4/19/2024 – Three out of four games ended drawn in round 12 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, as Vaishali R scored her third win in a row in her encounter with black against Anna Muzychuk. The games that featured Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie could have easily ended with decisive results — Tan escaped with a draw from a losing position against Nurgyul Salimova, while Lei failed to make the most of clear winning chances against Kateryna Lagno. Thus, Tan kept her half-point lead over Lei. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/19/2024 – After nine of ten rounds of the Sunway International Open on Formentera, Ukrainian chess legend Vasyl Ivanchuk and German Grandmaster Alexander Donchenko share the lead with 7.0/9 each. Half a point behind follow three players with 6.5/9. Alexandra and Andrea Botez provide additional entertainment because their games are streamed and commented live. The 10th and final round starts at 09:00 CEST (03:00 ET).

4/18/2024 – It came as something of a surprise that Toronto was chosen by FIDE as host of both Candidates Tournaments, but Canada has a rich chess history and has produced some great players over the years. Here's a brief outline:

4/18/2024 – The Sharp Arkhangelsk variation, utilized by chess masters like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, emerges from a series of strategic moves beginning with 1.e4 e5. This rich variation offers multiple playstyles, making it a challenging preparation for opponents, with model games highlighting its diverse strategies and concepts for players of all levels.

4/18/2024 – "Eurochess" is the apt name of the European banks' chess tournament. From 11 to 14 April, the tournament was held in Athens with 69 participants and 14 banking institutions. The National Bank of Belgium won the team competition, Radu Liviu the individual tournament. Gerd Densing represented the Bundesbank and reports.

4/18/2024 – Three games ended decisively in round 11 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, with Tan Zhongyi beating Kateryna Lagno in a key matchup, Vaishali R taking down Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Humpy Koneru defeating Nurgyul Salimova. These results left Tan atop the standings, with a half-point advantage over Lei Tingjie. Goryachkina’s loss left her a whole two points behind Tan with only three rounds to go in Toronto. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/15/2024 – Continuing its global journey from the Indian subcontinent to Africa and Europe, the FIDE100 Torch Relay, commemorating a century of FIDE, has now reached the shores of North America. The ceremony was held on April 13, at the Nathan Phillips square in the center of Toronto, not far from the Great Hall where the strongest men and women players in the world are fighting in the Candidates tournament.

4/15/2024 – Vidit Gujrathi bounced back from his round-8 loss against Gukesh D by beating Hikaru Nakamura with the white pieces on Sunday. The remaining three games ended drawn, which means Ian Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh continue to share the lead with 5½ points each. Since Nakamura lost, now only Praggnanandhaa R stands a half point behind the co-leaders. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/15/2024 – In this New In Chess podcast episode, after the first half of the Candidates, Super-grandmaster Anish Giri gives his take. In an hour-long interview by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, he candidly shares his assessment of the players so far. Anish sees Ian Nepomniachtchi as one of the top favourites to win the Candidates and qualify for the World Championship match. But he also speaks at great length about the other players.

4/14/2024 – In his new Fast & Furious episode, Robert Ris analyses a couple of games from the Candidates Tournament, specifically the two encounters in which Ian Nepomniachtchi played his beloved Petroff Defence with 6...Bd6. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/14/2024 – Anish Giri's Opening Fritztrainer's are available 18th of April. But we added a sneak peek to his take on the Caro-Kann and King's Indian openings. Since this is still quite a new feature, we made a video which explains the setup in just 3 minutes.

4/14/2024 – Lei Tingjie scored a third consecutive win in round 8 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament. Importantly, Lei defeated former long-standing sole leader Tan Zhongyi, which resulted in three players sharing first place at the end of the round — Lei, Tan and Aleksandra Goryachkina are now sharing the lead with 5 points each. One more game ended decisively on Saturday, as Humpy Koneru got the better of Vaishali R with the white pieces. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza