8/26/2021 – The region of Saint Emilion near Bordeaux is renowned for producing some of the world’s finest wines. Hundreds of hectares of vineyards belonging to different domains dominate the landscape. One of these enchanting wine estates was the venue of a rapid chess tournament held on August 22. The 77 participants played the nine-round event in the midst of giant metal tanks and hundreds of wine barrels at the Château Montaiguillon. | Pictured: Maxime Lagarde and Mathieu Cornette | Photo: Thibault Plaire

11/20/2019 – Chessboxing has spread to France. The hybrid sport which combines alternating rounds of blitz chess and boxing has been popular in London and Berlin, and now the first official bout has been held in Paris. Paris-based journalist DHANANJAY KHADILKAR was there and sent this report. | Pictured: Thomas Cazeneuve vs Xhemshid Vogliqi | Photos: Dhananjay Khadilkar

11/8/2019 – Russian Grandmaster Alexey Sarana (pictured) won the Karpov Trophy while Algerian GM Bilel Bellahcene emerged victorious in the classical Grand Prix tournament at Cap d’Agde in southern France. Eight Grandmasters participated in Karpov Trophy, a 14-round rapid tournament. The top four finishers qualified for the knockout stage. In the semifinals, Sarana got the better of Indian GM Nihal Sarin while Bassem Amin defeated French GM Etienne Bacrot. In the final, Sarana won both the rapid games against Amin to win the title. | Photo: Pierre Textoris

1/4/2019 – Fahim Mohammad is an aspiring chess player originally from Bangladesh who immigrated to France. His life story is the subject of an upcoming film 'Fahim' starring Gerard Depardieu. DIANA MIHAJLOVA got to know the boy ten years ago in Budapest and recounts his unlikely rise to prominence in his adopted country. | Photo: Diana Mihajlova

9/20/2018 – As we count down the last days of (Northern) summer, we take a look at another highlight from the open season that was. Think of the Strasbourg Open as a real insider tip for all chess fans: Take the road to picturesque Alsace. MANFRED MENACHER did and was enthusiastic about the organization of the Roos brothers as well as the beautiful scenery. | Photos: M. Menacher

8/5/2018 – The fourth edition of the Wine Open took place in Hourtin, near Bordeaux. The traditional prices in this unique event are bottle of wines delivered according to the winners' weight. 15-year-old Antoine Bournel took first place and took home 51 bottles after the weigh-in was made. | Photos: Eva Maria Zickelbein, Jean-Luc Feit, Paula Nenciu Lazar

6/26/2017 – After dominating the Rapid games, it looked like it would be a Magnus Carlsen Show, especially after a 4/4 start in the blitz, but things got rocky, and after an initial surge by Hikaru Nakamura, it was local player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who stormed the Blitz stage, and overtook the world champion. This forced a playoff to decide the title, and once more Magnus Carlsen showed what a pressure player he is, as he took the title. Large illustrated report with GM analysis.

6/25/2017 – It was a thrilling finish on day five, with everyone expecting it to come down to a race between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, but the chess gods had other plans. In an amazing last day surge, showing nothing was decided, French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave surged, while both Carlsen and Nakamura faded, and ended tied with the World Champion in the overall standings. Once again Magnus Carlsen showed his pressure play chops and won the playoff and title. Express report.

6/25/2017 – Day four, the first of the blitz phase, looked like it would be a runaway express by Magnus Carlsen as he charged with 4/4, but a distraction leading to a loss on time broke his rhythm. Fabiano Caruana, who had played very badly in the Rapid games, made a remarkable comeback and was the second best of the day in blitz. However, the name of the day was Hikaru Nakamura, who scored 7/9 and narrowed the gap with the leader to just one point. Illustrated report by GM Alex Yermolinsky.

6/24/2017 – Though Magnus Calrsen did finish in clear first in the Rapid stage of the competition, Day Three saw his supremacy challenged with the rise of Alexander Grischuk, a past winner of the World Rapid and World Blitz titles, as well as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura tied just behind. With two days to go, and 18 rounds of blitz games worth half the total points, the title is all but decided yet. Large report with analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky.

8/31/2016 – Chessbase annonce ses premiers articles en Français. Vous pourrez nous suivre sur Facebook, Twitter et YouTube. Vous y trouverez des informations sur le monde échiquéen Francophone avec des traductions des informations et articles les plus importantes du site Anglais. Dans l’avenir, nous lancerons aussi des Fritztrainer, ou CDs d’entraînement, en Français.

