2/5/2026 – Sipke and Karsten show one endgame highlight from the Tata Steel rapid tournament. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/5/2026 – The final weekend of the Speed Chess Championship moves from the online arena to a live stage in London, where the semifinals and title match will be played in front of spectators. After earlier knockout rounds held online, four players remain: Magnus Carlsen, Denis Lazavik, Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja. The event combines rapid, blitz and bullet segments, with a consolation match and detailed tiebreak procedures ensuring a clear overall winner across two days of play. | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

2/5/2026 – In recent years Nodirbek Abdusattorov was very close to winning the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, but now he finally managed to actually win it and very deservedly so. After his recent dropping out of the World's top ten, this crowns his comeback, now being number 5 in the World rankings with 2771. Our Game of the Week is the decisive last round game Erigaisi-Abdusattorov, which saw a highly interesting Evans Gambit, which could have easily gone differently. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

2/5/2026 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace, and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world’s best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?

2/5/2026 – "Many players use ChessBase, it is the most popular chess software by far, writes GM Iniyan Pa. "Yet, not many people are fully aware of all of its features, and fail to utilise most of them. In this guide I have tried to show the features that I think are vital and important so that the user may gain the most out of the ChessBase. I hope it helps them in their development." We are deeply indebted to Iniyan for his remarkable five-part training review.

2/5/2026 – The chess world has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. From a game on the fringes of public interest, it has become part of the media mainstream. This year will see several major events and developments that promise to have a profound impact on the future of chess. Milan Dinić, editor of The British Chess Magazine, has described the main driving factors and what we can expect in 2026.

2/5/2026 – The Löwenthal Variation of the Sicilian Defence is often treated with caution in theoretical discussions. Yet detailed investigation by Nico Zwirs suggests the line holds more practical value than its reputation implies. By combining enterprising attacking setups with more measured, positionally sound alternatives, the repertoire aims to offer Black flexible, workable positions while steering play away from the heavily analysed Sicilian main lines.

2/4/2026 – FIDE traces the history of the Candidates Tournament, the event that determines who earns the right to challenge for the world chess title. Established in 1950 to replace earlier informal arrangements, the Candidates has evolved through different formats and eras, reflecting changes in the championship cycle. From Budapest to recent editions in major cities, the tournament has remained the decisive stage in the path to a world title match, with Cyprus set to host the next chapter. | Image: FIDE

2/4/2026 – Keep Friday free! You all remember "The Queen's Gambit," the Netflix series telling the story of the (fictional) chess prodigy Beth Harmon. It quickly became the platform’s most-watched miniseries. Now Netflix is doing it again, but this time it's about the (real-life) strongest female chess player ever: Judit Polgar. Keep Friday free to watch it. To get you in the mood Frederic Friedel describes his encounters with Judit – over the last forty years.

2/4/2026 – The 2026 Israel Open Chess Championship, held in Acre from 19 to 27 January, brought together 103 players from across the country for a nine-round Swiss tournament. Nineteen-year-old GM Yahli Sokolovsky (pictured, right) emerged as the clear winner with 7½/9 and a 2694 performance rating, claiming his first national title. IM Yeshaayahu Tzidkiya and GM Evgeny Alekseev (pictured, centre and left) completed the podium after finishing half a point behind the champion. | Photo: Galina Pankratova

2/3/2026 – In this analytical column, GM Jon Speelman explores how winning lines can hide behind unexpected variations, even when a position appears manageable. Drawing on a missed opportunity from his own 4NCL game and a sharp encounter from Wijk aan Zee between Matthias Bluebaum and prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (pictured), he examines overlooked tactics, defensive ingenuity and the practical difficulty of finding precise moves over the board. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

2/3/2026 – MegaBase 2026 is Chess History in action. Regularly updated every month, the Main Database currently offers 11.8 million games, many of them annotated. Here our columnist offers a review with focus on chess in the 21st Century.