7/19/2024 – All three games finished drawn in round 3 of the Masters Triathlon at the Biel Chess Festival, which means Abhimanyu Mishra remains as the sole leader in the 6-player event. In the Challengers section, the lowest-rated participant, Vaishali R, continues to perform flawlessly, as she won her third classical game in a row. Vaishali thus grabbed the sole lead in the tournament. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/18/2024 – Ziaur Rahman, the second grandmaster of Bangladesh and the player to have reached the highest rating in his country (2570), passed away on 5 July while playing a game of chess at the Bangladeshi National Championships. He suffered a heart attack and collapsed to the ground. Ziaur was just 50 years old. In this article, we look back at his life and remember what a gem of a person he was both on and off the board, and we also share heartfelt messages from some of the top Indian GMs. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

7/18/2024 – The strongest junior and senior chess players in the United States have returned to Saint Louis. On July 16-26, the top 10 players across three divisions - juniors, girls, and seniors - are competing for more than $135,000 in prizes. Find here all games, standings and the daily recap produced by the Saint Louis Chess Club. | Pictured: Jesse Kraai | Photos: Lennart Ootes

7/18/2024 – The first stage of the CrunchLab Masters, the Play-In, took place on Wednesday. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Mikhail Antipov and Hikaru Nakamura were the top scorers in the 9-round Swiss open featuring 118 players. The aforementioned GMs were 3 of the 11 participants who qualified to the Division I Placement stage. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik was among the 11 qualified participants. | Photo: FIDE

7/17/2024 – Abhimanyu Mishra took the lead at the Masters Triathlon in Biel. Thanks to his victory over Sam Shankland, the youngest GM in history climbed to the top of the standings. He also benefited from the fact that the other games ended in draws, in particular from the fact that Haik Martirosyan was unable to capitalise on a promising position against Vincent Keymer. An underdog is also in impressive form in the Challengers: Vaishali obtained a second victory in a row on Wednesday, as did Saleh Salem, who thus took the lead in this section. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/17/2024 – Daniel Dardha grabbed his fourth national title at the 2024 Belgian Chess Championship, which took place on 6-13 July at the Sint-Gummarus College in Lier. A final-round victory granted the 18-year-old overall victory, as he outscored Stefan Beukema by a mere half point. Mher Hovhannisyan and Sim Maerevoet tied for third place, with Hovhannisyan completing the podium on tiebreak criteria. | Photos: Belgian Chess Federation

7/17/2024 – The European Chess Union and the Montenegro Chess Federation are inviting all National Chess Federations and eligible players to participate in the European Individual Chess Championship 2024, to be held from 7-20 November in Petrovac, Montenegro. Total prize fund: 100,000 Euros. But even if you don't win, just look at the backdrop of the event.

7/17/2024 – The French Defence is one of the most popular openings – very solid against 1.e4, but also leaving room for counterplay and initiative. In a two-volume video course, former World Champion and star trainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of this hugely complex opening. Or are you looking for an active answer to 1.d4? Then the Grünfeld Indian, one of the main weapons of some top grandmasters, is an excellent choice. Let Austria's "Player of the Century" show you the way. Save now: this week each bundle costs €39.90 – instead of €59.80.

7/17/2024 – Chess prodigy Abhimaynu Mishra scored a major victory in the first round of classical chess at the Masters Triathlon in Biel, as he managed to take down elite GM Praggnanandhaa with the black pieces. Defending champion Le Quang Liem beat Vincent Keymer to grab the lead in the standings. Meanwhile in the Challengers, all three games ended decisively. Alexander Donchenko, who beat Ihor Samunenkov, is the sole leader in this section. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/16/2024 – Max Warmerdam was the rating favourite in the open competition of the Dutch Championships. He defeated Sergey Tiviakov in the final to win the event. Somewhat surprisingly, Maaike Keetman defeated multiple national champion Anne Kuipers-Haast 2-0 in the final of the women's tournament. | Photos: Harry Gielen

7/16/2024 – The International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced a series of awards to honour those who have made exceptional contributions to the world of chess. The FIDE100 Awards are aimed at different members of the chess community: players, arbiters, organizers, photographers, journalists, project leaders, authors, educators and others. By recognizing these contributions, FIDE wants to continue to support excellence and promote the cultural and intellectual values of chess worldwide.

7/16/2024 – The participants of the Masters and the Challengers at the Biel Chess Festival were invited to an excursion on the first rest day: a boat trip to picturesque La Neuveville. Saleh Salem and Hail Martyrosian enjoyed the ride by playing a game of blindfold chess, which featured a remarkable tactical finish. Arne Kähler is enjoying himself in Switzerland and recording the events on video!