10/22/2018 – The next major event on the chess calendar is the Chess.com Isle of Man International which runs from October 20th to 28th and includes ten players from the top 20 and a number of other players over 2700. Live games and commentary from 15:30 CEST (13:30 UT) each day. Also this week are the Hoogeveen matches in Holland with three more members of the top 30 in action. | Photo: Chess.com/Maria Emelianova (official site)

10/22/2018 – The 22nd edition of the traditional "Schaaktoernooi" started over the weekend in the Dutch town of Hoogeveen. 82 players participate in the Open where the top seed is the Egyptian Grandmaster Bassem Amin. But there are also two matches on offer, typically featuring rising stars and veteran players. This year Samuel Shankland (USA) meets Peter Svidler (Russia) and Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) is pitted against Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands). The tournament director is GM Loek van Wely. | Photos: hoogeveenchess.nl

10/21/2018 – It is with sadness that we relay news of the passing of Dato' Tan Chin Nam on Oct 21st 2018 at the age of 92. He was involved in supporting the development of chess in Malaysia as well as in many other countries across Asia. In remembrance of his contributions to chess as well as to many other areas (e.g. the restoration of the famous Queen's Victoria Building (QVB) in Sydney, the development of Mid Valley City (which is still today ranked the 8th largest shopping mall in the world), horse racing, etc, EDWIN LAM (pictured with Dato' in 2008) offers his 2006 article "Grand Maitre de Succes" published in Australian Chess magazine.

10/21/2018 – The main section of the Chess.com Isle of Man International Tournament attracted 164 players, with the first round featuring the typical big rating gaps in all boards. However, unlike in other open events, we saw many of the underdogs drawing their higher-rated colleagues. The elite player that got closest to a defeat was Vishy Anand, who managed to recover and defeat his young compatriot Raunak Sadhwani. | Photos: John Saunders / Maria Emelianova / iominternationalchess.com

10/20/2018 – In the United States, there are many weekend tournaments, thanks to the efforts of many independent tournament organizers nationwide. Some of these tournaments provide significant prize money, over USD $12,000, and the chance to play against strong master level players. Georgia-based DAVIDE NASTASIO recently spoke to one such veteran organizer, Walter High, and sent this brief interview along with annotated games from the North Carolina Open.

10/20/2018 – A full century after the Doomsday Worm had erased all the world’s electronic records, British scientists discovered, excarvations in the suburbs of Hamburg, Germany, evidence of the existence of a game that was popular in the 20th century, and of the existence of a legendary champion of the game. We have a transcript of a lecture held in Oxford in 2147 by Prof. Eduard Sommer, which we quote in this spoof article by John Nunn. It also contains two remarkable puzzles.

10/19/2018 – Legendary artist and chess player Marcel Duchamp died in France 50 years ago this month. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of his collaboration with composer and music theorist John Cage, in a unique piece played on a hybrid chess board / musical instrument, and called "Reunion". It was avant-garde in its day and still feels novel in digital recreation today. | Pictured: Duchamp and John Cage at the Ryerson Theatre in Toronto, March 5, 1968 | Photo: Eldon Garnet / World Chess Hall of Fame

10/19/2018 – Which side would you favour after 57.R1b7 in the diagram position? Three moves to find for Black and White, then we'll take stock together. Have fun!

10/19/2018 – Any of the top teams could have won it, but Mednyi Vsadnik ended up ahead at the European Club Cup in Porto Carras. Valerenga arrived in the last round as sole leaders but barely one point ahead of the four-team chasing pack — the eventual champions from Saint Petersburg defeated Carlsen's squad and edged AVE Novy Bor on tiebreak criteria to take home the gold medals. In the women's section, Cercle d'Escacs de Monte-Carlo finished first thanks to Anna Muzychuk's win on top board. | Photo: Niki Riga / eurochess2018.com

10/18/2018 – The last half year went well for the young Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov: In June he got his first GM norm in Voronezh, Russia. In September, at the World Junior Championships in Turkey, he scored a second and elevated his Elo rating to 2500. Now, less than a month later, Sindarov has reportedly earned his third and final GM norm, making him the second youngest GM ever, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 8 days. | Photo: Sagar Shah

10/18/2018 – A computer is fine but following chess on your TV can be even better. With a HDMI cable that connects your computer with your TV you can watch the Fritz Trainer DVDs on a big screen. However, most modern TVs already come with a browser in which case you don't even need the computer to enjoy chess on your TV. | Drawing: ChessBase

10/18/2018 – Live games and commentary from the 2018 European Chess Club Cup, with GM Ioannis Papaioannou & FM Sotiris Logothetis, October 12th to 19th. All tournament reports and details on teams and players.