9/1/2022 – The Virgos Nodirbek Abdussatarov, Kirill Shevchenko, and Arjun Erigaisi are considered upcoming chess superstars. Chess legends Johannes Zukertort, Adolf Albin, George Koltanowski, and Friedrich Saemisch, fulfilled their destiny long ago. When chess players born in Virgo want to find the perfect move, the result can be quite fantastic, were it not for the time limit, which can spoil the fun.| Photo: Pixabay

8/31/2022 – In his “Game of the Week” show #531 Merijn van Delft looks at one of his own games - a loss, in which he fell victim to a fine queen sacrifice and a violent attack by the Cuban GM Omar Almeida Quintana. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/31/2022 – Starting an attack against the opponent is often more fun, than defending. But converting an attack to a winning position, or a checkmate, is not always an easy task. It can fade away quickly, and we are left with less pieces, and a lost position. Good for us, Svitlana knows quite well how to convert an attack to a win, and gives us plenty of good hints, on how to proceed.

8/31/2022 – Eight years ago, in ChessBase Magazine #160, Dorian Rogozenco started his video series "The Classic". With his contribution in the new issue CBM #209 on the game Pillsbury-Lasker (St. Petersburg 1896), the round number of 50 selected top games from the time up to 1945 has been reached. A nice anniversary, for which we present Rogozenco's video in full length. Enjoy!

8/31/2022 – There are many ways to train tactics, from methodical themes, to deep positions, and while all have their place in a player's arsenal of training tools, there is one that specifically targets speed of recognition and play: the Tactics Sprint. If you feel like you want a method to improve your ability to see and play tactics in minimal time see this intro with video!

8/31/2022 – From August 19 to September 1 the European Women's Championship will take place in Prague, and besides titles, prestige and money the qualification for the Women's World Championship 2023 is at stake. Going into the final round, Monicka Socko is the sole leader with 8 points. Three players stand a half point back, including Lilit Mkrtchian, Socko’s final opponent. Round 11 starts Wednesday at 13.00 CEST (7.00 ET, 11.00 UTC). Follow the games live.

8/31/2022 – The Play Magnus Group’s Challengers Chess Tour will return next month with a line-up of the world’s top juniors mentored by Judit Polgar, it was announced today. The tour, which launched the career of Indian superstar Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and which was shortlisted for a prestigious ESG Award for promoting gender equality, will start its first two-day event on September 3.

8/31/2022 – There was no stopping Alireza Firouzja at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, as the 19-year-old won the event with four rounds to spare! In his first-ever participation at a tournament in Saint Louis, Firouzja finished with an astonishing 26/36 score, five points ahead of second-placed Hikaru Nakamura. The youngster gained over a hundred rating points in blitz (he now sits at a stratospheric 2902.6), which prompted him to climb to second place in the live ratings list, only six points behind Nakamura. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Crystal Fuller

8/30/2022 – The fourth leg of this year’s Grand Chess Tour, the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, was played on August 26-30. The last rapid and blitz event of the series hosted ten top players from around the world, including wunderkind Alireza Firouzja, World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi and defending champion Hikaru Nakamura. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

8/30/2022 – 2022 Candidates Tournament: Review with videos by Dorian Rogozenco and Robert Ris - "Special" on the Ukrainian sisters and Olympic champions Anna and Mariya Muzychuk: 21 annotated games + contributions on strategy and endgame - Ragosin à la Keymer: Roven Vogel presents 1. d4 d5 2.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 - Prague Chess Festival 2022: Annotated games by Harikrishna, Keymer, Navara, Shankland and Vidit - "Practical Tips for the Tournament Player": Let Jan Markos show you how to master must-win situations! - In Fischer's footsteps: Yago Santiago attacks Najdorf with 6.Bc4 - "Shocker" in the Jobava London System: Daniel King shows the new gambit idea 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4.e4!? in the video and much more.

8/30/2022 – "Historias de Ajedrez", "Chess Stories", is a movie by the Cuban filmmaker Emmanuel Martin Hernandez. Hernandez is a chess player himself and his film tells the stories of chess players in Santiago de Cuba. Unfortunately, the film was released at the beginning of the pandemic and did not find the audience it deserved. But now you can watch it for free on YouTube.

8/30/2022 – Alireza Firouzja has a 3-point lead over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave going into the final nine rounds of blitz at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. A half point behind MVL stands Hikaru Nakamura, who finished the rapid section in last place and climbed to sole third place by scoring 7½/9 points on Monday. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes