4/18/2025 – The 2025 FIDE Women's World Championship Match between Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi concluded after nine intense games played across two cities. In over 517 moves and nearly 38 hours of play, both competitors delivered sharp openings, complex middlegames and dramatic endgames. Ju emerged victorious for a fifth consecutive time, but not without serious resistance from Tan. With standout performances, including a 98% accuracy win in Game 8, the match will be remembered for its fighting spirit. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

4/18/2025 – On Easter Sunday, April 20, at 6 PM CET, the Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy will host an exclusive lecture by Max Dlugy, a world-renowned grandmaster and a brilliant chess educator, known for his dynamic style and deep understanding of the game. Dlugy was one of the top blitz players in the world, earning the title of World Junior Champion in 1985.

4/18/2025 – There was a lot of news at ChessBase in March: whether it was a mobile app, video course, ChessBase Magazine Extra, or databases – there was sure to be something to suit every chess taste. Take a look at last month's products:

4/18/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris analyses a game between Indian stars Divya Deshmukh and Vaishali Rameshbabu, one that featured a sharp theoretical line from the Open Variation in the Ruy Lopez. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/18/2025 – Round four of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Pune saw a thrilling day of chess, with four decisive results and standout endgame performances from Indian stars Humpy Koneru and Divya Deshmukh. Zhu Jiner remains in the lead on 3½/4, closely followed by Humpy and Divya. The round featured impressive technical finishes, a near-win in a dramatic Harika–Vaishali draw, and strong showings from Salimova and Zhu. With five rounds remaining, the tournament remains wide open. | Photo: Abhilash Shinde

4/17/2025 – You want to understand chess? Who doesn't? – To make the path to that goal a little easier, GM Robert Ris explains in two more episodes of his strategy series what he believes is important. Understand his ideas, and it will be easier for you to develop good plans of your own.

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)