ChessBase

• Total Chess: Top scorers obtain 4/6 points on first day of group stage

  The group stage of the Total Chess Pilot began in Budapest on Wednesday, with players contesting two games at a 45+30 time control. Six players finished the day with 4 points out of a possible 6: Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja (pictured), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Le Quang Liem. The football-style scoring system made an immediate difference, as Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri - who drew both their encounters - find themselves trailing players who collected a win and a loss. | Photo: Michal Walusza / Total Chess

• CBM 233: Aronian and Pragg shine

  ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Nagesh Havanur takes a look at the recent issue, CBM 233. A total of 2911 games from the Biel and Norway tournaments (18 annotated), 10 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Lubomir Ftacnik. Aydin Suleymanli and Le Quang Liem, among others. The icing on the cake is Anish Giri's analysis of two decisive games from the Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters Tournament. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

• What happens with my databases? - ChessBase on Mac

  One of the biggest questions for chess players switching to ChessBase for Mac is what happens to their databases from the Windows version. Can you still use them? Can you transfer databases in the .cbh format, too? And if so, how much work does it take? In under two minutes, our Mac developer Stefan Raetzke von Stoyentin explains whether and how you can keep using your existing ChessBase databases on a Mac.

• ChessBase for Mac

  Our database program – used by everyone, from the World Champion to lowly club players – is now available for Mac users. The new version has been developed from the ground up: modern, built for fast access to what matters. The cost: just €9.95 per month, or €99.95 per year. Make sure you don’t miss the launch of a new era in chess study on the Mac.

• Total Chess – totally complicated

  The 2025 Chess Calendar established that there are 151 official World Chess Championships. Another will be added in 2027 – the Total Chess Championship. The pilot tournament takes place in Budapest from 10 to 20 November. The field is strong, the format is complicated, and ChessBase has gone through the Total Chess webpage in an attempt to understand it. However, it is unclear whether all the rules have been correctly understood and reproduced. The following information is therefore provided without guarantee of accuracy.

• Remembering Mikhail Tal

  Today marks the 90th anniversary of Mikhail Tal's birth. Tal was one of the great figures in chess history, playing particularly exciting chess in his youth and becoming the youngest world champion in history in 1960. Unfortunately, he suffered from health problems throughout his life and died at a relatively young age. | Tal giving a simultaneous exhibition in 1977 (Photo: Miass City Museum Archive)

• Pranesh wins Chola Chess Open as young talents make their mark

  Pranesh M won the inaugural Chola Chess Open in Chennai, scoring 7/9 points after finishing with two consecutive victories. The Indian grandmaster ended half a point ahead of five players, including runner-up S. L. Narayanan. The tournament also saw 16-year-old Viresh Sharnarthi earn his second GM norm in ten days, while 11-year-old Sarbartho Mani secured his first IM norm. Nine title norms were achieved in total. | Photo: Devansh Singh

• Bavarian Championship: Four players finish tied for first, Sasikiran claims title on tiebreaks

  Indian grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran won the Bavarian Chess Championship in Gmund am Tegernsee, finishing on 7½/9 points and taking first place on tiebreaks. German GMs Frederik Svane and Roven Vogel finished second and third, while Indian FM Arun Daakshin also reached 7½ points. All four won their final-round games with the black pieces, bringing an event that attracted 548 participants to a close. | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

• Bodhana Sivanandan joins strong field in Salamanca

  The Salamanca Chess Festival will take place from 10 to 14 November, bringing together six players for a rapid round-robin tournament. The field includes 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan (pictured), former world top-ten player Loek van Wely and Spanish grandmaster Paco Vallejo, who returns to top-level competition after a lengthy absence. Elisabeth Paehtz, José Martínez Alcántara and Anastasiia Hnatyshyn complete the lineup. Several side events are also scheduled. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

• Yu Yangyi retains Chinese Rapid Championship title after Armageddon decider

  Yu Yangyi successfully defended his Chinese Rapid Championship title in Shaoxing, defeating 18-year-old Xiao Tong in an Armageddon decider after six games had failed to separate the finalists. Xiao had previously eliminated Ding Liren and Lu Shanglei in blitz tiebreaks to reach the final. Meanwhile, Lu secured third place by defeating Xu Xiangyu. | Photo: Chinese Chess Association