside a slightly modified Stockfish. You will also learn the difference between the search and the neural network, what makes Fat Fritz different, and all the considerations and work that went into its development.

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?

1/30/2021 – In his first column of the year, Siegfried Hornecker tells a few interesting — and real — stories, a kaleidoscope of sorts. The “colourful hodgepodge”, as he describes it, includes references to Alex Trebek, fairy-chess’ grasshoppers, optical illusions and a practical chess endgame between Daniil Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev. | Pictured: A kaleidoscope drawing by Kara Wilson

12/26/2020 – Columnist Siegfried Hornecker wonders, What is it that which motivates me, and others? What is this mysterious thing that is called ‘beauty’? Why do we perceive something as beautiful? He then goes on to share the opinions of people who have delved into these thought-provoking questions. | Photo: Bas Beekhuizen / Batavia Tournament 2016

12/16/2020 – One year of top level chess and top level training materials: six issues (a one-year-subscription) of the ChessBase Magazine, that is the first prize in the 7th tournament of the Autumn Series on Playchess, a nine round Swiss blitz tournament that will start on Wednesday, December 16, 20.00 CET (19:00 UTC, 14:00 ET). As in all tournaments of the Autumn Series, the games will be played under real names.

12/9/2020 – One year of top level chess and top level training materials: six issues (a one-year-subscription) of the ChessBase Magazine, that is the first prize in the 7th tournament of the Autumn Series on Playchess, a nine round Swiss blitz tournament that will start on Wednesday, December 9, 20.00 CET (19:00 UTC, 14:00 ET). As in all tournaments of the Autumn Series, the games will be played under real names.

12/2/2020 – One year of top level chess and top level training materials: six issues of the ChessBase Magazine, that is the first prize in the 6th tournament of the Autumn Series on Playchess, a nine round Swiss blitz tournament that will start on Wednesday, December 2, 20.00 CET (19:00 UTC, 14:00 ET). As in all tournaments of the Autumn Series, the games will be played under real names.

11/30/2020 – Our new database program, ChessBase 16 has, as you know, a blindingly fast search. If you ask the program whether, and how often, a particular position has occurred in a collection of eight million games, and which were the moves played in that position, with what success, then you get an answer in less than one second! How is this possible? The author of this search booster function is Jeroen van den Belt, and he explains how he implemented the new search booster.

11/25/2020 – 90 minutes online training with Grandmaster Nicholas Pert, ChessBase author and renowned coach. This is the first prize in the 5th tournament of the Autumn Series on Playchess, a nine round Swiss blitz tournament that will start on Wednesday, November 25, 20.00 CET (19:00 UTC, 14:00 ET). As in all tournaments of the Autumn Series, the games will be played under real names.

11/18/2020 – 90 minutes online chess training with PowerPlay author Grandmaster Daniel King. This is the first prize in the 4th tournament of the Autumn Series on Playchess, a nine round Swiss blitz tournament that will start on Wednesday, November 18, 20.00 CET (19:00 UTC, 14:00 ET). As in all tournaments of the Autumn Series, the games will be played under real names.

11/16/2020 – ChessBase 16 is already in the starting blocks and will be released on 17th November 2020. Now everyone wants to know: what are the new features in this version? What innovations are on the horizon? And what is the "key to new ideas"? Jeroen Van Den Belt, who has been active for ChessBase since Fritz 7, presents interesting innovations in the video. The last part of the five-part series deals with the new "chat" design and its features.