Chess News

KCF Academy: meet Elizbar Ubilava April 26, 2024
On April 28, the subscribers of Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy will gather for an exclusive interview with Elizbar Ubilava. At 74 years young, Elizbar Ubilava, a Spanish grandmaster of Georgian origin, is a living legend in the world of chess. With his remarkable achievements and illustrious career spanning decades, Ubilava's influence on the chess landscape […]
BBC brings back televised chess series April 26, 2024
BBC Factual announced a new competition format, “Chess Masters”, for BBC Two and iPlayer. Across eight episodes, passionate and highly skilled players from all backgrounds will battle it out across a series of rapid chess games before one will be crowned the title of Chess Master. The announcement comes a bit over 40 years after […]
Starting Saturday: TePe Sigeman & Co with Svidler, Abdusattorov and Ju April 25, 2024
The TePe Sigeman & Co tournament has been held in Malmö since 1993 — it was only cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. The organisers have once again put together a very interesting 8-player field for the 2024 tournament: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer, defending champion Peter Svidler (pictured), Nils Grandelius, Anton Korobov, […]
Meet the Wirral-Squirrel Variation (WSV) April 25, 2024
Have all playable alternatives in the early opening been discovered? Despite the huge number of possibilities, there seem to be no surprises in the first moves of a chess game, right? Well, I think I might just have blown that theory out of the water. Yes, I believe that I have discovered a new opening! […]
Grivas on the Mad Rook April 23, 2024
During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position to draw the game rather than lose. In more complex positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually taking the form of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Chess Trainer GM Efstratios Grivas shows us how […]
Yet another 12-year-old grandmaster April 9, 2024
He was born on 3 June 2011 in Bursa, Turkey. On April 1st (no April Fool's joke) the twelve-year-old, playing in the very strong GRENKE Chess Open, Yagiz Kaan Erdpgmus scored 7.0/9 points with a 2646 performance. With that he had fulfilled his final GM norm and become the youngest grandmaster in the world – […]
Svitlana's Smart Moves - The best tactics of all candidates! Double Edition! April 2, 2024
Svitlana dug deep to find some outstanding, beautiful tactics, by all the men's and women's candidates, who will compete in Toronto soon. Arne is trying hard to solve all the puzzles, and get 8 out of 8 in both videos. Will he succeed? And how will you do, dear viewer? These two videos are the […]
The American Cup: Live! March 21, 2024
The American Cup, one of the United States’ premier chess tournaments, returns to Saint Louis. Now in its third year, the event runs from March 12-21, 2024, at the iconic World Chess Hall of Fame, featuring sixteen of America’s top chess talents. With $400,000 in prize money up for grabs, the competitors will prove their […]
ChessBase Puzzle Challenge – 02 March 18, 2024
Chess is a really fun game to play, but equally enjoyable is solving artificial positions – problems and studies – many that defy the imagination. In this ChessBase Challenge instalment, we have a set of puzzles that can challenge your brain. Can you solve the position? Can you find the mind-boggling strategy that is required […]
What can you learn from Vidit March 15, 2024
Have you ever finished last in a tournament? Well, it happened to Vidit Gujrathi at the Prague Masters 2024. As Vidit himself pointed out, this might be the first time ever that he finished last in his entire chess career. And it happened 20 days before the most important event of his life - the […]
How to work with the Laws of Chess March 13, 2024
"As arbiters, we must first and foremost have full knowledge of the Laws of Chess. The Laws of Chess are like the Bible, everything starts there." In this article IA Alon Shulman shares his thought process in dealing with cases, on implementing the Laws of Chess. Arbiters must first and foremost have full knowledge of […]
Behind the board: An interview with GM Daniel Fernandez March 8, 2024
Chess players have certainly heard of Daniel Fernandez, who has already published a couple of Fritztrainers for ChessBase. But recently, non-chess players also got to know him because of a YouTube video with the title - "We Used An Adult Toy To Beat A Chess Grandmaster". How did this video happen? Are chess players cheating […]
A Heart-Racing Experience! (4) March 7, 2024
Magnus Carlsen has been the World #1, since 2011! Apart from his tremendous chess talent, he also has a relatively higher HRV: his heart rate is typically between 75 bpm – 95 bpm, which enables him to balance alertness (for tactical danger and opportunities) and calmness (to optimize logical thinking and decision-making)! Calm heartbeats during […]
Prague Chess Festival - Abdusattorov triumphs, 1½ points ahead of the field March 7, 2024
Nodirbek Abdusattorov is the sixth champion of the prestigious chess festival. In the process the the 19-year-old Usbek grandmaster rose to the fourth position in the world live ranking, ahead of the reigning world champion Ding Liren. All games of the final round were drawn, and can be replayed, with engine commentary, in this report. […]
New: ChessBase Magazine #218 March 1, 2024
Tata Steel 2024: Analyses of the tournament winner Wei Yi as well as Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alexander Donchenko, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Erwin l'Ami, Praggnanandhaa, Eline Roebers and Vidit Gujrathi - Mihail Marin looks back at Linares 1992: Kasparov vs. the young generation - French à la Erigaisi: Sergey Grigoriants serves up a fresh idea in […]
A Heart-Racing Experience! (2) February 29, 2024
In the recent Freestyle event, heart rates of the players were measured in classical chess, with slow time controls. In bullet and blitz formats, where intuition prevails, heart rates remain relatively low compared to slower time controls like Rapid or Classical, which allow more contemplation during critical positions. Here are observations provided by the leading […]
A Heart-Racing Experience! (1) February 26, 2024
Chess is often considered a calm and quiet game, where the only sound is the clicking of the pieces. But what if we could hear the heartbeat of the players, and see how their body reacts to the tension and excitement of the game? That is exactly what was done in the Freestyle Chess 2024 […]
Elisabeth Paehtz interview on Kasparov Chess Foundation February 24, 2024
The Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy invites you to watch an interview with grandmaster Elisabeth Paehtz, one of the strongest German female chess players since her youth. On February 25, 17:00 CET, Elisabeth will give a live interview at KCF Academy. Add it to your calendar!
ChessBase Puzzle Competition winners February 12, 2024
In the concluding article for the Christmas Composition Contest, we see the final prize-winning compositions, which were a touch ahead of the others! Like always, all compositions were evaluated on the basis of economy, harmony and aesthetics! We also included a special prize for the best story behind the composition, and the cook-stopping that took […]
Chess960 or Freestyle Chess: How it all began February 8, 2024
Chess960 or Freestyle chess will soon be the centre of attention. The 1st German Chess960 Championship will take place in Berlin, Germany, on 9 February and in the German spa Weissenhaus at the Baltic see the world's best chess players will compete in the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge. But who invented this form of chess? […]

