3/19/2024 – The famous Reykjavík Open is up and running, and ready for some surprises. Popular streamer Alexandra Botez managed to win against a South African opponent rated almost 400 Elo points higher than her! In the French Defence, her opponent played the MacCutcheon, which was covered by Robert Ris in ChessBase Magazine 198, and his Fast and Furious show (Links below). In the wild game, with several sacrifices, Alexandra converted the endgame in her favour.

3/18/2024 – Step into the illustrious world of chess greatness for an interview with IGM Vladimir Tukmakov at the Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy! Tukmakov is a former top player of the end of the 20th century. His chess education was in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, where he still resides nowadays. Subscribers of the KCF Academy have full access to the captivating interview on March 24, 2024.

3/18/2024 – Endgame training on the computer is much easier and more efficient than it used to be. The quickest way to learn is with a good coach. Surya Ganguly was Anand’s second for a long time, but he is also great at teaching the basics, as he does with his course “Endgame Essentials”. Unmissable!

3/18/2024 – In the Norwegian Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5!?) Black hunts directly for the early developed white bishop. A number of strong grandmasters have already tried this approach, e.g. Mamedyarov, Vallejo Pons, Sarana and, last year, ... Magnus Carlsen! Igor Stohl dedicates an "All in One" article to the variation in the current ChessBase Magazine #218: You can find out everything you need to know about the variation in a sinlge, extensively annotated game! You can view Stohl's article this week as a free sample - directly in the ChessBase book format on your iPad, tablet, smartphone or wherever else you have a web browser available!

3/18/2024 – Three players remain in contention in each section of the 2024 American Cup. In the open, Levon Aronian won the Champions Bracket and is set to face the winner of the match between Ray Robson and Wesley So. In the women’s, Irina Krush secured victory in the Champions Bracket and will face either Alice Lee or Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova in the Grand Final. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/18/2024 – Chess is a really fun game to play, but equally enjoyable is solving artificial positions – problems and studies – many that defy the imagination. In this ChessBase Challenge instalment, we have a set of puzzles that can challenge your brain. Can you solve the position? Can you find the mind-boggling strategy that is required to reach the goal? You have a week to do so. Then we will provide the full solution.

3/15/2024 – Have you ever finished last in a tournament? Well, it happened to Vidit Gujrathi at the Prague Masters 2024. As Vidit himself pointed out, this might be the first time ever that he finished last in his entire chess career. And it happened 20 days before the most important event of his life - the Candidates, this cannot really be a good sign, can it?

3/15/2024 – The first players to be eliminated in the open section of the American Cup were Grigoriy Oparin and Sam Shankland. Oparin was defeated by Sam Sevian, while Shankland played no fewer than eight games before being knocked out by Leinier Dominguez. In the women’s section, Anna Zatonskih and Tatev Abrahamyan were eliminated by Zoey Tang and Jennifer Yu respectively. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/14/2024 – This episode was lost in the depths of 2023, but luckily returned! The Gruenfeld is a very hyper-modern opening, which gives White the centre, while Black has to fight around the flanks. If Black knows the opening well, White has a difficult time gaining some advantage. But with an example game from Vincent Keymer, the move "h4" is a beautiful way to attack the Black pieces. Svitlana shows us how to master this idea.

3/14/2024 – WGM Mitra Hejazipor was born on 19 February 1993 in Mashdad, Iran, and became Iranian Women's Champion in 2012. But she left her country because she did not want to wear the hijab, or headscarf, and went to France, where she became a French citizen in 2023. She also became the French women's champion that year. She recently played in the Werder Bremen Jubilee Tournament, which ended last week. After the tournament Mitra Hejazipor found time for an interview with Vera Jürgens and talked about her career, how chess helped her to see the world and whether she would like to become a professional chess player. | Photos: Werder Bremen

3/14/2024 – Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao (pictured) from the Philippines is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxers of all time. Srikanth Bangalore is a businessman from India and they both share a love of chess. To spread this love of chess, Bangalore has founded a remarkable project that Pacquiao supports: 1000GMs Inc, a non-profit organisation that aims to help young players improve their game. A part of this project are regular tournaments. | Photo: Manny "pacman" Pacquiao with his coach Freddie Roach | Photo: Roger Alcantara (Wikipedia)

3/14/2024 – Four players advanced to the Champions Bracket’s semifinals in each section of the American Cup. While all the quarterfinal matches in the women’s event were decided after three or four games, one match in the open event was decided in blitz tiebreaks — Levon Aronian got the better of Sam Sevian in the 3-minute phase. Aronian will face Fabiano Caruana in the next stage, while Wesley So will play against Ray Robson, who defeated Leinier Dominguez in a sharp battle. | Photo: Lennart Ootes