3/29/2024 – All chess players aspire to create a lasting masterpiece over the board. And if sacrifices appeal to the artistic side of a chess player, what can be a better way than to sacrifice the most powerful of all pieces, the queen? GM Sundararajan Kidambi presents three games featuring remarkable (positional) queen sacrifices! | Pictured: Karthikeyan Murali | Photo: Niklesh Jain / ChessBase India

3/29/2024 – In his new Fast & Furious episode, Robert Ris shows how Levon Aronian surprised Wesley So in a classical line of the Nimzo-Indian. Aronian’s 5...c5!? worked out perfectly as he went on to win the game. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

3/29/2024 – If you want to make progress in chess, sooner or later you will have to deal with your opening repertoire. It is better to approach this complex subject systematically than to get lost in a mass of videos, books and clever tips. To help with this, the Opening Encyclopaedia 2024 informs about the latest opening developments and provides basic knowledge.

3/29/2024 – Magnus Carlsen scored back-to-back wins on Thursday to take the lead at the Grenke Chess Classic in Karlsruhe. Carlsen defeated Vincent Keymer and former leader Richard Rapport to go into the rest day a full point ahead of Rapport, Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The remaining four rounds of the double round-robin will be played during the weekend, with the final playoff set to take place on Monday. | Photo: Angelika Valkova

3/28/2024 – What to do against 1.e4? Many players choose to open with the Sicilian to play for a win with Black and get interesting positions, but they are afraid of the long forced variations in the Najdorf, the Dragon or the Sveshnikov. The Kalashnikov Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6!?) is an interesting alternative. The positions offer a wealth of tactical and strategic possibilities, but the theory is straightforward. In a new course, French GM Fabien Libiszewski shows how to score in the Kalashnikov Variation.

3/28/2024 – It is quite difficult to find the right trainer for a chess player. More so when there are so many lucrative options available. While some prefer to work on their own, others need a chess coach to guide and help them improve their game. Peter Long shares his experiences and thoughts as a trainer. Instead of focusing on gaining more knowledge, attending camps and playing tournaments incessantly, creating a structure will help students to fix their gaps and become stronger players.

3/25/2024 – “Everyone has been waiting for this chess festival”, writes Alex Winkler in a press release from the organisation of the GRENKE Chess Classic and the GRENKE Chess Open. Six international stars, including Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer, will compete in the Classic, which starts tomorrow, Tuesday 26 March, while over 2500 players will take part in the Open. But last-minute entrants can still take part: the registration is still open!

3/25/2024 – Take a look at this picture. It is not a Hollywood star, but a chess celebrity. Can you recognize him? Capablanca, Nezhmetdinov, Frank Marshall? No, not any of them! The answer is Andor Lilienthal, an extraordinary chess grandmaster, born in Moscow, but moved to Hungary. In his career, he played against ten world champions, and defeated six of them. Retrospect by Himank Ghosh. | Photo: Edward Winter's Chess Notes archives.

3/25/2024 – We owe the vast majority of chess knowledge available to us today to the masters of the past, no matter whether it's about opening theory, strategic concepts or techniques in the endgame. Former German national coach Dorian Rogozenco honours the achievements by these masters in his "Modern Classics" series in ChessBase Magazine. In each issue he familiarises you with a selected brilliancy. This week we offer you Nezhmetdinov-Chernikov (1962) from the current CBM #218 as a free sample - you can even watch and enjoy the video analysis on your smartphone in ChessBase book format. Have fun!

3/25/2024 – Dutch IM Robert Ris is a much sought-after coach in his home country and is also a very prolific author. Mario Ziegler took a look at his latest FritzTrainer — one focused on tactics — for Glarean Magazine. “Calculation Training - Sharpen your Game” is a nice collection of new tactics exercises. The reviewer concluded: “Robert Ris has a pleasant style of presentation and responds to the reader’s probable solution suggestions”.

3/24/2024 – The most important tournament of the year begins on April 3 in Toronto, Canada: the Candidates Tournament. Eight participants, 14 rounds, the winner plays for the World Championship. Two of the eight participants have already won one or more Candidates Tournaments, four have already played one or more Candidates Tournaments, the youngest candidate is 17, the oldest is 36 years old. But who will win? | Photos: Official website / FIDE

3/24/2024 – We have all been there: after a win in an open tournament, it is time to face a stronger opponent, and we struggle to figure out how to play the opening. Our recently launched Opening Encyclopaedia can be of great help in these situations. GM Dorian Rogozenco, a well-known and experienced chess trainer, demonstrates how to employ this excellent tool to prepare an effective strategy — and face the game confidently!