7/23/2020 – At her peak rating in 2005, Grandmaster Judit Polgár was ranked number 8 in the world. Although she retired from competing in August of 2014, Judit promotes chess through her Global Chess Festival and serves as Honorary FIDE Vice-President. To show appreciation for Judit on her 44th birthday, this article has a recipe for a dessert, which could serve as her birthday cake. WIM Alexey Root and her co-author WGM Sabina Foisor are former U.S. Women’s Chess Champions. | Pictured: Judit showing Shirov-Polgár (1994) to her children Oliver and Hannah | Photo: Bela Doka, 2012

7/22/2020 – In his “Game of the Week” show Merijn van Delft looks at a brilliant win by Vasyl Ivanchuk. In a must-win situation, the Ukrainian genius defeated Peter Leko with the seldom seen King’s Gambit! | 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: sunwaychessfestival.com

7/22/2020 – Vincent Keymer shows his enthusiasm and hunger for success at the Biel Chess Festival. He ended yesterday’s opening round with a victory over the Spaniard David Anton. Arkadij Naiditsch also won his game. Sebastian Siebrecht reports. | Photos: Simon Bohnenblust

7/22/2020 – The Catalan is a tough nut to crack. Lars Schandoff's article on the opening, included in ChessBase Magazine #196, challenges the solid setup with a fine solution — activity! Deviating from the practice of elite Grandmasters, he suggests a "more entertaining variation" with 5...a6 and the risky 6...Nc6!? Exciting and recommended to everyone who is not satisfied with playing for a draw when having the black pieces!

7/22/2020 – That's what the chess club in Marburg, Germany, intended when they submitted a video clip for the city initiative to combat the covid pandemic. The three-minute clip was made by quantum physicist and string theorist Vera Spillner, who is a member of the club. It gives chess fans an insight into the game and into club life during Corona, with a clever move, checkmate, included. Vera's video is the first of a series.

7/22/2020 – Magnus Carlsen picked up where he left off in the last tournament of his own series, as he convincingly defeated Anish Giri in the first round of the ‘Legends of Chess’ tournament. The biggest surprise of the day came from Boris Gelfand, who obtained a clean victory over world number three Ding Liren. Besides Carlsen and Gelfand, Peter Svidler was the one other player to win without needing tiebreaks. | Photo: Ritvo Photography

7/21/2020 – Following the Rapid Tournament, the Grandmasters were allowed to enjoy a rest day. The open tournament, limited to 150 players due to the corona crisis, kicked off on Monday. Sebastian Siebrecht sent a report. | Photos: Simon Bohnenblust

7/21/2020 – Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) became the winner of the Women’s Speed Championship. In a dramatic Super Final that was decided in the last bullet game, she defeated the reigning European Blitz Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk 14½:13½. | Photo: David Llada

7/21/2020 – The virtual meeting between the United Nations and FIDE on the occasion of the International Chess Day was held on July 20. Top chess personalities and representatives of the U.N. gathered to exchange views and insights to strengthen the productive collaboration. Top chess grandmasters present at the meeting, Viswanathan Anand, Hou Yifan, Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian, shared the valuable insights into the abilities and life lessons that chess taught them.

7/21/2020 – This is a crucial question in chess. After all, once pieces have been exchanged they can never return. There are times when you need to keep them on the board, and others when you need to part with them at once. Yet another instructive lesson by endgame specialist Karsten Muller.

7/21/2020 – The fourth tournament of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour kicks off on July 21. As the name indicates, the “Legends of Chess” online event will include six illustrious players from the previous generation — Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand, Peter Leko and Peter Svidler. The legends will be joined by Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Not to be missed!

7/20/2020 – In this "Simon Says", Simon looks at the Masters section of the Chess Festival in Leon, Spain. Since he was giving commentary for the official website, we get to enjoy a number of insights from the very strong rapid tournament that was played online this year. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST). | Photo: Georgios Souleidis