11/12/2018 – After his undefeated streak was rounded off at a hundred games with a loss against Vachier-Lagrave, Ding Liren jumped right back to winning ways with a victory over Yu Yangyi in round eight of the Shenzhen Masters. He now shares the lead with MVL at 4½/8 with two days to go in the double round robin. In round seven, Nikita Vitiugov defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek and joined the chasers half-a-point behind the co-leaders. | Photo: qipai.org.cn

11/12/2018 – In this Simon Says I will take a look at some forgotten ideas that originated from the great mind of Mike Basman. This time we look at ideas with the White pieces.

11/12/2018 – Seven out of eight rating favourites won their round-of-16 matches at the 2018 Women's World Championship, as 40th seed Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova took over Valentina Gunina to become the surprising quarter-finalist. So far, Ju Wenjun is the only player that has not played a single tiebreak game, while Kateryna Lagno had to go all the way to Armageddon to eliminate her compatriot Natalija Pogonina. | Photos: Official site

11/11/2018 – Ding Liren lost in Shenzen today for the first time in over 15 months, ending his historic streak at 100 games. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the spoiler, and he now is the co-leader of the tournament along with Yu Yangi. Nikita Vitiugov also won on Sunday, sending Radoslaw Wojtaszek into the cellar. Records are meant to be broken, but the all-time undefeated streak claimed by Sergei Tiviakov is going to be a tough one to crack. He kindly provided all 110 games and a brief description in an attempt to set the record...of the record...straight! | Photo: qipai.org.cn

11/11/2018 – On Friday's seven-hour marathon Magnus Carlsen got the upper hand in the opening, and rather symmetrically Fabiano Caruana managed to surprise the World Champion with the black pieces in game two. Magnus decided to keep things safe to avoid falling prey to Caruana's preparation and happily settled for a draw in his first white game of the match. Therefore, the 2018 World Championship is still tied, but that does not mean there has been a lack of excitement. JAN-KRZYSZTOF DUDA analysed Saturday's game for us. | Photo: Nikolai Dunaevsky / World Chess

11/11/2018 – The Tata Steel India rapid has started in Kolkata. From Friday, November 9th to Sunday the 11th you can get in the mood for the World Championship with a little top-class rapid chess with former Candidates: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and India's top talent, Harikrishna, Vidit, Sarin and Ganguly. Live commentary with IM Lawrence Trent and IM Tania Sachdev. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / TataSteelChess.in

11/10/2018 – Since 1994, the Mediterranean seaside resort Cap d'Agde has organised a set of wide-ranging chess tournaments. This year, four classical events, a rapid tournament and a blitz VIP meeting were in the menu for those interested. The main attraction was the "Grand Prix", which was won by Yannick Gozzoli, who edged Jules Moussard by half a point. The ever-focused Gozzoli (2612) took home 17 rating points and 3.000 Euros. ROMAIN ÉDOUARD sent us a full pictorial report from Occitania. | Pictured: Yannick Gozzoli | Photos: Pierre Textoris

11/10/2018 – The first day of the first super tournament in India was fascinating. Of course, having ten great chess players fighting it out always feels great, but what was even more heartening was the jam-packed crowd. The ICCR auditorium which had a capacity of 200 people was filled to the brim with people waiting outside the auditorium to go inside and view the games. The players held nothing back to entertain the crowd and in the first round itself, Vishy Anand had everyone on the edge of their seats as he fought for 145 moves against Wesley So. At the end of three rounds of rapid chess at the Tata Steel Chess India we have three players in joint lead with 2.0/3 — Harikrishna, Mamedyarov and Aronian. A detailed report from Kolkata.

11/10/2018 – The game started with a daft joke and ended with a draw, but in between chess fans were treated to an intensely dramatic middlegame where Carlsen was on the verge of winning with black while Caruana's clock was perilously close to zero. A remarkable Game 1 which bodes well for the excitement of a hotly anticipated match that the world is watching. Star analysis by GMs YANNICK PELLETIER and JAN-KRZYSZTOF DUDA | Pictured: Actor Woody Harrelson making the first move to start in Game 1. | Photo: Nikolai Dunaevsky / World Chess

11/9/2018 – Do parents name their babies after chess champions? Do you need 10,000 hours of practice to be a chess master? Does chess helps prevent Alzheimer’s? ALEXEY ROOT explores these and other questions. Republished with kind permission of The Conversation. | Pictured: Reigning Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen, left, from Norway, and American challenger Fabiano Caruana face off in the World Chess Championship, which begins November 9th, 2018, in London. | Photo: Matt Dunham/AP

11/9/2018 – Mikhail Tal was born on November 9th, 1936 in Riga, and died June 27, 1992 in Moscow. He probably would have been happy to know that the World Championship match between Carlsen and Caruana begins on his birthday. Tal loved chess and chess fans loved him for his bold, enterprising play and his stunning combinations. He had a very keen eye for tactics — which sometimes best showed in more light-hearted events. Here are two examples to commemorate the birthday of this great player and tactician. | Photo: Ron Kroon / Anefo [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

11/9/2018 – White's unchallenged bishop on f3 is a huge trump and after 14...Qf5 from the diagram position he ... will get checkmated in 5 moves! Pardon?