4/7/2020 – In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at a classic and analyses a typical and typically instructive win by Capablanca. | Lawrence is on air from 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can always register a free 90-day account to watch.

4/7/2020 – The Benoni Defense leads to asymmetrical, double-edged positions that give Black good chances to play for a win. On his new DVD, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, coach and second of Fabiano Caruana, shows why the Benoni is much better than it's theoretical reputation and that it is an entirely solid line which offers Black a lot of dynamic possibilities.

4/7/2020 – The match between the USSR and the "Rest of the World" in Belgrade 1970 – the "Match of the Century" – was a fantastic event. Vlastimil Hort played in Belgrade for the "World" and in an interview with ChessBase he shares his memories and talks about Fischer and Keres and rumours that the Soviet cheated in the final round.

4/7/2020 – Bishop endings have drawish tendencies, even if the bishops move on squares of the same colour. Therefore, precision is required to win a better position.

4/7/2020 – A poem written in Valencian by Francesc de Castellví, Bernat Fenollar and Narcís de Vinyoles was the first literary work to describe a game with the modern rules — the queen could move multiple squares in all directions and the scope of the bishops widened importantly. SERGIO NEGRI tells us the story. | Image: A chessboard illustrated in Jacobus de Cessolis' "De ludo scachorum".

4/6/2020 – In these strange times with no live tournaments going on, GM Simon Williams jumps aboard his time-machine and looks to the past. | Watch for free live and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 17:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST).

4/6/2020 – There's a new book in the making, one that contains the classics of chess, but also of the intricate art of chess problems and studies. The author is Werner Keym, one of the most versatile composers in the chess world. The book starts with the most famous games in history. Most of them you will know, but have you looked carefully at the moves, have you understood the plans and the tactics. You can do that on our news page, using our interactive JavaScript player. It's an opportunity to understand chess history better.

4/6/2020 – The chess year 2020 began with a highlight, the Women's World Championship match between World Champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina. The match was hard-fought and Ju Wenjun won the tie-break. Here, at her premiere as a ChessBase author, she delivers an insider's report on this exciting match. | Photos: FIDE

4/6/2020 – Chess enjoys a good reputation and the creators of the popular online game "Auto Chess" probably wanted to use this reputation when naming their product. However, chess players might wonder how much chess really is in "Auto Chess"? A bit but not that much. | Photo: Courtesy of Drodo Studio

4/5/2020 – With all over-the-board chess action cancelled or postponed, this is a great moment to explore new territories. Our “Study of the Month” columnist SIEGFRIED HORNECKER sent us some tips to start composing an endgame study or two, or try solving some puzzles for fun.

4/5/2020 – Last month, on March 9 2020, Bobby Fischer would have turned 77. We could have commemorated it with a detailed biography of the 11th World Champion – but who doesn't know all the details of the life of the most charismatic and enigmatic player in the history of the game? So instead I would like to retell one of my favourite stories, a birthday present to Fischer, wherever he might be. It is a lovely story, and has ideas that you can use in your own games.

4/5/2020 – The protagonist of this week's column was defeated by "quite a strong player". JON SPEELMAN finds out who was the mysterious opponent and annotates the game in detail. | Send in your own games! | Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

4/4/2020 – In the times of corona online chess is more popular than ever and more than 1,100 players took part in the German Internet Chess Championship which was organized by the German Chess Federation and ChessBase. But online or not - the tournament is still affected by the corona pandemic.

4/4/2020 – Are you 27 years old or younger? Then you can take part in a competiton run by "Schwalbe", the German society for problem chess – on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the "German Chess Youth". You get ten (actually very delightful) problems to solve. You mail your answers to the supervisor of the competition, and can win one of many prizes. Comments are welcome. In any case the problems are lots of fun.

4/4/2020 – Murray Chandler is author, chess organizer, philanthropist, New Zealand's only grandmaster and owner of a church in Auckland. Chandler has lived in Europe for many years, was a successful Bundesliga player and has played at Chess Olympiads for England and for New Zealand. Today, April 4, he celebrates his 60th birthday. Congratulations! | Photo: Murray Chandler at the Chess Olympiad 2008 in Dresden | Photo: Frank Hoppe

4/4/2020 – Statistics play a major role in any sport. More so in chess, where FIDE ratings have their weight in gold. FIDE does publish its rating list every month, but in between those 30 days a lot of action happens when some of the top tournaments are taking place. Where do we keep a track of all the live rating changes of top players? That's where the website 2700chess.com comes into the picture. It is the best resource to stay abreast of all the rating fluctuations of players above the rating of 2700. Who founded this website? What was the intention behind it? And how does he manage to keep it so well updated? Here's the interview with the founder of 2700chess.com — IM Artiom Tsepotan. | Photo: Artiom pictured with his wife Julia

4/3/2020 – In the diagram position it's Black to play and win - but before you start thinking, please don't forget to take your watch off...

4/3/2020 – Grandmaster Daniel King reflects on some online games between Carlsen vs Firouzja and wonders if this is the chess of the future. Power Play is live most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...