11/22/2023 – Every now and then, Svitlana talks about a new opening. This time, it is the suspicious Budapest Gambit. To Arne's disappointment - if you play the opening correctly, some variants seem to move to a very calm middle- and endgame, rather than setting the board on fire. It might be interesting to get to know the Gambit a bit better because it is actually quite sound.

11/22/2023 – Occasionally you come across a must-have chess book – here's one that we discovered that makes for an ideal 2023 Christmas present. It is written (and illustrated, with acrylic on canvas paintings!) by Sofia Polgar, the "middle sister" who in 1989 scored 8½ points out of 9 in a GM tournament with a performance rating of 2930 performance. Sofia's book, published by Russell Enterprises, was our pleasure to review.

11/22/2023 – Playing against Fritz is enjoyable because the program incorporates hidden errors. There could always be a tactical strike against it. However, Fritz 19 adds a new exciting dimension to your games: The hunt for "achievements". There's a competition for 136 different chess achievements, testing your tactical and strategic versatility. And there are rewards for it too.

11/21/2023 – The German team won 2½:1½ against Croatia in the final round, but it was not enough to win gold. Serbia had a slightly better tiebreak score after beating Greece. Bulgaria took the title in the women’s tournament, with Azerbaijan and France also reaching the podium. | Photo: European Chess Union

11/21/2023 – The renowned chess magazine "New in Chess" is published eight times a year and issue no. 7/2023 has just been delivered. With detailed tournament coverage, analyses by top players and interesting news from the world of chess. One of the highlights of the magazine is an interview by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam with businessman and chess patron Ilya Levitov about "24 Hours with Kasparov", a series of interviews Levitov conducted with Garry Kasparov and published on YouTube. Kasparov talks about his life with amazing openness, charm and even more energy, and comments on important games in his career. | Screenshot from "24 Hours with Kasparov"

11/21/2023 – On 12 October IM Dinara Wagner sat down with international chess journalist Tatiana Flores to talk about her chess career and personal interests. Wagner also shared her impressions of the European Chess Club Cup and gave interesting insights into the support she receives from her surroundings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/21/2023 – In queen endings the better side often tries to find a hiding place for its king while the defending side tries to give checks. In the diagram position Black played 84...Qd6+? and lost. However, Black could have saved the game - how?

11/21/2023 – The FIDE Candidates tournament will be held in April 2024 in Canada. Leading up to this all-important event, one that will determine the World Championship challenger, the All India Chess Federation has announced a financial assistance to Vidit Gujrathi, R. Praggnanandhaa and R.Vaishali to the tune of Rs.20,000,000 (US$240,459). This amount will be used for their training, travel, building a team and much more. It is truly a fantastic move by the National federation to support the Candidates of India!

11/20/2023 – The 24th edition of the European Team Chess Championship is taking place on November 11-20 at the Conference Hall of Hotel Splendid in Budva, Montenegro. An open championship and a women’s championship are being played concurrently, with each event a 9-round Swiss tournament. | Follow the games live with expert commentary from 15.15 CET (9.15 ET, 19.45 IST)

11/20/2023 – With one round to go in Budva, Germany and Serbia are sharing the lead in the open section of the European Team Championship. On the penultimate day of play, Germany beat France thanks to a win by Rasmus Svane, while Serbia defeated England thanks to a win by Velimir Ivic. In the women’s championship, Bulgaria kept the sole lead by beating Poland by a 2½-1½ score. Azerbaijan defeated Greece to go into the last round a match point behind the leaders. | Photo: Paul Meyer-Dunker

11/20/2023 – For the Fritz 19 launch, we let six different players, ranging from elo 1839 up to 2614, battle the six engine player characters. Twice, the computer escaped with extraordinary swindle tactics, causing a stalemate for Elisabeth Paehtz, and Jan Jettel! The engine showed us beautiful tactical moves, to decide the outcome against Leon Mendonca, and Svitlana Demchenko. The two human victories were determined through hard fights in endgames, by Robert Ris, and Polina Karelina. Overall, the experiment was a success: We wanted fun, and entertaining games, and we got them. Now, it is your turn!

11/20/2023 – In the recent European National Teams Championship 2023, which is under way in the town of Budva (Montenegro), a delightful miniature was played in the sixth round. It was a sensation in the match Greece-Azerbaijan, where the white player was 126 rating points lower than his opponent, who defeated a player famous for his stubborn defensive skills! It is definitely worthwhile to follow the instructive commentary of GM Efstratios Grivas.