4/8/2021 – In this week’s show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at the Fantasy Variation, an interesting way to fight the Caro-Kann that often leads to sharp and double-edged positions. | “Fast and Furious” is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/8/2021 – Wednesday, April 7, brought a double shift for the players in the German "Kader-Challenge" - rounds 3 and 4. Rasmus Svane made the most of these opportunities: in round 3 he won against his younger brother Frederik and in round 4 he defeated Niclas Huschenbeth, and is now sole leader with 3.0/4. In the women's tournament only one round was played. Jana Schneider continued to win and now leads with 3.0/3. But it was Antonia Ziegenfuß, who played the game of the day: she defeated Elisabeth Pähtz in a powerful attacking game. | Photo: Frank Hoppe

4/8/2021 – In the last couple of decades, China has become a chess powerhouse, with Ding Liren fighting at the highest level, the national squads accumulating success after success in team events and the women players continuing to show their strength. A week and a half before the resumption of the Candidates — where two of the participants are Chinese — we revisit two brilliant games by players born in the world’s most populous country: Liu Wenzhe and Wei Yi. | Photo: Niki Riga

4/7/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft shows a duel between two brothers - Rasmus Svane and Frederik Svane. The two faced each other in round three of the German "Kader-Challenge" in Magdeburg and everyone who expected a lifeless draw was pleasantly disappointed. | Merijn's show is available at 16.00 UTC (17:00 CET, 12:00 EDT) and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/7/2021 – Leontxo Garcia is a Spanish lecturer, presenter, commentator and one of the best and most famous chess journalists in the world. Leontxo also is Eric van Reem's guest in episode 27 of Eric's "Lets-Talk-About-Chess" podcast, where he shares funny and interesting stories about the Candidates, e.g. how he fled from Yekaterinburg at the Candidates 2020 though still officially quarantined. | Photo: Vishy Anand, Leontxo Garcia, Magnus Carlsen (Bilbao 2012)

4/7/2021 – The young German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer played a major role in the surprising success of the SF Deizisau in the European Online Chess Club Cup: in the preliminaries he scored 7.0/9, in the play-offs he came to 3.0/4, and in the finals he convinced with 5.5/7. In a video made by the SF Deizisau, Keymer now analyses his victory against Yuriy Kuzubov in the last round of the play-offs - a strategically and tactically highly interesting game. | Photo: Vincent Keymer

4/4/2021 – In the mid-nineteenth century, sacrifice was king, and it was supposedly considered “ungentlemanly” to disdain the tasty bait which the opponent proffered. In today’s column, Jon Speelman looks at three examples of the decision-making process behind accepting or not a sacrifice made by the opponent. | Pictured: Vasily Smyslov | Photo: Dutch National Archive

4/3/2021 – When a chess club reaches a nice round anniversary, a proper celebration is called for. And what better way to celebrate than with a grandmaster tournament? That’s what the ‘SG Bochum 31’ club did in 1981, when it celebrated its 50th anniversary with the “International German Championship” held at Stadtpark Restaurant. Those who were already active chess fans at the time will certainly look back and remember one or two of the participants — among them was Lubomir Kavalek, who in fact won the tournament! It all happened 40 years ago to the day. | Photo: Gerhard Hund, via Wikimedia Commons

4/3/2021 – The Schachfreunde Deizisau won the European Chess Club Cup a few days ago. The star-studded tournament was undoubtedly a top-class event. Good reason for Karsten Müller to examine the extensive game material in detail. During his research, he found bishop-related examples: he discovered an imprisoned bishop, saw how another one fought alone against a number of pawns, and found a pure opposite-coloured bishops endgame that was not a draw. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/3/2021 – 26...Rxh4! in the diagam position was very strong, however, after 27.gxh4 Black failed to crown his combination and take the game home. Can you do better?

4/3/2021 – Take a look at this position. Can White (to play) win? It is a truly remarkable study by a truly remarkable composer. Mario Matouš gives us a wonderful position to solve. The theme is a rampaging queen which wants to sacrifice itself to stalemate the black monarch. Can you solve it? The composer was born in Czechoslovakia in 1947, and died 2013. Here's a memorial by Emil Vlasák.

4/3/2021 – A 9-round over-the-board tournament is taking place in La Nucía, a municipality in the comarca of Marina Baixa, Alicante in Spain. No fewer than 180 players registered to participate, 11 of which have a 2400+ Elo rating. After 5 rounds, 58-year-old Armenian grandmaster Karen Movsziszian is the sole leader. | All photos: Patricia Claros Aguilar