9/21/2020 – In the last 15 years the OSG Baden-Baden has won the title of German Team Champion no less than 14 times, and in 2020 they won it again. Though it was close. In the dramatic seventh and decisive round of the Bundesliga Championship Baden-Baden only narrowly won the top match against the SC Viernheim 4½-3½. | Photo: Christian Bossert

9/21/2020 – Last week we gave you a series of chess problems which cannot be solved by computers, taken from a book called "Outrageous Chess" by Burt Hochberg. Were you able to find the out-of-the-box answers? And do you like this kind of problem? In any case, today we reveal the correct solutions and explain the ideas behind the problems.

9/20/2020 – Star columnist Jon Speelman reminisces on the days chess players indulged in a post-mortem discussion — across a table — after their game was over. Speelman also talks about the very strongest players never to become world champion, particularly two that he faced repeatedly during his career — Viktor Korchnoi (pictured) and Vassily Ivanchuk. | Photo: Mary Delaney Cooke/Corbis

9/20/2020 – Grandmaster Peter Svidler is an eight-time Russian chess champion. Svidler’s peak rating placed him fourth in the world. National Master Mike Walder annotates one of Svidler’s wins and has a recipe for a dish that Svidler likes. WIM Alexey Root tells why Svidler is a Grandmaster Chef honoree. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

9/20/2020 – In an appropriate turn of events, given how the tournament had developed, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So tied for first place at the Saint Lous Rapid & Blitz online tournament. Carlsen beat the American in their direct encounter and had a one-point lead with three rounds to go, but So was not discouraged as he won his final three games to catch up with the world champion. Hikaru Nakamura was undefeated on day five and finihsed in clear third place. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

9/20/2020 – The Bundesliga Championship Tournament was a round-robin, over-the-board(!) team event in which eight teams with eight players each played from September 16 to September 20 for the title of German Team Champion 2020. OSG Baden-Baden, the perennial favourites, won the event after beating second-placed SC Viernheim by the smallest of margins in an exciting final-round match. The immensely strong Baden-Baden included Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian and Richard Rapport in their lineup, just to name a few of their 2700+ players. | Photo: Georgious Souleidis

9/19/2020 – The Norwegian holiday resort Kragerø is a popular venue for Norwegian Grand Prix tournaments. Recently, another one of these tournaments was played, though this year under special conditions. Holger Blauhut reports about a live tournament in times of corona.| Photos: Tanja Cecilie Kveim (TCK), Holger Blauhut (HB)

9/19/2020 – The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is being held online and showcases some of the world’s top rapid and blitz players, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen and a few of the American favourites — Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez and Jeffery Xiong. The ten players are competing for a $250,000 prize fund in nine rapid games and eighteen blitz games on September 15-19. Games start daily at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CET, 14:00 ET). Express report. | Images: Saint Louis Chess Club

9/19/2020 – Zhansaya Abdumalik is one of the most promising young talents of our time. She is from Kazakhstan, a country which has experienced a huge boom in women's chess, especially in recent years. She is a multiple youth and junior world champion, known for a very aggressive and dynamic playing style. "With her lively and open manner it didn't take too long before I took her into my heart," writes IM Elisabeth Pähtz in this personal portrait. | Photo Kazinform

9/19/2020 – Magnus Carlsen reclaimed the lead at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz online event after scoring 6½ points in the first nine rounds of the blitz section. Wesley So, who obtained the highest score in the rapid, is a half point behind. With the second half of the blitz left to go, it is very unlikely for any player other than Carlsen or So to win the event, as Ian Nepomniachtchi currently stands no fewer than 3½ points behind the leader in sole third place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

9/18/2020 – A few weeks ago we offered a number of great Fritztrainers in a summer special for reduced prices. If you bought one of the offered bundles, you had the chance to win DVDs, signed by famous players such as like Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Nihal Sarin, etc. But we haven't announced all winners yet. Until now.

9/18/2020 – The OSG Baden-Baden is the clear favourite to win the Bundesliga Championship 2020, and they score better and better: in round 1 they won 6½-1½ against Deizisau, in round 2 they scored a 7-1 win against Bavaria Munich, which they followed up with a 7½-½ victory against SF Berlin in round 3. The only other team that could win all three matches is the SC Viernheim. | Photos: Christian Bossert