3/31/2022 – If we were to assume that there really is something to astrology — that people born in autumn really do tick a little differently from those born in spring — might we have a useful clue to our opponent’s strategy in a chess game by asking about their star sign? Perhaps we would also involuntarily expect for a typical Dutchman to prefer a different strategy than a full-blooded Sicilian.

1/7/2022 – The MegaBase 2022 is Chess History in Action: It offers 9.210.512 games, the earliest played in 1475 and the most recent played October 2021, many of them annotated. Here our columnist, offers an introduction to three epic matches from the MegaBase with six annotated games. There is a lot more to discover in this treasure trove, grand battles, opening novelties and exemplary endgames.

7/20/2021 – Vasily Smyslov defeated Mikhail Botvinnik at the second attempt in 1957 and thus became the 7th world champion in chess history, but had to relinquish the title in a rematch the following year. After that Smyslov belonged to the absolute world elite for many years. His performance in the 1982-1985 World Championship cycle was sensational, when he defeated Robert Hübner and Zoltan Ribli one after the other in the candidate matches and only lost in the final to the young Garry Kasparov - Smyslov himself was 62 years old at that time!

10/29/2020 – About a week ago, Karsten Müller invited readers to analyze a fascinating rook endgame that occurred in a game between Vassily Smyslov and Pal Benkö from 1975. Smyslov was an endgame specialist but he still failed to grasp the hidden depths of this tricky endgame. But after taking more than one close look and with the help of the ChessBase readers, Karsten Müller and Zoran Petronijevic are now closer to the truth. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

10/24/2020 – It has been 55 years since the largest island in the Antilles staged an event that over time would increase its importance and significance. The 4th edition of the Capablanca Memorial became, in its own right, a highly memorable competition. An article by Romelio Milián González with historical photographs.

10/22/2020 – Vassily Smyslov, the 7th World Champion, was an endgame specialist, and for generations of chess players Smyslov's book about "Rook Endings", which he wrote together with Grigory Levenfish, was the "Bible of Rook Endings". However, is everything in this "bible" really true? Karsten Müller and Zoran Petronijevic have doubts - and ask the readers to help analysing a fascinating endgame, which Smyslov presented in the third edition of his classic. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

9/7/2020 – Four years ago, the Russian-born FIDE Master Andrey Terekhov – currently based in Singapore – started off a Smyslov research project. Benefiting from access to Smyslov's private archive and other Soviet-era archival material, a first volume is scheduled to be published by Russell Enterprises in November 2020. We reproduce an extensive interview with the author conducted by Olimpiu G. Urcan – and a wonderfully annotated Smyslov game.

4/19/2020 – After his surprising loss against Vlatko Kovacevic in round 8 of the Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/Zagreb Bobby Fischer is back on track. After a draw against Vassily Smyslov in round 9 he convincingly defeated Svetozar Gligoric, his closest rival, in round 10 and now leads with 8.0/10. Gligoric, Vlastimil Hort, Viktor Kortschnoi and Tigran Petrosian are all one and half point behind and share places two to five with 6½/10.

4/16/2020 – After one loss and five draws former World Champion Vassily Smyslov (pictured) won his first game at the Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/Zagreb. He defeated Borislav Ivkov. Bobby Fischer continues to show why he is the world's number one: he won with Black against Theodor Ghitescu and now leads the field with 6½-½. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

4/2/2018 – Samuel "Sammy" Reshevsky was possibly the greatest player ever to never be a full-time chess professional, even as he vied for the no.1 spot during his prime. He was also one of the greatest prodigies of his day, conducting master level simuls around the world as a child. He played in many World Championship cycles, including the 1948 World Championship tournament. We bring you photos and a historic game commented by Reshevsky himself! | Photo: Kadel and Herbert

3/18/2018 – Our fascination with Bobby Fischer never ends. When ChessBase mentioned an unknown game that came to haunt him for decades, one of our readers was quick to identify the encounter and send us on a memorable journey into the past. In the first part of the article our columnist recreated the drama surrounding that game, and here he unravels the mystery with inputs from GM Michael Bezold and Leonard Barden. | Photo of Pyotr Romanovsky: chesspro.ru

3/7/2018 – On March 10th, the Candidates tournament 2018 will begin in Berlin. In November, the winner of this tournament will play a match for the world championship against Magnus Carlsen in London. Candidates tournaments have always been special, providing memorable moments in chess history, with scandals, drama and, of course, brilliant games. In the run-up to the start of this year's tournament, it's a good time to take a look at some previous classics. | Photo: Herbert Behrens (ANEFO) (Cropped from GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL)) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

7/27/2017 – The "Exercises in Style" are an invitation to playfully have a closer look at the style of the 16 World Champions. In each of the four parts of the series the reader is shown four games without data and is asked to guess which World Champion played which game. Part 2 showed games by Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov and Mihail Tal. Here are the answers to which World Champion played which game.

7/18/2017 – What is style in chess? And how unique is it? Tal and Botvinnik played differently but how easy — or difficult — is it to spot these stylistic differences? Part 1 of the "Exercises in Style" presented games by Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, the first four World Champions in the history of chess. Now follow games by Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov and Mihail Tal. Do you know which World Champion played which game?