4/10/2025 – In 2018 Ju Wenjun became Women's World Champion and then she defended her title in 2020 and 2023. Now it seems as if she will be able to defend her title a third time. In the World Championship match against Tan Zhongyi, she won convincingly with Black in the sixth game and now leads 4-2 at halftime. | Photos: Anna Shtourman

4/10/2025 – ChessBase Mobile is NOW also available for iOS! – Are you a passionate chess fan? Then we have good news for you: with the new ChessBase Mobile App you can take all your games and databases with you wherever you go, thanks to the cloud. The new and user-friendly app for Android, iOS and tablets is sure to make your chess heart beat faster.

4/10/2025 – The first day of the quarterfinals at the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam saw Magnus Carlsen claim the only win, defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov with white. The remaining games ended in draws, including a complex encounter between Arjun Erigaisi and Hikaru Nakamura, who tested the experimental "Nepo Gambit". Nakamura managed to equalise after a difficult start and eventually got an edge, but the game ended peacefully. Abdusattorov must now win on Thursday to force tiebreaks and keep his hopes of reaching the semifinals alive. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/10/2025 – In his new Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft takes a look at the European Women's Championship as it nears the finish line. With two rounds to go, Teodora Injac from Serbia is leading with 8.0/9. In round 8, she won an important and exciting game against Bela Khotenashvili. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/10/2025 – One method that enables a rook to draw against two advanced pawns in an endgame is, as explained in a previous article, is known as the ‘Prokeš Manoeuvre’. This scheme will allow you to draw in desperate-looking positions, or win when the defence can be overcome. Today you get eight test positions from international trainer GM Efstratios Grivas. They will tell you if you have thoroughly understood the concept.

4/9/2025 – In the women's world rankings, Ju Wenjun (pictured), ranked 2nd, and Tan Zhongyi, ranked 3rd, are separated by just six Elo points. But in the fifth game of their World Championship match, the defending champion Ju Wenjun came to a clear victory after Tan Zhangyi misplayed the opening. She then tried to stir up trouble by giving material, but Ju Wenjun defended carefully and took a 3-2 lead in the match. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

4/6/2025 – Shortly before the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is set to begin, US grandmaster Hans Niemann has withdrawn from the tournament citing personal reasons. He is the second player to exit the event this week, following Alireza Firouzja's earlier withdrawal. Niemann will be replaced by Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The tournament, featuring twelve players for the first time, runs from 7 to 14 April at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy in Paris. | Photo: Frans Peeters

4/6/2025 – In game 3 of the Women's World Chess Championship, Ju Wenjun levelled the score by defeating Tan Zhongyi with the white pieces. After choosing a positional sideline against the Sicilian Defence, Ju gradually built a small advantage that she carried into a rook and opposite-coloured bishop endgame. Although the position remained objectively balanced for some time, a mistake on move 60 allowed Ju to convert her extra pawn. The game lasted 87 moves and over five and a half hours. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

4/6/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 224 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/5/2025 – Thorsten Cmiel keeps a very close eye on the young talents in chess. During the Prague Chess Festival, he paid particular attention to how Divya Deshmukh played. Divya won the girls' category at the 2024 World Junior Championship. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

4/5/2025 – From the diagram White spectacularly checkmated after 25.Bd4! Qxc2. But even with this knowledge the problem remains a tough nut to crack - I hope you enjoy it anyway!

4/5/2025 – Sunil who? He is one of the most successful chess coaches in the USA, running the National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF) teacher training programs. Sunil Weeramantry has looked after literally thousands of budding chess players - including his stepson, who ascended to the top of the chess world. Know who we are talking about. | Pictures by Frederic Friedel and NSCF