3/17/2020 – Do you know what is the Centurini's rule? Do you have an Anti-Reti in your opening repertoire? Would you like to have an IM pose some interactive questions, and test your tactical vision? Do you know how to evaluate a position with no minor pieces, but with queens and rooks on the board? Are you aware of common opening traps in the Caro-Kann, Philidor, English and Sicilian? Do you want to update your opening repertoire with the latest recommendations? If these topics have you intrigued, and interested in knowing more, ChessBase Magazine could become your addictive chess reading while as you self-isolate!

3/16/2020 – A poem written in Valencian by Francesc de Castellví, Bernat Fenollar and Narcís de Vinyoles was the first literary work to describe a game with the modern rules — the queen could move multiple squares in all directions and the scope of the bishops widened importantly. SERGIO NEGRI tells us the story. | Image: A chessboard illustrated in Jacobus de Cessolis' "De ludo scachorum".

3/16/2020 – The Candidates Tournament is one of the most anticipated events of 2020, particularly now as major events are being cancelled left and right! Simon gives you his take on the players and their chances. | Watch for free live and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

3/16/2020 – Miaoyi Lu might be a name well worth remembering. The Chinese player was born in 2010 but is already surprisingly strong. In March, she won a women's grandmaster tournament in Belgrade and that was not her first success — and will probably not be her last. | Photo: David Halter (USChess.org)

3/16/2020 – The candidate tournament in Yekaterinburg is a major highlight in the eventful chess year 2020 and one of the few current events that has (so far) not been heavily affected by the Coronavirus epidemic. The opening is on Monday and the first of fourteen rounds follows on Tuesday. The winner will play Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship at the end of the year. | Photos: FIDE

3/15/2020 – Many young players used the Aeroflot Open to gather some tournament experience. Some of their names are not so familiar. One of them, 14 year old Aydin Suleymanli, made himself a name by simply winning the tournament. THORSTEN CMIEL introduces the next generation. | Photo: ChessBase India

3/15/2020 – In his last "Preview on the Candidates 2020" Daniel King takes a look at the chances of Fabiano Caruana to win the Candidates and to challenge Magnus Carlsen again. Currently, Caruana is the world's number two but that is not the only reason why he is a favourite to win in Yekaterinburg. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

3/15/2020 – Roven Vogel won the U16 Youth World Championship 2015 and at the beginning of this year he qualified for the next Tata Steel Challengers Tournament in Wijk aan Zee by winning the Qualifiers in Wijk. To get a better understanding of how the best players study and work, he took a close look at Caruana's DVDs about the Ruy Lopez. Which he considers to be entertaining and helpful for chess players of all levels.

3/15/2020 – When Misha Tal was young, amatory conquest was as important to him as conquest over the chess board. Some liaisons were fleeting and others lasted longer. The affair with "Actress L." was perhaps the most “scandalous” of them all. Who was she? Our columnist makes some astonishing discoveries. | Photo: kino-teatr.ru

3/14/2020 – Chess is all about striking blows but usually only in the cerebral sense. It's different with chess boxing. This discipline was actually once a gag by the artist Enki Bilal, but it morphed into a popular and active community. On Saturday evening, Chessboxing London will stream the fight for the World Middleweight Championship live online. Chess for boxing fans! Coronavirus be damned!

3/14/2020 – The World Senior Team Championships in Prague ended prematurely, Thursday, after 7 rounds due to the looming Coronavirus epidemic. In the 50+ tournament, the favoured USA team lived up to expectations by winning with a full point margin. The top 65+ team, Russia, also took top honours, but only on better board point tiebreak over the second-placed French. GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, who played a fantastic tournament with 5½/6 shortly after his 70th birthday. | Report and photos: ALEX YERMOLINSKY

3/14/2020 – After the flood of cancellations in the sports and chess world due to the Corona crisis, it is no longer a surprise: The GRENKE Chess Open 2020 is canceled. We have attached the statement by the tournament director, Sven Noppes. The organisiers are still trying to save the elite round-robin tournament that started in Baden-Baden in 2014, but it remains an open question whether it can be held. | Photo: Eric van Reem

3/14/2020 – It was a rather short final day of action at the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. All six encounters finished drawn after 33 moves or fewer, which meant the standings table remained unchanged. Nana Dzagnidze and Aleksandra Goryachkina thus shared first place with 7 out of 11 points, while Zhansaya Abdumalik finished third on 6½. Dzagnidze was declared the champion on tiebreaks (total number of wins). | Photos: David Llada

3/13/2020 – There are three different outcomes for a chess game. We can win, we can draw or we can lose. There are also three different ways how we can lose a game. We get checkmated, we lose on time, or we resign. Resigning is normally an option if we are losing too much material, the time is almost up, or we are about to get checkmated. Nonetheless, we often insist to keeping on playing our lost game, instead of just resigning. | Photo: Steve Buissinne (Pixabay)

3/13/2020 – Daniel King takes a close look at all players of the "candidates tournament 2020" in his preview on YouTube. Only two players are left to analyze, after he has reviewed the six other grandmasters already. All of these players have the same goal, which is to fight for a chance to challenge Magnus Carlsen at end of the year. In King's latest instalment, it is time to reaffirm the qualities of Ding Liren. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

3/13/2020 – World champion Ju Wenjun lost a second game in a row, this time against Aleksandra Goryachkina, who thus caught up with Nana Dzagnidze atop the standings table of the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. But the latter two drew their final round clash in 24 moves. Zhansaya Abdumalik ended a half point behind. You can replay the games (with engine analysis support) on our live broadcast page. | Photo: David Llada

3/13/2020 – In the diagram position, White threatens 16.Qh7++. The game continuation 15...Ng6 was brilliantly refuted. Can you see why — and also suggest an improvement for Black?

3/13/2020 – World champion Ju Wenjun lost a second game in a row, this time against Aleksandra Goryachkina, who thus caught Nana Dzagnidze atop the standings table of the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. The co-leaders will face each other in Friday's deciding round (which kicks off three and a half hours earlier than usual!). Zhansaya Abdumalik is the only player a half point behind. | Photo: David Llada