3/3/2024 – Do you need special batteries to play chess? No, a battery in chess refers to piece formation! A battery is a formation that consists of two or more pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal. In a more detailed way, a battery refers to a configuration of heavy pieces (rooks or queens) that occupy the same file. It can also refer to long-range pieces (queens and bishops) that occupy the same diagonal. Learn more about the strength of the chess battery from chess trainer Efstratios Grivas.

3/3/2024 – A smooth victory over Mateusz Bartel allowed Nodirbek Abdusattorov to become the sole leader of the Masters section in the Prague Chess Festival. Praggnanandhaa R and David Navara also scored full points in an eventful fifth round, the last one before the rest day. In the Challengers, Anton Korobov and Ediz Gurel continue to be the co-leaders, as both players obtained victories on Saturday. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

3/2/2024 – Two games ended decisively in round 3 of the strong Shenzhen Masters. Yu Yangyi became the sole leader by beating Vladislav Artemiev with the white pieces. Arjun Erigaisi (pictured), meanwhile, bounced back from his loss against Bu Xiangzhi with a fine victory over Anish Giri. | Photo: Liang Ziming

3/2/2024 – The Freestyle Chess Tournament in Weissenhaus generated a great deal of interest in the chess world. Perhaps we got to see the chess of the future. Given the success of the event, Jan Henric Buettner announced that he plans to continue supporting the royal game. The entrepreneur is now planning a Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. And he wants to sponsor Vincent Keymer and other talented players on their way to the top. | Photos: Freestyle Chess / Weissenhaus Resort

3/2/2024 – In the diagram position the double attack 38.Qg4! leads to a win for White, since the counterattack 38...Qe3 runs into ... but you can show that yourself in a moment!

3/2/2024 – After a quiet round in the Masters section of the Prague Chess Festival — with five draws — Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Parham Maghsoodloo continue to share the lead with 3/4 points each. On the other hand, the Challengers saw three games ending decisively in round 4, with co-leaders Anton Korobov and Ediz Gurel (pictured) both scoring full points to remain atop the standings. The third winner of the day was Vaishali R, who now has a fifty-percent score after having kicked off the event with two losses in a row. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

3/1/2024 – Yesterday's winners, Anish Giri and Arjun Erigaisi, were defeated in the second round by Daniil Dubov (photo) and Bu Xianghzi respectively. Yu Yangyi - against Xu Xiangyu - and Vladislav Artiemiev - against Ma Qun - also won. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

3/1/2024 – Did you know that your brain makes up just 2% of your body’s weight, but accounts for 20% of its energy use. During a chess game you can burn a lot of calories by just thinking. Intel project manager (and avid chess researcher) Ashwin Subramanian uses the latest monitoring data to analyse the process. He says it is critical for all players to “eat right”. And to also do specific breathing exercises, which have measurably improved his play.

3/1/2024 – In his new Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft analyses a fine attacking game Parham Maghsoodloo played at the Prague Festival against Praggnanandhaa. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

3/1/2024 – With the top players mainly playing online and freestyle, there has been little change at the top of the rankings. Magnus Carlsen, the current World Champion in Rapid and Blitz, is still the world number one, as he has been since July 2011. Fabiano Caruana follows in second place and is the only other player besides Carlsen with a rating of 2800+.

3/1/2024 – The Masters and Challengers are the focus of the Prague Chess Festival, but the Open also has a strong line-up and an attractive field. GM Eltaj Safarli from Azerbaijan (Elo 2614) tops the seeding list, followed by Indian GM S.P. Sethuraman in second place, 11 Elo points behind. A total of 263 players are competing in Prague, including well-known streamers Andrea and Alexandra Botez and Dina Belenkaya, who are broadcasting their games live with commentary. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

3/1/2024 – Tata Steel 2024: Analyses of the tournament winner Wei Yi as well as Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alexander Donchenko, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Erwin l'Ami, Praggnanandhaa, Eline Roebers and Vidit Gujrathi - Mihail Marin looks back at Linares 1992: Kasparov vs. the young generation - French à la Erigaisi: Sergey Grigoriants serves up a fresh idea in the Advance Variation: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 f6!? - Inviting Nimzo-Inder: In the fashionable variation 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 dxe4 7.fxe4 c5 White gets a protected passed pawn on d5; Jan Werle shows why Black can afford it! - "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" Part #8: What you need to know in the endgame with bishop and pawn; video course with Karsten Mueller and much more. Enjoy CBM #218 in the new ChessBase book format on any device: iPad, tablet, Mac. Windows PC or laptop!