ChessBase

1. Women's World Cup - Live!

   The 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup is taking place in Batumi, Georgia on 5-16 July. Hosted at the Grand Bellagio Hotel, the 107-player knockout tournament offers three spots in the 2026 Candidates. With many of the world's top female players competing, Batumi promises high-stakes action in one of the calendar's most prestigious events. | Follow the games live starting at 13.00 CEST (7.00 ET, 16.30 IST)

2. Summer Special: For positional and strategic players: A 1.d4 and a 1.Nf3 repertoire

   How should a positional player begin with White - 1.d4 or 1.Nf3? In his Fritztrainer course, Sipke Ernst presents a practical 1.d4 repertoire. And in his Grandmaster course on 1.Nf3, Felix Blohberger also focuses on teaching ideas rather than memorizing lines. It's a tough choice! Stay flexible and take a look at both courses — this week (July 14–20), they’re available at a Summer Special price.

3. Biel: Start of the Grand Master Triathlon – favourites take the lead

   The Grandmaster Triathlon began on Sunday in Biel with the discipline of rapid chess. After five games of rapid chess the two favourites, Vladimir Fedoseev and Aravindh Chithambaram (pictured), lead in the Masters. Wojtaszek, the 2020 Biel winner, is lurking just behind them. Theodorou took the lead in the Challengers, remaining undefeated, as did his closest rival Hakobyan. GM Benjamin Bok won the open rapid one-day-tournament. The Dutchman prevailed against 149 competitors ahead of GM Mikhail Kobalia and Chen Yuan. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

4. Freestyle Chess Kicks Off Landmark Week in Las Vegas

   With an opening press conference at Wynn Las Vegas, Freestyle Chess has officially launched its first-ever U.S. event: a full week of chess, celebrity, and competition. The week began with the Chesstival on July 13, and will continue with the $750,000 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam from July 16 to 20. | Photo: freestyle_chess and wwwchesscom

5. ChessBase 18 – Beginner's Tips Part 22: Maximum training effect with the ‘Replay Training’ power tool (Part 2)

   Let's continue with ChessBase 18's powerful training tool "Replay Training": Replay Training! We already introduced you to this super feature in the last article, and in this tutorial, we'll show you some additional features that will help you noticeably improve your playing strength in a fun way. Let's continue...!

6. Review: All new releases in June!

   Whether strategy, technique or opening knowledge – the June releases from ChessBase fulfil all your chess needs! Renowned authors such as David Navara, Robert Ris and Andrew Martin open their chess brains to you, and offer a host of professional tips. For those who want everything at once, ChessBase Magazine 226 is the perfect choice. It once again features lots of training material from the pro lab. Attention opening fans: There are many new Powerbases and Powerbooks! Just take a look at last month's products:

7. Review: Fritz 20 – A revolutionary leap forward in chess software

   After 34 years of continuous development, ChessBase has released Fritz 20, marking the twentieth iteration of one of the most influential chess programs in history. This latest version represents a significant evolution in chess software, combining cutting-edge artificial intelligence with innovative human-like playing concepts that promise to transform how players train and improve their game. | Text and Photos: Paul Harwood (betterchess.net)

8. Women's World Cup: Kamalidenova knocks out Goryachkina, Omanova gets second upset win

   The second-round tiebreaks of the Women's World Cup saw major developments, including the early exit of defending champion Aleksandra Goryachkina at the hands of Meruert Kamalidenova (pictured). Alina Kashlinskaya was also eliminated, while several top seeds - such as Mariya Muzychuk, Kateryna Lagno and Alexandra Kosteniuk - were pushed to extended matches. Other notable qualifiers included Umida Omonova, Song Yuxin and Lu Miaoyi, who all advanced after strong performances in rapid and blitz. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE

9. Strategic prevention

   Chess prevention is one of the most important parts of strategic play in chess. This doesn't apply for chess only but also in life in general. To foresee possible negative outcomes and to protect ourselves from them, or at least to lower their effects, is simpler than having to deal with the consequences. The same applies to chess. Let international trainer Efstratios Grivas explain.

10. Werner Keym: Problem Chess Art

    "Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity and splendid insincerity," wrote Vladimir Nabokov. Problem expert Werner Keym illustrates this in a new book which he makes available, as an eBook, to everyone, free of charge. Here are some excerpts to give you a taste.