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

3/10/2020 – Our regular contributor ALEX YERMOLINSKY unexpectedly finds himself with the U.S. Team at the World Senior Championship in Prague. Battling fellow seniors (and avoiding viruses), he sent us an update on the first four rounds. | Pictured: Spring outside the US Embassy in the Czech capital.

3/10/2020 – The players returned well-prepared after the rest day, which led to five out of six games finishing drawn in round seven. The only winner of the day was Anna Muzychuk, who defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk with the white pieces. This means Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alina Kashlinskaya are still sharing the lead on 'plus two', except that now four players make up the chasing pack, with Muzychuk joining Dzagnidze, Harika and Abdumalik on 4 out of 7. | Photo: David Llada

3/9/2020 – The Bunratty chess tournament in Ireland has become famous among professionals and amateurs alike. Regarded as the 'most fun weekend chess party in the world' this event should be on every chess player list of tournaments to visit. | 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).

3/9/2020 – Erwin l’Ami explains the Benko Gambit! Through model games l’Ami explains all topical lines of the Benko Gambit, occasionally asking the viewer interactive questions that help the viewer to grasp the ideas behind this opening. Pal Benko described in his autobiography that his gambit was initially regarded as a joke by his peers, but practice has shown it to be a dangerous weapon which is easy to learn.

3/9/2020 – The Candidates tournament starts on March 17th, where eight players will battle it out who will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship in December. In his Candidates Preview on YouTube, Daniel King takes a close look at all the candidates. In the most recent episode, King reviews Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, one of the few players who once reached an Elo rating of over 2800 just five years ago. The Russian, who is currently ranked number 4 in the world, is thus among the favourites to win in Yekaterinburg. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

3/8/2020 – Dorsa Derakhshani is an Iranian International Master who immigrated to the United States in 2017. She is a third-year student at Saint Louis University on a full chess scholarship, and plans to go to medical school. On this International Women's Day, the story of a young woman who made international headlines for her brave stance in favour of women's rights and personal freedom.