4/22/2019 – Inna Gaponenko took a half point lead into the final round, but she was stopped by former Women's World Champion Antoaneta Stefanofa, who scored a clutch win to join a five-way tie for first with the finally tally of 8.0/11 along with Alina Kashlinskaya, Marie Sebag, and Elisabeth Paehtz. | Photos: Kasia Selbes Photography / eiwcc2019.tsf.org.tr

4/22/2019 – Another epic battle ended up with Magnus Carlsen on top at the 2019 GRENKE Chess Classic — his victim on Sunday was Francisco Vallejo Pons, who was not able to withhold the world champion's pressure in a complex endgame. Veterans Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler also won in round two to reach 1½/2 and stand half a point behind the leader. Vishy will have the black pieces against Magnus on Monday. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/22/2019 – The last round is played today. Inna Gaponenko from Ukraine has the best chance of winning the title, but Marie Sebag from France and Alina Kashlinskaya from Russia could have a say. Even Elisabeth Paehtz, who is fifth in the final round, is still eligible for a medal. Live games and commentary by GM Ioannis Papaioannou & IM Can Arduman from the European Women's Championship in Antalya. Play begins at 8:00 UTC (10:00 CEST / 4 AM EDT). In all 130 players are on the starting list but only the top 14 finishers will qualify for the World Cup. The top seeds are Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, 2534) and Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia, 2513). Official site: eiwcc2019.tsf.org.tr

4/21/2019 – JON SPEELMAN is currently fighting with the English team at the Senior World Team Championship in Rhodes, but he sends this column with games courtesy of a senior American who spent his career as a maths teacher. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

4/21/2019 – Looking for something new to surprise your opponent in your next tournament game? Vidit Gujrathi, a 2700+ grandmaster and one of the brightest young players around, shows you a line that few opponents will expect. And here's the deal: you invest three minutes listening to Vidit, and then you can try out the line, right there in your browser, against an engine that matches the playing strength of you potential opponents. Thirty minutes of training that will get you some extra rating points!

4/21/2019 – All eyes were put on the game that faced young Vincent Keymer against world champion Magnus Carlsen in the first round of the 2019 GRENKE Chess Classic. And they did not disappoint — after over six and a half hours and a host of twists and turns, Magnus defeated the new kid on the block. The rest of the games finished drawn, which makes Carlsen the sole leader in Karlsruhe. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/20/2019 – After starting off with two straight wins at the GRENKE Chess Open, Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja decided to forfeit his third round game as his opponent was an Israeli national: FM Or Bronstein (pictured). The laws of Iran forbid Iranian players from playing against Israelis. Had Firouzja played, he would have risked facing sanctions back in his home country. But forfeiting a game also cost him dearly — as ADITYA PAI reports from Karlsruhe — Firoujza seemed to have lost his composure in the next round as he simply left his rook en prise against 1945-rated Antonia Ziegenfuss (pictured). Surely one of the biggest upsets we'll see this year!

4/20/2019 – The Grenke Open began Thursday with over 900 participants in the A-Open. Today, some of the world's best players take centre stage at the Grenke Chess Classic. Round 1 features #1 Magnus Carlsen against #10 Vincent Keymer who's rated 336 points below the World Champion. Live games and commentary (from 13:00 UTC / 15:00 CEST / 9:00 AM EDT) with GM Peter Leko and GM Jan Gustafsson

4/20/2019 – Hot on the heels of the European Senior Championship in Rhodes, the World Senior Team Championship for players aged over 50 and 65 is underway. ALEX YERMOLINSKY reports on the progress of the top-seeded USA team. | Pictured: Captain Alexander Shabalov and Yermolinsky decided to take a few days to be chess tourists in advance of the competition

4/20/2019 – Two straight wins with Black allowed Ukrainian IM Inna Gaponenko to catch up with Alina Kashlinskaya in the lead of the European Women's Championship. Five players are half a point behind, including former women's world champion Anna Ushenina. The co-leaders are paired against each other in Saturday's ninth round. The long event is set to finish on Monday and it is still too early to make any sort of confident prediction. | Photo: Kasia Selbes Photography / eiwcc2019.tsf.org.tr

4/20/2019 – On the FIDE Federations list The Bahamas are on place number 162 and the ten strongest players in the country do have an average rating of 1734. But the island has a striving, charming and strong chess community as diplomat and chess fan TED CROSS found out. | Pictured: The Old Fort Bay Club on the Bahamas | Photo: Old Fort Bay Club

4/19/2019 – Ding Liren, Anish Giri and Yu Yangyi are back in Shenzhen, as the trio has participated in all three editions of the six-player double round robin. Pentala Harikrishna is returning to the Chinese city after having played in 2017 but not in 2018, while the newcomers are Dmitry Jakovenko and Richard Rapport. After three rounds, Giri is the only player on a plus score. Harikrishna fell victim to Anish in round two but bounced right back the very next day. | Photo: cca.imsa.cn