4/16/2019 – In the third round of the Women's European Championship, an unusual incident involving illegal castling occurred in the game Gevorgyan vs Cornette, causing a stir. Although rare, this type of offence is not completely new, not even within official FIDE tournaments. We recall a famous case from 1995.

4/16/2019 – This week IM Lawrence Trent presents a key game from the Reykjavik Open, between Firouzja and Lupulescu which allowed the latter to take over the lead in Round 7. Free to watch on-demand for a limited time with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

4/16/2019 – Passed pawns can be dangerous, especially in the endgame. Here the black bishop is struggling to stem the tide. White can win but precise play is required.

4/16/2019 – Are you struggling in the opening phase of the game? When you go to a tournament and face an opponent who plays a specific line, do you find it difficult to come up with a fullproof idea. Has building an opening repertoire always been tough for you? Well, if you do face these problems then the opening encyclopaedia 2019 can be quite a useful product for you. In this video review, IM SAGAR SHAH reviews the recently released Opening Encyclopaedia 2019 and tells you how best you can make use of it.

4/15/2019 – Today GM Simon Williams aims to test your tactic ability with a range of different problems. You'll encounter a number of modern games with a pinch of 'Troitzky' thrown in for good luck. Live today at the usual time: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

4/15/2019 – Constantin Lupulescu beat Newcomer Alireza Firouzja in the 7th round of the Reykjavik Open with a very double-edged and topical variation in the French Defence and took a full point clear of the rest of the field with two rounds to play. Report on Round 7 plus live games and commentary of Round 8. | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

4/15/2019 – GM Jan Gustafsson (pictured left) won the 19th Bangkok Open for the second time (he also took the title in 2011), after a critical eighth round win over Vietnam’s The Anh Duong, and a quick draw in the final round gave him an edge on tiebreak score over GM Deep Sengupta (pictured right) of India. IM SAGAR SHAH annotates the key games. | Press release and photos: Bangkok Chess Club

4/15/2019 – The 2019 season of the Israeli Team Championship finished last week in Ramat Aviv. Ashdod obtained their seventh national title, led by Emil Sutovsky and a host of international reinforcements, including Pavel Eljanov and Alexander Moiseenko. Beer-Sheva Levant, led by Maxim Rodshtein, finished in second place, while Kfar Saba A, with Israeli champion Tamir Nabaty on board one, took home the bronze medals. YOCHANAN AFEK sent a report from the Western Asian country. | Photos: Dr. Mark Livshitz

4/14/2019 – When asked how many Germans had the chance to play a match for the World Championship most chess players probably would name two: Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch and Dr. Emanuel Lasker. But there is a third: Efim Bogoljubov, who was born 130 years ago, on April 14, 1889 in Stanislavchyk, near Kiev, but in 1927 became German and in 1929 and 1934 played title matches against Alexander Alekhine. | Photo: Screenshot from a newsreel video by the German "Bundesarchiv" about the Bad Pyrmont tournament in 1951

4/14/2019 – No less than twenty-two players share first place on 2½ out of 3 at the European Women's Individual Championship in Antalya. Curiously, though, only four of the top ten seeds are in the large leading group, as some of the favourites have been having a hard time trying to take down lower-rated opponents. It has been a hard struggle so far, and only fourteen players will get a ticket to the World Cup. Eight rounds are still ahead. | Photo: Official site

4/14/2019 – The 21st Dubai Open witnessed one of the closest finishes that you would see at an open tournament. After nine rounds we had eight players on the same score of 7.0/9. Buchholz was the tiebreak and based on it Maxim Matlakov from Russia finished first and took home USD $13,000 along with the glittering Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup. Other players on 7.0/9 were 14-year-old prodigy Abdusattorov Nodirbek, Le Quang Liem, Yuriy Kuzubov, Eduardo Iturrizaga, Sanal Vahap, Aleksandar Indjic and P. Iniyan. A detailed report from Dubai by NIKLESH JAIN.

4/13/2019 – Vassily Smyslov adored him. Garry Kasparov admires him. Magnus Carlsen enjoys him. Who is he? Discerning readers would have guessed his name by now. Our columnist revisits the life and work of the eminent composer. Before you read on, try out the problem in the picture. It’s fun. | Photo: chessnews.ru

4/13/2019 – Five out of nine rounds of the Reykjavik Open have been completed, and four players share the lead on 4½/5. Tied with the best tie-break score are Robert Hovhannisyan from Armenia and 15-year-old Alireza Firouzja from Iran, who in addition finished in clear first place at the Fischer Random side event. Also co-leading are Sergei Movsesian and Constantin Lupulescu. Seven players are a half point behind. | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni / Official site

4/12/2019 – This weekend, the Polish-Hungarian friendship tournament will be played in Katowice. Together with the Polish individual and team lightning championships, 1000 chess friends are expected. Anne Kantane invites you for a preview. | Photo: M. Walusza

4/12/2019 – Friday at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, Noon EDT) Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! Today: "The Octopus" as seen in Karjakin vs Carlsen. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

4/12/2019 – From 1928, the Argentine city of Mar del Plata has hosted a large number of remarkable chess events. The 50th edition of the "Abierto de Mar del Plata" will take place on April 13th-20th, with about two-hundred players participating. SERGIO NEGRI takes us through some of the biggest chess milestones that transpired in the tourist destination, which even gave name to a variation of the King's Indian Defence. | Photo: Leandro Kibisz (CC BY-SA) via Wikimedia Commons

4/12/2019 – The best move for White in the diagram position is 28.Rd3!, but following 28...Qc8 29.Rg3? throws the win away. Can you spot Black's saving trick after that?

4/12/2019 – The 19th edition of the Bangkok Open 2019 has reached its pinnacle of excitement. After six rounds, we have two leaders: top seed Nigel Short and second seed Jan Gustafsson. Both of them on 5½/6. They have set up the top board clash in round seven. In this article, SHAHID AHMED, reporting from Bangkok, takes us through some of the most interesting games that have been played by Short and Gustafsson in this tournament.