Understanding before Moving 71: Open and half-open files

3/20/2022 – 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 71st instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about open and half-open files. | Photo: Pascal Simon

Charity Cup: Niemann and Le share the lead

3/20/2022 – The first four rounds of the Charity Cup left Le Quang Liem and Hans Niemann sharing the lead on 10/12 points (a win is worth 3 points, a draw is worth 1 point). Remarkably, the 18-year-old Niemann defeated Chinese star Ding Liren in the third round. After the loss, however, Ding bounced back brilliantly, getting the better of Magnus Carlsen to end the day on 9/12, a point behind the leaders. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Judit Polgár vs the World

3/19/2022 – On 20 March, Judit Polgár and the Hungarian Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 will host a global and integrated social event where millions of people will virtually sit down and play – live – against a single player. Truly millions! The strongest female chess player of all time will face ten influencers with a total of six million followers simultaneously. Guinness Book, are you following?

I see!

3/19/2022 – The task regarding the diagrammed position is plain and simple: "White to play and win". Your call!

No-castling chess back in Dortmund

3/19/2022 – After the successful first edition last year, the No-Castling World Masters Tournament will be expanded in Dortmund in July 2022, as former world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand will be joined by Krishnan Sasikiran and local hero Daniel Fridman. Concurrently, the Deutschland Grand Prix, the NRW Youth Cup and two opens will take place at the massive festival set to kick off four months from now.

Charity Cup, a UNICEF fundraiser, kicks off Saturday

3/18/2022 – The second event on the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, the Charity Cup, will focus on raising funds for UNICEF to support children and their families within or fleeing Ukraine. Besides Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Richard Rapport and women’s world champion Ju Wenjun are among the participants from twelve different countries, with no Russian players involved.

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: The London System - under the microscope

3/18/2022 – In Daniel King's Power Play Show the London System is under investigation - Daniel examines White's options in the opening and wonders whether it is possible to get the advantage. | 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.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - How to play with, and against an isolated pawn

3/18/2022 – In some openings, having the isolated pawn is the path to continue to middle-, and endgames. But do you know the technique on how to play with an isolated pawn, or against it? Svitlana has the knowledge, of course, and is happy to share it with us.

The Winning Academy 8: How to Stop a Pawn Avalanche

3/18/2022 – "First restrain, then blockade, finally destroy!", wrote Aron Nimzowitsch almost a century ago. The art of stopping opponents pawn avalanches was so dear to him, that he dedicated a full book to it. "Die Blockade" was published in 1925, in the same year as "Mein System." Jan Markos offers modern examples to show what to do against a phalanx of dangerous pawns. | Photo: Pixabay

Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A line against the Grünfeld: The Winsemius Variation

3/18/2022 – This week Robert Ris takes a look at the interesting line Richard Rapport used to defeat Grünfeld expert Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the Grünfeld and reveals a little secret about the move 12.Rc3!? in the Exchange Variation of the Grünfeld that brought Rapport a crucial win. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

Throwback Thursday: Ukraine wins 2010 Olympiad

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.

ChessBase for Coaches: Defending with Black

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.

Game of the Week #507: A wild Sicilian: A. Pijpers vs A. Fier

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.

Italian Spring Tour: Young players dominate

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.

Russia and Belarus teams suspended from FIDE competitions

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.

The joys of chess: The Romanian Blitz, Rapid and Solving Championships

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

FIDE and FFE host international conference “Chess for Mental Health”

3/16/2022 – The “Chess for Mental Health” international event was held on 9 March 2022 in Paris. According to the speakers, many recent studies have already highlighted the benefits of playing chess to support the development of children with autism spectrum disorders, the DYS (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia) or attention and hyperactivity disorders.

Chennai to host the 2022 Chess Olympiad

3/16/2022 – The FIDE Council has approved today the bid presented by the All India Chess Federation (AICF) to host the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai, the capital of the Tamil Nadu state. The exact schedule is still being discussed and will be announced in the coming days, but the event will take place between the end of July and the beginning of August, not very far off from the dates originally planned.

Next Tour stage dedicated to victims of Ukraine war

3/15/2022 – The $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour will dedicate its next stage to fundraising for the victims of the war in Ukraine, it was announced today. The Charity Cup, starting March 19, will be the second leg of the world’s most prestigious elite online chess event.

The Weekly Show: Howell wins against Grandelius

3/15/2022 – In his "Weekly Show" Lawrence Trent will look at the final of the Howell-Grandelius match (game 8 being the feature game for the show) as well as the final of the FIDE Grand Prix. Lawrence will also discuss the implications of Richard Rapport’s victory. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich speaks out against the war in Ukraine

3/15/2022 – The American magazine "Mother Jones", seven times winner of the "Magazine of the Year" award from the American Society of Magazine Editors, just published interviews with 36 prominent personalities from the world of chess about the war in Ukraine. One of them is FIDE President and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who spoke out against the war: "My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians. ... Wars do not just kill priceless lives. Wars kill hopes and aspirations, freeze or destroy relationships and connections." | Photo: David Llada

Sanan Sjugirov wins GM tournament in Belgrade

3/15/2022 – With 6.5/9 (four wins, five draws, no loss) Sanan Sjugirov concinvingly won a strong Grandmaster tournament in Belgrade that was played in parallel to the FIDE Grand Prix. Nihal Sarin, Velimir Ivic and Nodirbek Abdusattorov shared places two to four with 5.5/9 each. | Photos: Tournament page

Rook vs bishop

3/15/2022 – In the diagrammed position Black is an exchange up but both sides have dangerous passed pawns. What should Black do to make his passed pawn on the g-file more dangerous than White's passed pawn on the b-file?

Howell beats Grandelius in England versus Sweden match

3/15/2022 – In London, a match facing David Howell and Nils Grandelius was held at the residence of the Swedish Ambassador. The occasion was the 30th anniversary of Chess & Bridge. The 10-game confrontation was won by Howell. Three games ended decisively, and all of them had plenty to offer chess-wise. | Photo: Chess & Bridge