3/23/2018 – In the European Individual Championship in Batumi, after six rounds the top group has increased to seven players. After his victory over Ivan Saric, Radoslaw Wojtaszek is now the only player rated over 2700 in the leading pack. Friday is a rest day, and the tournament resumes on Saturday at 12:15 CET. | Pictured: Musical chairs on the top board. Benjamin Bok (right) is one of the co-leaders. Ivan Saric (left) is now half a point back | Photos: Official facebook page

3/23/2018 – Playing 13.Nh2! in the diagram position, White signals his ambitions on the kingside - however, until he finally strikes (on h6!) there a some subtleties left to find. Are you fit for the task?

3/23/2018 – Fabiano Caruana had to face his most persistent pursuer in Berlin, Shakriyar Mamedyarov, in the tenth round with the black pieces. Both players wanted to win the game and thus take a huge advantage into the remaining games, but ultimately played to bare kings. The tournament is still completely open at the top. On the other end of the standings table, Vladimir Kramnik staged a small comeback after several bruising defeats, by winning against Levon Aronian. Both the remaining games, Ding Liren vs So and Grischuk vs Karjakin were drawn. | Photo: Niki Riga

3/22/2018 – When we are kids we are mostly taught to play 1.e4, and the first mate we see is the one with Bc4, Qh5 and Qxf7++. It looks like chess theory is turning back to its roots when the move 3.Bc4 was much more popular than 3.Bb5. Nowadays all top tournaments are full of Italian games and the focus of the battle is transposed from the opening to the middle game which requires from both sides good knowledge of typical plans and ideas. Let Victor Bologan be your guide...

3/22/2018 – Chesthetica, an automatic chess problem composer, has been capable of composing all sorts of puzzles using the Digital Synaptic Neural Substrate (DSNS) computational creativity approach for some years now. I feel compelled to remind readers that this new approach has nothing to do with machine learning or artificial neural networks. Creativity is typically not something that can be ‘taught’ or ‘learned’. It also has nothing at all to do with ‘deep learning’. | Graphics: Sample additional Deviant Art images used in the DSNS composing approach

3/22/2018 – Chess is a mind game. When you sit at the board, it is just you, your thoughts and your emotions. In such a scenario having the right psychology is of utmost importance to serious tournament players. You may polish your opening knowledge, endgame skills, combinational abilities endlessly, but if you are not able to get in the right frame of mind then improving at the game is very difficult. With this in mind, Dr. Shrirang Joshi, a well-known psychiatrist and counsellor gives us three tips which can help us before, during and after the game. These are simple directives which are easy to understand, but quite difficult to implement. | Photo: Chess Directory

3/21/2018 – People are generally worried about draws, which are often considered “boring”, where games may last up to six hours. To the common viewer (non-chess player), this may seem dull, and many believe this has led to a decline in sponsorship. But what do the statistics tell us? Using data now available, Qiyu Zhou, a remarkably young scientist has undertaken a thorough study of the numbers and provides a paper on her findings.

3/21/2018 – Wednesday at 9pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. This episode is about the ongoing Candidates tournament. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

3/21/2018 – The new Endgame Turbo 5 represents the ultimate tablebase collection available and can be used simply by sticking it into a USB port on your computer. It contains the full 3-4-5 and 6-piece tablebases on a pen drive so that neither hard disk space or SSD drive are required to take advantage of them. However, the big question is what is so special about them and why you need them. Read on and find out!

3/20/2018 – Fabiano Caruana failed to put an end to Ding Liren's drawing streak today in the Candidates Tournament, and the US Grandmaster missed several good opportunities in the endgame. Vladimir Kramnik showing fighting spirit, sacrificing a while rook against Karjakin, but his queen and bishop pair was not enough to crack the "Minister of Defence", and he went on to lose his fourth game. Who would have predicted that Kramnik and Aronian would be tied for last place!? | Pictured: Lakhdar Mazouz, FIDE President's Assistant for Africa made the ceremonial first move Photos: Niki Riga

3/20/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CET (5 pm UK time, Noon EST) 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 European Individual Championship.

3/20/2018 – A knight up in the endgame, with a couple of pawns still on the board — usually, this should be enough for a win. Usually it is, but not always.