7/14/2023 – The Aimchess Rapid is the fourth event of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour. The tournament, taking place on July 10-14, features three divisions, each a double-elimination knockout, where if you lose one match you drop to a lower bracket and can still win the tournament. Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So reached the event’s Grand Final. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 17.00 CEST (11.00 EDT, 20.30 IST)

7/14/2023 – Usually regarded as a separate phase of the game, the endgame bears a tight connection with the middlegame (and in some extreme cases, with the opening). The process of simplifying to an endgame implies a series of subtleties and principles, highlighted on this video course. Ignoring them, could result into losing the middlegame advantage or getting the worst of it. How, when and which piece to exchange are the main questions requiring an accurate answer.

7/14/2023 – The Association of Chess Professionals is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 2003 to protect the rights of professional chess players. In the course of its existence the ACP managed to push through many important changes in the FIDE regulations, raising the prize funds and improving the financial conditions of the professional chess players. It also organised numerous tournaments. Now, after two decades, the ACP General Assembly has decided to dissolve the organisation. Here are all the details, in their press release.

7/14/2023 – Caiobá is a beach near the city of Matinhos, in the state of Paraná, in the south of Brazil. Matinhos has been the site of many important tournaments, most notably the 1994 U20 World Championship. In recent years, however, Caiobá has become better known among chess players due to the SESC Caiobá Chess Open, an important tournament in the Brazilian chess calendar since 2015, only missing in 2020/21 due to the covid pandemic. This year's edition was a great chess party, and the organisers promise that 2024 will be even better.

7/14/2023 – Wesley So scored back-to-back, dominant victories over Eduardo Iturrizaga and Nodirbek Abdusattorov to win the losers’ bracket of the Aimchess Rapid online tournament. So will face Magnus Carlsen in Friday’s Grand Final, played to the best of 4. If Carlsen loses, he will get a second chance against the same opponent, as he has yet to lose a match in the event. | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

7/13/2023 – In his Fast & Furious show Robert Ris takes a look at a line of the Italian Four Knights (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3?!), which Nodirbek Abdusattorov used to win a fine game against Levon Aronian at the Aimchess Online Tournament. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/13/2023 – In the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia we saw a true masterpiece by Magnus Carlsen. The former World Champion played super accurate moves, while his Polish opponent showed poor understanding and a lack of knowledge of classical games of the Catalan. Learn more about this opening and the strategy behind it from chess trainer GM Efstratios Grivas.

7/13/2023 – Magnus Carlsen advanced to the Grand Final of the Aimchess Rapid online tournament by getting a clear victory over Nodirbek Abdusattorov. In the Grand Final, Carlsen will face the winner of the losers’ bracket, where Wesley So and Eduardo Iturrizaga are set to face each other in a fight to get the right to play Abdusattorov. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

7/13/2023 – Leonid (Zvulon) Gofshtein was a Grandmaster and a strong player, who played an important role for chess in Israel. He was born 21 April 1953 in Kiev, Ukraine, but later moved to Israel, where he died from cancer on 25 December 2015. To remember and to honour Gofshtein, the Bat-Yam Chess Club organised a strong tournament, which was won by Evgeny Postny.

7/12/2023 – After losing game 5, Ju Wenjun took no risks in the last encounter of the Women’s World Chess Championship played in Shanghai. Ju’s approach with white led to a quiet endgame after an early exchange of queens. The game ended in a draw on move 48. The World Championship now moves to Chongquin, where it will resume on Saturday. | Photos: Stev Bonhage / FIDE

7/12/2023 – In his Game of the Week show #576 Merijn van Delft takes a look at an instructive game Richard Rapport won against Constantin Lupulescu at the Croatia Blitz & Rapid Grand Chess Tour Tournament in Zagreb. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/12/2023 – Momentarily, Ju Wenjun is fighting for the title against Lei Tingjie, Who just took the lead! Svitlana found one of Wenjun's most beautiful games against Kateryna Lagno, which was a big part of her winning the Women's World Championship in 2018. In the Sicilian Rossolimo, The Chinese GM played for the initiative, and found a convincing attack against Lagno, which is worth replaying.