4/18/2023 – A dramatic seventh game saw Ian Nepomniachtchi taking the lead for a third time at the World Championship match in Astana. Ding Liren shocked Nepo and the audience by playing the French Defence, which led to a double-edged position. While Ding managed to solve his problems and gain the initiative, he also got in deep time trouble. With only seconds on his clock and no increment, he blundered the game away. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

4/18/2023 – Nearly 300 chess enthusiasts visited the island of Menorca last week to take part in the 2nd International Chess Festival, including several grandmasters. After nine rounds ten players with 7.0/9 each shared the lead in the strong open tournament. But the young Indian Gukesh had the best tiebreak and was declared tournament winner.

4/18/2023 – A women's match between a Kazakh selection and a world selection began yesterday in Kazakhstan. The match will be played over two days of rapid chess and one day of blitz. On the first day, the World Team (photo), led by Hou Yifan, took a clear lead. | Photos: David Llada /FIDE

4/18/2023 – In the diagram position Black is two pawns down and in trouble. But Black has an active king and an active rook - enough to save the game. What should Black do to hold the draw?

4/18/2023 – Anyone who seriously deals with openings cannot avoid the opening encyclopaedia. Whether beginner or grandmaster. The Opening Encyclopaedia is by far the most comprehensive chess theory work: over 1,396 (!) theory articles offer a huge fund of ideas and high-quality analyses! In the 2023 edition, 66 new major articles and 384 new or updated opening overviews have been added. In addition: 70 top-class videos with 29 hours of playing time! For beginners, there is a tutorial for each opening area in which the most important ideas and goals are presented. The icing on the cake: Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco presents the current opening trends in world-class chess. Secure the decisive advantage for yourself with this unique opening library!

4/18/2023 – When tension is at its highest, even the very best players in the world can blunder games in one move. Now that four out of six games have finished decisively at the World Championship match in Astana — with no lack of strategic and tactical errors — let us take a look at the top 10 blunders from World Championship history.

4/14/2023 – WFM Honorata Kucharska is a talented and accomplished Woman FIDE Master (WFM) in the world of chess. Born in Poland, she has made a name for herself through her impressive strategic thinking and passion for the game. ChessBase is the tool, which Honorata enjoys most, for preparing against her opponents. In our very first episode of "Honorata's Harmony" the Polish WFM introduces herself, and shows us her analysis of one of her best games she has played against the Sicilian setup.

4/14/2023 – Middlegame secrets are revealed - in a series of articles featuring videos by Jan Markos. Next we'll discuss the Rook, exploring things like the impact of the 7th rank or the difference between rooks and minor pieces! If you wish to know more, we recommend the full course by Jan Markos, Middlegame Secrets Vol.2: The Potential of the Rook. | Photo: Benjamin Smith/Unsplash

4/14/2023 – Tim Krabbé's 1985 book "Chess Curiosities" showed a study by the Bulgarian chess composer I. Ionchev, flawed but nevertheless interesting. Yours truly tried to follow in his footsteps. Nadareishvili explored the same concept, and it might be unfair to associate the name with Ionchev as he was neither the first, the last, nor the most important one to show it - only the most famous. | Photo: Pixabay

4/14/2023 – In his Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris looks at game 4 of the World Championship match in Astana. Ding Liren’s opening choice was excellent, as his decision to enter a relatively unknown line from the English Opening worked wonders. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/14/2023 – The La Roda Open took place on April 5-9 in La Roda, a small town located in the province of Albacete. The 9-round Swiss open saw two players scoring 7½ points, Alexandr Fier and Aravindh Chithambaram. Fier was declared champion thanks to his better tiebreaker score. A number of Indian players had strong performances, as Pranav, Iniyan and top seed Narayanan all collected 7 points in the tournament. | Photos: Official website

4/13/2023 – The 13th of April is "Kasparov-day". Today, 60 years ago, arguably the best player in chess history was born and since then has shaped the history of chess like no other player — not only on the board! André Schulz traces Kasparov's history from his first international moves, through the peak of his career in 1999 to his life in politics. | Photo: Kasparov.com