3/2/2021 – The main problem that blind players face when preparing for chess games is the lack of tools and technical resources. They struggle with technology because they cannot access all the available content. For big organizations who produce chess tools, tweaking the features for visually-impaired players is often financially unviable. This is the reason why Soundarya Pradhan, who is 100% visually impaired, decided to take things in his own hands. He has built up his own website, which solves a very specific problem for blind chess players. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

3/2/2021 – Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” was a major success in 2020, with the streaming service announcing in November that 62 million viewers had watched the limited series since its debut on October 23. The series’ success has now also been recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, as Anya Taylor-Joy won the Golden Globe for ‘best actress in a miniseries or television film’ and the series won the ‘best miniseries or television film’ award.

3/2/2021 – Rook endings contain many theoretically important positions and methods. The following position is one example. White to move and win.

3/1/2021 – Victorija Cmilyte is a top chess player and a successful politicain. She is a Grandmaster, Lithuania's number one women player and number seven on the World's Women Ranking List, and since 2015 she has been a Member of the Lithuanian Parliament. She was leader of the Opposition and in 2020 the elected Speaker of Parliament. Cmilyte is married to GM Peter Heine Nielsen and has four children. A portrait. | Photo: Clément Bucco-Lechat

3/1/2021 – With a last-round win with Black against Tigran Petrosian Hovhannes Gabuzyan finished the Armenian Championships 2021 in style. With this win Gabuzyan finished the tournament with a score of 8.5/11, a performance-rating of 2790, and 1.5 points ahead of his closest rivals Arman Pashikian and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan. | Photos: Armenian Chess Federation

3/1/2021 – As you surely know, in chess, as in other fields, it is important to study the past. But why is this the case? Our ChessBase Author tells us how he was told by his trainer to sit down at home with a book of the classics and think about what he found in them. Mattis discovered that – apart from the historical dimension – the process greatly enhanced his enjoyment and understanding of chess. He has a unique way of visualising the process.

2/28/2021 – Two strong grandmasters from different generations, currently living in countries far apart from each other, gave an online masterclass about a week ago. Levon Aronian and Oscar Panno discussed two impressive wins obtained by Aronian with the help of Robert Hungaski, who served as translator.

2/28/2021 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 16th part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman looks at ways to restrain the activity of your opponent. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra

2/28/2021 – Hovhannes Gabuzyan goes into the last round of the 2021 Armenian Championship as the sole leader, a whole point ahead of Arman Pashikian and Samvel Ser-Tahakyan. The leader faces Tigran Petrosian with the black pieces. The games start at noon CET (11:00 UTC, 7:00 ET). Follow the action live.

2/28/2021 – The ChessBase Magazine celebrates its anniversary! The new issue, number 200(!), offers various extras, for example an exclusive collection of "My favorite game of the young Magnus Carlsen", a selection of 100 exquisite games with analyses by top players such as Carlsen, Kramnik, and many others, a review of the history of CBM by Rainer Knaak, and much more. The issue also includes "Pearls from Wijk": Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri, the winners of Tata Steel 2021, annotate their best games, as do Nils Grandelius, Pentala Harikrishna, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Plus training material and videos on openings, tactics, strategy and the endgame. Take a look!

2/27/2021 – Burkard Starke was first an enthusiastic chess player and later a committed trainer in Leipzig. He wrote instructive material and (chess) history books. He died a few days ago at the age of 79. An obituary by Rainer Knaak.

2/27/2021 – Hundreds of different Fritztrainers have been teaching us chess on ChessBase for more than a decade. Maybe you sometimes wonder what else the authors of these Fritztrainers do? "Meet the Fritztrainer" takes a look behind the scenes, telling us more about the private life of your favourite chess trainer. We already had the pleasure to talk to GM Chris Ward, and IM Merijn van Delft. One of our most active "Fritztrainers" is surely GM Nicholas Pert. The British Grandmaster tells us the stories of how he achieved his IM and GM titles, including a game analysis! | Photos: Nicholas Pert & Battersea chess club