9/5/2026 – Iranian grandmaster Pouya Idani has switched federations and will now represent France. The 30-year-old, who has lived in Brest since 2023 and has long been active in French club chess, enters the country's top group of players with a rating above 2600. Idani, a former World Under-18 champion and Iranian Olympiad representative, will nevertheless have to wait before becoming eligible for the French national team. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/5/2026 – British Grandmaster Daniel King has been one of ChessBase's most popular and respected trainers for decades. In this Summer Special, all of his video courses are available at heavily reduced prices, including the complete 28 volume Power Play series, opening repertoires, tactical training and endgame courses. A great opportunity to explore Daniel’s best training material and save up to 50%.

9/5/2026 – Our Brazilian friend Alexandr Fier is known for his samba way of playing chess: playing active chess, looking for adventure, taking risks, going for the direct attack whenever possible. Since he plays his moves very fast, he puts additional pressure on the clock. His games are not always correct, but surely entertaining. Our Game of the Week is his great fight with Jergus Pechac, in which both players found many creative moves, until eventually Fier found a lovely finish. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

9/5/2026 – Calculating variations, assessing positions accurately and finding the best move at the critical moment: few aspects of practical chess pose a greater challenge to players than concrete calculation. Robert Ris first addressed this topic in his 2018 Fritz Trainer, "Calculation Training", laying the foundations for a series of further courses. Lukas Koepl has taken a closer look at the various training programmes and, in this multipart overview, explains the main focus of each course and who they are particularly suited to.

9/4/2026 – In a candid interview from January 2026, 2700-level chess prodigy Awonder Liang reflects on his unique journey from a teenage sensation to a serious competitor while balancing a degree in economics and applied math. Liang challenges the notion that elite chess requires sacrificing a normal life, arguing that at the low 2700s, massive gains are still possible through fundamentals and doing what you enjoy. | Photo: Underpromoted on YouTube

9/4/2026 – In this episode of Svitlana's Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko explores how to keep complete control of a position through the classic game Petrosian vs. Unzicker. She shows how Petrosian calmly neutralized every source of counterplay, dominated the open c-file and gradually improved his pieces before creating a second weakness on the kingside. A remarkable king walk from g1 all the way to b1 clears the way for a pawn storm and demonstrates how even the king can play an important role in a long term strategic plan. The lesson highlights prophylaxis, the principle of two weaknesses and the art of turning a small positional advantage into a winning attack.