2/5/2023 – 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 111th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to explain why it is good to study and to play the Sicilian. | Photo: Pascal Simon

2/5/2023 – It is rare to see female players take part in the open section of national championships. But 19-year-old IM Nurgyul Salimova decided to do it at the 2023 Bulgarian Championship. She scored an impressive 6/9 and edged past two grandmasters (who also collected 6 points) to finish second overall. Salimova obtained four wins, four draws and suffered her sole loss of the event against the top seed and eventual champion, GM Kiril Georgiev. | Photo: Nurgyul’s Instagram page

2/5/2023 – Alexandra Kosteniuk grabbed a third consecutive win in Munich to get a full-point lead over a 3-player chasing pack at the second stage of the Women’s Grand Prix series. Kosteniuk inflicted Dinara Wagner’s third consecutive loss. In the other decisive game of the round, Zhu Jiner beat Zhansaya Abdumalik with the black pieces. | Photo: FIDE / David Llada

2/4/2023 – By scoring six wins in as many matches, Poland grabbed gold at the first Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities. The team of Physically Disabled Chess Players (IPCA) won second place with 10 match points, while the Philippines took home bronze after outscoring (according to tiebreak criteria) three other teams that also collected 8 match points. | Photos: FIDE / Mark Livshitz

2/4/2023 – First published in 1828, ‘The Spectator’ is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. In the latest edition of the long-standing publication, an article written by Zoe Strimpel profiling living chess legend Judit Polgar was included in the Culture section. Strimpel writes: “It’s also why Judit Polgár, forty-six and one of the best players of all time, is so much more fascinating than her male counterparts”.

2/4/2023 – Yes, 24.Rxg7+! wins for White - but it's definitely a challenge to foresee the complete path to victory from the diagram position, even if it's initially paved with checks. Your perfect start to the (chess) weekend, right?

2/4/2023 – An entertaining second round at the Munich Grand Prix saw Alexandra Kosteniuk and Anna Muzychuk scoring wins with black, as they defeated local representatives Elisabeth Paehtz and Dinara Wagner, respectively. Three other games, albeit not decisive, were fiercely fought, with Humpy Koneru, Harika Dronavalli and Nana Dzagnidze showing great defensive skills to salvage half points. | Photo: FIDE / David Llada

2/3/2023 – Anish Giri won the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2023 ahead of all the top players in the world - Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana. He played some phenomenal chess throughout the event to win it with a rating performance of 2849, scoring 8.5/13 and gaining 16 Elo points. Anish has been very close to winning the tournament multiple times, but this is the first time he has clinched the trophy at Wijk Aan Zee! We invited him for a livestream to get his thoughts on winning this prestigious tournament. Check out his full interview with IM Sagar Shah below.

2/3/2023 – In his 'Fast & Furious' show, Robert Ris looks back at the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk and presents what he calls "the most spectacular game of the tournament". It was exciting from the start. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

2/3/2023 – The play-in phase of the Airthings Masters is taking place on February 3 and is open to all grandmasters. A total of 54 players will qualify to the knockout stage set to start on Monday. A 9-round Swiss tournament will be followed by 2-game matches to decide who qualifies and to which division of the knockout. | Follow the live commentary, starting at 17.00 CET (11.00 ET, 21.30 IST)

2/3/2023 – Inspired by her months of lonely forest trips in the north of Scandinavia German actress and singer has launched a new album of 14 songs, in the style of German pop, cine-classic and Nordic noir. It is music into which everything from love, laughter, separation and death flows. So what is the chess connection: well Vaile is an enthusiastic amateur who has met and interacted with many of the world's top players. She has even taken part in Chess Boxing!

2/3/2023 – Artur Jussupow belonged to the absolute top of the world during his active time and after moving to Germany he opened a successful chess school together with his wife. At the Staufer Open Martin Hahn had the opportunity to interview the former World Championship candidate. Among other things, the grandmaster talked about chess training, cheating in chess, and the best junior players. | Photos: German Chess Federation (Bernd Vökler)