The 25th European Women’s Chess Championship is taking place from 31 March to 11 April in Rhodes, Greece. The Championship features 136 players representing 34 European federations battling in an 11-round Swiss open for prize money and spots in the Women’s World Chess Cup. The top seeds are Nino Batsiashvili, Teodora Injac and Meri Arabidze. […]
Monthly Archives: March 2025
Susan Polgar’s book, Rebel Queen, describes the trials and tribulations of a super-talent at odds with her federation, and how she overcame it to rise to the very top of women’s chess. Today we excerpt passages from this remarkably well-written book that we predict will at some stage be turned into a “Queen’s Gambit” type […]
“Paul Morphy is an object of pity,” wrote the New York World in 1877. “He is sane on a few subjects, but his old hobby – chess – is so distasteful to him that he cannot bear to talk about his former exploits. It would really be an act of charity to remove him from […]
The 2025 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship will see reigning champion Ju Wenjun defend her title against challenger Tan Zhongyi in a highly anticipated rematch. The match, played from 1 to 23 April across Shanghai and Chongqing, will consist of 12 classical games, with a tiebreak if necessary. Ju, a four-time champion, faces a determined […]
Do you know the feeling? Over time, more and more databases accumulate in ChessBase: How do you keep track of them all? It’s best to get organised right from the start – but how? In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to organise and systematically save your own material so that you can always find […]
The Agzamov Memorial took place from 21 to 29 March in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, attracting a strong field of international players in Group A. Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin claimed outright victory with an unbeaten 8/10 score, finishing ahead of a competitive field that included eight 2600+ rated players. Among the standout performances was 15-year-old Uzbek IM […]
Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko has been handed a three-year worldwide ban, with one year suspended, following allegations of cheating at the 2024 Spanish Team Championship. The FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) found that Shevchenko had hidden a mobile phone in a toilet but could not determine with certainty that he had used it to gain […]
Pentala Harikrishna, one of India’s finest chess grandmasters, has built a life in Prague, blending his passion for chess with a deep connection to the city. In an insightful interview with Sagar Shah, Harikrishna shares his journey – from his rise in the global chess rankings to his experiences working with world champions Gukesh and […]
In this sneak peek, IM Robert Ris presents a strategic lesson from his course Mastering Chess Strategy Vol. 2 by analysing his own game against GM Pranesh M. He highlights the importance of king safety and multi-purpose moves, showing how he found a secure setup for his king while activating his rooks for an attack. […]
Beauty prizes at chess tournaments are great. But there have always been disputes about which game in a tournament deserves this prize. For example, Kateryna Lagno (pictured) felt unjustly ignored when the award was presented at the Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco 2025 and has now protested in an open letter. Thorsten Cmiel reports on […]