9/4/2025 – On September 28, Czech Inn Chess is organizing a rapid chess tournament in honor of Vlastimil Hort. The venue is the Hotel Giovanni, where Vlastimil Hort always stayed whenever he visited Prague. The tournament is intended to be held annually from now on. Those who take part will feel the spirit of the great Czech chess legend, which surely still lingers in these rooms.

9/4/2025 – An experienced trainer, Ivan Sokolov helped the likes of Alireza Firouzja and Parham Maghsoodloo to develop their talent. In his FritzTrainer series for ChessBase, he showcases a pragmatic style, focusing on general ideas rather than specific lines. One of the games analysed in the section devoted to practical play is Garry Kasparov against Jan Timman from Corus 2001, which included a number of instructive mistakes by both legendary grandmasters. | Photo: Frederic Friedel

9/3/2025 – ...for the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss. The historic city of Samarkand welcomed the chess world with a spectacular ceremony blending history, art and chess, setting the stage for one of the strongest tournaments ever. The ceremony started with a short video that took the audience on a journey in time, from the archaeological discoveries of 7th-century Afrasiab to the present day. The carefully crafted narrative began in darkness, with a golden beam of light revealing ancient chess pieces discovered on the historic hill of Afrasiab – evidence that chess had flourished in these lands for over thirteen centuries.

9/3/2025 – Some time ago, we invited our readers to help us unravel a long-standing mystery in the famous game Botvinnik–Boleslavsky, played in 1943 (during World War II!). The response was overwhelming, and in a relatively short time, we reached a conclusion: Boleslavsky could have held the balance – a draw was within reach – despite Botvinnik’s claim in his (usually precise!) commentary that his position was winning.

9/3/2025 – The first stage of the Chinese Team Championship took place in Shandong and comprised six rounds. Hou Yifan was the tournament's best player, winning all six of her games and helping her team, Shenzhen Pengchen, to third place. The Hangzhou Bank team is in the lead. | Photos: Liang Ziming

9/3/2025 – With five of the eight places for the 2026 Women's Candidates already decided, the focus now turns to the upcoming Women's Grand Swiss and the conclusion of the Women's Events 2024–25 series. Anna Muzychuk (pictured) currently leads the standings among players still in contention, ahead of Lei Tingjie, Harika Dronavalli and Kateryna Lagno. Their performances in Samarkand and later rapid and blitz events will determine the final qualification spots. | Photo: Przemek Nikiel

8/31/2025 – In this Smart Moves episode, Svitlana explains the Stonewall pawn structure, most often arising from the Dutch Defense, and outlines key strategic plans for both sides. White aims to control the e5 square, trade dark-squared bishops, and expand on the queenside with ideas like c4–b4, while Black typically seeks kingside play with a knight on e4, improving the bad bishop via maneuvers, or breaking with c5. She then illustrates these concepts through a model game by Jon Ludvig Hammer, showing how White successfully opened the c-file, traded bishops, exploited weaknesses, and converted into a winning endgame — demonstrating both the strengths and vulnerabilities of the Stonewall.

8/31/2025 – How to use ChessBase 18 effectively in training — that is the subject of this three-part series in our tutorial line. Using it effectively also means being able to send your files to your training group, since the material you created in the earlier parts should, after all, be made available to your students in a useful way. ChessBase 18 offers several practical methods for doing this, which we explain in this part.

8/31/2025 – A turning point arrived in round seven of the Fujairah Global Chess Championship's Superstars event, as Pranav Venkatesh defeated Amin Tabatabaei to become the sole leader on 5½ points. The chasing group, now a point behind, includes Zhu Jiner, who remained unbeaten with a steady draw against Sanan Sjugirov. Also among them is Pranav's next rival, 16-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra, who let a winning chance slip in a lengthy battle against Aydin Suleymanli. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

8/30/2025 – The 2025 FIDE Circuit is entering its decisive months, with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu holding a commanding lead mainly thanks to victories earlier this year in Wijk aan Zee, Bucharest and Tashkent. With 107 points, he sits well ahead of Anish Giri and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, his closest pursuers. Attention now turns to the Grand Swiss in Samarkand, where results will both influence the Circuit standings and play a key role in shaping the Candidates lineup. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/30/2025 – In the newest episode of Monthly Dragon, Chris Ward explores recent games in the Dragon, focusing on the fianchetto system where White plays g3. He analyzes key ideas, such as when White captures on c6 and pushes e5, showing how Black can calmly defend and even gain the upper hand, illustrated through a game where an English IM defeated a GM. Finally, Ward highlights a Magnus Carlsen game in the hyper-accelerated Dragon, where Magnus outmaneuvered his opponent with patient queen shifts, central tactics, and a brilliant finish, proving once again the richness of the Dragon.| Photo: John Upham

8/30/2025 – Thirty years ago, on August 30, 1995, Soviet Grandmaster Lev Polugaevsky died in Paris from cancer. To commemorate the renowned theoretician, who for many years was among the world’s leading players, Johannes Fischer takes a look at his book "Grandmaster Preparation", in which Polugaevsky recounts his decades-long passion for the line that bears his name: the Polugaevsky Variation of the Najdorf. | Photo: Anefo / Croes, R.C.