6/29/2023 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The latest issue, CBM #214 is out. Meanwhile our columnist, Nagesh Havanur takes a look at a recent issue. 2651 games (47 annotated) from WR Masters and European Championship among others. 12 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 9 demo. lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Levon Aronian, Alexey Sarana, Kirill Shevchenko, Vincent Keymer, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa among others. The icing on the cake is a feature on Viswanathan Anand with 26 annotated games.

6/27/2023 – This is the main guideline in the endgame rook and knight against rook and knight. However, in the diagram position White's initially light initiative has turned into a winning position. But how should White proceed to convert?

6/24/2023 – In the diagram position Black's 17...0-0?? allowed White a classical raid featuring two clever continuations. Can you calculate the lines?

6/20/2023 – In the diagram position Black is two pawns up, but White's b-pawn is dangerous. So dangerous that Black needs to be precise to win. What should Black do?

6/17/2023 – Although White is a whole piece up in the diagram position, he is dead lost - he simply has castled to the wrong side. How would you hunt down White's king on c1?

6/13/2023 – The last pawn is often worth its weight in gold. How did it help White to win in the diagram position?

6/10/2023 – In the diagram position White has just played 32.Rxf6!, which gives him an advantage after both 32...gxf6 and the game continuation 32...Dc3. There's a lot more to the position than I initially thought, though - let's climb up the variation tree!

6/6/2023 – The cut-off is an important technique in rook endings. In the diagram position Black could have used it to win the game. How?

6/5/2023 – GM Romain Edouard is an expert on the Sicilian Dragon Variation. In his four-part series in ChessBase Magazine Extra he gives deep insights into the variations after 9.0-0-0 d5 and reveals a multitude of tactical motifs he came across in the course of his analyses. The second part deals with the main line 10.exd5. You can watch an excerpt from Edouard's 20-minute analysis here!

6/3/2023 – Even with few pieces on the board, territorial dominance can be a decisive factor. In the diagram position Black could have already won with 82...Rg1!, but he took his time to relish the position and won a bit later. Endgame technique spiced up with tactical motifs - enjoy!

6/2/2023 – The advance of the h-pawn on move three is certainly not in line with the basic rules of how to play the opening. But in recent years a number of world-class players have been successful with it, including Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. And just a weeks ago at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, Fabiano Caruana managed an impressive winning game with it on his way to winning the tournament against MVL. Sipke Ernst recorded a FritzTrainer on 3.h4 against the Grünfeld and King's Indian half a year ago. In the new CBM Extra #213 he provides an update with current material - you can see an excerpt of his analysis here!

5/31/2023 – For the first time the CBM Extra comes with three opening videos: Nico Zwirs (Najdorf Variation with 6.Bg5), Sipke Ernst (3.h4 against the Gruenfeld), Romain Edouard ("Critical Lines in the Dragon" Part II) - total playing time over an hour. Plus the "Lucky bag" with analyses by Anish Giri, Spyridon Kapnisis, Adrian Mikhalchishin and many others!

5/30/2023 – Endings with opposite colored bishops endings often end in a draw. But in the diagram position Black found a way to break through and win the game. What did he do?

5/27/2023 – Today the point is only shared. In the diagram position White managed to save himself, playing a series of (splendid!) only moves. Can you find them all?

5/23/2023 – Rook endings have drawish tendencies, but pawn races can spice things up. In the diagram position it is Black to move. Do you see the way to win?

5/20/2023 – Weak dark squares in front of the black king, coffin nail pawn f6, White to move and wins. A Gligoric classic - enjoy!

5/16/2023 – Zugzwang is a typical endgame motif. Often it is a weapon of the attacker. But when both sides are in Zugzwang in a critical position, great care must be taken. The diagram position, in which it is White to move, shows a case of mutual Zugzwang. What should White do to save the draw?

5/13/2023 – Black's king on h7, heavy pieces in the open g-file - White had deliberately gone for the diagram position after 21...Bh8. But now it's time to take the bull by the horns - your move!

5/10/2023 – What happens when you find yourself in a lost position? Many chess players - as Jan Markos states in his video for ChessBase Magazine #213 - react to this realisation with a loss of energy or even inner resignation. They make a few more normal moves, and a little later the game is over. In the sixth part of his training series for ChessBase Magazine, Jan Markos explains what it takes to get the maximum out of a lost position in a practical game. Take a look at an excerpt from his video!

5/9/2023 – This is the main guideline in endgames with rook and knight against rook and knight. In the diagram position Black wins thanks to the strong passed e-pawn. But how?

5/8/2023 – The play of the 15th World Champion is appreciated from different perspectives in the current ChessBase Magazine: In Mihail Marin's article "Anand as a positional ace" you will find selected strategic masterpieces (and two interactive training videos). Karsten Mueller presents Anand's best endgames (including a detailed video introduction). And last but not least, our CBM authors Adhiban Baskaran, Imre Hera, David Navara, Igor Stohl, Yago Santiago and others present their favourite games of the "Tiger of Madras" - an exclusive collection of 26 victories from the period 1985 to 2022. You can watch Adhiban's analysis of the game Anand-Baron (2019) here! | Photo: Thomas Schloemann

5/7/2023 – In ChessBase Magazine #213 you can find three video analyses of current opening variations: Christian Bauer recommends the trendy 5...Nh5 against the London System. Leon Mendonca uses one of his games from the current Bundesliga season to show how one should play against the King's Indian sideline 6...Bg4. And Mihail Marin takes the game Esipenko-Aronian from the WR Masters 2023 as an opportunity to take a closer look at a Catalan variation that was popular in the 80s and 90s. You can watch an excerpt from Christian Bauer's video here!

5/6/2023 – In the Polugaevsky Variation Black's king remains in the centre for a long time, making any misstep on his part absolutely fatal. Thus after 13...Ra7? (diagram) White makes three powerful preparatory moves and then sets off for the checkmate finale - have fun!

5/4/2023 – The new ChessBase Magazine #213 offers, among many other things, 48 extensively annotated games, from the WR Masters 2023 as well as the EICC 2023, and in the "Special" our authors present their favourite games of Vishy Anand. From the WR Masters tournament winner Levon Aronian as well as Vincent Keymer and Jan-Krzysztof Duda annotate their best games. In addition, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa each present one of their games in the video! You can watch Aronian's analysis of his first round game with Praggnanandhaa in abbreviated form here - enjoy!