ChessBase

• 25 years ago  –  ChessBase news

  "Yesterday, in one of the most horrifying terrorist atrocities in history, the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed..." Those were the words with which we launched our brand new database-driven news page, on September 12, 2001. It was the very first report we filed. It had a special meaning for the world – but also for chess. Exactly six years earlier the World Chess Championship had been staged on the Observation Deck on the 107th floor.

• Review: Mastering Calculation by Kostya Kavutskiy

  Kostya Kavutskiy is the latest "Fritz Trainer" to join the ChessBase team of authors. An International Master, renowned FIDE trainer and chess author, he made his ChessBase debut with the video course "Mastering Calculation" and has already followed it up with "The Fundamentals of Positional Play". Jochen Schwarz, a club player from Bremen and a connoisseur of the FritzTrainer series, took a close look at both courses and also examined how they compare with similar courses by established authors such as Robert Ris and Ivan Sokolov.

• Clutch Chess: Kasparov and Topalov play Chess960, Day 1 – Live!

  Garry Kasparov and Veselin Topalov will face each other in “Clutch Chess: The Legends” in Saint Louis from 11 to 13 September. The two former members of the chess elite will play a twelve-game Chess960 match, with wins becoming more valuable on each successive day. The encounter follows Kasparov’s victory over Viswanathan Anand last year and renews a rivalry that was already revived in Saint Louis in 2018 with a Chess960 match. | Photos: St. Louis Chess Club, Austin Fuller | Live with commentary from 18:40 CEST / 17:40 BST / 12:40 ET / 22:10 IST.

• Global Chess League, Day 7 - Live!

  hree teams are tied for the lead as the Global Chess League enters day seven in Bengaluru. The action begins at 13:30 CEST with the Triveni Continental Kings facing the PBG Alaskan Knights, featuring Alireza Firouzja against Vishy Anand on the icon board. At 15:00, the Alpine APL Pipers take on the FYERS American Gambits in a key clash, with Magnus Carlsen facing the in-form Javokhir Sindarov. The day concludes at 16:30 with the Ganges Grandmasters against the CheQ Mumba Masters. With the race for the two places in the final still wide open, there is plenty at stake. | Follow the action live with commentary, starting at 13.30 CEST (7.30 ET, 17.00 IST).

• Global Chess League: Three teams tied for the lead

  Six teams, 36 world-class players, 20 minutes for the entire game, an increment only from move 40, 4 points for a win with Black, 3 for a win with White, 1 for a draw, 18 to 24 games per day, and a prize fund of $1 million – the Global Chess League is a chess spectacle. And it is heading for an exciting finish: the top two teams in the preliminary stage qualify for the final, and after eight of ten team matches, three teams are tied for the lead. | Photo: In one of the day's many top-level encounters, Magnus Carlsen defeated Vishy Anand | Photo: Global Chess League

• Legends & Prodigies: Oro loses – Anton Guijarro leads by one point

  David Anton Guijarro heads into the final stage of the Legends & Prodigies tournament in Madrid with a one-point lead. Three rounds remain, and the Spaniard is a full point ahead of Faustino Oro, who lost to his compatriot Diego Flores in round six and drew with Jose Cuenca Jiminez in yesterday’s second round. Anton Guijarro drew both of his games, against Cuenca and Jose Martinez Alcantara. The two leaders will face each other in this morning’s round. Cuenca Jiminez plays Ivan Sokolov, while Flores faces Martinez Alcantara. | Photo: Ivan Sokolov, who scored his first win in round six against Martinez, pictured during a simultaneous exhibition in Salzgitter-Bad a year ago | Photo: Arne Kähler

• Legends & Prodigies: David Antón scores twice to take sole lead

  After six draws the previous day, the players at the Legends & Prodigies tournament in Madrid seemed ready for a fight: rounds four and five produced just one draw in six games. Faustino Oro beat Ivan Sokolov before drawing with Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara, while David Antón scored two wins, defeating Diego Flores and Sokolov. The experienced Spaniard now leads the young Argentine by half a point. | Photo: David Antón winning the 2025 Spanish Championship | Photo: Spanish Chess Federation

• Review: Opening Encyclopedia 2026

  The ChessBase Opening Encyclopedia 2026 is one of the company’s flagship products alongside the Mega Database and the ChessBase database program - currently ChessBase'26. For years, these programs have formed part of the essential toolkit for everyday chess work. From the very beginning, the Opening Encyclopedia has played a key role by providing a fast and efficient overview of the entire spectrum of chess openings. Lukas Köpl took a closer look at the latest edition of the Opening Encyclopedia and summed up his impressions.

• ChessBase Summer-Special! – Part 10

  Dear chess friends! This week's Summer Special offers you a real powerhouse: Fritz 21 and the Openingbook 2026 are available this week (until September 13, 2026) for €189.90 – save around €50!

• Oro and Antón Guijarro share the lead in Madrid

  There were no winners on the second day of the Legends & Prodigies tournament in Madrid. All six games from rounds two and three ended in draws, including the third-round encounter between Faustino Oro and David Antón Guijarro, the two players who had won their opening games. | Photo: Faustino Oro at the 2026 Wijk aan Zee tournament | Photo: Nils Rohde