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.

3/3/2024 – The Djerba Masters was an 8-player single round-robin featuring a mix of rising stars and experienced grandmasters. In the end, Daniel Dardha and Hans Niemann tied for first place with 4½ points each. Dardha was declared tournament winner thanks to his better tiebreak score. World junior champion Marc’Andria Maurizzi tied for third place with fan favourite Vasyl Ivanchuk. | All photos by Diana Mihajlova

3/3/2024 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 167th episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to look at the legacy of Mikhail Tal. | Photo: Pascal Simon

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