7/5/2021 – Levon Aronian had a short day at the office on Sunday, as he scored back-to-back wins against Vladislav Artemiev to secure first place at the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament. Meanwhile, Ding Liren bounced back from his loss in the first set by remarkably beating Magnus Carlsen 3-0 in their second mini-match. However, it was the world champion who prevailed in the blitz tiebreakers to take third place.

7/5/2021 – For a long time, the Classical Variation in the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6) has been considered as slightly dubious for Black. But recently Black found new possibilities and the line became attractive again. In the new ChessBase Magazine #202, opening expert Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows the latest developments of this variation. The French expert uses the game Alekseenko-Grischuk from the Candidates Tournament 2020/2021 as a starting point. Take a look at an excerpt of his video analysis!

7/5/2021 – It was a great shock to wake up and learn that Yury Dokhoian had died, at the age of just 56, struck down by the accursed virus that has immobilized the world. Yet another reminder that we are not over it, yet. It is still going to take friends and loved ones. Frederic Friedel shares some memories of his friend Yury, with whom he spent a great deal of time. | Photo: Wiki, Porto Carras, 2011

7/4/2021 – Star columnist Jon Speelman reactivates his “mirror”, a potent if imaginary artefact intended to reflect the best chess players ever. This week, a couple of games by Garry Kasparov, “an (un)caged tiger who revels in violent conflict”. | Pictured: Kasparov with ChessBase’s Matthias Wüllenweber

7/4/2021 – Boris Gelfand defeated Jaime Santos and is facing Leinier Domínguez in the final of the “Magistral de León”. Gelfand beat Dominguez in the final match. A 2-2 tie in the rapid games meant it would all come down to the blitz tiebreakers. After a draw in the first 5-minute game, Gelfand managed to convert a rook vs bishop endgame to get tournament victory. | Replay the games with computer analysis.

7/4/2021 – It was a rather quick victory by Levon Aronian in the finals of the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament. The Armenian won the first set on Saturday and scored back-to-back wins in the second mini-match to make it impossible for Vladislav Artemiev to equalize the score and take the match to tiebreaks. Karsten Müller analyzes two endgames in which Aronian showed his excellent technique with the black pieces.

7/1/2021 – This week, the well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look how Black can spice up the Sicilian Dragon even if White tries to have a quiet life. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/1/2021 – The "Top 12" competition sees some of the world’s best players battle it out to claim the French club championship. This year players such as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Veselin Topalov and Jorden Van Foreest show their class in this 11-round event. However, this competition also serves as an excellent platform for amateurs who seldom get to play against such strong opponents. Dhananjay Khadilkar asked Mathieu Ternault (pictured), a wine maker by profession, and Mickael Hutois, a professor for mathematics, how it feels to play in such an event. | Photo: Dhananjay Khadilkar

7/1/2021 – Nihal Sarin was the dominant player at the Silver Lake Open: the young Indian and reigning U18 World Champion won the tournament with 8.0/9 and a rating performance of 2809. His compatriots Raunak Sadhwani and Abhimanyu Puranik won silver and bronze. | Photo: Rupali Mulick

7/1/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes a look how Magnus Carlsen surprised Peter Svidler - and chess fans around the world - with an unusual move in the starting position of the Najdorf Sicilian. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/1/2021 – Two of the four quarterfinal matches at the Goldmoney Asian Rapid tournament were decided on tiebreaks. After winning the first set and the first game of the second set, it seemed like Magnus Carlsen was going to have an easy day at the office, but back-to-back wins by Wesley So meant it would all be decided in blitz. The world champion finally moved on to the semis thanks to a win and a draw in the 5-minute games. Levon Aronian also had a tough time against Arjun Erigaisi, but managed to advance, while Vladislav Artemiev and Ding Liren won their matches in the rapid section of the second set. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/30/2021 – This remarkable lad from Englishtown, New Jersey, playing with great determination under Covid restrictions in Hungary, has scored his third and final GM norm. He has earned the title at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days, which is 66 days sooner than Sergey Karjakin in 2002. This comes after he had broken the record of youngest US master (at nine years and two months), and youngest International Master ever (at 10 years, nine months, and three days). Congratulations, Abhi!