3/17/2025 – Today, "coffee house" will most likely refer to ubiquitous American chains that have no particular connection with chess. In London during the 18th and 19th centuries coffee houses were at the epicentre of the chess world, where players met and reputations were formed. In CHESS Magazine Ben Graff explores an era when coffee houses were at the epicentre of the chess world.

3/16/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 221 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Vassily Ivanchuk. | Photo: Pascal Simon

3/16/2025 – The 2025 American Cup began with contested battles in both the open and women's sections. In the open section, all four games ended in draws, with top seeds Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura failing to convert with the white pieces. Meanwhile, the women's section saw three decisive games, as Irina Krush, Alice Lee and Carissa Yip secured victories. Yip's win was particularly dramatic, as her opponent, Thalia Cervantes, missed a forced checkmate before ultimately collapsing. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

3/16/2025 – The first round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Cyprus saw four closely contested games and two decisive results. Greece's Stavroula Tsolakidou defeated Germany's Elisabeth Paehtz, while China's Zhu Jiner (pictured) overcame Olga Badelka. The tournament, held at Hilton Nicosia, features a strong lineup, including Grand Prix leader Aleksandra Goryachkina and Ukrainian stars Anna and Mariya Muzychuk. | Photos: FIDE / Mark Livshitz

3/15/2025 – Vidit Gujrathi has secured his place in the Paris leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after winning the online Play-In stage held from 8 to 14 March. The Indian grandmaster advanced through a competitive knockout phase without needing tiebreakers, defeating Ding Liren, Pranesh Munirethinam, Amin Tabatabaei and Richard Rapport. Despite feeling underprepared, Vidit's strong performance earned him a spot alongside Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Hikaru Nakamura in the tournament, set to take place from 7 to 14 April. | Photo: Anmol Bhargav

3/15/2025 – From the diagram position, White started a powerful attack on the black king, but in the end failed to crown it. Can you do better?

3/11/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show Merijn van Delft looks at one of the most remarkable games played in 2025: Aravindh Chithambarm's crucial victory against Anish Giri at the Prague Masters. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

3/11/2025 – The Neo-London System is an improved, more creative variation of the classical London System, which avoids dangerous black defensive moves with 3.c3 and Lf4 and exploits risks in the Lf5 variation. The course offers numerous innovations, sharper ideas and interactive training material to surprise opponents in unexplored positions. The ultra-creative Neo-London system! Ellis' “baby” is probably one of the most comprehensive Fritztrainers of recent years, with a running time of over 9 hours!

3/11/2025 – Some of the world’s best chess players have trained under him, yet his name remains unknown to many. He has worked with players like Anish Giri, Jorden van Foreest, and Vladimir Fedoseev but always stayed behind the scenes. He is known for his creative training methods and intensive sessions. The name of this mastermind is Roman Vidonyak, and Sagar Shah got the opportunity to meet him in Wijk aan Zee. Check out his interview in which he talks about his training journey, training philosophy, and what it takes to create champions. Photo: German Chess Federation

3/11/2025 – The activity of the king is often a crucial factor in endgames. In the diagram position it was Black to move and he used his better king to win the game. How?

3/11/2025 – Today is publishing day. Susan Polgar's book, Rebel Queen, is available in book outlets, or on Amazon, where you can also get the Kindle edition. It describes the trials and tribulations of a super-talent at odds with her federation, and how she overcame it to rise to the very top of women's chess. Today we excerpt a passage from her book that describes her encounter with ChessBase. We are proud to have played a role in her chess career. | Photo Renata Goreczk

3/11/2025 – Magnus Carlsen representend his team Offerspill last weekend at the end of this year's Norwegian Elite Series and won all the three games he played. However, it was not enough to win the championship. Vålerenga (pictured) became Norwegian team champions ahead of OSS and Offerspill. | Photo: Kaido Kulaots via Facebook