The Royal Path

3/17/2020 – Pawn endings require precise calculation. White to play and win.

Reviewing ChessBase Magazine 194

3/17/2020 – Do you know what is the Centurini's rule? Do you have an Anti-Reti in your opening repertoire? Would you like to have an IM pose some interactive questions, and test your tactical vision? Do you know how to evaluate a position with no minor pieces, but with queens and rooks on the board? Are you aware of common opening traps in the Caro-Kann, Philidor, English and Sicilian? Do you want to update your opening repertoire with the latest recommendations? If these topics have you intrigued, and interested in knowing more, ChessBase Magazine could become your addictive chess reading while as you self-isolate!

Scachs d'amor: The poem that first portrayed the modern rules of chess

3/16/2020 – A poem written in Valencian by Francesc de Castellví, Bernat Fenollar and Narcís de Vinyoles was the first literary work to describe a game with the modern rules — the queen could move multiple squares in all directions and the scope of the bishops widened importantly. SERGIO NEGRI tells us the story. | Image: A chessboard illustrated in Jacobus de Cessolis' "De ludo scachorum".

Simon Says: Candidates Preview

3/16/2020 – The Candidates Tournament is one of the most anticipated events of 2020, particularly now as major events are being cancelled left and right! Simon gives you his take on the players and their chances. | Watch for free live and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account) starting at the usual hour: 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET / 12 Noon EST).

Is Miaoyi Lu the next Hou Yifan?

3/16/2020 – Miaoyi Lu might be a name well worth remembering. The Chinese player was born in 2010 but is already surprisingly strong. In March, she won a women's grandmaster tournament in Belgrade and that was not her first success — and will probably not be her last. | Photo: David Halter (USChess.org)

Get ready for the start of the Candidates 2020

3/16/2020 – The candidate tournament in Yekaterinburg is a major highlight in the eventful chess year 2020 and one of the few current events that has (so far) not been heavily affected by the Coronavirus epidemic. The opening is on Monday and the first of fourteen rounds follows on Tuesday. The winner will play Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship at the end of the year. | Photos: FIDE

New faces at the Aeroflot Open

3/15/2020 – Many young players used the Aeroflot Open to gather some tournament experience. Some of their names are not so familiar. One of them, 14 year old Aydin Suleymanli, made himself a name by simply winning the tournament. THORSTEN CMIEL introduces the next generation. | Photo: ChessBase India

Preview on the Candidates: Daniel King on Fabiano Caruana

3/15/2020 – In his last "Preview on the Candidates 2020" Daniel King takes a look at the chances of Fabiano Caruana to win the Candidates and to challenge Magnus Carlsen again. Currently, Caruana is the world's number two but that is not the only reason why he is a favourite to win in Yekaterinburg. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

Caruana's "Navigating the Ruy Lopez" - Review by IM Roven Vogel

3/15/2020 – Roven Vogel won the U16 Youth World Championship 2015 and at the beginning of this year he qualified for the next Tata Steel Challengers Tournament in Wijk aan Zee by winning the Qualifiers in Wijk. To get a better understanding of how the best players study and work, he took a close look at Caruana's DVDs about the Ruy Lopez. Which he considers to be entertaining and helpful for chess players of all levels.

Misha and the actress who loved him

3/15/2020 – When Misha Tal was young, amatory conquest was as important to him as conquest over the chess board. Some liaisons were fleeting and others lasted longer. The affair with "Actress L." was perhaps the most “scandalous” of them all. Who was she? Our columnist makes some astonishing discoveries. | Photo: kino-teatr.ru

Chessboxing: World Middleweight Championship LIVE

3/14/2020 – Chess is all about striking blows but usually only in the cerebral sense. It's different with chess boxing. This discipline was actually once a gag by the artist Enki Bilal, but it morphed into a popular and active community. On Saturday evening, Chessboxing London will stream the fight for the World Middleweight Championship live online. Chess for boxing fans! Coronavirus be damned!

