2/19/2021 – This summer Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand will face each other in an innovative chess variant, proposed by Kramnik: No-Castling chess. There is one simple rule change – no castling allowed, everything else remains the same as in the regular chess – is meant to combat over-preparation and drawing tendencies in chess. Experience shows that it also leads to more exciting games. In parallel the online Sparkassen Playchess Open for participants from all over the world will be in the "No-Castling“ format. This is your chance to try it out.

4/10/2020 – Back in 1999, Peter Leko confirmed his status as a serious contender for the World Championship title by winning the 27th edition of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, ahead of 'Mr. Dortmund' himself, Vladimir Kramnik. Leko was only 19, and three years later would qualify to face Kramnik in a match for the world crown. The event was also important for the Hungarian's personal life, as he met his future wife Sofia during the tournament. | Pictured: Leko in 2009 | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/13/2018 – Starting Saturday, Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri top the field of players providing a nice mix of old and new this year. Since 1984, the tournament has been made possible by the commitment of the Dortmund Sparkasse regional bank. | Pictured (L to R): Gerd Kolbe, Klaus Steenweg, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vladislav Kovalev, Georg Meier, Andreas Jagodzinsky, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Stefan Koth, Vladimir Kramnik, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Anish Giri, | Photos: Macauley Peterson

2/6/2018 – Carsten Hensel was manager of Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik and was directly involved in the most important chess events during a very tumultuous time for chess. Now he wrote a book about the life of Vladmir Kramnik which will appear soon. In an interview Hensel talks about the book, his work with Kramnik and various World Championship matches. | Photo: Vladimir Kramnik on the cover of the book

7/23/2017 – With a convincing victory against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the Polish Grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek secured victory at the Grandmaster Tournament of the 45th Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund this afternoon. It turned out to be necessary, because with a draw, Wojtaszek would have been joined by Vladimir Fedoseev, who won today against Wang Yue, and could have edged him on the second tiebreak (most wins). In a remarkable contrast to rounds 1-6, today was a bloodbath — all four games where decisive!

7/11/2017 – In a few days the Sparkassen Chess Meeting 2017 will begin in Dortmund. As always, it is a strong Grandmaster tournament but this year it is dedicated to Vladimir Kramnik, with good reason: Dortmund and the former World Championship have a long and special relationship.

7/17/2016 – With a fine game against Ruslan Ponomariov Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund with one round to go. He leads with 5.0/6 and is 1.5 points ahead of his closest rivals Leinier Dominguez Perez and Fabiano Caruana. The other decisive game of round six was Caruana's smooth victory against Rainer Buhmann. Evgeniy Najer and Dominguez Perez drew after 54 moves, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Vladimir Kramnik after 146 moves.

7/15/2016 – After a long fight the top game between Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana in the fifth round of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund ended in a draw. But Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ruslan Ponomariov could win. Vachier-Lagrave played against Najer and showed how well he knows the Najdorf. Ponomariov won against Buhmann. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Leinier Dominguez drew. With two rounds to go Vachier-Lagrave leads with 4.0/5.

7/13/2016 – In round four of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting Dortmund Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won against German grandmaster Rainer Buhmann. Long time Buhmann's Breyer looked solid but then the French grandmaster opened lines with a tricky pawn-break. The three other games ended in a draw: Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu could not convert an advantage against Evgeny Najer, Fabiano Caruana found no recipe against Leinier Dominguez' Petroff and Ruslan Ponomariov and Vladimir Kramnik also drew without too much excitement.

7/7/2016 – On Saturday, the 44. Sparkassen Chess Meeting begins in Dortmund. From 9th to 17th July some of the world's best players compete against the best German players. Vladimir Kramnik will play his 22nd tournament in Dortmund and hopes to win his eleventh title. But he has strong rivals such as Fabiano Caruana, the winner of the two previous events, or Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, currently number four in the world.

7/16/2015 – Hou Yifan is currently the world's best women player and extremely popular with the public. Inviting her to the Sparkassen-Chess Meeting in Dortmund was definitely a good move by the organisers. German chess journalist Dagobert Kohlmeyer used the chance to talk with the Chinese about the World Championship, the young Chinese players, and much more.

7/6/2015 – All things considered, it was longer coming than we had expected, but Caruana’s fans can sigh with a smile as he is back to his winning ways with a fantastic streak of five wins to take Dortmund a full 1.5 points ahead of his rivals. Wesley So managed to nab second over Nisipeanu on tiebreak after a dramatic last round win over Kramnik. Report with analysis.

