11/30/2018 – Today, on November 30th, 2018, Magnus Carlsen celebrates his 28th birthday, carefree, as World Champion, after successfully defending his title two days earlier in a match against Fabiano Caruana by a 3-0 win in the rapid tiebreak. Carlsen is already considered one of the best players of all time, but a few numbers show how impressive his career has been, and provide a handy gateway into the ChessBase archives. | Pictured: Magnus Carlsen in the ChessBase office in October 2017 | Photo: Nadja Wittman

11/24/2018 – It is said it is better to lose a friend than a good joke — or in this case a pun. Today our study expert SIEGFRIED HORNECKER presents a talented composer born in Hamburg on December 16th, 1899, but who lived for many years in Vienna. "The soul of an artist had its price with Heuäcker valuing beautiful, aesthetic chess more than practical necessities". | Photo: GFHund CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

11/15/2018 – Last week saw the birth anniversary of Mikhail Tal, (1936-1992) 8th World Champion and legendary player. Few players captured the imagination of the chess world as he and Bobby Fischer did. We offered him a small tribute and here is another by our columnist who also draws our attention to a slim volume that deserves to be better known. | Photo: Riga greets Tal

10/27/2018 – 2012 was a strange year. Amid World Championships and Olympiads a Bohemian master was awarded the GM title for chess composition. Our study expert SIEGFRIED HORNECKER delves into the life and work of “Miroslav Havel” (a pseudonym). His speciality was "model mates" — problems with three or more checkmate variations where all white pieces (except possibly the king) participate in the checkmate.

10/16/2018 – 110 years ago, on October 16th, 1908, the Soviet Master and famous opening theoretician Vsevolod Rauzer was born in Kiev, Ukraine. Rauzer died in 1941 but during his short career, he discovered a number of new ideas in the opening and the endgame. Rauzer was convinced that 1.e4 is better than 1.d4 and wanted to prove that with all his might. | Diagram: The starting position of the Richter-Rauzer Attack

9/29/2018 – Our study expert SIEGFRIED HORNECKER continues his look at the legacy of Czech master František Josef Prokop (pictured). Part 1 presented story and studies from the first half of the 20th century for you to enjoy at your leisure. This month he explains the "Prokeš manoeuvre", and presents a whopping eight annotated studies for your edification.

9/12/2018 – The Serbian capital, Belgrade, is recovering from 20th century conflict, and DIANA MIHAJLOVA takes us on a brief photo tour, following the chess tournament (part 1). | Pictured: Saint Sava Temple with a statue of Karadjorgje, the founder of modern Serbia. He led the First Serbian Uprising of 1804–1813 fighting for independence from the Ottoman Empire. Saint Sava and Karadjorgje (Karađorđe) epitomize the Serbian national identity. | Photos: Diana Mihajlova

8/25/2018 – A new mini-series is kicked off this month by our study expert SIEGFRIED HORNECKER, who tackles the legacy of Czech master František Josef Prokop (pictured). Story and studies from the first half of the 20th century for you to enjoy at your leisure.

8/8/2018 – We have been trying to keep track of incredible playing strength and title wins at a very early age. It started with Capablanca and Reshevsky, and today we are seeing full grandmasters aged thirteen — and in two cases twelve! Most recently it was Pragnanandhaa, who achieved the title at twelve years and ten months. It became time to update our prodigy page, with better graphics and a few telling graphs. We also invite our readers to contribute.

7/29/2018 – Some lightweight fare for this month's study column as SIEGFRIED HORNECKER brings you tales from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Raymond Smullyan, perfect for a hot summer Sunday.

7/2/2018 – Ludek Pachman was an important theoretician, an industrious author, and a controversial personality. In Czechoslovakia he was a staunch communist but after the "Prague Spring" he changed from Saul to Paul or, as some people think, from Saul to Saul. Vlastimil Hort shares memories of Ludek Pachman. | Photos: Archive Michalek

6/30/2018 – For the less historically enlightened, the first official American to become World Champion was the great Bobby Fischer, but the native New Yorker can only claim to be the second as the title of first goes to the father of modern strategy: Wilhelm Steinitz. Read on to find out more on the great champion with annotations by Garry Kasparov. | Photo: Steinitz vs Lasker, 1894, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

6/30/2018 – It's rare to be able to smoothly segue from beer to endgame studies, but that's what our Study of the Month columnist SIEGFRIED HORNECKER manages to do in this month's investigation into the life and work of Henri Rinck. Born into a family of brewers, he would come to brew his own endgame studies while living near Barcelona. Here are five favourites. | Photo: HeritageEchecsFra.free.fr

6/20/2018 – Why, after all, are the Indian openings called "Indian"? Conrad Schormann tried to find an answer to this question and found it in the ChessBase Mega Database. It led him back to a clash of classical and hypermodern theory in old India.

6/7/2018 – Today, 150 years ago, on June 7, 1868, Dawid Janowski was born, one of the world's best players at the beginning of the 20th century. Janowski was an inspired and dangerous attacking player who was strong enough to challenge Lasker to a World Championship match. | Photo: St. Petersburg 1914, from the "Neue Wiener Schachzeitung"

5/26/2018 – As the column is always changing, reader feedback was received that April’s historical examination was too long and the column should concentrate on studies more, which of course has been the heart of this column. Therefore the next issue will be more condensed again. In May and probably July SIEGFRIED HORNECKER concentrates on selected non-fiction (May) and fiction (July) literature about chess. This month focuses on Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz.

5/19/2018 – "Never play with drunkards and desperate men and quarrelsome people for it leads to a brawl”. Chess researcher SERGIO NEGRI continues his deep dive into the origins of our game, this time focusing on the most widely recognised theory, that of an Indian origin | Image (centre): Krishna and Radha playing chaturanga (early chess) on an 8x8 Ashtāpada (a board) (Wikipedia Commons)

4/28/2018 – Chess is a wide field with many interconnections, and while preparing this month’s article about pawn endgame composer Nikolay Grigoriev, study expert and historian SIEGFRIED HORNECKER learned about a nearly forgotten chess organizer from the early Soviet Union, Valerian Eremeev. But also Alekhine’s five queen game might have influenced Grigoriev.

4/16/2018 – Are you fascinated by pieces and clocks? Ever lust after an expensive wooden Staunton? Davide Nastasio takes a break from reviewing chess videos to bring you a glimpse behind the scenes of a Singaporean chess collector who specialises in chess sets. But that's not all! Wait until you see his clocks! The physicality of the tools of the game provides a window into chess history as well. | Photo: Stephen Kong

4/13/2018 – The 13th of April is "Kasparov-day". Today, 55 years ago, arguably the best player in chess history was born and since then has shaped the history of chess like no other player — not only on the board! Andre Schulz briefly traces Kasparov's history from his first international moves, through the peak of his career in 1999, his life in politics (both in and out of the chess world) and on to his recent advocacy work. | Photo: Kasparov.com

4/6/2018 – In September 2017, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sergio Negri, a researcher specialized in chess of Argentine origin, completed an epic treatise on the origins of chess. Thoroughly detailed, and thought-provoking, we bring it to you in a new series of articles over the coming weeks. This first part introduces the topic and discusses the first of several theories: a Persian origin. | Photo: "Zereshk" (Own work) CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

3/24/2018 – Mate in 2 — It's not easy to see at first how White can checkmate in two moves. If White could give a check on g7, then 1.Bg7+ Ke7 2.Nc6 mate is reminiscent of a famous opening trap in the Russian (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4!? 4.Qe2 Nf6?? 5.Nc6+). Of course in the problem, the king just could take on g7. This is but one of nine problems you will encounter in this look at the life of the three Kubbel brothers, from study expert and historian Siegfried Hornecker.

3/11/2018 – He faced the process of writing as a "literary chess problem", and considered the composition of chess problems to be comparable to poetry. Vladimir Nabokov was one of the most celebrated creators of bridges between art and chess. | Pictured: Nabokov in 1973 | Photo: Walter Mori

2/17/2018 – At the World Congress for Chess Composition (WCCC) 2017 in Dresden it was decided to dedicate the second year of this “Study of the Month” series to the education about chess composition history. Following this, we look at the successors of Troitzky this time: The Platov brothers.