10/3/2023 – The diagram position, in which Black is to move, is extremely sharp: Black has two bishops for the queen but both sides have far advanced and dangerous passed pawns and this allows Black to win. How?

9/30/2023 – In the diagram position, the white king has not managed to castle. Time for Black to strike - I wish you massive pleasure!

9/26/2023 – Rook endings have drawish tendencies, and sometimes even the chance to get a new queen does not help the better side. In the diagram position it is Black who has to fight for a draw. What did he do to show that it is difficult to win rook endings?

9/23/2023 – In the diagram position, Black's bishop c6 is eyeing the point g2 on the long diagonal. But to exploit this requires skilful preparation - so it's a case for you!

9/22/2023 – With eleven opening articles, ChessBase Magazine #215 covers the usual broad spectrum and provides new repertoire ideas for every tournament player. For example, a concept against the Alekhine Defence: Sergey Grigoriants presents the "sharpest and most principled approach against the Alekhine Defence" with 5.f4! and is convinced that he has "proved White's advantage in all variations". Alekhine expert Christian Bauer attests our author an "excellent job. I now know why the variation 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 7.Nc3 e6 is bad for Black!". Take a look! You can find the complete article with all games and analyses in the current CBM #215.

9/19/2023 – An opening trap is particularly effective if it is built up with natural-looking development moves and is thus hardly recognisable for an uninformed opponent. Trap expert Rainer Knaak presents a collection of promising traps from tournament practice in every issue of ChessBase Magazine. In the current issue #215 there are eight examples - from Trompowsky via Sicilian and Ruy Lopez to King's Indian. Rainer Knaak also demonstrates three of his favourite traps in video in CBM #215; you can watch one of the videos here!

9/19/2023 – In the endgame, passed pawns are often powerful, but one should not underestimate being material up. In the diagram position Black is an exchange up, but has to fight against two strong passed pawns - what should he do?

9/16/2023 – In the diagram position Black has just set up a mate threat with 19...Qh3 ... but I can see your eyes are already on the Ke8. Let's do it - can you calculate everything in your head?

9/15/2023 – ChessBase Magazine #215 offers over an hour of video playing time with its three opening videos alone (the total playing time of all videos in CBM #215 is more than seven hours). Robert Ris uses three new games by Richard Rapport to examine what White can hope for in the Vienna Game after 5.Qf3. Ivan Sokolov examines the highly topical variation 11.h4!? in the Semi-Tarrasch, especially Giri's novelty 13.Rh3 against Praggnanandhaa. And Daniel King gives a recommendation for the side line 3...e5 against the Sicilian Rossolimo Variation which has already been tested at the highest level. You can watch an extract from Robert Ris' analysis here!

9/13/2023 – Thanks to his tournament wins in the American Cup and Norway Chess this year, Hikaru Nakamura moved up to second place in the FIDE world rankings (August 2023). In the "Special" of ChessBase Magazine #215 our authors analyse their favourite games of the top grandmaster - an exclusive collection of 19 great encounters from the period 2007 to 2023 awaits you! In addition, Mihail Marin sheds light on "Nakamura's strategy in practice" with videos + many training exercises. And Karsten Mueller presents a selection of the most beautiful endgames from "H-Bomb". As a sample from the "Special" you can watch Michal Krasenkow's analysis of his game against Nakamura from 2007 here. Have fun!

9/12/2023 – All in all, in the Knight vs. Bishop duel, the Bishop is more likely to win. However, this duel is tricky and sometimes the knight is the better piece. An example of this is the diagram position, where White used her knight effectively to win the game. What did she do?

9/10/2023 – Are chess players ice-cold creatures who always make their decisions at the board out of pure calculation? Of course not, even Magnus Carlsen is not emotionless, says GM Jan Markos in his contribution to the current ChessBase Magazine #215. In fact, very different emotions can influence decision-making in chess - often to one's own disadvantage. Markos presents three examples of this from his own practice and explores the question of how the influence of emotions can be counteracted. You can watch an excerpt from his video contribution here.

9/9/2023 – After 21.Bxh6! (diagram) Black can't take back, but after 21...g6 White needs a brilliant idea to prevent his attack from going nowhere. Can you deliver?

9/7/2023 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The latest issue, CBM 215 is just out. Here our columnist, Nagesh Havanur takes a look at a recent issue. 162 games (41 annotated), decisive encounters from World Championship deeply annotated. 12 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 9 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Anish Giri, Boris Gelfand and Peter Svidler among others. The icing on the cake is a feature on Boris Spassky with 27 annotated games. | Photo: Ding Liren vs Nepomniachtchi, WCH 2023, FIDE/Anna Shtourman

9/6/2023 – The new ChessBase Magazine #215 offers, among other things, 36 extensively annotated games. More than half of them build the "Special" of this issue: an exclusive collection of outstanding games by Hikaru Nakamura! In addition, Anish Giri, Grigoriy Oparin, Ivan Cheparinov, Thai Dai Van Nguyen et al. provide analyses from Norway Chess 2023 and Sharjah Masters 2023. Arjun Erigaisi played a brilliancy against Vladislav Kovalev in Sharjah - you can find an abridged version of his analysis here!

9/5/2023 – In endgames, the king is indeed a powerful piece. In the diagram position it is Black to move and he found a way to show the strength of his king and to win the game. What did Black do to let his king rule?

9/3/2023 – 2...d6 is Black's favourite Sicilian. In the new CBM #215 Christian Braun presents a concept for White with 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5!? that is attractive in various respects: White immediately forces the pace, leads the game into terrain that is often unknown to the opponent and gets "dynamic and powerful play" with little risk of his own. You don't need to learn too many variations by heart in this straightforward system either. Take a look at the article in CBM #215 and then do a first practical test on the chess server right away!

9/2/2023 – After 11...b6? (diagram) pieces will be traded on the queenside - but not the way Black might have imagined! Do you see how White gets an advantage?

8/31/2023 – World-class chess explained in video: Dorian Rogozenco shows two wins of Hikaru Nakamura from Norway Chess 2023, including the decisive last-round game against Fabiano Caruana – Sharjah Masters 2023: Analyses by tournament winner Arjun Erigaisi as well as Ivan Cheparinov, Grigoriy Oparin, Thai Dai Van Ngyuen and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan – “Special” on Hikaru Nakamura: exclusive collection of 19 encounters with detailed commentary from 2007 to 2023 – Action in the centre: Christian Braun's Anti-Sicilian recipe 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5!? - "Nakamura's strategy in practice": Mihail Marin sheds light on the US American's skills, incl. two interactive videos and a large collection of exercises – Rossolimo á la Carlsen: Daniel King recommends the cutting-edge 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e5!? for Black. - "Basic Knowledge" Part #5: Karsten Mueller reveals tips and tricks in the endgame with two pawns against one. incl. two interactive training videos and much more!

8/29/2023 – In pawn endings the opposition is crucial. In the diagrammed position White is a pawn down, but he can still save the game. How?

8/26/2023 – In the diagram position White mates by force after 18.Nf6+ Ke7 19.Re1! Nxf5. Do you see how?

8/22/2023 – This attacking guideline from the middlegame is also valid in the endgame and helped White to win in the diagram position. What did he do?

8/19/2023 – Attacking is usually easier than defending, especially with short time controls. In the diagram position White kept on pressing until Black finally blundered, a typical rapid drama - I wish you fast entertainment!

8/15/2023 – The duel knight against bishop can be complicated. The knight often wants static positions while the bishop likes dynamics. In the diagram position Black is a pawn up, but has problems to solve. White's h-pawn is dangerous and White's king threatens to invade. However, Black can save the draw. How?