4/12/2023 – The second edition of the Menorca Chess Open is taking place on April 11-16 at the Princesa Playa Hotel on the Balearic island of Menorca. Defending champion Dommaraju Gukesh returned to the paradisaic Spanish town, where he is joined by a number of formidable players — i.e. Hans Niemann (pictured), Jorden van Foreest and Vladimir Fedoseev, among others. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

4/11/2023 – The Saint Louis Chess Club continues to organize seasonal, closed events aimed at creating competitive opportunities for up-and-coming players. The Spring Chess Classic is taking place on April 5-13 as a 10-player single round-robin event. After six rounds, Dariusz Swiercz, Benjamin Bok (pictured) and Christopher Yoo are sharing the lead with 3½ points. In round 2, Yoo and Abhimanyu Mishra played a remarkable game, featuring no fewer than five promotions. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

4/11/2023 – Experts estimate that more books have been written about chess than about all other games combined. Chess addicts may own hundreds, but have an ambivalent relationship to them. On the one hand, one is proud to own the books. On the other, most cannot be read! Not by 95% of the people who buy them. ChessBase is currently in the process of launching a new "Tutorial" format. First volumes can be purchased in our Shop.

4/11/2023 – In endings with opposite-coloured bishops the defending side can often draw, sometimes even when the defender is one, two or three pawns down. However, these endgames are still tricky and the defender has to be careful. In the diagram position it is White to move and draw but in the acutal game White lost. Can you do better?

4/11/2023 – 16-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh emerged victorious in the second event of the Armageddon Championship Series 2023, organized by World Chess. Gukesh’s excellent performance secured him a spot in September’s Grand Finale, along with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the tournament’s runner-up. The series was broadcasted live on 16 online and TV platforms, including CNBC, BeIN Sports and FOX Australia. | Photos: World Chess

4/10/2023 – Ian Nepomniachtchi took the lead at the World Chess Championship in Astana after beating Ding Liren with black in Monday’s game 2. Ding shocked onlookers with his fourth move, but Nepo reacted in principled fashion, entering the most trying continuations. Soon enough, the Russian’s position went from slightly advantageous to completely winning. Ding resigned the game on move 29. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

4/7/2023 – Division I of the Chessable Masters saw the losers’ bracket semifinal taking place on Thursday, a match that Magnus Carlsen won by a 2-0 score against Levon Aronian. So Carlsen moved on to the losers’ final, where Hikaru Nakamura, who had lost the winners’ bracket final to Fabiano Caruana, was already waiting for him. Carlsen and Nakamura drew twice before Carlsen lost the final Armageddon game — following an unfortunate mouse-slip. In the Grand Final, Nakamura will once again face Caruana.

4/7/2023 – The knockout phase of the Chessable Masters is taking place on April 3-7. Three Divisions (with 8, 16 and 32 players respectively) are being played concurrently. Each knockout tournament includes winners’ and losers’ brackets. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are among the participants in Division I. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 17.00 CEST (11.00 EDT, 20.30 IST)

4/7/2023 – The third leg of the Women’s Grand Prix was marred by the early withdrawal of two players. Zhansaya Abdumalik decided to leave due to organizational issues, and her withdrawal triggered other players to bring up further issues related to previous events. Harika Dronavalli was one of three Indian players in the field, and found herself struggling to decide how to react to the situation. Only after the tournament finished, she spoke up about the New Delhi debacle in a 13-minute video produced by ChessBase India. | Photo: FIDE / Ismael Nieto

4/6/2023 – In his Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris takes a close look at the fifth and decisive game that Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie played in the finals of the Women’s Candidates. Lei came up with an interesting approach against the Zukertort-Colle system and won a fine game. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/6/2023 – Fabiano Caruana has yet to lose a match at the 2023 Champions Chess Tour. The US star finished undefeated to win Division II of the Airthings Masters, and has now reached the Grand Final of the Chessable Masters. On Wednesday, Caruana defeated Hikaru Nakamura by a convincing 2½-½ score in the final of the winners’ bracket. Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian won their matches in the losers’ bracket.

4/6/2023 – Aleksandra Goryachkina, Zhu Jiner and Bibisara Assaubayeva all finished with 6/9 scores atop the standings of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi. The three players entered the final round in shared first place, and all three drew their games on Wednesday. Prize money and Grand Prix points were evenly distributed between the three, but Goryachkina was declared tournament winner based on tiebreak criteria. | Photo: FIDE / Ismael Nieto