The new Opening Encyclopaedia 2025 - Your easy access to opening theory

3/18/2025 – Prepare for your next tournament with the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2025! Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory in one product and is the ideal start for your opening training. Many new articles enrich the current theory with new or revisited ideas. The Encyclopaedia can help you learn openings quickly and give you a head start on your next opponent. Each article contains explanations and annotated games illustrating typical plans to deepen your understanding.
More...
 2

The American Cup - Live!

3/18/2025 – The American Cup, one of the United States' premier chess tournaments, returns to Saint Louis. Now in its fourth year, the event runs from March 15-24 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 mettle under mounting pressure in the double-elimination knockout format. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 18.00 CET (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST)
More...
 6

Women's Grand Prix Nicosia - Live!

3/18/2025 – The fourth leg of the 2024/25 Women's Grand Prix series is taking place in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 14–25 March. A 10-player single round-robin, the event has Aleksandra Goryachkina, Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner as the top seeds. The top two finishers in the series will qualify for the next edition of the Women's Candidates Tournament. | Follow the action live with expert commentary starting at 14.00 CEST (9.00 ET, 18.30 IST)
More...
 3

European Championship - Live

3/18/2025 – The Romanian Chess Federation is hosting the 2025 European Championship, with over 330 players competing for titles, prize money and one of the 20 qualifying places for the World Cup. Romanian star Bogdan-Daniel Deac tops the seeding list. He is followed by some familiar names, including younger players like Daniel Dardha and experienced players like Pawel Eljanov. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.00 CET (9.00 ET, 18.30 IST)
More...
 6

Svitlana's Smart Moves - The King's Indian Attack course is out!

3/18/2025 – Svitlana Demchenko introduces her new ChessBase training course, focusing on one of her favourite openings, the King's Indian Attack (KIA). She explains its universal nature, emphasizing that players only need to learn a basic setup (1.Nf3, 2.g3, 3.Bg2, 4.O-O, 5.d3), making it ideal for both creative and lazy players. She showcases how the KIA can be reached via e4 against various defences, including the French, Sicilian and Caro-Kann, offering flexibility in transpositions. A model game by Tigran Petrosian is analysed, demonstrating the strategic manoeuvring and attacking potential of the opening, particularly the h4-h5 push to weaken Black's kingside.

Small army, strong attack

3/18/2025 – Sometimes, even a few pieces are enough to create a powerful mating attack. In the diagram position White is a piece up, but has to find a way to parry Black's attack. Any ideas?

Oscar Panno turns 90!

3/18/2025 – The living chess legend from Argentina, Oscar Panno, celebrated his 90th birthday on Monday. The Argentine ranks sixth on the list of the oldest living chess grandmasters. His international career began in 1953 when he won the U20 World Championship. A number of remarkable achievements followed in what turned out to be a memorable chess career.
More...
 3

Nicosia GP: Zhu Jiner sole leader, Anna Muzychuk scores first win

3/18/2025 – The third round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Cyprus featured hard-fought games, with high accuracy scores across the board. Anna Muzychuk secured the only decisive result, defeating Nana Dzagnidze in a queen endgame that lasted 83 moves - the longest game of the tournament so far. The remaining matches ended in well-contested draws, reflecting the competitive nature of the event. Zhu Jiner maintained her tournament lead with 2½/3 points to her name. | Photos: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
More...
 2

Pawn sacrifices - small price, big effect!

3/17/2025 – Pawn sacrifices occur in chess in all phases of the game, and the intentions associated with the sacrifice can be of the most diverse nature. In his latest CBM article, Oliver Reeh sheds light on pawn sacrifices in a tactical context and states even here: ‘Pawn sacrifices can be motivated in very different ways.’ In his column, you can expect 40 games peppered with a total of 170 (!) training questions! The tactics expert has also recorded his four favourite combinations in interactive video format. Take advantage of this week's reading sample and solve the problems move by move - together with the IM from Hamburg. Have fun!
More...
 2

American Cup: All matches in the open go to tiebreaks

3/17/2025 – The American Cup's brackets are taking shape after two days of classical games ended in draws, leading to decisive playoffs. Hikaru Nakamura, Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana advanced in the Champions Bracket, while their opponents moved to the Elimination Bracket. In the women's event, Alice Lee, Irina Krush, Carissa Yip and Tatev Abrahamyan (pictured) secured victories to progress. | Photo: Crystal Fuller
More...
 1

Slaughter's and Simpson's

3/17/2025 – Today, "coffee house" will most likely refer to ubiquitous American chains that have no particular connection with chess. In London during the 18th and 19th centuries coffee houses were at the epicentre of the chess world, where players met and reputations were formed. In CHESS Magazine Ben Graff explores an era when coffee houses were at the epicentre of the chess world.
More...
 3

Understanding before Moving 221: Vasyl Ivanchuk

3/16/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 221 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Vassily Ivanchuk. | Photo: Pascal Simon
More...
 3

American Cup: Missed chances in the open, three winners in the women's

3/16/2025 – The 2025 American Cup began with contested battles in both the open and women's sections. In the open section, all four games ended in draws, with top seeds Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura failing to convert with the white pieces. Meanwhile, the women's section saw three decisive games, as Irina Krush, Alice Lee and Carissa Yip secured victories. Yip's win was particularly dramatic, as her opponent, Thalia Cervantes, missed a forced checkmate before ultimately collapsing. | Photo: Crystal Fuller
More...
 6

Nicosia GP: Zhu and Tsolakidou strike first

3/16/2025 – The first round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Cyprus saw four closely contested games and two decisive results. Greece's Stavroula Tsolakidou defeated Germany's Elisabeth Paehtz, while China's Zhu Jiner (pictured) overcame Olga Badelka. The tournament, held at Hilton Nicosia, features a strong lineup, including Grand Prix leader Aleksandra Goryachkina and Ukrainian stars Anna and Mariya Muzychuk. | Photos: FIDE / Mark Livshitz
More...
 2

Vidit gets ticket to Paris leg of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

3/15/2025 – Vidit Gujrathi has secured his place in the Paris leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after winning the online Play-In stage held from 8 to 14 March. The Indian grandmaster advanced through a competitive knockout phase without needing tiebreakers, defeating Ding Liren, Pranesh Munirethinam, Amin Tabatabaei and Richard Rapport. Despite feeling underprepared, Vidit's strong performance earned him a spot alongside Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Hikaru Nakamura in the tournament, set to take place from 7 to 14 April. | Photo: Anmol Bhargav
More...
 4

An unfinished masterpiece

3/15/2025 – From the diagram position, White started a powerful attack on the black king, but in the end failed to crown it. Can you do better?

Guest Star at the KCF Academy

3/15/2025 – On March 16, 2025 the Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy will host a live lecture by GM Alexander Onischuk. Participants have the unique opportunity to learn from his extensive experience, gaining insights into advanced strategies and game analysis. This event is part of KCF Academy's ongoing training program, crafted to provide high-quality chess education worldwide.
More...
 2

Faustino Oro looking for first GM norm in Punta del Este

3/14/2025 – From 14 to 20 March, the Hotel del Lago hosts the Punta del Este Masters, a closed double round-robin tournament bringing together four Grandmasters and two International Masters from Spanish-speaking countries. Among them, the young Argentinean Faustino Oro, aged 11, and the Mexican Sion Galaviz, aged 19, will try to score the necessary points to obtain GM status. The event is part of the Punta del Este International Chess Festival, which will include open tournaments and promotional activities. | Photo: David Llada
More...
 4

American Cup: Nakamura, Caruana and So favourites in event's fourth edition

3/14/2025 – The 2025 American Cup returns to Saint Louis, bringing together the nation's top chess players for a high-stakes competition. Organised by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the tournament follows a double-elimination format, testing players in both classical and rapid chess. Featuring elite grandmasters such as Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, as well as rising stars like Alice Lee and Carissa Yip, the event promises intense matches in both the open and women's sections. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
More...
 6
12345...Next