10/22/2024 – Queens are very peculiar pieces. They love to attack and hate to defend. The difference in the value of this piece when attacking and defending is striking. An attacking queen is perhaps twice as valuable than a defending one. In a way, it makes a lot of sense. A queen is a very mobile and precious piece. Being mobile, it can attack very well, creating double attacks, forks, moving from one side to the other with ease. Being precious, it is barely able to cover anything. (For the same reason we don’t use golden locks to protect our bicycles. Thieves would gladly steal both the bike and the lock.) The qualities of a queen are very visible in situations when it must fight less valuable pieces. Let's have a look at some examples! | Photo: Ecolinho (Pixabay)

10/22/2024 – In the diagram position White has still all the pawns he had at the beginning of the game, but he also has a bad bishop because he put all those pawns on the colour of his bishop. And though he is a pawn up, White is in trouble and has to fight for a draw. What should he do?

10/21/2024 – With 7 points from 9 games, Indian Grandmaster P.T. Sethuraman won the Weissenhaus Young Masters ahead of Pavel Eljanov. The young players of the Weissenhaus Chess Acadamy, Marius Deuer and Leonardo Costa finished third and fourth. 13-year old Hussain Besou narrowly missed an IM-norm, but gained tournament experience. Just as 12-year old Christian Glöckler. | Photo: WEISSENHAUS Chess Academy

10/21/2024 – The top teams had a smooth start to the European Club Cup in Vrnjacka Banja on Sunday, but there were some individual upsets: Praggnanandhaa (2746) lost in the first round against Francois Godart (2377), and Max Lutze (2148) of the SV Erkenschwick defeated GM Vajnap Sanal (2570). | Photo: Vincent Keymer watches his colleagues from team Novy Bor | Photos: ECU and Gerd Densing

10/21/2024 – The Neo-London System is an enhanced version of the classic London System, emphasizing creativity and sharper play by avoiding common black setups and exploiting the Bf5 variation's risks for Black. The course offers extensive training with interactive exercises and novelties for surprising opponents in unexplored positions.

10/21/2024 – In rook endings, the privilege of having connected passed pawns can easily make the difference. But even in this case there are many hidden resources. After our first lesson a few days ago, today we are going to study a key manoeuvre you have to know if you want to survive against two connected pawns (as in this diagram). We also bring you some historical examples to help you understand the technique. Learn and enjoy.

10/17/2024 – Immediately after the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, a number of top players, including Anand, Firouzja and Erigaisi, compete in the WR Chess Masters (14-18 October), a knockout tournament with short classical time control. Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have reached the finals after knocking out tough opponents in previous rounds. The participants play 2-game matches - and as both games ended in a draw, an Armageddon game will decide the tournament.

10/17/2024 – We told you about the six-part dramatic re-enactment of the epic 1997 match between Garry Kasparov and the super-computer Deep Blue. The movie, due for broadcast today, and can also be viewed in full on the ARTE web site or on Youtube. As someone who experienced practically every minute of the drama in real life, back in 1985-86, I could track all the discrepancies. But on the whole the movie was well told and enjoyable.

10/17/2024 – The fifth round of the US Championships was overshadowed by a serious incident. After Christopher Yoo was defeated by Fabiano Caruana, he lost his nerve: he crumpled up his scoresheet and then stormed out of the tournament hall. In the process, he punched a videographer in the back. The organisers notified the police and Yoo was expelled from the tournament. His previous results were cancelled, including his defeat against Caruana. Nevertheless, Caruana is in the lead with 3 out of 4 points, ahead of Awonder Liang and Hans Niemann with 3 out of 5. In the women's tournament, Carissa Yip continued her winning streak and claimed her fifth victory in a row. | Photo: Screenshot from the Siant Louis Chess Club webcast

10/17/2024 – In his new Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft takes an excursion into the world of computer chess and presents an absolutely crazy game, in which two computers tested their tactical skills. Which led to an incredible slugfest. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

10/17/2024 – Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave secured their places in the final of the WR Chess Masters Cup after winning their semifinal matches on Wednesday. Arjun defeated fellow Indian Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while MVL triumphed over Alireza Firouzja in an Armageddon tiebreaker. The final, set to take place on Thursday, will feature two games played at 11.00 and 18.00 CEST. | Photo: ChessBase India / Abhyudaya Ram

10/16/2024 – The Polish Team Championship was a tight race which saw Klub Sportowy Gwiazda Bydgoszcz coming out on top. The champions scored as many team points as VOTUM SA Polonia Wrocław, but outscored the runners-up by 2 board points. Oliwia Kiolbasa's 7½/9 performance was crucial for Bydgoszcz's overall victory. | Photos: Kamil Gałuszka