3/24/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes another look at the relatively new and highly fascinating 7.g4 variation in the Taimanov Sicilian, a line which Anish Giri used to win a crucial game against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. | Merijn's show is available at 16.00 UTC (17:00 CET, 12:00 EDT) and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

3/24/2021 – In a world under the shadow of Covid, Hybrid chess is becoming increasingly popular. It is arbiter-supervised Internet tournaments in which players gather at a venue to play against opponents similarly gathered elsewhere. That’s a whole lot cheaper than schlepping from one end of the country to another, and it certainly reduces the carbon footprint of chess events. Perhaps it will reinvigorate competitions that have generally declined over the years.

3/24/2021 – Vladimir Chuchelov developed a well-known method based on his ideas on what he dubs “strategic balance”. Teimour Radjabov, who was introduced to the method in 2014, recently interviewed Chuchelov for an hour and a half. In the light-hearted conversation, Chuchelov talks about his decision to become a full-time trainer, his experiences with Giri and Caruana, and his predictions for the coming Candidates Tournament. | Pictured: Chuchelov at the 2014 Tashkent Grand Prix | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich

3/23/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent will look at the finale of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational, specifically the first blitz game between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi. It was a very well conducted attack by the Dutch #1 despite it being a blitz game. Lawrence will also do a quick recap of the current situation at the Candidates. | Lawrence's show is available at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 12:00 ET) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

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?

3/22/2021 – Anish Giri defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in tiebreaks to win the second edition of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. In the second set of the match, Nepomniachtchi had kept the score tied by winning the fourth game on demand. Magnus Carlsen beat Wesley So in the match for third place.

3/21/2021 – Star columnist Jon Speelman explores the topic of players sometimes failing to find the finishing touches after getting a big edge during a game. “Sometimes things go wrong and rather than ‘the fat lady singing’ truly, she hits the wrong notes: and while it is over it ain’t in the way it ought to have been.” | Pictured: Nils Grandelius | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021