10/23/2019 – Polina Shuvalova is on fire at the World Junior 2019. After her pretty queen sacrifice at the World Youth 2019 that went viral, the Russian youngster yet again sacrificed her queen, this time at the World Junior. This one wasn't as deep or beautiful as what we saw in Mumbai in her game against Afonasieva, but to beat a player like Assaubayeva with a queen sacrifice is never easy! In the open section we have two leaders: Shtembuliak drew his game against Shant Sargsyan. This let Miguel Santos Ruiz catch up. The Spaniard beat Praggnanandhaa in pretty fashion to join Shtembuliak at the top. IM SAGAR SHAH brings a detailed report from New Delhi.

10/23/2019 – Today's guest in Karsten Mueller's Endgame Show is Dutch IM Merijn van Delft. Live at 13:00 UTC (15:00 CEST, 9:00 AM EDT) and on-demand for ChessBase account holders. Don't have an account yet? You can register a free 90-day account to watch!

10/23/2019 – Islam et al’s research paper on “The Effects of Chess Instruction on Academic and Non-Cognitive Outcomes” uses experimental findings to tell us playing chess does, in fact, make one perform better in other academic fields compared to those that do not play chess. However, it is probably not in the way you think. QIYU ZHOU reviews the findings.

10/22/2019 – In 2018 we had Parham Maghsoodloo who made a dash towards the finish line at the World Junior Championships. He won the event with one round to spare. In 2019 it seems like Evgeny Shtembuliak is going to take the honours. Although there are still four rounds left to be played, the Ukrainian GM has beaten some of the strongest opposition in the tournament. In round seven he got the better of GM Aram Hakobyan in a tense encounter. Shtembuliak leads with 6.0/7. He is followed on 5½/7 by Miguel Santos Ruiz alone. In the girls section Mobina Alinasab remained in the lead after her draw against Stavroula Tsolakidou, but she was joined at the top by Polina Shuvalova as well. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you detailed round seven report from New Delhi. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

10/22/2019 – On the heels of the World Youth, Under-18 winner Praggnanandhaa moved on to the stiffer competition of the World Junior Championship. IM Lawrence Trent analyses his game against the fifth round leader, GM Evgeny Shtembuliak. | Puzzle time: In the diagram below, it's Black to move. | Lawrence is free on-demand for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

10/22/2019 – At the 2019 Hoogeveen chess festival, Jan Timman joins a youthful trio for six-game matches from October 20th 26th. The Dutch legend plays against Zhansaya Abdumalik. Alongside them, the second match features Iranian Alireza Firouzja against Peruvian Jorge Cori. The traditional Open tournament runs in parallel. Live games from 12:00 UTC (14:00 CEST / 8:00 EDT) | Photo: Hoogeveen chess

10/22/2019 – The eleven-round FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss finished on Monday, with Wang Hao both claiming first place and getting the spot in the Candidates Tournament. The Chinese grandmaster beat David Howell — who was in a must-win game with the black pieces — to tie perennial co-leader Fabiano Caruana on top of the standings table. His better tiebreak score gave him first place and, of course, the chance to fight to become Magnus Carlsen's next challenger. Round-up show by GM SIMON WILLIAMS. | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com

10/22/2019 – Pawn endings require precise calculation. See if you're up to the task with the latest explanation from Dr. Karsten Mueller.

10/21/2019 – Among the players on the Isle of Man is former top ten GM Alexei Shirov. Today GM Simon Williams selects his favourite of Shirov's sacrificial masterpieces. Watch for free (for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

10/21/2019 – In the final round of the tournament, Wang Hao defeated the English GM David Howell and with 8½/11 he tied for first place with World No 2 Fabiano Caruana, who drew his last game of the tournament. Wang took first place as he had a better tiebreak than Caruana. | Photo: John Saunders

10/21/2019 – Say you have ChessBase 13, and are perfectly happy with it. But the world has moved on to version 15. You wonder what is new, how useful it is, and do I really need to upgrade? In 2014 Jon Edwards, World Correspondence Chess Championship contender, wrote a seminal book on the program that all serious players use to study and prepare, Now he has published a supplement that tells you which new features of ChessBase 14 and 15 are "are stunning and very valuable." And also trains you to use these new features. Definitely worth a click on Amazon to get a copy of this book.

10/21/2019 – The FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss is coming to an end and the tension continues to rise as those fighting for the Candidates spot have assumed a do-or-die attitude in Douglas. Seven out of the eight top games finished decisively in round ten. After the mayhem, Fabiano Caruana emerged as sole leader, while wins by Magnus Carlsen, Wang Hao, Kirill Alekseenko, David Howell and Nikita Vitiugov left them still with chances to take first place. The other two contenders are Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian, who drew their direct encounter. Round-up show by GM SIMON WILLIAMS. | Photo: John Saunders