3/27/2021 – In this month’s column, Siegfried Hornecker concludes his tribute to the recently deceased master Mikhail Zinar. This time around, his more unusual ideas are presented while providing more background information on an eventful life. | Photo: arves.org

3/27/2021 – The Central Chess Club in Moscow is the most beautiful chess club in the world. The edifice on Gogolevsky Boulevard has a long history and an even longer prehistory which offers a profound look into the society of pre-revolutionary Russia. | Photo: admagazin.ru

3/27/2021 – In the diagram position, White has just played 17.e5, attacking against Black's queen on f6 and Black's bishop on b7. The World Champion first defended cooly, but then blundered which allowed his opponent a spectacular finish. Enjoy!

3/27/2021 – Scattered over-the-board tournaments have been played during the first quarter of the year, and a number of well-known events announced the dates for this year’s editions. However, there are countries that have been showing a rising trend of Covid-19 cases, which has prompted the organizers of the TePe Sigeman & Co and the Norway Chess tournaments to postpone their starting dates. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/26/2021 – Lawrence Trent and Arne Kaehler talk about what happened chess-wise last week. They each choose three articles, which might be interesting, and worth talking about the most. They give their opinions on various topics, and encourage you to think about the subject, analyse games, or read the articles thoroughly yourself.

3/26/2021 – For more than 70 years, the 1942 film Casablanca has made lovers — and those who want to be lovers — dream. In 2002, the American Film Institute voted it the best American love story of all time and, in 2007, it was voted the third best American Film of All Time. Numerous dialogues from Casablanca have become part of the cultural collective memory. And chess also plays a small role in the film.

3/23/2021 – Viktor Kortschnoi is a phenomenon. He started his chess career in 1943 when he joined the Pioneer Palace in Leningrad and played until his death in 2016 when he was confined to a wheelchair. Today Kortschnoi would have celebrated his 90th birthday. | Photo: De Telegraaf via David Llada

3/23/2021 – Magnus Carlsen still lacks a tournament victory at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Four tournaments have been played so far, but the World Champion, who is so used to success, has not been able to win one of them. At the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, which ended at the weekend, he lost in the semi-finals against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who then lost to Anish Giri in the final. But then Carlsen scored a surprisingly smooth win against Wesley So in the match for third place. Particularly surprising was the first game, in which Carlsen won with a stunning mating attack. Daniel King took a closer look. | Photo: Lennart Ootes, Archiv

3/23/2021 – Karsten Müller once again asked our readers for help to solve an endgame riddle. This time, he looked at the 27th game of the first World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Was Kasparov right when he claimed that the endgame contains a number of mistakes? Turns out he was as, after all, he could have held the draw!

3/23/2021 – Rook endings have drawish tendencies and the diagram position is no exception to this rule. But White must still defend extremely carefully. How exactly?

3/22/2021 – Chess legends Judit Polgar and Vladimir Kramnik have joined forces with Play Magnus Group to launch a new elite online tour designed to support rising young players and advance gender equality in the sport. The Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour will feature some of the world’s top talent and include a healthy balance of male and female competitors.

3/22/2021 – In the diagram position, Black's rook and knight threaten White's exposed king. Time to bring up a third attacker - how?