Yermo's travels: USA triumphs in abbreviated World Senior Teams

3/14/2020 – The World Senior Team Championships in Prague ended prematurely, Thursday, after 7 rounds due to the looming Coronavirus epidemic. In the 50+ tournament, the favoured USA team lived up to expectations by winning with a full point margin. The top 65+ team, Russia, also took top honours, but only on better board point tiebreak over the second-placed French. GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, who played a fantastic tournament with 5½/6 shortly after his 70th birthday. | Report and photos: ALEX YERMOLINSKY

GRENKE Chess Open 2020 is cancelled

3/14/2020 – After the flood of cancellations in the sports and chess world due to the Corona crisis, it is no longer a surprise: The GRENKE Chess Open 2020 is canceled. We have attached the statement by the tournament director, Sven Noppes. The organisiers are still trying to save the elite round-robin tournament that started in Baden-Baden in 2014, but it remains an open question whether it can be held. | Photo: Eric van Reem

Lausanne GP: Dzagnidze takes first place on tiebreaks

3/14/2020 – It was a rather short final day of action at the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. All six encounters finished drawn after 33 moves or fewer, which meant the standings table remained unchanged. Nana Dzagnidze and Aleksandra Goryachkina thus shared first place with 7 out of 11 points, while Zhansaya Abdumalik finished third on 6½. Dzagnidze was declared the champion on tiebreaks (total number of wins). | Photos: David Llada

Three reasons we keep playing even when totally lost!

3/13/2020 – There are three different outcomes for a chess game. We can win, we can draw or we can lose. There are also three different ways how we can lose a game. We get checkmated, we lose on time, or we resign. Resigning is normally an option if we are losing too much material, the time is almost up, or we are about to get checkmated. Nonetheless, we often insist to keeping on playing our lost game, instead of just resigning. | Photo: Steve Buissinne (Pixabay)

Preview on the Candidates: Daniel King on Ding Liren

3/13/2020 – Daniel King takes a close look at all players of the "candidates tournament 2020" in his preview on YouTube. Only two players are left to analyze, after he has reviewed the six other grandmasters already. All of these players have the same goal, which is to fight for a chance to challenge Magnus Carlsen at end of the year. In King's latest instalment, it is time to reaffirm the qualities of Ding Liren. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

Women's GP: Round 11: Goryachkina & Dzagnidze co-winners

3/13/2020 – World champion Ju Wenjun lost a second game in a row, this time against Aleksandra Goryachkina, who thus caught up with Nana Dzagnidze atop the standings table of the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. But the latter two drew their final round clash in 24 moves. Zhansaya Abdumalik ended a half point behind. You can replay the games (with engine analysis support) on our live broadcast page. | Photo: David Llada

Candidates classic revisited

3/13/2020 – In the diagram position, White threatens 16.Qh7++. The game continuation 15...Ng6 was brilliantly refuted. Can you see why — and also suggest an improvement for Black?

Lausanne GP: Goryachkina wins, sets up showdown

3/13/2020 – World champion Ju Wenjun lost a second game in a row, this time against Aleksandra Goryachkina, who thus caught Nana Dzagnidze atop the standings table of the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. The co-leaders will face each other in Friday's deciding round (which kicks off three and a half hours earlier than usual!). Zhansaya Abdumalik is the only player a half point behind. | Photo: David Llada

So you want to be a (chess) writer?

3/12/2020 – With the Coronavirus in the news, chess players may avoid in-person tournaments and seek stay-at-home chess outlets. While some may livestream or coach, chess writing appeals to others. Writing may be more egalitarian than streaming or coaching, as both titled and non-titled players are published and paid at similar rates. WIM ALEXEY ROOT share four tips for chess writing.

Fast and Furious: French Advance Variation

3/12/2020 – Inspired by Alexei Shirov IM Robert Ris examines the latest in the French Advance variation. Live from 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET / 13:00 EST) and free to watch on-demand for a limited time (or forever for ChessBase Premium account holders. To chat when Robert is live, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. In the diagram, it's Black to play!

Nutcracker tournament in Moscow: Tomashevsky and Esipenko best players

3/12/2020 – In the last round of the classical nutcracker chess tournament in Moscow, Semyon Lomasov defeated Evgeniy Najer and equalized for the young masters. The subsequent rapid round was decisive between the veterans and the young ones. The "kings" held the upper hand against the "princes" with 35-29.

Lausanne GP: Dzagnidze sole leader

3/12/2020 – With an impressive win over world champion Ju Wenjun, Nana Dzagnidze took the sole lead at the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. Two rounds are left to go and only Aleksandra Goryachkina stands a half point behind the leader — the latest World Championship challenger quickly drew on Wednesday. The other decisive result of the day saw Alexandra Kosteniuk beating Pia Cramling and ending the Swedish's run of eight consecutive draws. | Photo: David Llada

Preview on the Candidates: Daniel King on Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

3/11/2020 – In his candidates preview on YouTube, Daniel King takes a close look at all eight candidates who are fighting for a chance to challenge Magnus Carlsen in December. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wasn't even supposed to play in the "Candidates Tournament 2020" in Yekaterinburg, but he jumped in for Teimour Radjabov who surprisingly withdrew from the tournament a few days ago. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess