4/11/2021 – Despite losing against Vincent Keymer in the last round of the day, Praggnanandhaa kept the sole lead in the Polgar Challenge for young stars. Nodirbek Abdusattorov also ended the day with a loss and goes into the last four rounds of the event a half point behind the leader. Nihal Sarin and Awonder Liang (pictured) are sharing third place a full point behind Pragg — Liang scored 5 out of 5 on Saturday! | Don’t miss the expert analyses by endgame specialist Karsten Müller. | Photo: Crystall Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

4/10/2021 – In this article, part one of a two-part series, Ashley Yan and Alexey Root compare average ratings in the U.S. Championships and the U.S. Women’s Championships held between 1972 and 2000. The United States Chess Federation’s 20th-century ratings and the gender distribution of its membership is also discussed. | Photo: Chess Life Magazine, November 1984 (from the Chess Life and Chess Review Archives)

4/10/2021 – In the diagram position, Black's strong knight on d5 controls many squares - but that is still not enough to withstand the force of White's attack. It's White to play - how would you attack Black's exposed king?

4/10/2021 – In Round 7 of the Kader-Challenge in Magdeburg, Alexander Donchenko leapfrogged previous leader Rasmus Svane by beating him in their direct encounter. Two players previously equal on points with Donchenko also won their games, so the standings table is now headed by a trio: Matthias Bluebaum, Dmitrij Kollars and Donchenko. In the women’s competition, Jana Schneider is still the sole leader with two rounds to go. | Photo: Kevin Högy

4/10/2021 – A sole leader has emerged after 10 rounds in the Polgar Challenge for young stars. Praggnanandhaa is leading the standings table on 8½/10, a half point above Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Christopher Yoo. On day 2, Kazakhstani IM Dinara Saduakassova abandoned the competition due to continual issues with her internet connection. | Photo: León Masters

4/9/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks at another game from the Capablanca-Lasker match played 100 years ago this month. A positional masterpiece. Daniel also presents a two-mover plus a nice trio of two-movers, and a study Lasker and Capablanca jointly composed after their blitz match in Berlin 1914. | 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.

4/9/2021 – Our ChessBase Magazine subscribers recently received a particularly interesting offer: A thematic tournament with Robert Ris! "Play the Author" lets readers play chess against their favourite author in a round-robin tournament. Another attraction is the predefined opening that is played in each round. In the first "Play the Author" episode, a gambit in the Sicilian Defense was chosen, which Robert Ris had already discussed in detail in CBM #199. | Photo: Frans Peeters

4/9/2021 – Three players are sharing the lead after round 5 at the Polgar Challenge, the first event of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour. Praggnanandhaa, Christopher Yoo and Nodirbek Abdusattorov each scored 4 points on the first day of competition. Three players stand a half point behind, including Lei Tingjie, who was the sole leader after round 4 and was inches away from scoring a win in her last game of the day. | Photo: David Llada

4/9/2021 – Round 5 of the men's tournament at the German "Kader-Challenge" in Magdeburg brought a number of interesting endgames and two decisive results. Niclas Huschenbeth won against Dmitrij Kollars and Daniel Fridman defeated Frederik Svane. Rasmus Svane drew against Luis Engel but that was enough to defend his lead and with 3.5/5 he is still sole first. In the women's tournament table leader Jana Schneider (pictured) lost her first game - against Annmarie Mütsch - but still leads with 3.0/4. | Photo: Bernd Vökler

4/9/2021 – It was an Easter puzzle. We asked you to take a try to solve this truly remarkable study by a truly remarkable composer, Mario Matouš. You were asked to win the position against a rampaging queen which wants to sacrifice itself to stalemate the black monarch. Were you able to solve it? Many readers found the problem quite difficult, and extremely clever. Today we give you the full solution, on a replay board with full engine support.

4/8/2021 – In this week’s show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at the Fantasy Variation, an interesting way to fight the Caro-Kann that often leads to sharp and double-edged positions. | “Fast and Furious” is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/8/2021 – Wednesday, April 7, brought a double shift for the players in the German "Kader-Challenge" - rounds 3 and 4. Rasmus Svane made the most of these opportunities: in round 3 he won against his younger brother Frederik and in round 4 he defeated Niclas Huschenbeth, and is now sole leader with 3.0/4. In the women's tournament only one round was played. Jana Schneider continued to win and now leads with 3.0/3. But it was Antonia Ziegenfuß, who played the game of the day: she defeated Elisabeth Pähtz in a powerful attacking game. | Photo: Frank Hoppe