3/22/2022 – Citing personal reasons, Dmitry Andreikin withdrew from the third leg of the FIDE Grand Prix. Andrey Esipenko (pictured), who also played in the first leg as a replacement, stepped in. The tournament is set to take place in Berlin, with two spots in the Candidates still up for grabs, albeit it is highly unlikely for Richard Rapport not to get one of those after his victory in Belgrade. | Photos: World Chess

3/22/2022 – In the diagrammed position it is White to move and he has to think about the pawn endgame that will arise after the imminent exchange of rooks. What should White play to get a winning pawn endgame?

3/22/2022 – With three rounds to go, Le Quang Liem is still the sole leader of the preliminaries at the Charity Cup. The Vietnamese stands three points ahead of second-placed Magnus Carlsen and has already secured a spot in the knockout stage. On day 3, Jorden van Foreest was the highest scorer, as he collected three wins and a draw. Moreover, the Dutchman had a superior position in the one game he drew, against Carlsen. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

3/21/2022 – The German Bundesliga started its new season, and the first matches brought many fascinating endgames. Karsten was spoiled for choice but in the Endgame Magic Show #186 he presents an absolute highlight in which the much lower-rated player defeated a strong Grandmaster in study-like fashion. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

3/21/2022 – In reaction to public statements made by Sergey Karjakin about the war in Ukraine, the FIDE and Ethics and Disciplinary Commission banned Karjakin for six months "from participating as a player in any FIDE rated chess competition, taking effect from the date of this decision, 21 March 2022." Therefore, Karjakin will not be able to play in the Candidates Tournament that is scheduled to take place from 16 June to 7 July in Madrid, Spain. Grandmaster Sergei Shipov, who regularly works as a commentator, was not banned by FIDE for his statements about the war because "in comparison with Sergey Karjakin, Sergei Shipov is considerably less known and has, therefore, a less powerful platform." | Picture: Sergey Karjakin, Sergei Shipov | Picture: FIDE

3/21/2022 – Le Quang Liem is the sole leader of the Charity Cup preliminaries after eight rounds. The Vietnamese grandmaster won six out of eight games so far to go into day 3 with an unbeaten 20/24 score. A full four points behind stand Magnus Carlsen and Jan-Krzysztof Duda in shared second place. The single round-robin continues until Tuesday, when half the participants in the 16-player field will move on to the knockout stage. | Photo: Andreas Kontokanis

3/18/2022 – Twelve years ago, Ukraine grabbed its second gold medal in the open section of a Chess Olympiad. The winning team, led by an inspired Vasyl Ivanchuk, fought neck and neck with Russia throughout the event. In a tense final round, Ukraine, which was leading Russia by a match point, happily agreed to draw his encounter against Israel to secure overall victory soon after Ivan Salgado stunned Peter Svidler on board 3 of the Spain vs Russia match.

3/17/2022 – Studying "Black to play and defend positions" teaches chess students how to recognize and stop threats. For example, coaches may ask beginners to find ways to stop a back rank mate or the Scholar’s Mate. Flipping the board may also help with high-level analysis. National Master Jeffrey Ashton explains how to create positions where the Black chessmen are on the bottom of the diagram, which gives Black’s perspective.

3/17/2022 – In his "Game of the Week" show #507, Merijn van Delft takes a look at an entertaining and sharp Dragon Sicilian, in which Alexandr Fier showed that it is possible to sacrifice a lot of material if your attack is strong enough. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

3/17/2022 – The Italian Spring Tour continued with three Swiss tournaments (GM-Mix A, GM-Mix B, and IM-Mix), in which experienced Grandmasters met young talents. The young players were more successful: Arseniy Nesterov from Russia (born 2003) won the GM-Mix A tournament, the Indian Amit Doshi Moksh (born 2003) won the GM-Mix B tournament, and Simon Knudsen (born 1999) from Germany won the IM-Mix tournament.

3/16/2022 – FIDE has followed the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee and excluded the teams of Russia and Belarus from participating in all official FIDE tournaments.

3/16/2022 – From 11 to 13 March the Romanian Rapid, Blitz and Solving Championships took place in Bucharest, at the "Pentagon Events" venue and attracted a record number of 212 participants, 163 in the Open section and 49 in the Women’s section. Irina Bulmaga (pictured), who won the Solving and the Rapid event, reports. | Teaser Photo: David Llada > All other photos: Florin Ardelean / We Love Sport