8/7/2025 – It has been a long time coming, but Malaysia finally has a chess grandmaster in 26-year-old Yeoh Li Tian. This milestone comes 51 years after the formation of the Malaysian Chess Federation in 1974. With this achievement, Yeoh joins an elite group of about 2,000 players recognised by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) for their mastery of the game. Quah Seng Sun reports. | Photos courtesy of Malaysian Chess Federation

8/7/2025 – In the new episode of his Game of the Week show, Merijn Van Delft shows how it helps to know typical patterns and instructive games in the lines you play. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/7/2025 – Since the other players in the leading group at the British Championship had to settle for draws, Michael Adams took sole lead with a win. Facing Shreyas Royal's Sicilian Defence, Adams chose a seemingly quiet setup that was everything but harmless. | Photos: Yury Krylov/ English Chess Federation

8/7/2025 – The trend is toward speeding things up, chess being no exception. Today in Katowice, Poland, World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Poland’s number one, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, face off in a six-game blitz match (3+2). If the score is tied after six games, an Armageddon game will decide the winner. ChessBase India will broadcast the short duel live, starting at 11:00 CEST.

8/7/2025 – Round three of the Women Masters and round five of the A-Open took place on Wednesday at the Dortmund Chess Festival. In the Women Masters, Lu Miaoyi kept her perfect score by defeating Elisabeth Paehtz in a sharp, tactical battle, while Dinara Wagner bounced back with a win over Deimantė Daulytė-Cornette. Meanwhile, in the A-Open, draws on the top boards allowed International Masters Nitish Belurkar and Ashot Parvanyan to join the leading group. | Photo: Dariusz Gorzinski

8/6/2025 – German national player Dinara Wagner has won the blitz tournament at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy International Women's Tournament. She prevailed against the competition at the German Football Museum – a strong performance that will have an impact on the ongoing main tournament at the International Dortmund Chess Days. It was not only a closed tournament on the stage of the "N11" in the football museum, but also served as an early tiebreak for the classic tournament format, which will continue until Sunday. | Photo: Dariusz Gorzinski/ Dortmunder Schachtage

8/6/2025 – Seven players share the lead at the halfway mark of the traditional Zeeland University Open in Vlissingen, each with 4.5 points after five rounds. Among them are top seed Pavel Eljanov, as well as two Germans: Daniel Hausrath and Tim Ronge, the U16 champion of Rhineland-Palatinate. A mid-tournament report by Gerd Densing. | Photos: Gerd Densing

8/6/2025 – It was the ever observant Leonard Barden who pointed it out to me: for the first time since FIDE began publishing its rating lists, 1971, there are no Russians in the top ten. The Guardian's weekly chess columnist turns 96 this month, and still keeps providing us with interesting reports.

8/5/2025 – The third edition of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters will take place from 6 to 15 August at the Hyatt Regency in Chennai. Featuring a ten-player round-robin in both the Masters and Challengers sections, the event brings together top international grandmasters and India's most promising talents. The Masters is headlined by Arjun Erigaisi, Anish Giri, and Vincent Keymer. With FIDE Circuit points and a substantial prize fund, the tournament is becoming a key fixture on the global chess calendar.

8/5/2025 – Svitlana Demchenko’s Smart Moves show began in 2021 and has produced over 120 nearly weekly episodes on topics ranging from openings and endgames to tactics and all things chess. Now, she is speaking at the World Schools Summit in Washington, DC—fittingly named the Smart Moves Summit 2025! | Photo: ChessBase India Interview

8/5/2025 – Round three of the British Chess Championship saw five players maintain their perfect scores, including top seed Nikita Vitiugov and young grandmaster Shreyas Royal. Michael Adams and Gawain Jones both returned to winning ways, while 18-year-old Yichen Han continued to impress. With a number of experienced players and rising talents in close pursuit, the tournament remains wide open heading into the middle rounds at Liverpool’s St George's Hall. | Photos: Official website

8/5/2025 – In the new episode of his Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft presents a game by young Dutch FM Saša Albers. He played it at the Dieren Open and he played it brilliantly. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.