2/28/2025 – In the main line of the Yugoslav Attack, the ninth move Bc4 is nearly as popular as castling long. While Bd7 remains the most common response, Chris has some excellent alternative suggestions that can give Black an edge. Interestingly, Bc4 recently proved to be a nightmare for co-host Arne Kaehler, as Chris thoroughly enjoyed predicting and countering Arne’s "amateur" plans. | Photo: John Upham

2/27/2025 – Recently, Marc Andria Maurizzi was performing like a super GM at the Djerba Open, with 7.5 points out of 9 games. His performance was close to 2900! It was also a meeting of the two youngest GM's in French history - the youngest is Maurizzi, against the second-youngest Etienne Bacrot. The higher rated Bacrot didn't stand a chance against the underdog. Robert Ris analysed this crazy game.

2/27/2025 – The 2025 World Senior Team Chess Championship in Prague showcased thrilling battles as veteran players proved their enduring brilliance. In the 50+ category, top-seeded USA edged out Italy on tiebreaks, while Kazakhstan secured bronze. England 1 dominated the 65+ section, claiming gold ahead of Lasker Schachstiftung GK and Saxonia. The women's teams shone, with the Czech Republic and Latvia taking top honours. Across nine rounds, legendary grandmasters proved that chess truly knows no age limits. | Photos: Ave Chess

2/27/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show Merijn van Delft looks at a game from the German Bundesliga - and at a game, in which Vincent Keymer, Germany's number 1, played against Frederik Svane, Germany's number 2 - it was an interesting game. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

2/27/2025 – After Georgia and Kazakhstan, Monaco is the third stop on the current Women's Grand Prix series. Ten players will be competing for points and a place in the Women's Candidates Tournament from 18 to 27 February. Live daily from 15.00 local time - though the last round starts at 14.00.

2/27/2025 – Vincent Keymer had a good start at the Masters section of the Chess Festival in Prague: he defeated top seed Wei Yi in Wednesday's first round. The second victory of the day was secured by Sam Shankland, who won against Ediz Gürel. The three remaining games all ended in draws. There were also two wins and three draws in the Challengers: the two winners were Jonas Buhl Bjerre, who beat Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis with black, and Ivan Salgado Lopez, who defeated Divya Deshmukh with white. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

2/27/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris takes an in-depth look at a fascinating theoretical battle between Alireza Firouzja and Hikaru Nakamura. Last week they added three more games to their theoretical discussion in the Italian Opening, battling it out in a line that Hikaru used against Alireza at last year's Candidates - and since then a few more games have been played in this variation. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

2/27/2025 – Tata Steel 2025: Analyses by the tournament winners, Praggnanandhaa and Nguyen, as well as Abdusattorov, Giri, Harikrishna, L'Ami, Mendonca, Suleymanli, Van Foreest and Yakubboev + video review by Blohberger - Chess legend Viktor Kortschnoj: exclusive collection of 24 annotated games from 1960 to 2006 plus video by David Navara – Modern Petroff: Balázs Csonka sheds light on the Damiano Variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4!? - “The fortress - rien ne va plus!”: Dorian Rogozenco shows a classic fortress motif with queen + pawn against rook + pawn - The cheeky queen: Surya Ganguly shows in the video that 4.Qxd4 is also an option against the Sicilian with 2...e6! and much more.

2/27/2025 – Four decisive games in round eight of the Monaco Women's Grand Prix had a major impact on the tournament standings. Kateryna Lagno, the sole leader going into the round, drew her game, allowing Batkhuyag Munguntuul and Aleksandra Goryachkina to catch up after scoring key victories. Tan Zhongyi also won, keeping her title chances alive. With only one round remaining, three players share the lead, while two others remain within striking distance. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

2/27/2025 – Composer and musician Jason Kouchak draws much of his musical inspiration from his love of chess, which he shares with many friends. Last autumn Kouchak found inspiration for a composition while walking along London's King's Road, and in the New Year he repeated the journey of the Lewis Chessmen - with music and in the opposite direction. | Photos: Julian Paix, unless otherwise indicated

2/26/2025 – On Wednesday 26th February at 15:00 the first round of the Masters will start at the Prague Chess Festival. The tournament has a strong field, the festival is an event. Reason enough for Johannes Fischer and Arne Kähler to take a look at the tournament in their new episode of 'Two Knights Talk' - they introduce the participants and wonder who will win. They also come up with a tactical task from last year's festival and offer a quiz to test your chess and language skills.

2/26/2025 – The highest in chess history was achieved by Magnus Carlsen. It was Elo 2882, recorded in May 2014, breaking the record that had previously been set by Soviet and Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov. D Gukesh thinks it is possible to surpass this peak, but that it will be “very challenging” for him or any other player to achieve the feat in the near future. Firstpost interviewed the reigning world champion.