5/15/2026 – I have a look at the game Caruana-Firouzja from Superbet Rapid and Blitz in Warsaw. White chose quite an aggressive line against the Sicilian Kan by sacrificing a pawn for a dangerous initiative. Due to its lack in development and weakened dark-squares, Black is having a hard time neutralizing White's attacking aspiration. Caruana eventually transformed his attack into a winning endgame with an extra exchange but failed to convert his naterial plus. In this episode, I'll give you an update on the current theoretical state of this variation and share some illustrative examples.

5/15/2026 – Last week we saw how Magnus Carlsen lost against Jorden van Foreest, which put him at 2 out of 4 at that point. But then he managed to win his remaining three games, and 5 out of 7 was just enough to share first place with Erigaisi. Eventually, Carlsen won the blitz tiebreak with 2-1, so he did it again. Our Game of the Week is the historical last round encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, the 14-year-old that may very well be his successor one day. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

5/15/2026 – In 1983, 21 years after Wolfgang Uhlmann's victory over Mikhail Botvinnik at the 1962 Chess Olympiad in Varna, a German player once again managed to defeat a reigning world champion. In the first round of the International Mephisto Chess Tournament in Hanover, Wolfram Hartmann, then a 27-year-old law student from Bamberg, achieved one of the most astonishing underdog victories in German chess history against Anatoly Karpov (pictured). | Photo: V. Savostianov, Novosti Press (via Douglas Griffin)

5/15/2026 – In the diagram position Black can't yet strike, but after 34...Rh7! 35.Rh1 the time has come. The motto is forward - have fun!

5/15/2026 – All five games ended drawn in the first round of the Super Chess Classic Romania, though several players had chances to grab full points. Alireza Firouzja missed the clearest opportunity against defending champion Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (pictured), while Fabiano Caruana failed to make the most of an extra pawn against Jorden van Foreest. Wesley So v. Vincent Keymer was a double-edged, remarkable battle. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/14/2026 – Simpson's in the Strand has reopened with a nod to its origins as a chess venue, a detail explored by Harry Wallop in The Times. Wallop's article uses the London restaurant's history to examine a wider revival of over-the-board chess, from social clubs and café events to rising sales of physical chess sets, and considers why the game's face-to-face appeal has endured in a screen-heavy age. | Photo: Matt Brown via Wikimedia Commons

5/11/2026 – With a superb performance, a 15-year-old prodigy dominated the international Baku Open: Sina Movahed (pictured left in the title photo) won seven games and drew twice. The young Iranian GM thus won the strong tournament with 8/9, finishing a point and a half ahead of the rest of the field. The best tiebreak scores among the players tied for second place were achieved by IM Santhosh Parvathareddy Ajay — the Indian is also still an U16 player — and Khazar Babazadar (AZE), ahead of five other players on the same score. | Photos: Organizers / Azerbaijan Chess Federation

5/11/2026 – The main line of the French Winawer Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5) usually leads to very deep theoretical lines and complex positions with which Black is generally well acquainted. In the latest issue of ChessBase Magazine #231, Petra Papp presents the alternative 4.Nge2. After 4.e5 and the Delayed Exchange Variation 4.exd5, this continuation is already the third most common (over 9,000 games in the Mega Database 2026), so it is by no means a secret weapon anymore. In this week’s CBM preview, you can explore Petra Papp’s repertoire recommendation with all the analyses – discover “many wonderful, tricky variations” after 4.Nge2!

5/11/2026 – In this ChessBase training course, Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of colour-reversed Benoni, Benko, and Blumenfeld structures, showing how Black’s active piece play and dynamic counterplay can fully compensate for White’s extra tempo. The course focuses heavily on understanding pawn structures, long-term middlegame plans, open files, and queenside pressure, giving players practical strategic guidance rather than pure memorization. It is especially suited for advanced players who want a deeper understanding of one of chess’s most aggressive and strategically rich opening families.

5/10/2026 – Following Javokhir Sindarov's victory at the Candidates Tournament, GM Jon Speelman examines the emergence of a new generation of World Championship contenders ahead of his expected title match against Gukesh Dommaraju. Particular attention is given to Sindarov's defensive draw against Fabiano Caruana, a game presented as a key moment of the tournament and an illustration of his preparation, resilience and practical decision-making under pressure. | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde

5/10/2026 – 2026 Super Chess Classic Romania brings elite classical chess to Bucharest, Romania, from May 12 to May 24. The tournament takes place at the National Bank of Romania Museum in the historic Lipscani district. The event is the first classical tournament of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour season. It features a 10-player round robin, with the likes of Caruana, Keymer, Firouzja, Giri, So, Pragg and Sindarov participating. It will be an exciting week.

5/10/2026 – Today we have a special guest on Svitlana’s Smart Moves: Leon Mendonca. Since we all got to know each other well during the Biel Chess Festival 2024, we decided it was finally time to record a show together. In this episode, Svitlana Demchenko introduces the tricky Cowboy Attack in the Sicilian, and surprisingly, Leon turns out to be a genuine fan of the opening as well, making this an opening variation that is definitely worth a closer look.