5/2/2025 – Many of the top players were mainly involved in Freestyle Chess in April, which is not rated by FIDE. However, the end of the Austrian and German Bundesliga seasons did bring about some changes in the world rankings. And in the junior women's category, Divya Deshmukh and Li Miaoyi are engaged in an exciting duel.

5/2/2025 – The sixth and final leg of the 2024/2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix begins on 6 May in Grosslobming, Austria, with three players still in contention for the overall title. Aleksandra Goryachkina currently leads the standings but will not compete in the final stage, leaving Zhu Jiner and Anna Muzychuk with a chance to overtake her. The event will also determine which two players qualify for the 2026 Women’s Candidates, making this final stage a pivotal moment in the Women's World Championship cycle.

5/1/2025 – April saw notable shifts in the FIDE Circuit 2025 leaderboard, with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu moving into first place after a strong showing in Poland. Vladimir Fedoseev’s victory in Warsaw propelled him to third, while Vasyl Ivanchuk's success in Menorca earned him fourth. Other key movements include Lu Shanglei rising to eighth and Parham Maghsoodloo entering the top ten.

5/1/2025 – Chess 960, or Freestyle Chess, is currently experiencing a boom with many tournaments and games. The idea is that each new game with an unknown starting position brings new challenges. Now the first major collection of games is available, the Chess 960 Yearbook by Arno Nickel. Hartmut Metz took a look at it.

5/1/2025 – Prague Chess Festival 2025: Analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara, Nguyen, Shankland, Wei Yi and others - ‘My favourite miniature’: Entertaining, instructive, short - 27 games under 20 moves, annotated by CBM authors - Dutch vs. London: Yago Santiago counters with 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Nc6! - ‘Rooks in seventh heaven’: Oliver Reeh's tactical tests with over 30 current games + four interactive videos - ‘3.Bf4! – Something for the lazy?": Sam Shankland dissects his victory over Ediz Gurel from the Prague Masters with the London System – Opening videos by Daniel King, Jan Werle and Robert Ris and much more.

5/1/2025 – Vladimir Fedoseev delivered a standout performance at the 2025 Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland tournament, securing overall victory with three rounds to spare and finishing five points ahead of the field. The Slovenian grandmaster lost only one game out of 27 and posted one of the highest scores in Grand Chess Tour history. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished in clear second place, while Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu claimed third after a final-round win over Levon Aronian. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/30/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft presents a game of Arjun Erigaisi, in which the Indian Grandmaster once again proves his talent for attacking chess. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/30/2025 – The Czech Chess Federation announced yesterday on its website the death of Czech grandmaster Petr Neuman (11 March 1978 – 29 April 2025). The Czech Chess Federation describes Petr Neuman, who became a grandmaster in 2013, as one of the country's most active players. Last weekend, Neuman was still playing for his German club Bad Mergentheim in the Bundesliga. | Photo: Czech Chess Federation

4/30/2025 – Kicking off the 2025 Grand Chess Tour is the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, the first of three speed chess events, which is taking place on April 26-30 in Warsaw. The event starts with 9 rounds of rapid action, followed by 18 rounds of blitz. Included in the field are young elite GMs such as Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Alireza Firouzja alongside former world champion Veselin Topalov. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.00 CEST (8.00 ET, 17.30 IST)

4/30/2025 – Vladimir Fedoseev has taken a commanding lead at the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland tournament after scoring 8 out of 9 points in the first day of blitz. The Slovenian grandmaster now stands 3½ points ahead of the field with nine rounds left to play on Wednesday. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu sits in sole second place despite a shaky start to the day, while Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Aravindh Chithambaram remain in close contention for a top finish. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/29/2025 – GM Chris Ward introduces a fresh and evolving variation in the Sicilian Dragon, humorously dubbed the "Accelerated Dragadorf", which merges dragon setups with thematic ideas from the Najdorf. He analyzes a complex game featuring this system, highlighting tactical motifs, a strong bishop on e5, and a dominant performance by young Vietnamese IM Dau Khuong Duy. The second part covers a clean positional win in a more traditional Dragon, culminating in a delightful rook endgame puzzle, followed by Chris sharing personal insights on his early use of chess engines like Fritz. | Photo: John Upham

4/29/2025 – Max Euwe became the fifth World Chess Champion after beating Alexander Alekhine in the 1935 World Championship match. A maths teacher by profession, Euwe remained an amateur throughout his life, but was still the best chess player in the Netherlands, and one of the world's best players.