1/15/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King takes a look at game by Frank Marshall (1877-1944), U.S. Champion from 1909 to 1936, and a legendary attacking player. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 13:00 ET). All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

1/15/2021 – Despite the corona pandemic, the Tata Steel Tournament 2021 in Wijk aan Zee is an over-the-board tournament, where the top players face each other live. But the safety measures are strict, and corona stopped Daniil Dubov from taking part. The Russian Grandmaster who is famous for his creative attacking chess, had to cancel after someone close to him was tested positive for Covid-19. But the organisers found a last-minute-replacement: the young German Grandmaster Alexander Donchenko (pictured). The tournament will begin tomorrow, Saturday, January 16, and last till January 31. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

1/15/2021 – In the diagram position White just played 21.Nf6+!, which gives him a winning attack. There are some most beautiful variations to discover, the highlight being a checkmate in ... 14! Enjoy!

1/14/2021 – The 83rd edition of the traditional Wijk aan Zee tournament is about to begin, with the first round scheduled to take place on Saturday. Seven-time winner Magnus Carlsen will be leading a 14-player field which includes world number 2 and latest World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen won the “A tournament” for the first time thirteen years ago, when he shared first place with Levon Aronian. | Photos: Frits Agtenderbos / ChessVista

1/14/2021 – The lives of Walter Tevis and his literary character Beth Harmon have a number of similarities. Both of them experienced a childhood marked by drug addiction, and later, alcoholism, both "lived" in Lexington, Kentucky. And both of them found their salvation in chess. A hunt for clues in Lexington.

1/14/2021 – For more than twenty years Jeroen van den Berg has been running the tournament in Wijk aan Zee as director, and he has enormously contributed to the ongoing success and attraction of this event, which each year is an absolute highlight in the chess calendar. In his latest "Let's talk about chess..." podcast Eric van Reem talks to Jeroen van den Berg about the long and colourful history of the tournament, about fantastic games played in Wijk, and, of course, about this year's tournament, which will start on Saturday - under special conditions but still as an over-the-board tournament. | Photo: Grenke Schach

1/14/2021 – The Grand Chess Tour 2021, a series of five top tournaments (two with classical time-controls, three in rapid and blitz mode) announced the ten players that will compete as full 2021 tour participants: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk, Levon Aronian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teimour Radjabov, and Anish Giri. Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura decided not to take part as full tour participants in 2021. The first Grand Chess Tour 2021 event will be the Superbet Chess Classic, in Bucharest, Romania, from June 3 - 15, 2021.

1/14/2021 – Stanley Kubrick is widely considered as one of the greatest directors of all time. But he was also a passionate chess player, and when he lived in New York, he often visited the "Flea House", a well-known and rather notorious meeting place for chess players and gamblers. In his film "The Killing" from 1956 Kubrick paid homage to this institution and one of its regular guests: the wrestler, chess lover, and actor Kola Kwariani. | Picture: Kola Kwariani (left), Stanley Kubrick (center) and Sterling Hayden (right), Cover of "Chess Review", March 1956

1/13/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes a look at a brilliant game Max Warmerdam played at the Vergani Open. A game that was not only a piece of art but also helped Warmerdam to win the tournament and to become a grandmaster. | 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. | Photo: Alina l'Ami (Archive)

1/13/2021 – The success of the Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" made Anya Taylor-Joy, who played the main character Beth Harmon in the series, a star. "The Hollywood Reporter" talked to Anya Taylor-Joy about her career, the series, why she fell in love with Beth Harmon, and how she learned to play chess to understand her character better. | Photo: Netflix

1/13/2021 – The Sicilian is the most popular opening against 1.e4 because it is theoretically sound but offers Black double-edged play at the same time. Whilst you must know how to handle the main line (2. Nf3 and 3.d4), sidelines are also very important. In this video series, Nicholas Pert gives a strong and practical Black repertoire against these sidelines such as the Bb5 Sicilian, the Grand Prix Attack, the Alapin and many more, from his years of experience playing the Sicilian.

1/13/2021 – You do not need to know the rules of chess to understand the metaphors of the game. In one of his many letters to his confidante and platonic friend Milena Jesenská (1896-1944), Franz Kafka made an excursion into the realm of chess to bare his soul and heart. Sergio Negri had a closer look.