4/17/2025 – Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov played five matches for the world championship. The fourth match was played in Seville in 1987. After 23 games, the score was 12–11 in Karpov’s favor, putting Kasparov in a must-win situation to retain his title. The final game was adjourned after five hours of play, to be resumed the next day. The sealed position is the subject of this article.

4/16/2025 – The Classical Sicilian remains one of the most resilient and strategically rich responses to 1.e4. In this new ChessBase course, Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman offers an in-depth guide to this time-tested defence, covering key lines such as 6.Bg5, 6.f3 and 6.Bc4. Designed for ambitious club players and competitive improvers alike, the course balances theoretical depth with practical insight, featuring model games, tactical drills and move-order nuances. With over five hours of video content, it’s a comprehensive repertoire for Black.

4/16/2025 – In a very one-sided match, Ju Wenjun defended her title as women's world champion against Tan Zhongyi. Although the challenger took the lead in the second game, she suffered four consecutive defeats from the fifth game onwards. A draw in the ninth game today was enough for Ju Wenjun to win the match - played to the best of twelve games - early and defend her title. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

4/16/2025 – After the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai, FIDE set up a Fair Play Commission aimed at preventing cheating in chess. The commission received sweeping powers, over and above those of the arbiters or chess tournaments. Is that necessary and justified? Malcolm Pein, writer for The Daily Telegraph, takes vigorous offence at the working of the commission in the editorial of the London-based magazine CHESS.

4/16/2025 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Our columnist Nagesh Havanur takes a look at our current issue, CBM 224. 209 games from the Tata Steel Tournament, 15 annotated, 11 opening surveys, 4 opening videos, 7 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa and Karsten Müller, among others. The icing on the cake is a special feature on Viktor Korchnoi, with 24 annotated games. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

4/16/2025 – The 2025 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship is taking place from April 3 to 21 in two Chinese cities: Shanghai and Chongqing. It features a highly anticipated rematch between two of China's top grandmasters: the reigning Champion, Ju Wenjun, and the Challenger, Tan Zhongyi. The title of the Women's World Chess Champion is decided in 12 games and a tiebreak, if necessary. After 7 games Ju Wenjun leads 5-2. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 9.00 CEST (3.00 ET, 12.30 IST)

4/13/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 225 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/13/2025 – In this sneak peek, IM Robert Ris presents Volume 3 of his “Mastering Chess Strategy” series for ChessBase, focusing on how to exploit various weaknesses in an opponent’s position. He explains that after the earlier volumes defined and classified weaknesses (e.g., weak pawns, weak squares), this third installment dives deeper into identifying and prioritizing multiple weaknesses—especially around the king—while maintaining awareness of tactical opportunities.

4/13/2025 – Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura reached the final of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after winning their respective semifinal matches against Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. Both matches were decided without the need for tiebreaks, with Carlsen and Nakamura each scoring 1½–½. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave forced tiebreaks in their placement matches and advanced to the battle for fifth place. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu secured ninth place by defeating Richard Rapport. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/12/2025 – Teodora Injac of Serbia won the 25th European Women's Chess Championship in Rhodes with an impressive 9½/11, finishing 1½ points clear of the field. Despite losing her first-round game to 16-year-old Anastasia Kirtadze - having missed a mate-in-two - Injac rebounded with nine straight wins, including victories over key contenders. Irina Bulmaga, Mai Narva and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya tied for second place with 8 points each. | Photos: European Chess Union / Mark Livshitz

4/12/2025 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace, and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world’s best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?

4/12/2025 – Simplified position, equal material, everything on one wing, and yet from the diagram White wins in the blink of an eye - with the right burst of activity on your part!