7/7/2023 – At the anniversary tournament, the organisers of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Trophy celebrated a record number of participants in the Open with almost 550 players, including several German national players. Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana, runner-up at the 2018 World Championship, provided the glamour of world champions at the NC Masters. | Photo: Veterans of the Dortmund Chess Festival | Photos: Michelle Lassak

7/3/2023 – Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Donchenko and Dinara Wagner were crowned champions of the No Castling Masters, the A-Open and the Sportland NRW Cup, respectively. Caruana and Donchenko scored wins on the final day of action to clinch their titles, while Wagner secured tournament victory by drawing Ruben Köllner with the black pieces. Wagner’s performance gained her a GM norm, the second in her career. | Photo: Michelle Lassak

7/2/2023 – More than 500 players are taking part at the 50th Dortmund Chess Festival — a record number! The A-Open, a 9-round Swiss event, has Matthias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko and Michael Adams as the top seeds. Meanwhile, the Sportland NRW Cup is a 10-player round-robin tournament with ambitious players within the 2300-2550 rating band. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 15.00 CEST.

7/2/2023 – Going into the final day of action at the Dortmund Chess Festival, Fabiano Caruana, Frederik Svane and Dinara Wagner are leading the standings in the No Castling Masters, the A-Open and the Sportland NRW Cup, respectively. Caruana defeated Vladimir Kramnik in style to get a half point lead over the former world champion and Dmitrij Kollars. Kollars beat Pavel Eljanov with white in Saturday’s fifth round. | Photo: Michelle Lassak

6/30/2023 – While the participants of the No Castling Masters had a rest day, the contenders in the A-Open and the Sportland NRW Cup played the sixth rounds in their respective tournaments. Alexander Donchenko defeated Matthias Blübaum for the first time in a classical tournament game to take the sole lead in the open, while Dinara Wagner caught Ruben Köllner in the lead of the Sportland NRW Cup. | Photo: Michelle Lassak

6/29/2023 – After his defeat in a spectacular game in the second round, Vladimir Kramnik bounced back on Wednesday with a brilliant positional performance. After the Mayor of Dortmund, Norbert Schilff, made the symbolic first move for him, Kramnik opted for a rather quiet approach with white and gained a small advantage against Fabiano Caruana. Slowly but surely, Kramnik increased his advantage and ended up scoring an important full point. | Photo: Michelle Lassak

6/28/2023 – Dmitrij Kollars can celebrate having beaten a former world champion. In the No-Castling Masters, the German grandmaster defeated Vladimir Kramnik. Ruben Gideon Köllner leads the Sportland NRW Cup, while Alexander Donchenko won the all-important against Frederik Svane in the A-Open. | Screenshot: Former tournament director Jürgen Grastat makes the ceremonial first move

6/27/2023 – The 50th Dortmund Chess Festival is underway in Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle. Yesterday, Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana started their no-casting experiment and were both successful from the get go, beating Pavel Eljanov and defending champion Dmitrij Kollars respectively. | Photo: Michelle Lassak

6/26/2023 – Dinara Wagner became the first sole leader at the Sportland NRW Cup in Dortmund, as she is the only player to have started the tournament with two wins in a row. Wagner beat Alexander Bagrationi with black on Sunday. Meanwhile, in the A-Open, the top three seeds — Matthias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko (pictured) and Michael Adams — also kicked off the event with 2 out of 2. The No-Castling Masters, with Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana, starts on Monday.

6/25/2023 – All five games ended decisively in the first round of the Sportland NRW Cup in Dortmund. WGM Dinara Wagner (pictured), IM Georgios Souleidis and 12-year-old FM Hussain Besou had a dream start: they beat the three participating grandmasters. In the A-Open, most of the favourites won their games, although the accelerated Swiss format made for interesting fights on the very first day of action.

3/24/2023 – The historic Sparkassen Chess Trophy will celebrate its golden jubilee edition this year. The 50th Dortmund Chess Days Festival will take place from June 24 to July 2 at the Westfalenhallen Goldsaal in Dortmund, Germany. The NC World Masters will feature the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik, former World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana, defending champion Dmitrij Kollars, and the winner of the two previous editions of the Deutschland Grand Prix, Pavel Eljanov.