6/1/2021 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen won the FTX Crypto Cup after beating Wesley So in a dramatic final. The match on day 1 of the final ended with a 2-2 and that was also the result of the match on day 2. In the blitz-tiebreak Wesley So won the first game after a blunder by Carlsen, but Carlsen bounced back by winning on demand with Black and then also won the Armageddon game. In the match for place three Ian Nepomniachtchi won against Teimour Radjabov. Full report to follow soon. | Games and commentary.

5/31/2021 – The Grand Chess Tour is back - and the tour begins on Thursday, 3 June 2021 with an over-the-board classical tournament in Bukarest. Ten top players take part, the top seeds are Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Alexander Grischuk, and Wesley So. After the end of the tournament on 15 June, the players travel to Paris to take part in a Rapid & Blitz tournament.

5/31/2021 – Thanks to back-to-back wins in rounds 7 and 8, Zhansaya Abdumalik is now leading the standings of the Women’s Grand Prix in Gibraltar by a full point over closest pursuers Gunay Mammadzada and Mariya Muzychuk. Mammadzada is making a strong impression on the Rock, as she collected three consecutive victories in rounds 6-9, coincidentally over the three Russian participants. Follow the games of round 9 live with commentary. | Photo: David Llada

5/31/2021 – 264 players started in the European Hybrid Qualification Tournament. The first three rounds of this knock-out tournament consisted of 2-game matches (followed by a blitz-tiebreak and an Armageddon game, if necessary) and the 36 players, who were still in the race after the third round, qualified for the World Cup 2021, which will take place in Sochi, Russia, from 10 Juli to 6 August 2021. These 36 also played a 9-round Swiss blitz tournament (10+3) for prizes and placement. After nine rounds Vladislav Artemiev (pictured) and Aleksandar Indjic both had 6.5/9 and shared first place but Artemiev had the better tiebreak and won the tournament. | Photo: Vladimir Barsky

5/31/2021 – Wesley So and Magnus Carlsen traded blows in the first set of the FTX Crypto Cup Finals which will be decided in Monday’s second mini-match — and potential blitz tiebreaker. A draw was also seen in the match for third place, except that Teimour Radjabov and Ian Nepomniachtchi decided to give themselves a rest day, as they signed four quick draws on Sunday. | Photo: Nick Barton

5/30/2021 – 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 29th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman talks about good and bad bishops and wonders which pieces to exchange and which pieces to keep on the board. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

5/26/2021 – Uncompromising chess has been the rule at the fourth leg of the Women’s Grand Prix series in Gibraltar. After four rounds, Zhansaya Abdumalik, Kateryna Lagno and Mariya Muzychuk (pictured) are sharing the lead on 3 points, while Elisabeth Paehtz is the only player a half point behind in fourth place. | Photo: FIDE

5/25/2021 – In his "Weekly Show" IM Lawrence Trent will focus on a new crop of young super talents - Marc’Andria Maurizzi, who got his GM title at the age of 14 years and 5 days, and Abhimanyu Mishra, the 12 year old close to becoming the youngest GM in history (he only needs 8 points and one norm to be the youngest GM of all time). | Lawrence's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

5/25/2021 – Svitlana Demchenko is a 17-year-old, Canadian WIM, and chess coach. Here and now, she will teach us plenty of smart moves on the board, ranging from tactics, strategies, openings, and anything else chess related. In the process, I'm happy to be available as a student at club player level, and pester the female international master with questions. Anyone who wants to strengthen their chess skills is welcome to watch, and actively replay the positions from the video, on our chessboard.

5/25/2021 – Fritz & Chesster has been around for 20 years! The chess learning software for children is an absolute classic! It shows how digital learning works and is fun. Now the ChessBase merchandising partner LEMI Consulting is redesigning the program and developing physical pieces and boards for children to enhance their online experience. You can support their Kickstarter project.

5/25/2021 – This is a 12-year-old on a mission: to become the youngest chess grandmaster in history. Abhimanyu Mishra has made two norms, but in his latest tournament suffered a setback: in time trouble refused a draw offer by a GM and discovered that this is not such a great idea. Abhi lost the game, and a second one to boot, but staged a remarkable comeback with four back-to-back wins. He gained nine rating points and is currently just eight points from his goal. Read the messages of encouragement the lad from Englishtown, New Jersey, is getting from well-known personalities from all over the world.

5/25/2021 – Simplifying into a pawn ending must always be calculated carefully. In the diagram position Black is a rook up but White has powerful passed pawns. But how and when to advance them?