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 – 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 – 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

8/14/2026 – While the first moves were being made at the World Schools Team Championship in Costa Rica, a second conversation was taking place a short distance away. At the Cariari Country Club in Heredia, ministers of education and sport, government officials, federation presidents and school leaders from across the Americas gathered for “Smart Moves Americas: Governments That Think Ahead”, the ISCF and CCA conference on chess as public policy.

8/14/2026 – Today marks the halfway point in St Louis. Round five of the Cairns Cup gets under way today at 7.30 pm CEST, with Tan Zhongyi the sole leader. Yesterday, she defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu in a game that was not entirely error-free. Alice Lee, who had been level with Tan at the top after four rounds, lost to Stavroula Tsolakidou, while Carissa Yip and Divya Deshmukh, who were just behind them, drew their game. As a result, the Chinese representative now has a full-point lead. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

8/14/2026 – Wesley So remains the sole leader of the Sinquefield Cup after round four, holding a half-point advantage over his nearest rivals. The only decisive result of the day saw Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeat Jorden van Foreest, handing the Dutchman his third loss of the event. Pragg consequently joined Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian in the chasing group, half a point behind So. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/14/2026 – A practical player would, of course, first go 27...Nf2+ in the diagram and then see if Black has more than a draw. But I'd be interested in hearing your opinion here!

8/14/2026 – WIM Svitlana Demchenko presents a selection of practical opening courses designed to give players flexible and dynamic repertoire choices. Her trainers cover the Alapin Variation against the Sicilian, the aggressive Leningrad Dutch, the versatile King’s Indian Attack, and a collection of easy to learn surprise weapons for both colours. As part of the ChessBase Summer Special, all of her Fritz Trainer courses are available at a discount until August 16, 2026.

8/14/2026 – Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi, Denis Lazavik and Hans Niemann claimed the final four places in the Esports World Cup playoffs after progressing through Thursday's losers brackets. They join Alireza Firouzja, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, who had qualified a day earlier. The quarterfinals will see Carlsen face Nihal, Nakamura meet Erigaisi, Abdusattorov play Lazavik and Firouzja take on Niemann. | Image: Esports World Cup webcast