A trapped piece is a piece that has no escape squares or squares where it can safely move without being captured. A trapped piece can be a bishop or a knight, but also ‘heavier’ pieces such as a rook or a queen can be ensnared. Even the king can be put into a position where […]
Monthly Archives: February 2025
French Grandmaster Marc’Andria Maurizzi delivered a commanding performance to win the Djerba Masters, a 10-player single round-robin held on the paradisiac Tunisian island. The 17-year-old secured first place with a round to spare and finished with an impressive 7½/9 score. Belgian GM Daniel Dardha claimed second place as the only other undefeated player, while Parham […]
As the Monaco Women’s Grand Prix reached its rest day, all five games in round five ended in draws, leaving Kateryna Lagno in the sole lead. Three players – Humpy Koneru, Sara Khadem and Batkhuyag Munguntuul – remain just half a point behind. Lagno held a solid draw with black, while both Humpy and Elisabeth […]
If you’ve only been using ChessBase for a short time and want to benefit from as many of its unique functions as possible, our series offers you valuable, short and easy-to-digest tips for a successful start with ChessBase 18. In the third part of our new tutorial series, we show you how easily and conveniently […]
On 15 February, Sportstar premiered the Sportstar Aces Awards 2025 on their YouTube channel. Divya Deshmukh received the award for sportswoman of the year (non-Olympic). She won the World Junior Girls Championship 2024 and achieved a double gold (individual and team) at the Chess Olympiad. The Indian Men and Women’s teams received the National Team […]
Magnus Carlsen emerged victorious in the Chessable Masters Grand Final, defeating Hikaru Nakamura 2½-1½ to claim the title. The Norwegian had already beaten Nakamura in the winners’ bracket final and repeated his success with a strong performance. Nakamura missed a key opportunity in game two, and despite needing a win in the fourth game, he […]
The Djerba Chess Festival’s Masters section brings together top grandmasters from around the world for a highly competitive tournament on the island of Djerba, a.k.a. the Island of Dreams. Vetted GMs such as Vasyl Ivanchuk, David Navara and Parham Maghsoodloo compete alongside rising talents like Volodar Murzin and current tournament leader Marc’Andria Maurizzi. The event, […]
Some chess players are remembered mainly for their spectacular defeats. One of them is the Chilean champion René Letelier, who lost a game to Bobby Fischer at the 1960 Chess Olympiad in Leipzig that went down in chess history. But Letelier also had many successes during his career. FIDE awarded him the IM title in […]
This week Magnus Carlsen was a guest of Joe Rogan, host of the very popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience”. In a two hour interview Carlsen talked about the beginning of his chess career, chess engines, Hans Niemann, golf, creativity, how Vishy Anand and Garry Kasparov helped him to a deeper understanding of chess, his […]
Five players competed on Thursday for a place in the Chessable Masters Grand Final against Magnus Carlsen, who had already secured his spot in the winners’ bracket. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja and Arjun Erigaisi faced a tougher path than Hikaru Nakamura, needing three consecutive wins to advance. Nepomniachtchi emerged from the knockout rounds […]