3/6/2024 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov bounced back from his round-6 loss by beating Vincent Keymer at the Masters section of the Prague Chess Festival. Thus, Abdusattorov continues to be the sole leader with two rounds to go. Parham Maghsoodloo got the better of Vidit and now stands in sole second place. In the all-Indian confrontation between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh (pictured), the latter escaped with a draw in a 91-move game. Meanwhile, Anton Korobov caught Ediz Gurel in the lead of the Challengers. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

3/5/2024 – The Djerba Chess Festival was not all about the Masters tournament, as a number of open tournaments and side events took place concurrently. Chokri Saidi, the festival’s organiser, noted: “I am a businessman, but nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing children and players from all over the region and from further abroad giving all their being into a game of chess”. | Pictured: Arezki Bouhini from Algeria | All photos by Diana Mihajlova

3/5/2024 – The new issue of ChessBase Magazine offers complete mobile access again in ChessBase book format - all analyses, repertoire articles, videos and training exercises can be loaded directly via your web browser! Alexey Kuzmin's article on the Bukavshin Variation in the Catalan Opening (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 b6!?.) is available as a free sample this week. Take a look and get to know a fresh side line for Black!

3/5/2024 – In memory of the Austrian WGM Eva Moser, who died so young, a women's GM tournament was organised in Graz. The French player Deimante Daulyte-Cornette won the tournament with a victory in the final round of the "Chess Ladies Graz". | Photos: Tournament page

3/5/2024 – Knowing when to exchange and when not to exchange is often crucial in endgames. In the diagram position it is White to move - should he exchange rooks on c3 or should he not?

3/5/2024 – An exciting sixth round at the Masters tournament in Prague saw Praggnanandhaa taking down frontrunner Nodirbek Abdusattorov — who remains as the sole leader despite the loss. Parham Maghsoodloo, who entered the round in sole second place, was defeated by Thai Dai Van Nguyen, while Vincent Keymer beat Vidit Gujrathi and Mateusz Bartel got the better of Gukesh. In the Challengers, Ediz Gurel is now the sole leader, as Anton Korobov, who was sharing first place before round 6, was defeated by Maxim Rodshtein. | Photo: Mark Livshitz

3/4/2024 – After four rounds of the Shenzhen Masters, a trio of players - Bu, Yu and Erigaisi - are leading the table. Bu defeated Anish Giri with the white pieces. After a good start, things are not going well for the Dutchman. | Photos: Liang Ziming (Organiser)

3/4/2024 – The Karel Janecek Open, which takes place as part of the Prague Chess Festival, features a number of grandmasters, but after five of nine rounds an IM is in the lead with 5 out of 5: Xiang Zeyu from China. Eight players follow half a point behind with 4.5 out of 5 each. Four of these eight players are Grandmasters, four are International Masters. | Foto: Petr Vrabec

3/4/2024 – The ultimate chess companion bundle: Fritz 19 paired with the Fritz Powerbook 2024. Elevate your game with Fritz 19's advanced AI and deep analysis tools that challenge and teach players of all skill levels. Then, take your strategy to the next level with the Fritz Powerbook 2024, offering over 25 million openings, variations, and patterns derived from real-world games and top-level matches. Together, they provide an unparalleled chess training experience, combining tactical depth with a vast knowledge base to sharpen your skills and strategies like never before. This bundle is now €139.90 instead of €179.90!

3/4/2024 – 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 in part two of a mini-series by chess trainer Efstratios Grivas.

3/4/2024 – Four weeks before the start of the Candidates Tournament in Toronto, almost all the participants and their travelling companions are still waiting for the visas they applied for months ago to be issued. FIDE has now sent an "urgent visa appeal to the Canadian government" and is even considering moving the "most prestigious tournament in the chess world" to another country. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/3/2024 – A fortnight ago, I showed a game by Lu Miaoyi, a ferocious 14-year-old Chinese girl. This started me thinking about the best attacking players of all time. I don’t have an ordered list myself, just some names which I think should go very close to the top. Here I analysed three brilliant attacking wins by Rashid Nezhmetdinov (pictured), Paul Keres and Wei Yi. What is your top ten of attacking players? Share your list in the comments section.