6/22/2018 – Pia Cramling was born in 1963, the same year as Garry Kasparov, and she is also a chess legend. 40 years ago, when she was 15, she played in her first Olympiad. But this year she won't in play the Olympiad in Batumi 2018. In an extensive interview, the Swedish grandmaster reveals what drove her decision and reflects on her long career. | Pictured: Juan Bellon, Anna Cramling, Pia Cramling; Photo: Swedish Chess Federation

6/22/2018 – If Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik could learn from the great Patriarch of chess Mikhail Botvinnik, we are sure you can also learn a great deal from this great master. Hence, ChessBase has launched its tenth DVD in the Master Class series in which capable tutors like GMsYannick Pelletier, Mihail Marin, Karsten Mueller and IM Oliver Reeh dissect the play of the fifth World Champion. In this article IM SAGAR SHAH explains how studying the classics helped him to become a stronger chess player. He shows you one of his favourite games of Botvinnik and how he applied what he learnt in his own game at the under-19 nationals back in 2007!

6/22/2018 – White's queen is threatening to take the rook e8 with a back rank mate, while his own exposed king might get ready to escape via e2. How would you continue as Black in the diagram position?

6/21/2018 – After the second day of the GCT rapid tournament in Paris, as in Leuven last week, Wesley So has taken the lead again. Today, the US Grandmaster won two games and played one draw. In the live Rapid Elo list So has now gained 86 points and is second behind Magnus Carlsen. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/21/2018 – A solid tactical understanding is sure to help any chess player in critical situations. Whether it is a simple exchange or a mating attack, tactics are ubiquitous. Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your tactical understanding in this series with IM Oliver Reeh and Pascal Simon! (Normally) Friday's at 15:30 CET (9:00 AM EDT) it's all about Tactics!

6/21/2018 – International Master Robert Ris, well known for his Chessbase DVDs, has now published his first print book. In it he gives special attention to three essential elements of practical play, all key elements for every ambitious player seeking to improve. The first part of the book explores essential knowledge of rook endgames, offering a clear method to learn them. Then focus on tactical play and the way one should think, and how to cultivate one's own ability to sense the opportunity for a tactical strike. Ris also examines important aspects of positional play which will lead to a deeper understanding of the game. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO looks at how Ris' teaching approach can help serious chess students master all the facets of the game.

6/21/2018 – The second leg of the Grand Chess Tour has begun, with three rapid chess rounds played in Paris today. After the first third of the rapid round-robin, Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian and Wesley So are in the lead with 4 points each. Paris, like the tournament in Leuven last week, uses double-points scoring for the rapid games, which will be combined with the scores in the blitz tournament this weekend to produce an overall winner. Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/20/2018 – Mikhail Botvinnik became world champion in 1948 and remained so until 1963. During this time he either successfully defended his title against David Bronstein, Vassily Smyslov and Mihail Tal or got it back in a return match. The systematic, scientific method of working in chess begins with Botvinnik. Karsten Mueller, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Yannick Pelletier break down his legacy in this latest entrant into our Master Class series.

6/20/2018 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) and Saint Louis Chess Club have been running the very successful Young Stars – Team USA program for the past six years. Team USA’s program has helped develop several American chess prodigies from across the country, including the likes of GM Jeffery Xiong and GM Sam Sevian. Young Stars has been capped off with individualized training sessions with Garry Kasparov’s coaching staff and special training sessions with Kasparov himself. | Photo: Andrew Tsay

6/20/2018 – Why, after all, are the Indian openings called "Indian"? Conrad Schormann tried to find an answer to this question and found it in the ChessBase Mega Database. It led him back to a clash of classical and hypermodern theory in old India.

6/19/2018 – Nigel Short is in a four-way race for President of FIDE, to be decided in an election in Batumi at the Chess Olympiad on October 3rd. Until a few days ago, it was a three-way race with one of those being the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. But now the Russian Chess Federation is poised to nominate someone else: Russian economist and politician Arkady Dvorkovich. Macauley Peterson spoke to Nigel for an hour in Leuven, during the first stop of Grand Chess Tour, to get his current thoughts on the race. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/19/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. Today, Lawrence will have a look at games from the Netherlands' "Schaakweek Apeldoorn GM Tournament".