ChessBase

• Is Gukesh calculating too much?

  Is calculation becoming a strength that turns into a weakness? In this opinion piece, Ravi Abhyankar explores the delicate balance between calculation and instinct in modern chess. Can today’s elite players afford to rely only on deep calculation and ignore speed? Why does blitz matter so much for a classical World Champion today? By blending data, history, and modern realities, the article explains what dominance means in modern chess. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

• Prague Chess Festival - Live!

  From 25 February to 6 March 2026, the eighth Prague International Chess Festival is taking place at the Don Giovanni Hotel, bringing together elite competition and a wide programme of side events. In Sunday's fifth round, the last one before the rest day, sole leader Jorden van Foreest faces Hans Niemann with the white pieces. | Follow the action live starting at 15.00 CET (9.00 ET, 19.30 IST)

• Prague Challengers: Gledura and Yuffa grab full points

  Round four of the Challengers tournament at the Prague Chess Festival featured two decisive games. Benjamin Gledura (pictured) bounced back from two consecutive losses by defeating Jonas Buhl Bjerre, while Daniil Yuffa claimed his second consecutive victory as he beat Zhu Jiner. Vaclav Finek remains the sole leader of the tournament on 3/4 points after drawing Divya Deshmukh with black. | Photo: Tomáš Krist / Prague Chess Festival

• How to avoid decision making flaws

  On Sunday KCF Academy subscribers will have the chance to meet Evgenij Miroshnichenko, one of the most analytically sharp and pedagogically gifted chess minds in the game today, during a live, interactive Sunday session. Mark your calendar: 17:00 CET, March 1, 2026.

• ChessBase´26 – Tips for Beginners, Part 4: Figurines and Colours

  When you work with a programme on a regular basis, you should make that work as pleasant as possible. ChessBase´26 offers endless possibilities - and that goes for the look too. Make your workspace individual and pleasant. In part 4 of our new series of tutorials we will show you how easy it is to design your individual notation so that analysing with it is a maximum pleasure.

• News on the 1896 Schiffers vs Steinitz Match

  Wilhelm Steinitz had lost his World Championship title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but he still retained the right to a return match. That rematch was scheduled to take place in Moscow at the end of 1896. Before that, however, Steinitz played a training match against Emanuel Schiffers. Join us on a brief journey back in time to Rostov-on-Don in 1896.

• Endgame Challenge Solutions

  Were you able to solve the challenge positions we gave you last week? Were you able to defeat the diagrams, which defended tenatiously? Today we bring you all solutions, with very instructive video explanations by Jared Modica, a chess content creator from Austin, Texas. He shows us how to solve tatical lines of play, and how to handle pawns in endgames.

• Review: New releases in January!

  We have a new author at ChessBase: Harshit Raja. And the Indian grandmaster is ambitious – he offers a complete 1.d4-repertoire! In addition, new episodes of Ivan Sokolov’s Middlegame Strategy series were released in January, and ChessBase Magazine fans can look forward to CBM Extra #229, packed with a rich "Lucky Bag". | All photos: ChessBase

• Most attractive chess players

  Who is your favourite chess player – of all time, from the history of chess? Whose games do you enjoy the most? Is it one of the greats from the 19th century, the world champion legends of the twentieth? Or is it a player who is still active? Tell us your choices – and we will compare them with what a chess AI chooses, after evaluating millions of games.

• ChessBase´26: A Players Guide (5)

  "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.