Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A stunning novelty

4/19/2024 – In his new Fast & Furious episode, Robert Ris shows a game which saw a surprising piece sacrifice that has good chances to become the novelty of the year. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Anish Giri in conversation with Shagar Shah: Live from 16:00 CEST (10:00 ET)

4/19/2024 – Anish Giri has recorded a two-volume Fritztrainer course in which he gives an overview of all the openings. The course is now available, also in ChessBase Book format. In a live stream, Anish Giri and his co-author Sagar Shah talk about Giri's Fritztrainer and what else is important in the chess world.
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"The Indian Way" - A review of RB Ramesh's "Improve Your Pieces"

4/19/2024 – The Indian Grandmaster RB Ramesh is regarded as one of the best and most successful coaches in the world, and he has played a significant role in the many successes of talented Indian players. In the ChessBase course "Improve your Pieces" he now reveals his chess and training philosophy. Harry Schaack watched the course and was impressed.
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European Women’s Championship starts in Rhodes

4/19/2024 – The Greek Chess Federation will host the European Women's Individual Championship this year. The tournament will take place from 18th (arrival) to 30th (departure) April 2024 at the 5 star conference hotel "Rodos Palace" in Rhodes, Greece. The hotel is also the official ECU hotel for this competition. | Photos: Offcial website
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Game of the Week #615: Vidit Gujrathi vs Gukesh D

4/19/2024 – In his new Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft takes a look at the game Vidit Gujrathi vs Gukesh D from the Candidates Tournament in Toronto, a fine game and an impressive comeback by Gukesh. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
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Women’s Candidates R12: Tan escapes with a draw to keep the lead

4/19/2024 – Three out of four games ended drawn in round 12 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, as Vaishali R scored her third win in a row in her encounter with black against Anna Muzychuk. The games that featured Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie could have easily ended with decisive results — Tan escaped with a draw from a losing position against Nurgyul Salimova, while Lei failed to make the most of clear winning chances against Kateryna Lagno. Thus, Tan kept her half-point lead over Lei. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Sunway Formentera Chess Festival, Round 10: Live

4/19/2024 – After nine of ten rounds of the Sunway International Open on Formentera, Ukrainian chess legend Vasyl Ivanchuk and German Grandmaster Alexander Donchenko share the lead with 7.0/9 each. Half a point behind follow three players with 6.5/9. Alexandra and Andrea Botez provide additional entertainment because their games are streamed and commented live. The 10th and final round starts at 09:00 CEST (03:00 ET).
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Chess in Canada: Great tournaments, impressive personalities

4/18/2024 – It came as something of a surprise that Toronto was chosen by FIDE as host of both Candidates Tournaments, but Canada has a rich chess history and has produced some great players over the years. Here's a brief outline:
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Adrian Mikhalchishin: The Sharp Arkhangelsk Variation in the Ruy Lopez

4/18/2024 – The Sharp Arkhangelsk variation, utilized by chess masters like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, emerges from a series of strategic moves beginning with 1.e4 e5. This rich variation offers multiple playstyles, making it a challenging preparation for opponents, with model games highlighting its diverse strategies and concepts for players of all levels.
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National Bank of Belgium wins Eurochess 2024

4/18/2024 – "Eurochess" is the apt name of the European banks' chess tournament. From 11 to 14 April, the tournament was held in Athens with 69 participants and 14 banking institutions. The National Bank of Belgium won the team competition, Radu Liviu the individual tournament. Gerd Densing represented the Bundesbank and reports.
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Women’s Candidates R11: Tan takes down Lagno, leads

4/18/2024 – Three games ended decisively in round 11 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, with Tan Zhongyi beating Kateryna Lagno in a key matchup, Vaishali R taking down Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Humpy Koneru defeating Nurgyul Salimova. These results left Tan atop the standings, with a half-point advantage over Lei Tingjie. Goryachkina’s loss left her a whole two points behind Tan with only three rounds to go in Toronto. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Candidates R11: Nepo sole leader, Naka beats Pragg

4/18/2024 – An exciting round of chess saw Ian Nepomniachtchi winning a rollercoaster game against Vidit Gujrathi to regain the sole lead at the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. Nepo stands a half point ahead of Gukesh D, the former co-leader, and Hikaru Nakamura, who obtained a remarkable victory over direct contender Praggnanandhaa R. With three rounds to go, we can expect more thrilling games in the fierce fight to become the challenger in the next match for the World Championship. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Italian Team Championships: Obiettivo Risarcimento and Pedone Isolani take the titles

4/17/2024 – Defending champions Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova won the 55th edition of the Italian Team Championship, but had to work hard to do so. They only won the final against ASD Pedone Isolano in the second tie-break. However, ASD Pedone Isolano won the women's title (photo). | Photos: Matteo Zoldan
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Are the classics necessary?

