4/4/2023 – Your heart rate and adrenaline have an impact on your performance. As a chess player, understanding and monitoring various physiological aspects can have a significant impact on your performance. When you play chess, you may not be as physically active, but the mental demands of the game can still trigger an extreme stress response in your body. As was demonstrated in last month's Armageddon tournament in Berlin.

4/4/2023 – In the endgame - and in the middlegame - far advanced passed pawns can be very powerful. In the diagram position it is White to move and win. What would you do?

4/4/2023 – With a final score of 3½-1½, Lei Tingjie defeated Tan Zhongyi in the Women's Candidates Final. Lei will challenge Ju Wenjun in the upcoming Women’s World Championship match, scheduled to take place in July. In game 5, Lei obtained a fine attacking win, which topped off her dominant performance in Chongqing. | Photos: FIDE / Liu Yi

4/3/2023 – In this week's show, Karsten Müller and his guest, 20-year old Indian GM Iniyan P., look at endgame highlights from the Chessable Masters Play-In. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

4/3/2023 – The traditional Reykjavik Open is taking place from 29 March to 4 April at the Harpa Conference Centre in the Icelandic capital. Nicholas Pert, the 2021 British champion, is commentating a few of the rounds on Simon Williams’ Twitch channel. In rounds 6 and 8, he is joined by Blair Connell, with the duo focusing on the game of the ever-entertaining Ginger GM! | Photo: Official website

4/3/2023 – One of the side events of the 2023 FIDE World Championship Match will be a contest facing the best female players from Kazakhstan against a team of international top stars representing the world. Each match will consist of 8 players, with 4 of them representing the age groups U20, U18, U16, and U14. The international team will have Hou Yifan, the highest-ranked woman player in the world, playing on the top board.

4/3/2023 – The 2023 Women’s Candidates Final is taking place in Chongqing (China) from March 29 to April 5. Chinese grandmasters Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi face each other in a six-game classical chess match. The winner will receive €60,000 and the right to challenge the current women’s world champion, Ju Wenjun, for the title in July.

4/2/2023 – With the World Championship match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren just a week away, Jon Speelman shares how such an important contest looks like from the inside. He worked twice as a second in World Championship matches, both times assisting a player who was facing the legendary Garry Kasparov. Here he goes into detail about his collaboration with Vishy Anand in 1995 — that memorable match atop the World Trade Center in New York. | Photo: Owen Williams, The Kasparov Agency

4/2/2023 – I had the honor of speaking with chess Super Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, one of the youngest players ever to achieve the title. At only 16 years old, Praggnanandhaa has already achieved remarkable success, including winning the Julius Baer Challenge Championship 2022. In our interview, Praggnanandhaa shared his insights on a range of topics, from his early days in chess to his current training regimen with coach R. B. Ramesh and future goals. He also discussed his experiences playing against some of the world's top players, as well as his thoughts on chess strategy and the importance of mental preparation. Overall, the interview provided a fascinating look into the mind of a young chess prodigy who is sure to be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

4/2/2023 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 119th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman starts a new series: "Chess history in a nutshell". | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/2/2023 – The United Nations recognizes April 2 as the Autism Awareness Day. The Infinite Chess Project, which aims to help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by teaching them chess, started in 2019 as a small pilot project. In three years, it has gained momentum and expanded to ten countries: Albania, France, Gibraltar, Latvia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, and Turkey.

4/1/2023 – Chess is set to move forward to a fresh new experience. At the New Delhi Women's Grand Prix FIDE's secretive Game Division has finally announced a sequel, Chess 2, built on brand-new mechanics, with new pieces and abilities. The intention is to bring an all-new chess angle to the competitive E-Sports scene and provide fans with a game that builds on ideas that make it more active and dynamic. More information can be found in this ChessBase India article below.