9/27/2019 – After Wednesday's dramatic tiebreaks, things cooled off at the start of the semi-finals in Khanty-Mansiysk. Ding Liren had White against Yu Yangyi but was the one slightly under pressure before finding a repetition, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov played 31 moves before splitting the point. A win in game two will give any of the semi-finalists a spot in the next Candidates Tournament. Round-up show by GM DANIEL KING. | Photo: FIDE

9/26/2019 – The report about Bobby Fischer's forgotten simul in Münster 1970 evoked memories. Günther Langhanke played in the simul but he also picked up Fischer from his hotel in Siegen and brought him to Münster. Not an easy task. Langhanke shares his memories of the eccentric American who was moody, friendly and generous. | Photo: Norbert Rauch

9/26/2019 – A very special Deal of the Week! Our latest in elite GM training! The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

9/26/2019 – The play-offs of the quarter-finals at the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk showed how much knock-out events are about keeping one's head together, as Levon Aronian and Nikita Vitiugov were eliminated after blundering horribly from completely winning positions. While Maxime Vachier-Lagrave knocked Aronian out in the second rapid game, Yu Yangyi and Vitiugov decided their match-up in Armageddon. GM YANNICK PELLETIER reviewed the highlights of the day. | Photo: FIDE

9/25/2019 – The World Cup is in focus, and IM Merign van Delft looks at Grischuk's win over Leinier Dominguez, before both said goodbye to Khanty-Mansiysk. The show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. Merijn is live this week starting at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT).

9/25/2019 – Alexander Grischuk and Ding Liren sat opposite each other in the fifth round of the World Cup 2019. The game was followed with great excitement by chess players all across the world. In their first game, after 13 moves, Grischuk made a move that led the engines to give an evaluation of nearly -3 points. Online kibitzers went wild, criticizing the players. IM SAGAR SHAH reflects on whether this is an unfortunate trend. | Photo: FIDE

9/25/2019 – Ding Liren and Teimour Radjabov won with White on Tuesday to qualify to the FIDE World Cup semi-finals in Khanty-Mansiysk. The Chinese arrived in Siberia as the favourite and eliminated Alexander Grischuk, while Radjabov got the better of Jeffery Xiong, who came from getting impressive match victories over Giri and Duda. Yu Yangyi v Nikita Vitiugov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave v Levon Aronian finished drawn and will be decided on tiebreaks. GM DANNY KING recapped the highlights of the day. | Photo: FIDE

9/24/2019 – Continuing on last week's theme, IM Lawrence Trent analyses a game from the winner of the Women's Grand Prix in Russia, won by Indian GM Humpy Koneru. | Puzzle time: In the diagram below, it's White to move. | Lawrence is live and free on-demand for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

9/24/2019 – Even apparently simple pawn endings can be tricky.

9/24/2019 – The scores of the four quarter-final matches at the FIDE World Cup are tied, as hard-fought draws were seen on all boards on Monday. Ding Liren and Yu Yangyi did not shy away from shedding material while playing Black against Alexander Grischuk and Nikita Vitiugov; Levon Aronian had a very slight edge in his white game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; while Jeffery Xiong and Teimour Radjabov signed a 'correct' draw after 30 moves. IM LAWRENCE TRENT reviewed the highlights of the day. | Photo: FIDE

9/23/2019 – A grab bag: GM Simon Williams selects exciting examples from professional practice for fun and knowledge. Watch for free (for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

9/23/2019 – Humpy won the Skolkovo leg of FIDE's 2019 Women's Grand Prix by making a draw in the final round against reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun. The Indian ace won her first major championship since returning to competitive chess in the Batumi Olympiad of 2018. Humpy finished at 8.0/11, gained 160 Grand Prix points and received EUR €15,000 for winning the tournament. Humpy, who is currently world number 3 among women by rating, behind Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun, has just about every accomplishment in her bag except the World Championship title. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE