Drama at the Prague Masters. Many had already resigned themselves to two draws and an unchanged situation at the top of the table. But then Jorden van Foreest lost the long-balanced game against Aravindh Chithambaram, surrendering his lead in the standings to Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The Uzbek GM...
The fight for first place tightened in round eight of the Challengers at the Prague Chess Festival. Leader Vaclav Finek defended a difficult endgame to keep the top spot, but Daniil Yuffa moved to within half a point after scoring his second consecutive win. Benjamin Gledura also prevailed and...
The Prague Chess Festival has become a fixture on the tournament calendar and is now in its eighth edition. In an interview with ChessBase, organiser Petr Boleslav explains how the idea was born, why Prague was the natural home for the event, and what it takes to run such a top tournament with a...
Tata Steel 2026: Analyses by Bluebaum, Giri, L'Ami, Woodward and many more – News from the ‘Erigabava’ Sicilian: Yago Santiago promotes 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4! – Slav Marshall Gambit: white queen on d8! Lars Schandorff examines 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4...
One game had a decisive result in round seven of the Masters at the Prague Chess Festival, as Vincent Keymer defeated David Anton to return to a fifty-percent score. Sole leader Jorden van Foreest held a tense draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Aravindh Chithambaram missed a winning chance...
Three decisive games marked round seven of the Challengers at the Prague International Chess Festival. Leader Vaclav Finek held a long endgame against top seed Benjamin Gledura and retains a full-point lead with two rounds remaining. Meanwhile, Daniil Yuffa and Jachym Nemec (pictured) moved into...
Together with Keti Tsataslashvili, Alojzije Jankovic works as a commentator at the Prague Chess Festival – a role that suits him well. The Croatian grandmaster (peak Elo 2593) had his own chess show on Croatian television for many years and runs a YouTube channel. He was editor-in-chief of the...
During the rest day of the Prague International Chess Festival, organisers held a special programme devoted to supporting women's chess and highlighting the Futures tournament for young female players. Swedish legend Pia Cramling gave a lecture and a simultaneous exhibition, while Czech actress...
David Navara is playing an excellent tournament in his hometown. After round six of the Masters in Prague, he is only half a point behind the leader, Jorden van Foreest, together with Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The direct encounter between Van Foreest and Navara ended in a draw. At the other end of...
Only one game was decisive in round six of the Challengers at the Prague International Chess Festival, where Benjamin Gledura (pictured) defeated Jachym Nemec. The remaining encounters were drawn, though several featured complex positions and missed chances. Leader Vaclav Finek let a promising...
The American Cup, one of the United States' premier chess tournaments, returns to Saint Louis. Now in its fifth year, the event runs on March 3-12 at the Saint Louis Chess Club, featuring sixteen of America's top chess talents. With $400,000 in prize money up for grabs, the competitors will prove...
After a small break, GM Harshit Raja made a fine return to classical chess at the Saint Louis Masters, an elite invitational tournament featuring a powerhouse lineup of just 70 players. Facing a gauntlet of opponents with an average rating of nearly 2580, Harshit proved what a strong player he is...
The new FIDE world ranking for March includes the tournaments played in Wijk aan Zee. Among the biggest gainers are Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, as well as Matthias Bluebaum. The top of the women's world ranking remains firmly in Chinese hands. World Champion Gukesh, in his final...
Mikhail Antipov won the Saint Louis Masters ahead of Fabiano Caruana. The Russian-born grandmaster, playing under the US flag, scored an impressive victory over Andy Woodward in the final round. He had gone into the last round level on points with the rating favourite. However, Caruana was only...
All five games ended decisively in round five of the Masters at the Prague Chess Festival. Jorden van Foreest kept the lead after capitalising on a single opening mistake by Hans Niemann, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in another tense encounter. David...
A clear leader has emerged in the Challengers tournament at the Prague International Chess Festival, as 16-year-old Vaclav Finek moved a full point ahead of the field after defeating Daniil Yuffa with the white pieces. Divya Deshmukh, meanwhile, scored her first win of the event, while the...
Is calculation becoming a strength that turns into a weakness? In this opinion piece, Ravi Abhyankar explores the delicate balance between calculation and instinct in modern chess. Can today’s elite players afford to rely only on deep calculation and ignore speed? Why does blitz matter so much...
Two decisive results and three hard-fought draws were seen in round four of the Masters at the Prague Chess Festival. Jorden van Foreest moved into sole first place after defeating Nodirbek Yakubboev with the black pieces, scoring his third win in four games. Vincent Keymer secured his first...
With ChessBase´26, you can not only analyse your own games professionally – as we have already shown in the first four parts of the tutorial – you can also comment on them individually. There are several methods for doing this, and they can be linked together. The comments can be entered as text...
Round four of the Challengers tournament at the Prague Chess Festival featured two decisive games. Benjamin Gledura (pictured) bounced back from two consecutive losses by defeating Jonas Buhl Bjerre, while Daniil Yuffa claimed his second consecutive victory as he beat Zhu Jiner. Vaclav Finek...
This episode trains you to think more creatively by first testing obvious ideas, understanding precisely why they fail, and then searching for a small adjustment that removes the opponent’s defensive resource. Through tactical and endgame examples, Svitlana shows that imagination isn’t about...
On Sunday KCF Academy subscribers will have the chance to meet Evgenij Miroshnichenko, one of the most analytically sharp and pedagogically gifted chess minds in the game today, during a live, interactive Sunday session. Mark your calendar: 17:00 CET, March 1, 2026.
Round three of the Challengers tournament at the Prague Chess Festival featured five decisive games. Vaclav Finek, aged 16, took over as sole leader after defeating former pace-setter Stepan Hrbek, while four players now make up the chasing group a half point back. Besides Finek, Jonas Buhl...
Chris Ward flips the usual “Monthly Dragon” perspective by studying why White wins against the Sicilian Dragon, using the classic Karpov–Korchnoi game to highlight recurring mating themes. He then shows how those same ideas transfer across openings and how he used the lessons in his own games to...
Round one of the Masters in Prague produced four wins and one draw. In round two things proceeded at a more leisurely pace with three draws and two wins. But the decisive games were interesting. David Anton (pictured) had an inferior position out of the opening against Jorden Van Foreest, but...