2/26/2024 – Eva Moser was the best female chess player in Austrian history and one of the few female players to win the absolute title of her country. The Austrian Chess Federation is honouring the world-class player, who died too young, with an international women's chess tournament. From Sunday in Graz. | Photo: Austrian Chess Federation

2/26/2024 – Chess is often considered a calm and quiet game, where the only sound is the clicking of the pieces. But what if we could hear the heartbeat of the players, and see how their body reacts to the tension and excitement of the game? That is exactly what was done in the Freestyle Chess 2024 event in Weissenhaus, where the heart rate of some of the world’s best chess players were monitored as they faced each other! We start this series with a look back at how it all started. | Photo Lennart Ootes

2/26/2024 – The Svetozar Gligoric Trophy is an award given by FIDE to the individual who displays exemplary behaviour promoting the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship in chess. Proposals for nominations from Continental Federations, National Federations, and FIDE Commissions shall be submitted to the Gligoric Trophy Award Commission of FIDE no later than 10 August 2024.

2/25/2024 – Rounds 9-11 of the German League (Bundesliga) took place from Friday to Sunday in Viernheim, a midsize industrial town on Mannheim’s outskirts. On Saturday, the all-important clash between Viernheim and Baden-Baden saw Viernheim coming out on top thanks to wins by Parham Maghsoodloo and David Anton. After round 11, Viernheim are leading the standings with a perfect score, 3 match points ahead of the defending champions from Baden-Baden. Vishy Anand, Hikaru Nakamura and Nijat Abasov all played during the weekend, with Anand beating Abasov to re-enter the world’s top-10 in the live ratings list. | Photo: Angelika Valkova

2/25/2024 – MegaBase 2024 is Chess History in action. Regularly updated every month, the Main Database currently offers 10.6 million games, many of them annotated. In the first part of his review he dealt with the treatment of chess in the 21st Century in the MegaBase. Here he offers a rare discovery from a world championship match that fell into oblivion.

2/25/2024 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 166th episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and talks about Mikhail Tal and the phenomenon of the "Angstgegner". | Photo: Pascal Simon

2/25/2024 – Vasily Smyslov had this to say about beauty in chess: “Perhaps chess and music are drawn together by laws of harmony and beauty that are difficult to formulate and difficult to grasp”. This quote and a fascinating endgame from the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg prompted GM Sundararajan Kidambi to consider new ways to approach a chess position. The endgame was played in the game between Wang Hao (pictured) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

2/24/2024 – After an intense tournament at Weissenhaus, Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal had a free week before their trip to the Prague Masters. They decided to use this time to visit the residence of Anish Giri and Sopiko Guramishvili in The Hague. The plan was to record an opening video course for ChessBase. This was done quite efficiently in three days, and the course is a 7-hour masterclass covering opening play. Moreover, the trip turned out to be much more than just recordings. For the author, experiencing the life of a beautiful family, which combines ambition, love and respect, was extremely enjoyable!

2/24/2024 – The Methodical Attacking Principles within certain pawn structures hold high importance. From the opening to the middlegame, the patterns, plans, and theories derived from our initial pawn moves necessitate different actions. Those who frequently play the Queen's Gambit likely have a better understanding of an isolated pawn compared to aficionados of the Ruy Lopez. Svitlana discusses an excellent game by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, highlighting how he gradually leverages his pawn structure advantage for an unstoppable attack.

2/24/2024 – Klaus Darga was one of the best German players in the 1960s and 1970s. Darga represented Germany in team events multiple times and belonged to the extended world elite before he gave up his career for professional reasons around 1970. He later worked as a national coach for the German Chess Federation. Today he is celebrating his 90th birthday, making him the oldest chess grandmaster in the world.

2/24/2024 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy invites you to watch an interview with grandmaster Elisabeth Paehtz, one of the strongest German female chess players since her youth. On February 25, 17:00 CET, Elisabeth will give a live interview at KCF Academy. Add it to your calendar!

2/24/2024 – In the diagram position, the white king will soon bite the queenside dust - somehow no wonder with the Bf5 controlling the b1-square. What would you do with Black?