Lichess’s Blog

Round 14: Gukesh and Zhongyi are officially the World Championship Challengers April 22, 2024
A historic finish to the FIDE Candidates, as 17 year old Indian prodigy becomes the youngest World Champion Challenger in history, and Zhongyi consolidated her lead to be the Women's Challenger.
Lichess
Candidates Round 13: Gukesh takes the lead, Zhongyi pulls ahead April 21, 2024
A massive day for the 17 year old Indian, as his chances to win the Candidates skyrockets, as Zhongyi can all-but taste victory.
Lichess
Candidates Round 12: Three-ways Tie in Open, Tan Maintains her Lead April 19, 2024
Nakamura and Gukesh catch up with Nepomniachtchi in Open, while Tan maintains a safe distance from everyone - except Lei
Lichess
Candidates Round 11: Nepomniachtchi, Tan Back in Sole Lead April 18, 2024
Nepomniachtchi and Tan lead alone once again, while Nakamura's win puts him in shared 2nd with Gukesh
Lichess
Candidates Round 10: Nakamura and Caruana Bounce Back, Lei in Shared Lead April 16, 2024
Nakamura and Caruana bounced back with wins against Abasov and Firouzja, respectively, while Lei beat Goryachkina to join Tan in shared 1st, with Vaishali winning against Salimova
Lichess
Candidates Round 9: Vidit and Tan Win As Tan Is Back in the Sole Lead April 15, 2024
Vidit wins against Nakamura for the second time as the standings at the top of the Open remain unchanged, while Tan's victory against Vaishali propels her to the sole lead
Lichess
Candidates Round 8: Gukesh Back in the Co-Lead As Lei Beats Tan April 14, 2024
Gukesh defeated Vidit to join Nepomniachtchi in the lead, while Lei's win over Tan opens a three-way tie for first
Lichess
IM Mahdi Gholami Orimi wins Road to Sharjah 2024 April 13, 2024
9,000+ players, 37,000+ game of chess, one invitation and $1,100 on the line
Lichess
Candidates Round 7: Nepomniachtchi, Tan Lead Halfway Through April 12, 2024
Gukesh loses to Firouzja, handing over the sole lead to Nepomniachtchi as Tan neutralizes Goryachkina and retains her lead
Lichess