4/17/2024 – "I am a big fan of Aron Nimzowitsch," writes IM Zoran Petronijevic, who works as a chess trainer and lives in Nis (Serbia). "In yesterday's game Firouzja-Nepo, I found some ideas by him. We can often read that the study of the classical heritage of chess is completely unnecessary for advancing in chess, that the games of the classics are outdated, and that there is no (or almost no) benefit from them. I deeply disagree with that."
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Women’s Candidates R10: Lei wins again, shares the lead with Tan

4/17/2024 – Lei Tingjie scored a fourth win in five rounds to join Tan Zhongyi in the lead of the Women’s Candidates Tournament in Toronto. Lei defeated direct contender Aleksandra Goryachkina with the black pieces. With four rounds to go, the Chinese leading duo stands a full point ahead of Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno. Meanwhile, one more game ended decisively on Monday, with Vaishali R first surviving a losing position and then managing to beat Nurgyul Salimova. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Successful author Jan Markos - a portrait

4/16/2024 – Jan Markos is a Slovakian grandmaster and successful author. In addition to several books, he has now recorded a much acclaimed Fritztrainer course. Stefan Liebig spoke to the author and trainer about the secrets of effective chess training.
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Why Chess Players Blunder

4/16/2024 – We have seen them, haven’t we? The howlers? Amateurs and professionals alike in the aftermath of a game, trying to explain their blunder, shaking their heads in disbelief, scratching their brows, sighing while trying to come up with a rational explanation. Blunders happen because humans are fallible and ill-founded impulses prove stronger than the ability to abort them – as is explained in this scientific paper.

Candidates R10: Nakamura and Caruana grab crucial wins

4/16/2024 – U.S. grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura collected vital wins in round 10 of the Candidates Tournament, as they now stand a half point behind co-leaders Ian Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh D. Nakamura got the better of a struggling Nijat Abasov, while Caruana defeated Alireza Firouzja out of a double-edged Sicilian Najdorf. The participants will get rest days on Tuesday and Friday, as there are only four rounds to go in Toronto. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
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Anish Giri: A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

4/16/2024 – When you begin your journey of building an opening repertoire, how nice would it be to get a glimpse of what each opening looks like through the eyes of a super GM. It would help building your opening repertoire and understanding the vast world of chess openings. It is exactly with this thought that "A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings with Anish Giri" was made. Pre-order now! Delivery on 18 April 2024.
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A draw - but not always an easy one

4/16/2024 – Usually the endgame rook and knight against rook is an easy draw. But matters are different, when the defending king is in trouble near the corner of the board. In the diagram position, it is Black to move and draw. What should he do?

Understanding before Moving 173: Chess history in a nutshell (54)

4/16/2024 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 173rd episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to take a look at the chess legacy of Boris Spassky, World Champion from 1969 to 1972. | Photo: Pascal Simon
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Endgame Magic #263 - Endgame highlights from the Candidates Tournament

4/15/2024 – In his Endgame Magic Show #263, Karsten Müller looks at endgame highlights from the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. There were quite a few, and quite a few, in which opposite-coloured bishops played an important role. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

Women’s Candidates R9: Tan beats Vaishali to regain the sole lead

4/15/2024 – After Lei Tingjie inflicted Tan Zhongyi’s first defeat on Saturday, Tan regained the sole lead by beating Vaishali Rameshbabu in Sunday’s round 9. Tan stands a half point ahead of Lei and Aleksandra Goryachkina, who are set to face each other on Monday. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

FIDE100 torch relay celebrated in Canada

4/15/2024 – Continuing its global journey from the Indian subcontinent to Africa and Europe, the FIDE100 Torch Relay, commemorating a century of FIDE, has now reached the shores of North America. The ceremony was held on April 13, at the Nathan Phillips square in the center of Toronto, not far from the Great Hall where the strongest men and women players in the world are fighting in the Candidates tournament.
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