10/30/2023 – The story is in all the major international news outlets: Ohad Munder-Zichri "celebrated" his 9th birthday last Monday. Not at home, with his family and friends, but in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza, together with more than 200 hostages taken during the devastating Oct. 7 incursion. Ohad is a chess champion and a champion with the Rubik's cube. He has sent out an invitation to friends to celebrate with him.

10/30/2023 – Round 5 of the FIDE Grand Swiss saw Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi grabbing wins to join Andrey Esipenko in the lead of the open section. Nakamura obtained his third consecutive win after starting the event with two draws. The large chasing pack, now consisting of 16 players, now includes round-5 winners Sam Shankland, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Bibisara Assaubayeva beat Tan Zhongyi to become the first sole leader of the event. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/29/2023 – Svitlana is taking us through the Panov Attack against the Caro-Kann Defence. The aggressive opening turns out to be an ambitious variation, full of attacking potential, if you can live with an isolated queen pawn. The basics are well explained, and should motivate you to look a bit deeper into this surprising Caro-Kann counter.

10/29/2023 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 149th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and talks about Garry Kasparov and about Max Euwe, who was World Champion from 1935 to 1937 and enormously influential for chess in general and Dutch chess in particular. | Photo: Pascal Simon

10/29/2023 – Marcin Tazbir is the new IBCA World Champion. The Polish GM completed the World Championship for Blind and Visually Impaired undefeated with an excellent score of 8 points in 9 games. The defending champion, IM Predrag Nikac (Montenegro), took second place with 7½ points, while bronze went to FM Alexey Streltsov (Israel) as the player with the best tiebreak score in a group of six participants.

10/29/2023 – A sole leader emerged for the first time in the open section of the Grand Swiss, as Andrey Esipenko beat Marc’Andria Maurizzi to become the only player to reach a 3½/4 score. A 17-player chasing pack stands a half point behind, with Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja and Hans Niemann among those who joined this group by winning on Saturday. In the women’s section, Anna Muzychuk could not convert her advantage in the co-leaders’ clash with Tan Zhongyi. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/28/2023 – The first part of the "Never Ending Saga of Moroccan Chess" described the dubious practices of Moustapha Amazzal, the President of the Moroccan Chess Federation. The second part describes how FIDE renewed its trust in Mr Amazzal and why Lithuanian GM Paulius Pultinevicius and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and other prizewinners of the 4th International Prix Mohammed VI tournament that took place in August 2023 are still waiting for their prize money. | Photo: Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca | Source: Brochure of the 4. International Prix Mohammed VI tournament brochure

10/28/2023 – In the diagram position Black has long-term compensation for the exchange because White's g-pawn is missing - 21.h3??, however, allows short-term action! How can Black strike?

10/28/2023 – There are no more perfect scores in the open section of the Grand Swiss, as all seven co-leaders drew their games in round 3, allowing a trio of youngsters to join the lead — i.e. Sam Sevian (pictured), Marc’Andria Maurizzi and Javokhir Sindarov. In the women’s section, on the other hand, two players did win their three first games to keep perfect scores after Friday’s round: Tan Zhongyi, who beat Antoaneta Stefanova, and Anna Muzychuk, who got the better of Irina Bulmaga. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/27/2023 – In his new Power Play Show, GM Daniel King focuses on a game by Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Yakubboev, who recently stunned the chess world by winning the strong Qatar Masters. Yakubboev completely outwits his opponent with a crafty 1.b3! | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

10/27/2023 – After two rounds, seven players still have perfect scores in the open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss. Joining elite players Fabiano Caruana (pictured) and Arjun Erigaisi in the lead, among others, is IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov from Kazakhstan, who stunned Bassem Amin on Thursday. In the women’s section, five players are sharing first place on 2/2. Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk are the highest-rated in this group, while, similarly to the open, a Kazakh representative gave the biggest surprise, as Meruert Kamalidenova beat Valentina Gunina to enter round 3 as one of the co-leaders. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/27/2023 – In the new episode of his Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris takes a look at a game Parham Maghsoodloo and Markus Ragger played in the German Bundesliga and in which Maghsoodloo smashed Ragger's Gruenfeld in 24 moves. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.