The Pirc Defence is a dynamic opening strategy that temporarily allows the opponent to control the centre, enabling you to attack more aggressively there later on. This creates complex and often imbalanced positions in the middle game, offering many opportunities for counterplay, even against well-prepared opponents. In a recent course, French grandmaster Fabien Libiszewski explored […]
Monthly Archives: May 2025
Following round six of the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, Alireza Firouzja joined the group of co-leaders with a win over world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a complex struggle from an Italian Opening. With three rounds remaining, Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave share the lead with 3½ points, while Wesley So, Levon […]
In this episode of Svitlana’s Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko introduces the Hedgehog pawn structure, a strategic setup common in the Sicilian Defense, featuring black pawns on a6, b6, d6, and e6. She emphasizes the educational value of understanding pawn structures for overall middle-game improvement, using a Kasparov–Kramnik game as a case study. Svitlana explains typical […]
2025 is a year of farewells. After Robert Huebner, another great player and outstanding personality in the world of chess has passed away: Vlastimil Hort. Vlastimil Hort was one of the best players in the world in the 1970s. After moving to Germany he entertained television viewers with his subtle humour on the programme ‘Schach […]
The Taliban government has banned chess in Afghanistan, citing concerns that the game is associated with gambling and may conflict with Islamic law. The suspension, announced by the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, includes the dissolution of the national chess federation. While some officials claim the ban is temporary, the decision […]
Legendary American Grandmaster Alex Yermolinsky, “Yermo”, remains hospitalized in Tekirdag, Turkey after undergoing a four-way heart bypass. He was being crushed by medical bills and needed help. That was given by a GoFundMe appeal started just over a week ago. The goal of the required $64,000 has almost been met. You can help push it […]
Last year FIDE celebrated its 100th anniversary. The book “100 Years of FIDE” is an illustrated history of the World Chess Federation. From it we excerpt passages to retrace the final non-FIDE world championship (Alekhine-Boguljubow) and the Chess Olympiads from 1924 to 1940. This is a great chance to brush up your knowledge of chess […]
After a day of all draws at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, the standings remain unchanged, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu still sharing the lead on 2½/5 points. Despite the lack of decisive games, round five featured tense battles across all boards, with Jan-Krzysztof Duda narrowly missing a chance to claim […]
Would you like to make the most of ChessBase 18, especially in the opening, to improve your repertoire? With the Powerbooks and Powerbases, you will always be one step ahead of your opponents. Learn how to use these comprehensive and up-to-date databases with ChessBase and how to train your favourite openings with Fritz.
Ukrainian chess legend Vasyl Ivanchuk has made a remarkable comeback, gaining 40 rating points in April and re-entering the top 100 with a FIDE rating of 2644. The 54-year-old grandmaster remained unbeaten in 27 games across three tournaments, including the Reykjavík Open, Semana Santa Open and Menorca Open, where he finished first with an impressive […]