8/21/2015 – It was an intense fight to the end, and neither the men’s nor women’s championships were decided before the very end. IM Almira Skripchenko made it a sixth title though was challenged hard by her rival Nino Maisuradze who came second. Christian Bauer defeated Tigran Gharamian in a thrilling tiebreak for his second title after a first 19 years ago!

8/13/2015 – The French Championship is now in its 90th edition, and much like the very appropriate saying 'like good wine, it only gets better with age', the massive event brings together no fewer than eight competitions with 597 players. In spite of the excellent lineups, it is not the numbers that warrant that description, but the lengths to which the organizers went to set a standard.

6/10/2015 – The Top-12 has come to an end. The last round only ratified the dominance of the top teams. The only close match at the top was between Clichy and Mulhouse Philidor: the top rated team in the tournament found itself losing fourth and fifth board, but they took sixth, seventh and eigth to win. Final report, highlighting the best players and an unusual GM norm.

6/9/2015 – It was a close call in round nine, but they left no doubts in round ten. Bischwiller continues with a perfect score and has secured first place in France's top-12. Clichy can catch them on points still, but the tiebreaks are insufficient and so it is all over. It also seems unlikely that Clichy does not get second, but Bois-Colombes is still knocking on their door.

6/8/2015 – It wasn't an easy task, and the final result of the match was not decided until the marathon game between Choisy and Maisuradze ended, but Bischwiller took a narrow 2-1 win against the strong team of Mulhouse Philidor to retain their perfect score. Clichy destroyed the lowest rated team in the event by 8-0, and for now are second. We bring you a summary of every single match!

6/6/2015 – The French Team Championship is reaching its conclusion, as the Top-12 has crossed the half-way mark in beautiful Grau-du-Roi. Top players are participating, including So, Giri, Jakovenko, and many others. The favorite by far is the team of Clichy, with an average rating of almost 2650, but they currently trail the strong team of Bischwiller, lead by Giri, Naiditsch and Bacrot.

5/25/2015 – In Part I of our report we told you how 20-year-old French IM Quentin Loiseau won the event, and we brought for you three wonderfully annotated games by the top three finishers. Meanwhile our reporter IM Sagar Shah made his second GM norm in this tournament. In part two he reveals some of the secrets that helped him achieve this 2600+ performance. Sound advice.

5/20/2015 – There were players from 15 countries in this event in Lille, France, but it was national players who had the last laugh! IM Quentin Loiseau, GM Tigran Gharamian and IM Adrien Demuth took gold, silver and bronze. And in an extraordinary report we have beautifully annotated games by all three. Consider this big pictorial report a very pleasant way to improve your chess understanding.

4/30/2015 – A very strong event, in Metz, 300 km east of Paris, had 38 players, 23 rated above 2300, nine GMs, one WGM and nine IMs. 24-year-old Vladimir Onischuk (2651) from Ukraine lost his second round game but won all the others for a 8.0/9 score and a 2844 performance. We bring you two wonderfully annotated games (with video commentary) that provide extraordinary insight into key moments.

7/29/2014 – Sometime in April WGM Nino Maisuradze, the reigning French woman champion, learnt that she had not been selected for the French Women's Olympic team. In a state of disbelief she vented her frustration publicly, not expecting the barrage of comments and criticism it provoked. Diana Mihajlova, who knows Nino as a kind, intelligent and dedicated chess player, describes the situation.

5/4/2014 – It has to be seen to be believed: well over a thousand players, divided into 14 groups, 4000 in total with parents, friends and trainers – this is competition for chess Olympiads! The Youth Championships of France took place in Montbéliard, the eastern part of France, in a giant sport and concert stadium. It was dedicated to the late and great organiser Jean-Paul Touzé. Giant pictorial.

3/3/2014 – One of the most traditional opens in Europe has begun. Despite the heavy competition in this busy March, with the European Chess Championship starting and the Reykjavik Open only a couple a day away, Cappelle-la-Grande, a minute city in France, keeps attracting hordes of grandmasters and amateurs to its playing hall. Standings after round three.

3/15/2013 – On March 9-10, the Nancy stage of the French Rapid Grand Prix was held, bringing in several elite players, as well as a platoon of enthusiasts. Of the 210 players who came, only sixteen would qualify for the Sunday knockout stage. The surprise of the event was Vladimir Dobrov, who beat several 2700s to make it to the final, but ultimately lost to Vladislav Tkachiev in a powerful attack.