9/21/2022 – Aron Nimzowitsch, theoretician, author of "My System", and one of the world's best players at the end of the 1920s, liked to answer 1.e4 with the provocative move 1...Nc6, the "Nimzowitsch Defence". The move is slightly offbeat but offers Black good chances as the French GM Christian Bauer shows on his ChessBase course "The Nasty Nimzowitsch Defence", published in 2019. Paul Kane, who runs the website "The Caissa Kid", had a look at Bauer's course and concludes: "'The Nasty Nimzowitsch Defence' is a quality piece of work which was a great pleasure to study."

9/21/2022 – On Monday, the Chinese Team Championship, a round-robin tournament with 12 teams, ended in Fuling, which is a district of Chongqing. The team of Hangzhou Bank, in which Hou Yifan played on the first women's board, won both the Championship and the subsequent Rapid Championship. | Photos: Chinese Chess Federation

9/21/2022 – With three rounds to go, a combative final day of preliminaries awaits us in the Generation Cup, as most participants still have chances to reach the knockout stage. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen already clinched a spot in the knockout after retaking the lead ahead of Arjun Erigaisi, who nonetheless continues to impress in the online event. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

9/20/2022 – It is the story that refuses to die, and with the renewed silent protest by World Champion Magnus Carlsen it is little wonder too. Could he be justified in these dramatic gestures? The world's greatest expert on cheating detection in chess, Professor Kenneth Regan, has analyzed all of Hans Niemann's games over the last two years, online and offline, and renders his verdict.

9/20/2022 – The much anticipated direct encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann, following Carlsen’s sudden withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup, took place in round 6 of the Generation Cup. The game was indeed played, but it lasted only two moves, as Carlsen resigned with black after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4. It was yet another unfortunate incident, which leaves the chess world wondering when this whole passive-aggressive quarrel will come to an end. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi climbed to sole first place after grabbing two wins and two draws in rounds 5 to 8.

9/20/2022 – In the diagrammed position, which shows the end of a game Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played at the Norway Chess Tournament 2022, it is Black to move and he has to find a way to make use of his far advanced pawns before White manages to coordinate his forces. But what exactly should Black do?

9/19/2022 – Four decisive games in the second round of the Astana Grand Prix left four players tied for first place on 1½/2 points. Bibisara Assaubayeva, Alina Kashlinskaya and Zhu Jiner won to join Aleksandra Goryachkina in the lead, while Polina Shuvalova bounced back from her loss on Sunday to return to a fifty-percent score. | Photos: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

9/19/2022 – On Monday World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen resigned after making the first move in his game against Hans Niemann. He has hinted that the young grandmaster may have cheated in his previous game between the two grandmasters. Now Carlsen action is really hitting the news pages of the World mainstream press. Full report to follow soon.

9/19/2022 – This week Robert Ris will have a look at the current state of the good old Dilworth Variation in the Open Ruy Lopez. The material imbalance of two minor pieces vs a rook and pawn (or two) leads to fascinating play with chances for both sides. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

9/19/2022 – The Jobava London System (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4) is itself still a young opening. In his video, Daniel King presents a fairly new gambit within this system: with 4.e4! (instead of the usual 4.e3) White offers a pawn sacrifice. A "shocker" for every player with the black pieces who sees the move on the board for the first time, says Daniel King in his contribution to ChessBase Magazine #209. You can watch an excerpt from his almost half-hour video analysis here!

9/19/2022 – In the first round of the tournament in the Kazakh capital, players who belong to the same federation had to play each other first. So, on Sunday, Dinara Wagner faced Elisabeth Paehtz in an all-German confrontation, with Paehtz finally grabbing the full point. Meanwhile, top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated rising star Polina Shuvalova with the white pieces. The four remaining games finished drawn. | Photos: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

9/19/2022 – Magnus Carlsen ended day 1 of the Julius Baer Generation Cup in the sole lead with 10/12 points. Carlsen won three games and drew Anish Giri on Sunday. Four players stand close behind on 9/12 — Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Niemann and Vasyl Ivanchuk. Eight out of the sixteen participants will move on to the knockout stage, which is set to kick off on Thursday. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE