9/19/2023 – The Honour Division of the Spanish League is taking place on September 16-22 in Linares, Jaén. Eight teams take part in the single round-robin competition. Each match is played over six boards, with the obligatory inclusion of a female representative on each team’s roster. After three rounds, rating favourites DuoBeniaján Costa Cálida lead the standings with 6/6 match points. Magic Extremadura and defending champions C.A. Solvay stand a match point behind. | Pictured: Pia Cramling (C.A. Silla) facing Alberto Quintín (MyInvestor Casablanca) | Photo: FEDA

9/19/2023 – In the endgame, passed pawns are often powerful, but one should not underestimate being material up. In the diagram position Black is an exchange up, but has to fight against two strong passed pawns - what should he do?

9/19/2023 – Day 5 of the Armageddon Championship Series witnessed intense battles, culminating in Wesley So and Richard Rapport advancing to the Armageddon semifinals. Unfortunately, this also meant bidding farewell to Humpy Koneru and Gukesh, both of whom exited the competition. | Photos: Max Avdeev / World Chess

9/18/2023 – Held in six age categories — U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open and girls sections separately) — from September 5-14 at the Dorna Ceremony Hall in Mamaia, Romania, the European Youth Chess Championship 2023 attracted over 900 participants from 46 European federations, including more than 100 titled players. | Photos: International Chess Federation

9/18/2023 – Thirty years ago, the World Championship match between Garry Kasaprov and Nigel Short was played in London. The match was not organized by FIDE and divided the chess world in two. The match was very one-sided. Dagobert Kohlmeyer was there. | Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer

9/18/2023 – India is a land of amazing talents in chess. And the talents are sprouting from different corners of the country. Meet 7-year-old Advitiya AG, who lives in Shillong, Meghalaya. The boy became the under-12 state champion when he was just 5 years old. Currently, he has a rating of 1182. IM Sagar Shah speaks with Advitiya and asks him some questions based on the different positions he has selected, while Advitiya has his own list of questions he wants to ask IM Sagar Shah. If coached well, this boy could very well become a future GM of India and perhaps the first from Meghalaya!

9/18/2023 – Day 4 of the World Chess Armageddon is over with Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Nodirbek Abdusattorov emerging victorious against Gukesh and Humpy Koneru, securing their spots in the semifinals. The losers will have another opportunity to prove their mettle as they go head-to-head with Richard Rapport and Wesley So, respectively, in Monday’s matches at 19:00 CEST. | Photos: Max Avdeev / World Chess

9/17/2023 – Recently, I’ve been looking at some of my old middlegame books, both as potential teaching material and for the pleasure of reminding myself what the bods had to say. A few of the found jewels: Max Euwe and Hans Kramer’s two-volume work on the middlegame; three volumes of “Complete Chess Strategy” by Ludek Pachman; “A Contemporary Approach to the Middlegame” by Alexei Suetin; and three different editions of Aron Nimzowitch’s “My System” (one in Russian).

9/17/2023 – My readers, and all my friends in the chess world, know that I am fond of puzzles. I keep giving the most talented chess players non-chess problems to solve, and they keep coming back for more. Here's one I tormented some of my 2600+ friends with. Warning: it can only be solved by a certain section of our readers. Their reactions, like that of 2750-Gukesh, are priceless.

9/17/2023 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 143rd instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to take a look at the ideas and legacy of José Raúl Capablanca. | Photo: Pascal Simon

9/17/2023 – On Day 3 of the World Chess Armageddon Grand Finale, the tournament took a decisive turn as it entered the elimination phase. In two exciting encounters, GM Sam Shankland and IM Bibisara Assaubayeva were defeated by GM Wesley So and GM Richard Rapport, respectively, marking the end of their participation in this prestigious competition. | Photo: World Chess

9/16/2023 – The Netherlands hosted Eurochess, a now traditional bankers’ tournament, and offered the guests from Europe a nice visiting programme. The host team from De Nederlandsche Bank (the Netherlands’ central bank) won the team competition, while Razvan-Alexandru Sebe-Vodislav finished first in the individual standings. Gerd Densing played for the Bundesbank and found time to prepare a fine pictorial report. | Photos: Gerd Densing