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Tata Steel Chess - Live!
The 88th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is taking place from 17 January to 1 February and once again features the traditional structure of parallel Masters and Challengers tournaments, each consisting of 14 players competing in a single round-robin. Nodirbek Abdusattorov enters the final round as the sole leader in the Masters, while Andy Woodward and Aydin Suleymanli are tied for first place in the Challengers. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 12.00 CET (6.00 ET, 16.30 IST)
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Svitlana's Smart Moves - Svitlana's revenge
In this episode, Svitlana analyzes one of her own intense games from the Canadian University Championships, where she faced a 2400+ tactical rival in a long-awaited revenge match. The game began as a controlled strategic battle out of a Pirc structure, exploded into sharp complications, and transitioned into a wildly double-edged endgame where both players missed wins. Svitlana shows key defensive resources, creative practical decisions under time pressure, and two critical endgame “bluffs” that helped her hold a theoretically difficult position. After six exhausting hours and 113 moves, the roller-coaster fight finally ended in a hard-earned draw packed with lessons from opening to endgame.
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Review: A powerful 1.e4 repertoire
Young FIDE Master Bahne Fuhrmann of the Hamburger SK has taken a close look at Harshit Raja’s new video course. In his review, he examines the Indian grandmaster’s 1.e4 course and explains why viewers who study the course can confidently open with 1.e4.
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Tata Steel Chess: Abdusattorov defeats Bluebaum, enters last round as sole leader
With one round remaining, the race for first place remains unresolved in both sections of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. In the Masters, Nodirbek Abdusattorov leads alone after defeating Matthias Bluebaum, while Javokhir Sindarov trails by half a point and three others still have outside chances. In the Challengers, Andy Woodward and Aydin Suleymanli share the lead, with Vasyl Ivanchuk close behind. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes
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CBM 229: The battle for the FIDE World Cup in Goa
ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Nagesh Havanur takes a look at the current issue, CBM 229. All games from the FIDE World Cup, 27 annotated, 11 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Sam Shankland, Wei Yi, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Gabriel Sargissian among others. The icing on the cake is the Special feature "Giri's Gems", offering the Dutch star's eight best games from the year 2025.
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Christmas Puzzles 7 – long and short
Take a look at this relatively simple position. Can you figure out how White can win? And how many moves it will require to overcome Black's most resolute defence? You won't believe it. To relax we bring you the arguably easiest chess study ever composed, and other entertaining puzzles, many from the out-of-the-box legend Karl Fabel.
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Christmas Puzzles 6 – cover the board!
In August 2019 I spent a week in France, at the training camp I had organized (together with ChessBase India) for young Indian super talents. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik did the chess training, while I pestered the kids with logic puzzles. Most did not involve chess, but some did. Here are a couple for you.
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Christmas Puzzles 5 – Rotary problems
In rotary problems the board is rotated by 180° for a second position with a different solution. It is usually pawns that make a different when you turn the board around. Or the king/queen positions, or castling is involved. Can one devise problems where these factors do not play a role? Yes one can, as our expert for out-of-the-box problems, Werner Keym, proves.
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Christmas Puzzles 4 – Retractors
These days it is not easy to challenge anyone with problems or studies. Loading the PGN and clicking Start will usually get you the solution in seconds. So we are trying to provide you with "computer resistant" puzzles in this year's Christmas Puzzle Week. Today the subject is taking back a move in a given position and looking for a move to fulfil the condition. As in this 100-year-old problem by Thomas Dawson: it requires you to take back one move and then mate the opponent in two. Can you think how?
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Christmas Puzzles 3 – Just some text
There are chess puzzles which only consist of a line of text, asking you to construct a position or a game that it describes. Some can be awesomely difficult, like the puzzle we first posted 41 years ago. Two world champions were not able to solve it. We tell you about that, and present a new ones, not quite as tough, for you to solve.
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Christmas Puzzles 2 – Not that easy!
Take a look at this position, in which White should mate in two. Looks very easy, and hundreds of readers of the newspaper in which it appeared submitted a solution. But it was not correct. In our Christmas Puzzle week the consummate expert of unusual chess problems, Werner Keym, asks you to look carefully at the position and find a genuine way for White to mate Black in two moves. There are two other problems to solve.
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ChessBase Christmas Puzzle Week
Christmas day is usually celebrated with a Christmas tree – in problem chess circles occasionally with a puzzle shaped like a Christmas tree. Like this example, composed by the famous Thomas Rayner Dawson, 101 years ago. It illustrates the universal principle of symmetry, and how it can be broken in a chess problem. Mathematics professor Christian Hesse delves into the very profound thinking behind the problem. But you are invited to solve it first.
