4/30/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks back to the Candidates and tries to find out how and why Ian Nepomniachtchi won the tournament and became World Championship challenger. | 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.

4/30/2021 – Since 2009 Irina Bulmaga (pictured) has played in the German "Bundesliga", and recently she decided to use the enforced break caused by the pandemic to start learning German. However, passionate chess player that she is, she could not help but wonder whether there is any connection between the written and unwritten rules of the language you grow up with and the way you later study and play chess - and had some fun trying to find an answer to this question. | Photo: David Llada

4/30/2021 – ChessBase Magazine is the most comprehensive and most sophisticated chess magazine there is. World-class players analyse their brilliancies and explain the ideas behind the moves to you, opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and offer exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in the fields of tactics, strategy, and the endgame show you the tricks and techniques a successful tournament player needs! DVD with several hours of video + booklet. Also available for download including the booklet in pdf!

4/30/2021 – Hikaru Nakamura won the first set of his semifinal match against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian drew their first mini-match. Both Carlsen and Nakamura were undefeated before the semis, and both were beaten for the first time in the New in Chess Classic on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/29/2021 – None of the players who lost the first set of the quarterfinals could make up for it in the second set. Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov quickly secured their tickets to the semifinals. Magnus Carlsen, after a 2-2 against Radjabov in the first set, won the second set and is also through. | Photo: Alina l’Ami

4/29/2021 – In this week’s show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at an aggressive setup against the Queen's Gambit Declined, which Le Quang Liem used in the New in Chess Classic tournament to bring Hikaru Nakamura to the verge of defeat. | “Fast and Furious” is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/29/2021 – No Rapid Interview? That's right. Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas said that he doesn't play online chess any more. In our "normal" interview, we talked about how Grivas went to eight Olympiads, published over 110 books, and became a Grandmaster despite starting with chess at the rather late age of 13. Furthermore, we talk about the largest chess club in the world, the Sharjah Cultural & Chess Club in Dubai, which launches a "real" over the board rapid tournament today, and of course, the reason behind Grivas not playing online chess - he doesn't mince his words! | Photos: Efstratios Grivas

4/29/2021 – If Bobby Fischer had not retired after becoming World Champion in 1972 we would have seen a decade dominated by Fischer, Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Kortschnoi. What would have happened, if there had been a match Fischer - Karpov or Fischer - Kortschnoi? And why did Fischer not play against Karpov in 1975? And how would Fischer's decision have turned out if the challenger had not been Karpov, but Kortschnoi? Some thoughts by Stephan Oliver Platz.

4/28/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes another look at the Candidates and presents a fine attack with which Anish Giri won against Ding Liren. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/28/2021 – In an interview after the last round of the Candidates Tournament, Wang Hao declared his retirement from professional chess, citing health issues as reason. However, he said he would continue to be involved in chess. Here's a short portrait and the interview. | Photo: Screenshot from the interview at the Candidates Tournament

4/28/2021 – The first day of the quarterfinal at the New in Chess Classic Online Tournament brought a number of interesting games and match wins for Levon Aronian (3-1 against Wesley So), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (3-1 against Alireza Firouzja) and Hikaru Nakamura (2.5-1.5 against Le Quang Liem). Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov drew all four games and the match. | Photo: Levon Aronian | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes

4/28/2021 – In previous articles we showed you the mad rook (dolle toren) rampage, where it sacrifices itself to secure a stalemate draw. Then we showed you how queens, bishops and knights could do the same. But what about pawns, we asked? It turns out there are similar motifs with suicidal pawns. Here's a series of amusing studies by Mikhail Zinar.