8/26/2025 – Endings with opposite coloured bishops are often a draw. To create winning chances it is often helpful to create dangerous passed pawns. How can White do so in the diagram position?

8/26/2025 – Round seven of the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis brought three decisive games, the most in a single day so far. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeated Alireza Firouzja with black in a Rossolimo Sicilian, his first classical win against the French grandmaster, and joined Fabiano Caruana in the lead on 4½ points. Wesley So overcame world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, while Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Caruana v. Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave v. Sevian ended drawn. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/26/2025 – The French Chess Championships concluded in Vichy, with Marc'Andria Maurizzi and Yosha Iglesias crowned as the new national champions. Maurizzi defeated Laurent Fressinet in rapid tiebreaks, while Etienne Bacrot claimed third place ahead of Sebastien Maze. In the women's final, Iglesias overcame Mitra Hejazipour, with Anastasia Savina securing bronze after a tiebreak win against Deimante Daulyte-Cornette. The event closed a ten-day festival featuring players of all levels. | Photos: Nathalie Daubry / French Chess Federation

8/25/2025 – Can a woman ever become the best chess player in the world? To find out, chess streamers Emily Higgins and Dina Belenkaya asked the woman who has come closest to winning the world title: Judit Polgar. The only woman to have made it into the world's top ten, she was the undisputed number one in women's chess from 1989 until her retirement from tournament chess in 2014. In an interview with Higgins and Belenkaya, Polgar talks about her career, discrimination in chess, training, sibling rivalry, and her role as a mother. | Photo: Screenshot aus dem Video

8/25/2025 – In the Endgame Magic Show #308, Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler look back to the tournament in Dortmund. They present endgame highlights and share stories from the tournament. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

8/25/2025 – This week, from 25 to 31 August, there is another special offer in our Summer Special: ChessBase 18 and the Opening Encyclopedia 2025 for only 249.90€ – instead of 299.90€! Be well prepared for every tournament and the new season!

8/23/2025 – The Abu Dhabi Masters, the main event of the 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival, is currently under way in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Bringing together a strong international field, the nine-round Swiss event is played at classical time control with a prize fund of 55,000 USD. With two rounds remaining, China's Zeng Chongsheng leads the standings, pursued closely by a group featuring a few higher-seeded contenders. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

8/22/2025 – Suspense in Vichy. The semifinals of the French Chess Championship offered thrilling duels between experience and youthful vigour. Marc'Andria Maurizzi (pictured) and Laurent Fressinet prevailed in the open competition, while Mitra Hejazipour and Yosha Iglesias will contest the women's final. Etienne Bacrot v. Sébastien Mazé and Deimanté Daulyte-Cornette v. Anastasia Savina will be the matches for third place. | Photos: Nathalie Daubry / French Chess Federation

8/22/2025 – For the first time in this year’s Rubinstein Memorial A-Group, three games ended decisively. However, the top encounter of round six between Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Matthias Blübaum was not among them: the two players, both in the leading trio after round five, agreed to a draw. Nodirbek Yakubboev did better, regaining sole lead with a win over Pawel Teclaf. The third winner of the round was David Navara, the 2003 Rubinstein Memorial champion, who defeated Jan Klimowski. | Photo: Petr Vrabec/Chess Festival Prague

8/22/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show Merijn van Delft presents an instructive game from the Sinquefield Cup: Praggnanandhaa's impressive first round win against World Champion Gukesh. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/22/2025 – Fabiano Caruana took the sole lead at the Sinquefield Cup after defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round four, his second straight win. The Uzbek player's aggressive strategy with opposite-side castling and a speculative knight sacrifice backfired, leaving him with a third loss in four games. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave again missed a clear winning chance, this time against world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, while Alireza Firouzja's sharp encounter with Wesley So also ended in a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/22/2025 – The Saint Louis Chess Club is set to reopen this October with a newly expanded 30,000-square-foot campus, reinforcing its position as a global hub for chess. The month-long celebration will feature "Clutch Chess: The Legends", with Garry Kasparov facing Viswanathan Anand, the U.S. and U.S. Women's Championships, Hall of Fame inductions, and the Champions Showdown with Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana and Gukesh. The transformed venue combines elite competition with education, community engagement and cutting-edge technology. | All photos: Saint Louis Chess Club