3/6/2026 – This week's show features two top grandmaster games in which Black quickly collapsed against the Italian Opening. In the first game, Yakubboev came up with a spectacular theoretical innovation in his game with Anton. The Uzbek GM surprised his opponent with a nicely prepared exchange sacrifice which enabled him to develop a powerful attack. Some days later at the American Cup, Sevian repeated the same variation against Dominguez, who deviated on move 11. There followed a position with major pieces and opposite-coloured bishops in which should be doing fine. However, it turned out that Black's problems were difficult to solve OTB and White again managed to win in spectacular style.

3/6/2026 – Black's first power move from the diagram position is 23...Qh4! - and you'll prove why that's so strong, okay?

3/6/2026 – From 25 February to 6 March 2026, the eighth Prague International Chess Festival is taking place at the Don Giovanni Hotel, bringing together elite competition and a wide programme of side events. Going into the final round, Nodirbek Abdusattorov is the sole leader in the Masters section and stands a half point ahead of Jorden van Foreest. Abdusattorov plays white against Hans Niemann, while Van Foreest plays black against Parham Maghsoodloo. | Follow the action live starting at 15.00 CET (9.00 ET, 19.30 IST) | Pictured: Divya Deshmukh | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague Chess Festival

3/6/2026 – Drama at the Prague Masters. Many had already resigned themselves to two draws and an unchanged situation at the top of the table. But then Jorden van Foreest lost the long-balanced game against Aravindh Chithambaram, surrendering his lead in the standings to Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The Uzbek GM was able to capitalise on a blunder by the previously in-form David Navara to secure the win. The duel between world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Vincent Keymer ended in a draw after a long battle, as did the game between Nodirbek Yakubboev and Parham Maghsoodloo. Hans Niemann managed to score his first victory in his game against David Anton. The final round begins four hours earlier than usual, at 11 a.m. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

3/6/2026 – The fight for first place tightened in round eight of the Challengers at the Prague Chess Festival. Leader Vaclav Finek defended a difficult endgame to keep the top spot, but Daniil Yuffa moved to within half a point after scoring his second consecutive win. Benjamin Gledura also prevailed and remains in contention ahead of Friday's decisive round. | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague Chess Festival

3/5/2026 – The Prague Chess Festival has become a fixture on the tournament calendar and is now in its eighth edition. In an interview with ChessBase, organiser Petr Boleslav explains how the idea was born, why Prague was the natural home for the event, and what it takes to run such a top tournament with a rich programme of side events.

3/5/2026 – The quarterfinal stage of the American Cup was played over the first two days of action, with players contesting two classical games followed by blitz tiebreaks if required. In the open section, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So advanced alongside Sam Sevian and Awonder Liang (pictured). The women's event saw rating favourites Carissa Yip, Tatev Abrahamyan and defending champion Alice Lee progress, while Zoey Tang produced the only upset. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/5/2026 – Tata Steel 2026: Analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more – News from the ‘Erigabava’ Sicilian: Yago Santiago promotes 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4! – Slav Marshall Gambit: white queen on d8! Lars Schandorff examines 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 9.Ba5 f6!? – Easy to remember, important to know: Dorian Rogozenco shows a classic fortress motif with king against knight + edge pawn – Strategy: the right double pawn! Mihail Marin explains when to knock out the centre with fxg and when not to, and much more. Includes ChessBase Book for iPad, tablet, etc.

3/5/2026 – One game had a decisive result in round seven of the Masters at the Prague Chess Festival, as Vincent Keymer defeated David Anton to return to a fifty-percent score. Sole leader Jorden van Foreest held a tense draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Aravindh Chithambaram missed a winning chance against Nodirbek Yakubboev. The remaining encounters were hard-fought draws. | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague Chess Festival

3/5/2026 – Three decisive games marked round seven of the Challengers at the Prague International Chess Festival. Leader Vaclav Finek held a long endgame against top seed Benjamin Gledura and retains a full-point lead with two rounds remaining. Meanwhile, Daniil Yuffa and Jachym Nemec (pictured) moved into joint second place after winning their games, while Surya Shekhar Ganguly scored his first victory of the event. | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague Chess Festival

3/4/2026 – Together with Keti Tsataslashvili, Alojzije Jankovic works as a commentator at the Prague Chess Festival – a role that suits him well. The Croatian grandmaster (peak Elo 2593) had his own chess show on Croatian television for many years and runs a YouTube channel. He was editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘Sahovski Glasnik’, has written chess books, studied economics and is vice-president of the European Chess Union. In an interview with ChessBase, he talks about his passion for chess, his career, his favourite player, chess in film, and explains how systematic thinking can help you play better and be more successful in life.

3/4/2026 – Five weeks ago our Game of the Week was Jorden van Foreest with White against Vincent Keymer, from the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, and today our Game of the Week sees the exact same pairing, from the Prag International Chess Festival. The Dutchman is one fire and again managed to win, bringing him very close to the top 10 in the world rankings. One of his strengths is constantly coming up with new ideas in the opening, this time around against the notorious Berlin. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.