3/25/2019 – Two decisive games in each tournament did little to alter the standings of the US Championships. In the Open, Sam Sevian defeated Varuzhan Akobian with Black and is now part of the five-player leading pack on 3 out of 5, while Timur Gareyev beat Awonder Liang and left the cellar of the standings. In the Women's, Tatev Abrahamyan and Carissa Yip were the winners of the day. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/24/2019 – The U.S. Chess Championship and U.S. Women's Chess Championship will take place for an eleventh time at the Saint Louis Chess Club from March 20th to April 1st. Sam Shankland is the defending US Champion in the Open, and world number two Fabiano Caruana is the top seed. The Women's Championship features Irina Krush as the top ranked player. Live games and commentary from 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET, 14:00 EDT). Official site: USChessChamps.com

3/24/2019 – The 20th European Individual Championship is an 11-round Swiss tournament taking place from March 18th to 29th in Skopje, North Macedonia at the five-star DoubleTree by Hilton, located along the river Vardar. The top seed is Vladislav Artemiev (2736) from Russia. Live games beginning at 14:15 UTC (15:15 CET, 10:15 EDT) Official site: eicc2019.mk

3/24/2019 – Here's another opportunity to sharpen your tactical skills: twelve positions taken from recent tournaments. But we have a little surprise for you: on the diagram boards you can not only move the pieces around to analyse — there is also an embedded engine that will actually play out the position against you. Which means you can work things out directly on the diagrams in the browser. How neat is that?

3/24/2019 – Round four of the US Championships was filled with peculiar episodes that made for an incredible day of chess in Saint Louis. Ray Robson took down sole leader Jeffery Xiong with the black pieces, while Fabiano Caruana and Sam Sevian were not able to make the most of completely winning positions against Leinier Dominguez and Timur Gareyev. In the women's section, Jennifer Yu remains perfect after her opponent blundered on move ten. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/23/2019 – Prior to the fifth round 19 players were tied for the first place, all with 3½/4 points and all willing to fight for the title. Maxim Rodshtein (pictured) is the new frontrunner. Boris Gelfand was the only one of those 19 top players in the 50+ category. On the other end of the age spectrum are Semyon Lomasov, Benjamin Gledura and Bogdan-Daniel Deac recently seen fighting for youth titles. Many players with three points were also eager to win, promising an exciting round, though not in all games. SIEGFRIED HORNECKER presents the highlights. | Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

3/23/2019 – The main attraction of the third round was Jeffery Xiong's win over defending champion Sam Shankland at the US Championships in Saint Louis. The 18-year-old not only claimed a big scalp but also got his name on top of the standings after a dream start. Hikaru Nakamura and Leinier Dominguez also won and are now a half point behind him, together with Wesley So. In the Women's, Jennifer Yu took down Irina Krush to keep a perfect score. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/23/2019 – The 1st Hail Rapid Chess Tournament for men and women took place from the 15th to the 18th of March in Hail, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It gathered more than 200 participants from 18 countries. Wang Hao took clear first in the men's tournament while IM IRINA BULMAGA won the women's tournament and sends her reflections. | Photos: KSAchess Twitter

3/22/2019 – In the second round of the US Championships, Wesley So showed flashes of brilliance against Timur Gareyev, giving a master class in the endgame with rook and knight against rook and knight. Just when everyone thought it was a draw, that's when the struggle really began. So now leads alongside Sam Sevian and Jeffrey Xiong. Carissa Yip and Jennifer Yu in the Women's Championship are now the only two players in either tournament to remain with a perfect score. | Photo: Justin Kellar

3/22/2019 – An exclusive discount, only until Monday, March 25th! Get the three volume set as a bundle for 83% off the regular price! It's routinely described by the esoteric term "chess blindness." In the series "What Grandmasters do not See", chess trainer and world-class commentator MAURICE ASHLEY strips away from the myth, and for the first time explains why the root of these mistakes is more often based on the psychology of human learning. Here's a peak.

3/22/2019 – Would you dare to play 30.Rxf7 in the diagram position? The 11th world champion did, a good omen — but can you walk the talk following Black's reply 30...Rc1+ then?

3/22/2019 – Four rounds into the European Championship and we no longer find any perfect scores. Dutch GM Lucas van Foreest was one of the players with 3 points after as many rounds of play, but he lost on Thursday to top seed Vladislav Artemiev. The remaining undefeated players all drew, creating a 19-way tie on 3½. GM DANIEL FERNANDEZ annotates highlights of rounds three and four. Pictured: Benjamin Gledura (right) is one of the leaders, GM Vincent Keymer (left) is only on 50%. | Photo: Patricia Claros