7/5/2015 – He seems unstoppable now, Caruana converted yet another win, this time against Hou Yifan in a sort of Nimzo-Indian defense. The Chinese sacrificed a pawn, but Caruana gobbled it up and defended precisely, eventually pushing Yifan back and taking over the initiative. Kramnik pushed hard against Nisipeanu but couldn't break the German, while Nepo did beat Naiditsch. Caruana is clear first.

7/4/2015 – Caruana is now on a roll in Dortmund! He toppled Kramnik, and with the black pieces, to take over the lead in Dortmund. Only Nisipeanu still has the same amount of points as him. It was a bit of a topsy-turvy and complicated game, but at the end Kramnik was unable to keep up with Caruana in the complications. So also beat Nepomniachtchi, and gains ground. Sagar Shah analyzes today!

7/1/2015 – Two decisive results today in Dortmund, though in two very different ways. Caruana played a great positional game against Naiditsch, putting pressure all over the board and eventually crashing through the German's defenses with his passed pawns. Meier had another great position, this time against Kramnik, but again he erred and the Russian took the full point. Kramnik now ties for the lead.

6/30/2015 – It seems that some of the topsy-turvy play in Dortmund continues, even after the rest day. Both Caruana and So played bad games, but one of them managed to win his bout! Meier confused himself in a winning position against Caruana and dropped a full point. Naiditsch was not so kind and proceeded to demolish So. Kramnik tricked Nepomniachtchi, while Nisipeanu held on against Yifan.

6/29/2015 – Some scintillating chess by the black pieces today in Dortmund. The match between two of America's finest, Caruana vs. So, was not a very precise game but it was full of emotion. So took it in a long endgame. Kramnik demolished Hou Yifan brilliantly, while Meier held Nepo to a nice fought draw. However the story of the day is that Nisipeanu already has a one point lead!

6/27/2015 – The Dortmund Super-Tournament has started, and it was a great day for the German players as they almost swept their opponents 3-0. Naiditsch won convincingly against Kramnik... and with the black pieces! Meanwhile Nisipeanu welcomed So to Germany with a crushing attack. Hou Yifan can count her blessings that she did not fall to Meier. Caruana and Nepomniatchi split the point.

7/14/2014 – After beating David Baramidze in an endgame in round one Fabiano Caruana used tactics to overcome Ruslan Ponomariov in round two of the Dortmund tournament. Baramidze lost again, this time against Arkadij Naiditsch. Georg Meier and Peter Leko drew peacefully while Vladimir Kramnik almost beat Michael Adams but failed to win a won position.

7/12/2014 – The Dortmund Sparkassen chess meeting has begun in Dortmund, Germany. With five chess super-stars and three powerful German players the tournament usually provides an interesting mix of top level chess and clashes between the locals and the foreigners, with the super GMs winning most of those points. However, as Meier proved today, that is not always the case.

8/4/2013 – Adams came in determined to not let Kramnik have a fighting chance at taking the title away from him. He did so successfully by forcing Kramnik into a repetition very early on in the game, sealing the draw and the victory for Adams with an amazing 2923 performance. Second was Kramnik with an also superb 2866. Leko and Naiditsch tied for third. Final round report.

8/4/2013 – Until round six Michael Adams and Vladimir Kramnik were leading in the Dortmund GM tournament, two points ahead of the field. In round seven Adams won and Kramnik lost, in round eight the Russian scored while Adams drew. Now Kramnik, a much acclaimed ChessBase DVD author, has it in his power to decide the tournament for himself. Meanwhile a cheating scandal rocked the Dortmund Open.

8/2/2013 – The two tournament leaders continue with an inexorable pace. Adams cooly defended against Naiditsch and collected an easy point, putting him at 3004 performance. Kramnik showed incredibly class in his victory against Fridman. In the other games, Wang Hao and Caruana miraculously saved their games while Meier and Andreikin took the day off with a quick draw. Report and analysis.

7/31/2013 – In a series of strange openings it seemed that White would do very badly today. Kramnik was pinned against the wall by Leko, while Caruana's and Adam's positions were certainly not better. However Caruana held while the leaders won their games. Andreikin punished an early blunder by Khenkin and the other two Germans drew their game in a long rook endgame. Analysis and report.