8/12/2025 – Recently, a 17-year-old player in Germany won the national girls' under-18 tournament. The head of the German commission for women's chess was less thrilled. The winner, you know, who identifies and officially categorizes as female, was born as a boy. Dominic Lawson, who writes for many major British newspapers, a strong chess player (and president of the English Chess Federation), in his words "managed to smuggle in chess as the subject" in his Sunday Times column.

8/12/2025 – Levon Aronian made the best start at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, winning all three games on the first day to take the lead with six points (wins are worth 2 points each). Fabiano Caruana did not finish the day far behind, scoring two wins and a draw. In round two, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju dazzled with a queen sacrifice. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/11/2025 – In the 2025 Vlissingen Open, 2117-rated Joel Van der Werf, playing Black, faced Dutch GM Erwin l’Ami, nearly 500 rating points higher, and impressively outplayed him for much of the game. Using precise, prophylactic pawn moves and harmonious piece coordination, Van der Werf steadily restricted White’s activity, expanded on the kingside, and reached a clearly superior position. However, in a critical moment on move 40, he traded his strong bishop for a knight, and the game eventually ended in a draw, a fine underdog result but one that could have been an upset win.

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8/11/2025 – After an exciting ninth round, Michael Adams, Stuart Conquest, and Peter Roberson were tied for the lead. Adams went on to win the ensuing playoff, securing his ninth British Championship title. | Photos: Yuri Krylov / English Chess Federation (ECF)

8/11/2025 – Reigning European champion Matthias Blübaum put in an outstanding performance from start to finish and secured a narrow victory in Dortmund. Indian grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly tied for second place. Third place was the sensation of the tournament: 14-year-old Khuong Dau Duy defeated two grandmasters, drew with two others and finished just ahead of Dmitrij Kollars on tiebreak. | Photos: Michelle Lassak

8/8/2025 – The round six game between Michael Adams and Nikita Vitiugov at the British Championship ended in a draw. Since none of the closest pursuers managed a win, Adams remains the sole leader. He stands at 5.0/6, followed by ten players on 4.5/6. | Photos: Yury Krylov/English Chess Federation

8/8/2025 – 15-year-old Lu Miaoyi claimed her fourth consecutive win in round four of the International Women's Tournament, securing overall victory with two rounds to spare. In the Open, German GM Luis Engel defeated Rinat Jumabayev and now shares the lead with GM Matthias Blübaum, who won against Ashot Parvanyan. | Photos: Michelle Lassak

8/8/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris shows how Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov used an aggressive line of the London to score a fine victory. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/8/2025 – The Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters began a day later than scheduled after a minor fire at the Hyatt Regency Chennai delayed the start. The opening round of the Masters saw wins for Arjun Erigaisi and Vincent Keymer, while the other three games ended in draws, including a sharp battle between Vidit Gujrathi and Jorden van Foreest. In the Challengers, Leon Luke Mendonca, Diptayan Ghosh and Pranesh M scored the day's victories to take an early lead. | Photos: Anmol Bhargav

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.