8/18/2026 – The Cairns Cup, one of the strongest women's tournaments in the circuit, is being held at the renowned Saint Louis Chess Club from 10 to 20 August. It is a 10-player single round-robin with a classical time control. The contenders battle for a share of the $250,000 prize fund. Bibisara Assaubayeva, Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru head the strong field. Follow the games live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/18/2026 – With his FritzTrainer “Calculation Training”, Robert Ris tackled one of the most important topics in chess back in 2018: how to calculate correctly – and clearly struck a chord. Several more courses on the subject followed. Jochen Schwarz has taken a closer look at these courses and presents an overview.

8/18/2026 – Dear chess friends! We’ve got another great offer for you: this week (until August 23rd, 2026), you can get up to 30% off all Fritz Trainer courses by Robert Ris and Felix Blohberger!

8/18/2026 – The power of the bishops: In an endgame the bishop pair is often as strong as rook and knight: White to move and win.

8/18/2026 – Can someone stop Tan Zhongyi? In round seven of the Cairns Cup, the Chinese star turned around a very poor position against Divya Deshmukh and, with two rounds remaining, now holds a full point lead and is in an excellent position. Alice Lee, meanwhile, missed an important winning chance against Anna Muzychuk, failing to convert a rook ending with an extra pawn. The other winner of the round was Bibisara Assaubayeva, who beat Stavroula Tsolakidou to draw level with Lee. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

8/18/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov scored his first win of the Sinquefield Cup by beating Vincent Keymer with the black pieces, drawing level with the German GM on 3½/7 and tightening the race for a place in the Grand Chess Tour Finals. Wesley So remains the sole leader on 4½/7, half a point ahead of Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, with two rounds left to play. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/17/2026 – As you have noticed, this form of chess is becoming increasingly popular. Everyone seems to like it, sponsors are lining up to stage high-prize tournaments, even World Championships. In this series we look back at the origin of Fischer-Random, Chess960 or Freestyle, as it is now called, and discuss the reasons for its popularity. In the end we will propose some modifications to the rules and how the game should be played. Stay tuned.

8/17/2026 – Chris Ward examines an uncommon Classical Dragon line from the game between Andy Woodward and 2600+ GM Vasif Durarbayli. The system resembles a Yugoslav Attack, but White develops the bishop to e2 instead of playing the typical f3, leading to different strategic and tactical possibilities. Chris highlights several critical moments and believes Black could have improved with Rxc3, although Woodward eventually took over the initiative and won an entertaining game. | Photo: John Upham

8/17/2026 – Alice Lee turned around an important game to defeat Humpy Koneru in round six of the Cairns Cup. Carissa Yip, meanwhile, missed a significant winning opportunity against Bibisara Assaubayeva. Tan Zhongyi remains in the lead with 4½ points out of a possible 6 after drawing with Alexandra Kosteniuk, but Lee's victory has moved her to within half a point. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

8/17/2026 – Wesley So is still the sole leader at the Sinquefield Cup after four draws kept the top of the standings unchanged in round six. The only decisive result saw Anish Giri defeat fellow Dutchman Jorden van Foreest, who remains alone in last place on 1/6. So leads with 4/6, while Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are half a point behind. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/17/2026 – Karsten shows 3 endgames from rapid games. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

8/17/2026 – Saco Oliveros de Lince won the American Continental Stage of the FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship in San José, finishing unbeaten on 15/16 match points. Harvest Park Middle School from the United States and Crescent Heights Academy from Canada took second and third, with all three teams qualifying for the Grand Final in December. The closing day also featured board prizes, perfect individual scores and final side events for the young players. | Photos: ISCF, Arlan Olzhabay