6/30/2022 – Alireza Firouzja had a brilliant 2021. The youngster reached the second spot in the world ranking and qualified to the Candidates Tournament. Expectations were high after Magnus Carlsen hinted that he would gladly face him in a World Championship match — unlike other opponents. Things have not been going according to plan in Madrid, though. After his round-10 loss, the 19-year-old played over 300 bullet-chess games online, and not during a rest day. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

6/30/2022 – European Individual Championship 2022: Analyses by the new champion Matthias Bluebaum as well as Gabriel Sargissian, Ivan Saric, Ruslan Ponomariov, Aryan Tari, Ivan Cheparinov, Rasmus Svane, Yuriy Kuzubov, Maxime Lagarde and others - Looking for a fighting concept against Trompowsky? In her opening article, Petra Papp relies on 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5!? - "Special" on the FIDE World Championship 1997: exclusive collection of 22 extensively annotated games + articles on strategy and endgame highlights - Don't miss: Jan Markos' new training series "Practical Tips for the Tournament Player" Vol. I: "Time management" - Or jump straight into interactive training with Robert Ris and replay a current master game "Move by Move" with video feedback!

6/30/2022 – Fighting chess was the rule rather than the exception in round 10 of the Candidates Tournament. All the players — except Ian Nepomniachtchi, naturally — chose fighting lines, attempting to win at all costs, as the event is coming to an end and first place is all that matters. In the end, Ding Liren and Hikaru Nakamura won and caught up with Fabiano Caruana in shared second place, as the latter overplayed his hand and was defeated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

6/29/2022 – The German Grandmasters Karsten Müller and Luis Engel developed a model that allows to classify players according to their playing style: The 4 Player Types model. According to Müller and Engel there are "Activists", "Pragmatists", "Theorists", and "Reflectors". Each group of players has distinctive strengths and weaknesses and knowing which type of player you are - and the opponents you play against - can be extremely helpful. Tanmay Srinath liked the model.

6/29/2022 – Eight of the strongest players in the world are fighting in Madrid to get a shot in the next match for the world crown. Deep opening preparation and maximum focus often lead to slightly better (or worse) endgames. GM Karsten Müller aims his attention at the last stage of the game, as he compiles the most salient and instructive endings from the Candidates Tournament. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

6/29/2022 – When young players ask me, what chess skill should he or she improve to be able to enter the tough arena of professional chess, I usually have a simple answer. My short advice is: "You should learn how to defend. Especially, you should master the art of positional defence." | Photo: Pixabay

6/26/2022 – 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 85th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to explain why playing the Benko Gambit might be a good choice for club players. | Photo: Pascal Simon

6/25/2022 – In the small Armenian town of Jermuk, a round-robin tournament with a strong field of ten young participants is currently taking place. Among them are Hans Moke Niemann (photo), Nihal Sarin and Alexander Donchenko. After five rounds, these three players are only among the chasers with 2½/5 points each. At the top of the standings is a quartet with 3/5 points each: Armenians Haik Martirosyan, Shant Sargsyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and the Iranian Amin Tabatabaei. Daily rounds will be played until Tuesday. | Photos: Official website

6/25/2022 – Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana have done it again. For a second day in a row, the frontrunners to take the title scored full points in Madrid. Nepo still leads Caruana by a half point, while Hikaru Nakamura now stands 1½ points behind Caruana in sole third place. It has become hugely unlikely for a player other than the tournament’s two protagonists to bounce back and win the whole thing. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

6/25/2022 – Free association is an interesting mechanism to make up introductions for articles. Let us try: "Music was my first love and it will be my last", John Miles sang many years ago. The "Children" of Caissa rather would see their "Circle of Life" in Chess, where the WCCT-7 theme might have been predicted by Phil Collins in "Against All Odds" (who also performed the song named in the previous quotation): "Take a look at me now! There's just an empty space!", the bishop in the Kozłowski study might say this. | Photos: Pixabay

6/25/2022 – In the diagrammed position White just played 35.Qa3!, and after 35...Qxd4 White has a beautiful win - can you find it?

6/24/2022 – Eight of the strongest players in the world are fighting in Madrid to get a shot in the next match for the world crown. Deep opening preparation and maximum focus often lead to slightly better (or worse) endgames. GM Karsten Müller aims his attention at the last stage of the game, as he compiles the most salient and instructive endings from the Candidates Tournament. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage