2/13/2026 – Robert Ris presents 14-year-old prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who impressed at Tata Steel Masters and scored 7/13 against elite opposition. In a sharp English Opening battle against Arjun Erigaisi, Erdogmus demonstrates deep preparation, fearless play, and precise calculation, including dynamic piece activity and strong strategic decisions. The game eventually transforms into a complex endgame where his bishop pair and powerful passed pawns take over, sealing a remarkable victory for the young talent.
Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!
Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!
2/13/2026 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy will host a live online lecture by Polish GM Mateusz Bartel on February 15, 2026. The event is part of KCF Academy’s ongoing program dedicated to providing world-class chess education to the chess community around the globe. Keep February 15, 18:00 CET free to listen to him – and learn all about prophylaxis in dynamic positions.
2/13/2026 – The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship is taking place on 13-15 February at the Weissenhaus resort in Germany. Eight players, including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, have qualified through the 2025 Grand Slam Tour and online competition. On Friday, the participants battle in a rapid round-robin stage with a 10+5 time control. The top four players advance to the semifinals, while the remaining players move into placement matches. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 15.00 CET (9.00 ET, 19.30 IST)
2/13/2026 – To mark March as a month celebrating women, the FIDE Commission for Women's Chess is inviting federations, clubs and organisers worldwide to join the 2026 Chess Women's Day Celebration under the theme "Visible, Connected, Worldwide". Following last year's global initiative, the campaign encourages tournaments, workshops and community events that promote women and girls in chess, linking local activities into a shared international network throughout the month. | Image: FIDE
2/13/2026 – From its early beginnings in Kanjiza and the Chess Classic in Mainz to the officially recognised FIDE championships of 2019 and 2022, the World Chess960 title has followed an uneven but traceable path. Published ahead of the upcoming Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus, this overview revisits the main editions of the event, outlining formats, qualification systems and key matches that shaped the development of Freestyle Chess at world championship level. | Pictured: Peter Svidler dealing with a Freestyle Chess starting position (note that the bishops are on the a-file) at the Chess Classic in Mainz | Photo: Frederic Friedel
2/12/2026 – This ChessBase training course by IM Oliver Reeh focuses on improving tactical vision through carefully selected exercises from the “Tune your Tactics” series in ChessBase Magazine. Across 34 interactive videos and over 120 training questions, you actively calculate variations, receive hints if needed, and get immediate feedback to reinforce key tactical patterns. With additional databases containing hundreds of games and exercises, the course systematically sharpens calculation skills and helps you recognize decisive combinations in your own games.
2/12/2026 – The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 will take place from 13 to 15 February at the Schloss Weissenhaus resort in Germany, marking the first jointly organised world title event in this format under an agreement between FIDE and a private organiser. Eight players, including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, have qualified through the 2025 Grand Slam Tour and online competition, while a women's exhibition match will also be staged alongside the main event. | Photo: Freestyle Chess / Lennart Ootes
2/12/2026 – This episode explains how to add annotation symbols and evaluation marks to your analysed games in ChessBase using the Insert tab, quick-access menus, keyboard shortcuts, and the notation pane. It also shows how to insert, edit, or delete text comments before or after moves, helping you personalize your analysis and clearly express your ideas.
2/12/2026 – Jonathan Hawkins followed an uncommon route to the top of English chess. From a club player rated around 1800 in his late teens, he became a grandmaster, two-time British champion and author of "Amateur to IM", a book widely read among players seeking insight into long-term improvement. He later devoted much of his time to coaching, working with emerging talents such as Bodhana Sivanandan. Diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma, he died on 22 December 2025 at 42, only months after his diagnosis. | Photo: English Chess Federation / John Upham
2/11/2026 – Montevideo hosted the 9th Ciudad de Montevideo Open, the Antel Cup, as part of its annual chess festival, attracting 79 players and 27 titled participants. Second seed Brandon Jacobson (pictured, right) claimed clear first place with 7½/9, remaining undefeated throughout the nine rounds. A key round-six win over top seed Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (pictured, left) proved decisive. Christiansen and 22-time Uruguayan champion Bernardo Roselli completed the podium. | Photo: Antel Cup
2/10/2026 – Netflix launched a new documentary on the life of Judit Polgar, "The Queen of Chess". The documentary is extremely well-made and is definitely worth a watch if you are a chess fan. It brought back to life an incident that had happened 32 years ago in 1994, when an 18-year-old Judit took on the world number-one Garry Kasparov for the first time. It involved a famous touch-move incident. | Photo: Judit Polgar Chess Foundation
2/10/2026 – One more miniature from the Tata Steel Masters. In round 10 the game between the two Candidates Matthias Bluebaum and Anish Giri featured a rather unusual opening line. After the moves 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 c5 5.d5 Black gives up its dark-squared bishop on c3 and locks up the centre and places its pawn on e5. This invention was made back in 1969 by the Dutch IM Johan Barendregt and has recently been seen in quite a number of games. The imbalances in the structures guarantee fire on the board and one mistake may decide one's fate. In this episode of the Fast & Furious show you'll learn more about the ins and outs of this trendy line!
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
Opening videos: Daniel King presents new ideas against Caro-Kann with 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+. ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’: Najdorf, Petroff and Scotch. ‘Move by Move’ with Robert Ris. ‘Lucky bag’ with 37 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
2/10/2026 – In this “Best Games of 2025” episode, Lilit Mkrtchian takes us through a deeply instructive win from the Tegernsee tournament, showing her full ChessBase-style preparation workflow and how she chose an offbeat setup to get her opponent out of comfort early. The lesson then turns into a masterclass on positional pressure: exploiting the weakened d5-square, improving pieces step by step, and using concrete calculation to avoid tempting but incorrect tactics. The game finishes with clean technique—converting a queenside advantage and a dangerous passed a-pawn—while the big takeaway is clear: smart prep + strong squares + not spoiling a better position wins games.
2/10/2026 – 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.
2/10/2026 – The Futures tournament at the Prague International Chess Festival 2026 brings together ten of Europe’s most promising young female talents. Held under the patronage of Czech First Lady Eva Pavlová and with chess legend GM Pia Cramling (pictured) as ambassador, the event provides top-level junior chess and inspiration within one of Europe’s most attractive chess festivals. | Photo: Prague Chess Festival
2/10/2026 – Check promotion: Pure opposite colored bishop endings have a large drawish tendency. But the race of passed pawns is of a different nature: White to move and win.
2/10/2026 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov heads the FIDE Circuit 2026–27 standings after winning the Tata Steel Masters, earning 25.78 points at one of the season’s most significant events. Javokhir Sindarov, Hans Niemann, Jorden van Foreest and Vincent Keymer follow closely behind, while other early results from Wijk aan Zee, the Rilton Cup and the Brazil Series have also shaped the leaderboard. A dedicated page tracks the latest standings and regulations for the new cycle. | Image: FIDE
2/9/2026 – Eight rounds into the 2025/26 Chess Bundesliga season, SC Viernheim and OSG Baden-Baden occupy the top two places in the standings. Viernheim remain on a perfect 16/16 match points, while Baden-Baden trail by a single match point after drawing once. Schachfreunde Wolfhagen stay within reach on 13/16. The latest weekend saw both leaders collect two further victories, with Fabiano Caruana (pictured) making his debut for Baden-Baden. | Photo: Sven Noppes
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
Opening videos: Daniel King presents new ideas against Caro-Kann with 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+. ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’: Najdorf, Petroff and Scotch. ‘Move by Move’ with Robert Ris. ‘Lucky bag’ with 37 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
Instead of forcing you to memorise endless lines, Raja focuses on clear plans, typical ideas, and attacking motifs that you can apply in your own games without delay. A short, focused, and practical repertoire.
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
€89.90
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