9/4/2020 – The diagram shows the starting position of the aggressive Löwenfisch Variation. After the natural 6...Bg7 Black already must be very careful not to be crushed. Are you in a Dragon slayer mood today?

9/4/2020 – The chess periodical SCHACH is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the German language. It appears once a month and usually includes an interview with a chess personality, who answers twenty set questions. In their September 2020 issue they turned their attention to ChessBase co-founder and editor emeritus Frederic Friedel, who had just turned 75. We reproduce the interview with kind permission of the publishers.

9/3/2020 – It is not clear when we will get to play over-the-board team tournaments again. Online competitions are the only alternative. But where can you play serious team matches using a classical formats? On PlayChess! For example at the DSOL (German Online Chess League), in which 246 teams are participating. You do not need to play at the DSOL to play with your team though — anyone can do it! You can set up a round-robin event with a fixed board order or use the Scheveningen system. As in over-the-board tournaments, the players can concentrate exclusively on their games and do not have to worry about the pairings or how to challenge others. Only the team captains have to put in some more work, just like in “normal” team matches.

9/3/2020 – Lev Polugaevsky was one of the best players in the world and a leading expert on the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian in the 1970s and 1980s. A sub-variation is named after him. Last week was the 25th anniversary of his death. Dagobert Kohlmeyer pays tribute to the Soviet grandmaster.

9/3/2020 – The new ChessBase Magazine # 197 comes with two exciting "Specials". The first is the exclusive contribution by Anish Giri: the current number 10 in the world shows you his nine best games with the Italian. Top games with a cutting-edge opening, commented in detail by one of the strongest grandmasters in the world! Today, we offer you one of these nine analyses as a reading sample. Enjoy!

9/3/2020 – The 2022 World Chess Olympiad in Minsk (Belarus), as well as a number of side events, are at risk after the current organizers failed to comply with their obligations. Unless the Minsk organizers meet their obligations in the upcoming days, FIDE will be forced to change the hosting country for the 2022 World Chess Olympiad and related events.

9/3/2020 – At the grandmaster tournament in Skalica, Slovakia, Alexander Donchenko and Ivan Saric shared first place on 7½ out of 9 points. While Saric finished undefeated with six wins and three draws, Donchenko, who incidentally was defeated by Saric in round 4, obtained seven wins, drew once and lost once. | Photos: Amruta Mokal / Sophie Nikoladze

9/2/2020 – The second-to-last week of our Summer Special has arrived, and we are offering yet another great DVD bundle, this time with Fritztrainers by Victor Bologan. The Moldovan grandmaster teaches us how to win with the King’s Indian attack, an opening which is very popular amongst several titled players. We have also added his DVD “King’s Indian: A modern approach”, where Bologan presents a full repertoire in over seven hours of instruction. To sum the bundle up, you will also get the opening’s 2019 Powerbook and Powerbase DVDs, with over 100,000 games. And finally, we add another signed-DVD raffle to all buyers!

9/2/2020 – In his “Game of the Week” show, Merijn van Delft looks at yet another impressive attacking effort by “Fire on Board” author Alexei Shirov! | Merijn's show is freely available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) for a limited time, and on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

9/2/2020 – During the pandemic, in-person chess almost disappeared while golf survived relatively intact. In this article, WIM Alexey Root and her co-author, amateur golfer and US Chess Senior Tournament Director Reka Sztaray, compare golf and chess under COVID-19 restrictions, as well as discuss costs and team competitions in both sports.

9/2/2020 – The 2020 Spanish Championship 2020 is taking place in Linares, as an over-the-board tournament. 138 participants have registered to participate. It is a 9-round Swiss open, which will also serve to decide who becomes the 2020 Spanish Women’s champion. The games start at 17:00 CEST and can be followed live at Live.ChessBase.com | Photo: Patricia Claros (FEDA)

9/2/2020 – The next Playchess Online Blitz Open is scheduled for Saturday September 5th 2020 at 4:30 p.m. European time. The tournament is sponsored by the Indian environment-friendly enterprise GoodEarth, and is organized by ChessBase India. There is a low entry fee — just €4 for international amateurs — and a total prize sum of €685 (US $815). Registration has started, the last date for registration is September 4th.