5/5/2023 – Kazakhstan had a blast with chess events throughout the whole of April. Not only the World Match (7 - 30 April) was and still is shaking the chess community, but many high-level international and national side events took place in Astana, the country's capital. A great number of chess events and personalities have come and gone, but Kazakhstan has a hidden treasure at home: a 9-year-old girl, Delilah Sadvakassova, a celebrated chess influencer.

5/5/2023 – This weekend the Grand Chess Tour starts with the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest. Eduard Frey takes a look at the great chess history of the Romanian capital. | Photo: Panoramic view of the city centre of Bucharest - University Square with the University of Bucharest building on the right, the National Theatre on the left and the Palace of Parliament on the far right in the background. | Photo: Wikipedia

5/4/2023 – During the FIDE World Chess Championship, a number of side events took place to capitalize on the increased interest in chess. One of these events was a unique encounter between the ISS (International Space Station) and Mission Control. The first game ended on April 16. NASA shared the game with the public on social media. They also mentioned that a second game is underway. | Photo: NASA / Woody Hoburg

5/4/2023 – Chess is not only a sport. Richard Rapport and Wei Yi are two of the most creative players in the circuit, and about six years ago they were also the two highest-rated junior players in the world. In a 4-game match organized in December 2016, Rapport defeated Wei in the Armageddon decider. The games, which took place in Yancheng, were predictably entertaining.

5/4/2023 – The new ChessBase Magazine #213 offers, among many other things, 48 extensively annotated games, from the WR Masters 2023 as well as the EICC 2023, and in the "Special" our authors present their favourite games of Vishy Anand. From the WR Masters tournament winner Levon Aronian as well as Vincent Keymer and Jan-Krzysztof Duda annotate their best games. In addition, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa each present one of their games in the video! You can watch Aronian's analysis of his first round game with Praggnanandhaa in abbreviated form here - enjoy!

5/4/2023 – Almost immediately after playing a gruelling three-week match, world champion Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi will play a 9-round single round-robin in Bucharest, the Superbet Chess Classic. The first event of this year’s Grand Chess Tour, it will also see Richard Rapport, Ding’s second in Astana, among the participants. A star-studded field includes the likes of Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana and defending champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

5/4/2023 – In his “Game of the Week” show #566, Merijn van Delft looks at the game that made Ding Liren the 17th World Champion in the history of chess: the fourth game of the World Championship match tiebreaker. A historically important, tense and instructive encounter! | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

5/4/2023 – Do you like to play elephant takes horse in the Ruy Lopez? Or promote your farmer to a virgin in the endgame? Did you know there are players who do this all the time? In an interesting article Frank Jacobs has vividly traced the diversification of piece names from the original Sanskrit to modern day chess. You'll be surprised how the bishop is seen in different countries all over the world.

5/3/2023 – The 28th edition of the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament will take place on May 4-10 at the Elite Plaza Hotel in central Malmö. An exciting 8-player lineup mixing veterans and rising stars will compete in a single round-robin event. The likes of Peter Svidler and Boris Gelfand will battle it out against 2700+ rated youngsters Dammaraju Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Vincent Keymer. Former tournament champions Jorden van Foreest and Nils Grandelius, plus 14-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra, complete the field. | Pictured: Peter Svidler and Boris Gelfand at the 2013 Candidates Tournament. | Photo: Ray Morris-Hill

5/3/2023 – The most exciting world championship match in recent history has come to an end and has produced the first Chinese World Chess Champion in Ding Liren. Ding is the 17th World Chess Champion and the new figurehead of world chess. We are sure to hear many more background stories about the course of the match soon. A few themes are already emerging. | Photo: Stev Bonhage (FIDE)

5/3/2023 – World Chess continues its Armageddon Championship Series with the Women's Week, featuring eight of the world's top female chess players in a high-stakes tournament to be held in Berlin from May 8 to May 14, 2023. This seven-day event promises to be a thrilling showcase of skill, strategy, and nail-biting drama.

5/3/2023 – After his surprise win of the 2023 World Championship in Astana, Chinese GM Ding Liren spoke to 15 different Chinese media outlets, and "did not sleep a minute all night." He also spoke to the British newspaper The Guardian and the Spanish El País. As did Ian Nepomniachtchi. Here are some revealing excerpts from those stories.