3/23/2022 – This year the Romanian Championships took place from 21 to 27 February at Eforie Nord. In Spring and Summer, Eforie Nord is full of tourists but in the off-season it was quiet, and the tranquility of the place made Eforie the perfect location to play chess. Mircea-Emilian Parligras (pictured) won the Open Championship with 7.0/9, Alessia Ciolacu won the Women's Championship with 7.5/9. | Photos: Florin Ardelean / We Love Sport

3/23/2022 – In an exciting first round, the third leg of the Grand Prix series saw four players getting off to winning starts at Berlin’s Unter den Linden. Levon Aronian and Leinier Dominguez got crucial wins against direct contenders Hikaru Nakamura and Daniil Dubov, while Nikita Vitiugov got the better of Amin Tabatabaei, the lowest-rated player in pool D. The most surprising result of the day was Alexandr Predke’s win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photos: World Chess

3/22/2022 – Citing personal reasons, Dmitry Andreikin withdrew from the third leg of the FIDE Grand Prix. Andrey Esipenko (pictured), who also played in the first leg as a replacement, stepped in. The tournament is set to take place in Berlin, with two spots in the Candidates still up for grabs, albeit it is highly unlikely for Richard Rapport not to get one of those after his victory in Belgrade. | Photos: World Chess

3/22/2022 – In the diagrammed position it is White to move and he has to think about the pawn endgame that will arise after the imminent exchange of rooks. What should White play to get a winning pawn endgame?

3/22/2022 – With three rounds to go, Le Quang Liem is still the sole leader of the preliminaries at the Charity Cup. The Vietnamese stands three points ahead of second-placed Magnus Carlsen and has already secured a spot in the knockout stage. On day 3, Jorden van Foreest was the highest scorer, as he collected three wins and a draw. Moreover, the Dutchman had a superior position in the one game he drew, against Carlsen. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

3/21/2022 – The German Bundesliga started its new season, and the first matches brought many fascinating endgames. Karsten was spoiled for choice but in the Endgame Magic Show #186 he presents an absolute highlight in which the much lower-rated player defeated a strong Grandmaster in study-like fashion. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

3/21/2022 – In reaction to public statements made by Sergey Karjakin about the war in Ukraine, the FIDE and Ethics and Disciplinary Commission banned Karjakin for six months "from participating as a player in any FIDE rated chess competition, taking effect from the date of this decision, 21 March 2022." Therefore, Karjakin will not be able to play in the Candidates Tournament that is scheduled to take place from 16 June to 7 July in Madrid, Spain. Grandmaster Sergei Shipov, who regularly works as a commentator, was not banned by FIDE for his statements about the war because "in comparison with Sergey Karjakin, Sergei Shipov is considerably less known and has, therefore, a less powerful platform." | Picture: Sergey Karjakin, Sergei Shipov | Picture: FIDE

3/21/2022 – Le Quang Liem is the sole leader of the Charity Cup preliminaries after eight rounds. The Vietnamese grandmaster won six out of eight games so far to go into day 3 with an unbeaten 20/24 score. A full four points behind stand Magnus Carlsen and Jan-Krzysztof Duda in shared second place. The single round-robin continues until Tuesday, when half the participants in the 16-player field will move on to the knockout stage. | Photo: Andreas Kontokanis

3/21/2022 – Actively participate in some tactics training again! This time we concentrate on the process of solving tactics, and how to use your pattern recognition to conquer interesting puzzles. Lawrence chose two examples, played in Moscow and Leningrad. In the ChessBase tactics training, we solve one of the most beautiful tactics.

3/20/2022 – Jon Speelman worked as commentator at this year’s edition of the long-standing Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Looking at the games alongside computer-chess expert Matthew Sadler prompted him to reflect on the value of using engines for chess improvement and preparation. | Pictured: The Oxford team - Victor Vasiesiu, Tom O'Gorman, Daniel Karim Abbas, Daniel Sutton, 0Dominic Miller, Filip Mihov, AkShaya Kalaiyalahan, Max French. | Photo: John Saunders

3/20/2022 – 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 71st instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about open and half-open files. | Photo: Pascal Simon

3/20/2022 – The first four rounds of the Charity Cup left Le Quang Liem and Hans Niemann sharing the lead on 10/12 points (a win is worth 3 points, a draw is worth 1 point). Remarkably, the 18-year-old Niemann defeated Chinese star Ding Liren in the third round. After the loss, however, Ding bounced back brilliantly, getting the better of Magnus Carlsen to end the day on 9/12, a point behind the leaders. | Photo: Crystal Fuller