2/14/2020 – In the diagram White played 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 threatening both 10.Nxe6 and 10.Qxg4. So, fire on the board — can you extinguish it as Black?

2/14/2020 – In chess, results are one of the most important factors, but what is also interesting to the astute reader is how the result came to be exactly. On a day when all games ended in draws, some point splits can be more interesting than wins, especially if two players of equal strength engage in a fist-fight to death! That is precisely what happened in round two of the Prague Masters 2020. Nils Grandelius fabulously outplayed Alireza Firouzja out of an Anti-Berlin, but when the time came to finish off his opponent just after the time control he faltered. Anton too endured disappointment, when Vidit Gujarathi suddenly blundered to gift him a winning advantage, which Anton didn't take advantage of. The remaining three games featured rather tame draws, with high-class opening preparation. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr

2/13/2020 – The refutation of the Philidor? IM Robert Ris thinks so after 6.Bf4 (pictured). On-demand and free to watch for a limited time (or forever for ChessBase Premium account holders. To chat when Robert is live, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. In the diagram, it's Black to play!

2/13/2020 – In Vienna, chess is back in the public space. People play on streets and squares, in the Main Library, and even in coffeehouses where chess once was very popular. The driving force behind this movement is the Dutch chess activist Kineke Mulder. Who is very active indeed.

2/13/2020 – It's only the second edition of the Prague Masters 2020, but everyone is already calling it the Czech Wimbledon! Jan-Krzysztof Duda is the top seed of the event and with a rating average of 2707, it is one of the strongest round robin events out there. At the last moment Wei Yi was replaced by Alireza Firouzja because the Chinese GM wasn't able to travel due to the Coronavirus. In the first round itself, three out of five possible decisive results meant that a lot of blood was spilled. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr

2/12/2020 – ChessBase offers a window to the world of professional chess. Our thoughtful columnist NAGESH HAVANUR reviews issue #193 which offers a bird’s eye view of three major events, the FIDE Grand Swiss / chess.com IOM Open, European Team championship and World Chess Grand Prix in Hamburg. 1618 games, 11 opening surveys, demo lectures and exercises for training. Games annotated by Fabiano Caruana, Wang Hao and Peter Heine Nielsen, to mention a few. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

2/9/2020 – An exciting day of chess left four players sharing the lead at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. Mariya Muzychuk showcased her attacking abilities to take down Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno outplayed Carissa Yip with Black from a balanced yet dangerous endgame, while Valentina Gunina could not take advantage of Alexandra Kosteniuk's opening blunder and ended up losing for a second day in a row. Irina Krush missed a chance to beat world champion Ju Wenjun with the black pieces. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

2/9/2020 – Last weekend saw some record-breaking numbers in both the Greater New York Scholastic and the Greater Chicago Scholastic chess tournaments. Held opposite Super Bowl weekend, the events attracted over 2000 students to duel over the black and white squares. Garry Kasparov was a special guest. | Pictured: Kasparov making the opening move of the top board of the High School Championship for FM Vincent Tsay, Young Stars Program student and former U12 World Champion. In the yellow shirt, TD Andre Harding making sure everything goes smoothly. | Photos: Kasparov Chess Foundation

2/8/2020 – The second edition of the Cairns Cup kicked off Friday at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Humpy Koneru and Nana Dzagnidze (pictured) were the first ones to get full points, as they defeated Carissa Yip and Valentina Gunina respectively. Both won after their opponents employed risky strategies with the black pieces. World champion Ju Wenjun started with Black and got a comfortable draw against Mariya Muzychuk. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/8/2020 – Lauren Goodkind took some special education classes in high school and has had a speech impediment since she was two years old. Now, at age 36, her US Chess rating is 1878. Her twin sister Barbara's rating is 1818, putting both in the top 8% of all US Chess-rated players. As WIM ALEXEY ROOT reports, Lauren is also an author; her third book, Queen for a Day: The Girl’s Guide to Chess Mastery, was just published. | Pictured: Judit Polgar and Goodkind in London, December 2019

2/7/2020 – The Power Play Show returns live this week. Grandmaster Daniel King looks back to a fine attacking game from the past. Power Play is live most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, Noon EST) on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

2/7/2020 – The Chinese grandmaster is healthy, but the virus' spread has forced the cancellation of many international flights and, for the second year running, Wei Yi has had to pull out of the Prague Masters just days in advance. He will be replaced by the current top junior in the world, GM Alireza Firouzja from Iran, who now lives in France. An open question is whether the Coronavirus outbreak may impact other top Chinese players heading for next month's Candiates Tournament in Russia. | Photo: Niki Riga