7/26/2024 – Hector Guifarro had a troubled childhood. At the age of 19, he "made a bad choice" which landed him in prison. Chess was his way out. This is his story. Guifarro remarked: "Prison is where I found the game of chess. It kept me out of trouble. It built my confidence and made me believe in myself". | Photo: Stev Bonhage

7/26/2024 – The final round of the US Senior and Junior Championships was played yesterday at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Vladimir Akopian (pictured) won the US Senior Championship with a round to spare, while Christoper Yoo and Alice Lee won the US Junior Championships. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

7/26/2024 – The final day of action at the Biel Chess Festival saw Rinat Jumabayev emerging victorious in the Masters Open (MTO). Jumabayev tied for first with former leader Leon Luke Mendonca, Ayush Sharma and Mukhiddin Madaminov, and outscored all three on tiebreak criteria. In the Masters Triathlon, meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa climbed to third place by beating Abhimanyu Mishra. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/26/2024 – Two program packages that are designed to make you stronger, to seriously improve your results in games and tournaments. Fritz 19 lets you practice practise and analyse, the Opening Encyclopedia tells you exactly what you should play in order to succeed. You can simply load variations into Fritz 19 and try playing them against the program – at your level of play. The perfect practical opening training! Instead of €239.80 for both programs, this week you can get the package for just €179.90.

7/25/2024 – Magnus Carlsen, investor Jan Henric Buettner and VC Left Lane Capital launched a new company to establish a tournament series that aims to revolutionise the world of chess. The event series will showcase the world's best chess players in a new format which aims to be attractive for media, spectators and consumers. The participants will be nine super GMs hand-picked by Magnus Carlsen, who has committed himself to playing Freestyle Chess exclusively at the Grand Slam series.

7/25/2024 – 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. | Follow all the games live with expert commentary, starting at 20.00 CEST (14.00 ET, 23.30 IST)

7/24/2024 – Saleh Salem secured tournament victory at the Challengers Triathlon in Biel after beating Vaishali Rameshbabu with the white pieces on Tuesday. The Emirati GM was declared the winner thanks to his whopping 11-point lead over Alexander Donchenko. In Biel's flagship event, the Masters Triathlon, on the other hand, there were no winners at the start of the final phase. Le QUang Liem thus continues to be the sole leader ahead of Haik Martirosyan. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/23/2024 – Pictorial portraits of ten chess players from many different countries, engaged in various sections (GMT Masters Triathlon, GMT Challengers Triathlon, Masters Open, and Amateur Open) at the 57th edition of the Biel Chess Festival. An unparalleled mix of chess activities! Our author, who lives in Biel, presents both known and unknown faces from the Festival | Photos: Organiser (Simon Bohnenblust, Peter A. Steffen)

7/23/2024 – Surya Ganguly, the experienced GM from West Bengal, is playing at the Masters Open Tournament in Biel. In an entertaining interview conducted by Arne Kaehler, Surya shares anecdotes from his lengthy chess career and responds to rather unexpected questions. Not to be missed!

7/23/2024 – 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: Rose Atwell, who is now sharing the lead with Alice Lee in the Girls' Championship | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/23/2024 – Alireza Firouzja advanced to the Division I Grand Final in the online CrunchLab Masters by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the losers' bracket final. On Wednesday, following a rest day, Firouzja will face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who had already defeated Firouzja in the winners' bracket final. In Division II, Alexander Grischuk and Vidit Gujrathi reached the Grand Final, while Arjun Erigaisi and Evgeny Alekseev will face off in the Grand Final of Division III. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

7/23/2024 – Against bishops it is often a good strategy to build a blockade. In the diagram position it is Black to move - how could he have built a blockade and saved the game?