4/25/2019 – A chess bonanza in Poland, the Katowice Chess Festival, anchored by the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Chess Tournament attracted players from many countries and 20 grandmasters, over 1000 in attendance in all. Side events included Polish Individual and Team Championship in blitz. PRESS RELEASE | Pictured: One of the most memorable moments of the Festival | Photo: M. Walusza

4/25/2019 – Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen drew games of very different nature to maintain the lead at the 2019 GRENKE Chess Classic; Peter Svidler could not make the most of an opening edge against Paco Vallejo; while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian repeated the position three times in the early middlegame. In the meantime, after having lost four games in a row, Vincent Keymer got his first super-tournament victory, a welcomed reward for his uncompromising play so far in Karlsruhe. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/24/2019 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT). On this week's show: Giri vs Harikrishna from the ongoing Shenzhen Masters. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows.

4/24/2019 – For a player who wants to learn a wide range of different middlegame positions, the English should definitely be high on the list. Flexibility in move orders can mean the difference between quiet or aggressive play. Reviewer DAVIDE NASTASIO takes a deep dive into the new FritzTrainer by GM Mihal Marin, who previously authored one of the biggest literary works on the English opening and has now brought his experience to the video format in a new, updated repertoire. Glimpse his deep knowledge, acquired through years of practice, in order to gain confidence in this new opening weapon suitable in every type of setting, from long time control tournaments to online blitz.

4/24/2019 – Karsten is joined by the second youngest grandmaster ever, the Indian prodigy D. Gukesh who's fresh off a phenomenal result at the Grenke Open. Join Karsten and Gukesh live at 14:00 UTC (16:00 CEST, 10:00 AM EDT) and FREE to watch on-demand (for a limited time)!

4/24/2019 – The Grenke Chess Classic runs from April 20th to 29th. Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand head the nine round-robin. Over 60 grandmasters participate in the A-Open tournament. Live games and commentary (from 13:00 UTC / 15:00 CEST / 9:00 AM EDT) with GM Peter Leko and GM Jan Gustafsson. Official site: grenkechessclassic.com

4/24/2019 – Four out of five games saw the higher-rated player getting a win in round four of the GRENKE Chess Classic. Only Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen drew, after continuing the theoretical battle in the Sicilian Sveshnikov that began last year during their match in London. Meanwhile, Vishy Anand defeated Paco Vallejo and joined Magnus in the lead. Arkadij Naiditsch, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also won. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/23/2019 – There's a whole lot of chess going on in Europe at the moment, but we shouldn't forget about the double round-robin tournament taking place to the Far East in Shenzehn, China. Pentala Harikrishna leads the field with 4½ points after his fourth consecutive win in today's sixth round. Anish Giri trails a half a point behind. IM Sagar Shah annotates Harikrishna's latest exploits. | Photos: cca.imsa.cn

4/23/2019 – Daniel Fridman won the Grenke Open 2019 thanks to having the best tiebreak score among eight players finishing with 7½/9. Three other German grandmasters shared the same score as did the 12-year-old Indian phenom D. Gukesh. Yuliya Shvayger was the top scoring woman. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/23/2019 – The World Senior Team Championship is heading for the finish line. ALEX YERMOLINSKY reports on the progress of team USA which beat Armenia, Italy and drew Iceland before rebounding with a win over Israel (pictured) to maintain their lead. | Photo: Chess In Greece Facebook page

4/23/2019 – Endgames with opposite-coloured bishops are often drawn even if one side is one or two pawns up. But, of course, the better side will also often win — with precise play.

4/23/2019 – A day full of excitement in Karlsruhe left Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler as co-leaders at the GRENKE Chess Classic. Carlsen got the upper hand but could not defeat Vishy Anand, while Svidler defeated Georg Meier from the white side of a French Defence. Meanwhile, Vincent Keymer lost for a third day in a row — against Fabiano Caruana — and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave put forth a striking attack but could not get the full point against Arkadij Naiditsch. Levon Aronian and Paco Vallejo drew. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis