4/17/2020 – Thirty years ago, because of health risks, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) banned smoking at its events. Since handshakes spread the coronavirus, should FIDE ban them when in-person chess tournaments resume? WIM Alexey Root considers the history and the future of smoking and handshakes.

4/17/2020 – The fourth edition of the M-Tel Masters Tournament in Sofia saw Vassily Ivanchuk getting sole first place with a stunning 8 out of 10 score. The Ukrainian genius finished 1½ points ahead of Veselin Topalov, who had won all three previous editions. Ivanchuk kicked off the tournament with five straight wins and, after scoring one more victory in the second half, ended the event with a 2977 Tournament Performance Rating. | Photos: Europe Echecs

4/16/2020 – After one loss and five draws former World Champion Vassily Smyslov (pictured) won his first game at the Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/Zagreb. He defeated Borislav Ivkov. Bobby Fischer continues to show why he is the world's number one: he won with Black against Theodor Ghitescu and now leads the field with 6½-½. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

4/16/2020 – Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King’s Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. White sacrifices a pawn to build a strong centre and to open lines for an immediate attack against the enemy king. No more boring Berlins - take the fight to your opponent from the off. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.

4/16/2020 – Mir Sultan Khan was born in 1905 in India and worked as a servant when he came to England in 1929. In England Sultan Khan quickly established himself as one of the world's best players, beating Capablanca, Tartakower, Flohr and others, but in 1933 he returned to India and vanished from the chess scene. In his new book "Sultan Khan: The Indian Servant Who Became Chess Champion of the British Empire" Daniel King tells the story of this amazingly talented player. Sagar Shah spoke with King about his book and the fate of Sultan Khan.

4/16/2020 – With no over-the-board action, online playing has gained strength among chess fans. Moreover, the world champion himself has decided to make the most out of a dire situation by organizing an unprecedented elite tournament to be played over the internet. Eight of the strongest players in the world will fight for a $70,000 first prize. The tournament will run from April 18th to May 3rd.

4/15/2020 – Playing online is fun and playing for a club is fun! And if you play your club tournament at playchess.com, ChessBase adds prizes! Every club that plays a tournament of at least 64 games on playchess.com in April wins a ChessBase 15 program, a ChessBase premium annual account and a ChessBase voucher worth €30.

4/15/2020 – The Argentinean Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf was one of the world's best players after the Second World War, name-giver of the most popular variation of the Sicilian, a great personality and a successful entrepreneur. Today is his 110th birthday. | Photo: Durch National Archive

4/15/2020 – Last week we examined the revolutionary handling of a bishop endgame by Stockfish, this week we return to human chess and take a look at an online game between Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri. | You can register a Premium account here. Merijn's show is available at 15.00 UTC (17:00 CEST, 11:00 EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/15/2020 – The Tournament of Peace in Rovinj/Zagreb is a round-robin with 18 players, eight from Yugoslavia, ten from abroad. Two former World Champions, Tigran Petrosian and Vasily Smyslov, take part, but tournament favourite is the 27-year old American Bobby Fischer, currently number one on the FIDE World Ranking List. Fischer started the tournament with five wins and a draw and is the sole leader. One point behind follows Yugoslavia's number one, Svetozar Gligoric, who defeated Petrosian with a brilliant sacrifice and also won against Smyslov. | Photo: Rovinj

4/14/2020 – Classical chess is fine and fun. However, variety might add some spice to your chess life. Which is why Dagne Ciuksyte enjoys chess variants. They are fun, they are surprinsingly instructive and they help your classical chess. Here are some chess variants you might want to try.

4/14/2020 – In his weekly show IM Lawrence Trent takes a look at the marathon match the computer programs Leela and Stockfish recently played. | Lawrence' show is available at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.