3/30/2021 – The playoffs of the European Club Cup were played on Monday, with 18 teams divided in 3 sections fighting to qualify to the final stage — a 10-team single round robin. An exciting qualifier left strong teams out of contention. The all-play-all final will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. | Follow the games live!

3/30/2021 – Who is better - bishop or knight? This is an old question and the answer usually is: "It depends". At any rate, the duel knight against bishop is often intriguing and full of surprise. In the diagram position the knight seems to give White good chances to win the game, but in fact Black's bishop can secure the draw. How?

3/29/2021 – Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik became the Classical World Chess Champion in 2000 by beating Garry Kasparov. He defended his title in 2004 against Péter Lékó, and defeated the reigning FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in a unification match in 2006. In this article I will make a meal I think Kramnik would like and annotate the game Ponomariov – Kramnik, Linares 2003 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/29/2021 – The European Chess Club Cup, played online this year, saw 18 — out of a massive 90-team turnout — squads moving on to the playoffs after a first qualification phase played over the weekend. Most of the favourites advanced to the second stage of the event, but there were a few of them did not manage to make the cut.

3/28/2021 – Vasily Smyslov became the seventh World Chess Champion in 1957 after his victory over Mikhail Botvinnik — he would later lose the return match. Symslov had a deep understanding of chess and was part of the absolute chess elite for many years. As late as 1984, he contested a Candidates match against Garry Kasparov. This past week we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Smyslov’s birth. | Pictured: Smyslov with his cat Belka. | Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer

3/28/2021 – 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 20th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman shows why it is often a good idea to try to activate your worst piece. | Photo: Tommy Grooten

3/25/2021 – One hour video training. Plus 33 extensively analysed games by Anish Giri, Romain Edouard, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Dejan Bojkov, Erigaisi Arjun, Davorin Kuljasevic and others. ChessBase Magazine Extra is the perfect addition to ChessBase Magazine and can also be obtained by subscription (6 issues per year). Available on DVD or as a download.

3/25/2021 – The match between the USSR and the Rest of the World in 1970 featured no fewer than five world champions. Fifty years after the celebrated event took place, the Chess Informant has released a revised edition, extended and compiled by Douglas Griffin, chess historian and connoisseur, and Igor Zveglic, Chess Informant commissioning editor. Diana Mihajlova sent us a review.

3/24/2021 – Dorian Rogozenco's video series "The Classic" has been part of the ChessBase Magazine since issue #160 - for almost seven years! Right at the beginning of his very first video, Rogozenco emphasized that looking at classical games is not about keeping the whole game in mind. It is much more important to develop and improve the understanding of certain moments, certain positions, ideas or plans that appear in these masterpieces. To celebrate the 200th issue of the ChessBase Magazine, we would like to treat you today to a selection from Rogozenco's popular column. Take a look and enjoy!

3/24/2021 – This week Merijn van Delft takes another look at the relatively new and highly fascinating 7.g4 variation in the Taimanov Sicilian, a line which Anish Giri used to win a crucial game against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. | Merijn's show is available at 16.00 UTC (17:00 CET, 12:00 EDT) and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

3/24/2021 – In a world under the shadow of Covid, Hybrid chess is becoming increasingly popular. It is arbiter-supervised Internet tournaments in which players gather at a venue to play against opponents similarly gathered elsewhere. That’s a whole lot cheaper than schlepping from one end of the country to another, and it certainly reduces the carbon footprint of chess events. Perhaps it will reinvigorate competitions that have generally declined over the years.

3/24/2021 – Vladimir Chuchelov developed a well-known method based on his ideas on what he dubs “strategic balance”. Teimour Radjabov, who was introduced to the method in 2014, recently interviewed Chuchelov for an hour and a half. In the light-hearted conversation, Chuchelov talks about his decision to become a full-time trainer, his experiences with Giri and Caruana, and his predictions for the coming Candidates Tournament. | Pictured: Chuchelov at the 2014 Tashkent Grand Prix | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich