8/28/2022 – Alireza Firouzja has played in four out of the nine decisive games seen so far at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. On Saturday, the 19-year-old lost to Fabiano Caruana and defeated Leinier Dominguez to keep the sole lead he had attained on the first day of the competition. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Jeffery Xiong — all undefeated in the event — stand one point back. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

8/27/2022 – On 30 June 1908, just after 7 AM (all dates correspond to our Gregorian calendar), an explosion occurred in the harsh forests in Siberia near the Tunguska river. The explosion happened over an area that is nearly unpopulated, so apart from an estimated 80 million trees (and, we suppose, the wildlife in that area of 2150 km²) only three humans died in the event that would likely have been a major catastrophe if it had happened over a densely populated area.| Photos: Pixabay

8/27/2022 – If the idea to snatch a pawn with 14...Nxc3? in the diagrammed position gives you an uneasy feeling, your chess understanding is definitely okay. And now you are invited to show how White refutes this idea!

8/27/2022 – The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, part of the Grand Chess Tour, kicked off on Friday. On the first three days of the event, the ten participating world-class players battle it out in a round-robin tournament of 25+10 rapid games. After the first day, on which three rounds were played, Alireza Firouzja is topping the standings with 5 points (a win is worth two points in the rapid). | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

8/26/2022 – Svitlana is showing us some more smart moves from Chennai. We learn a lot about the two openings, plans in the middle game, and some endgame knowledge. The Canadian WIM was able to win against Jenny Astrid Chirivi Castiblanco from Colombia, and achieve a draw against Gulenay Aydin from Turkey.

8/26/2022 – In his Power Play Show, Daniel King examines critical and instructive moments from the exciting match between rising star Praggnanandhaa and world champion Magnus Carlsen from the FTX Crypto Cup tournament in Miami. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

8/26/2022 – İş Bankası, one of the biggest commercial companies in Turkey, is celebrating its 98th anniversary on 26th August 2022. It was established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic (now known as Türkiye), on 26th August 1924. The Bank became the sponsor of the Turkish Chess Federation on 24th December 2005.

8/26/2022 – Nick Pert won the British Over-the-Board Championship 2021. This year, he participated again as the title defender. And although he even scored half-a-point more than last year, it wasn't enough to repeat the triumph. His analysis of the most interesting games were very popular, so we walk through the tournament one more time, thanks to Nick Pert.

8/26/2022 – Ivan Sokolov has celebrated numerous successes in his career as a player. His greatest coup as a coach came only recently at the Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai, when he led the team from Uzbekistan to gold. In his video contribution to the current ChessBase Magazine Extra #208 he presents an idea on how to surprise your opponent in the Sicilian Four Knights Variation: The move 6.g3 may not look particularly aggressive - but when a player like Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan's number one and reigning rapid chess world champion) is on a loss with Black a few moves later, that can easily happen to your opponent too! You can see an excerpt from Sokolov's analysis here.

8/26/2022 – The Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Simagin was considered a tactical genius. His game against Bronstein is famous, and his move to win the game takes some time to be discovered. Furthermore, Lawrence shows us his tactical brilliance, talks about Frederic Svane, and shows us the power of solving tactical puzzles, to recognize patterns better, and quicker. Also, the final tactic which Lawrence and Arne try to solve, ends terribly.

8/26/2022 – Back-to-back wins in rounds 5 and 6 allowed Polish GM Monika Socko to grab the sole lead at the European Women’s Championship in Prague. Two players, Gunay Mammadzada and Maria Gevorgyan, stand a half point back, as the participants will get a rest day before Saturday’s seventh round. In round 7, Socko will play white against Gevorgyan, while Mammadzada will face top seed Nana Dzagnidze, also with white, on the second board. | Photo: Official site

8/25/2022 – This week Robert Ris will have a look at an interesting gambit which Black can use to spice things up after 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4. With 4...e5!? Black indicates that he is ready to give a pawn to get good play. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.