1/15/2019 – Pawn endings, more so than other endgames, lead to a decisive result. They require precise play and good theoretical knowledge.

1/14/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi is now the sole leader at the 81st edition of the Tata Steel Masters after knocking down Vladimir Kramnik's Berlin wall in the third round of the competition. Ding Liren beat Jorden van Foreest with the black pieces and now shares second place with Vishy Anand. In the Challengers, Andrey Esipenko and Parham Maghsoodloo won in round three to join the pack of co-leaders on 2/3. Expert analysis by DANIEL FERNANDEZ and DANNY KING. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/14/2019 – Two years ago we came across an interesting and heartwarming tale about a chess expert who accepted a very challenging job to teach the game of chess to prisoners in Italy. He shared at length about his experience at the maximum-security prison of Spoleto and how it changed his perspective about life. The best part of it was the testimonies of prisoners on how the game brought a change in their lives. In this follow-up article, MIRKO TRASCIATTI is back to share an update on the story. | Photo: Inmates playing chess from their prison cells at Attica Correctional Facility, NY, 1972 | Cornell Capa

1/14/2019 – It was a good day for the locals in the Tata Steel Masters, as both Dutch participants recovered from their first round losses — Anish Giri got a third win in a row against Vladimir Kramnik and Jorden van Foreest defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda with the black pieces after surviving a complicated time scramble. In the Challengers, young Vincent Keymer joined the leaders thanks to a win over Stefan Kuipers. GM DANIEL KING provides expert analyses of all the action. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/12/2019 – The elite chess season of 2019 took off on Saturday with the first round of the Tata Steel Masters. Seven fighting games left Vishy Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi as co-leaders, after the rest of the encounters finished drawn. The biggest escape of the day was achieved by Vladimir Kramnik, who could not be taken down by Teimour Radjabov. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, experience got the better of youth, as Anton Korobov and Evgeny Bareev defeated their much younger colleagues to join a four-player leading pack. Expert analysis by GM ADHIBAN BASKARAN and IM MERIJN VAN DELFT. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/12/2019 – If Vlastimil Hort did not exist one would have to invent him. He was born in Kladno, Czechoslovakia, on January 12, 1944, and in the 1970s he was one of the world's best players and World Championship candidate. He also enriched chess with his stories full of wit, humour and a deep knowledge about the game he loves. Today, Vlastimil Hort celebrates his 75th birthday. | Drawing: Ottokar Masek

1/12/2019 – The capture 23.Nxc7! is White's best in the diagram position, provided he has the right answer ready to 23...Rxc7 24.Rxc7 Nf6 then. What about you?

1/11/2019 – A few weeks ago we launched reader polls with nominations for the best players of 2018. In addition to overall player and best female, we added "newcomer" of the year. The latter proved to be a close contest between World Junior Champion Parham Maghsoodloo and German IM Vincent Keymer. Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun easily took the "female player of the year" honours, and Fabiano Caruana edged World Champion Magnus Carlsen in the readers' minds for "player of the year". Here's to an even greater 2019! View the results...

1/11/2019 – Friday at 18:00 CET (17:00 UT) Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free! All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

1/11/2019 – This year's European Championship is open to all players from member federations of the European Chess Union and will be held from March 17th to 30th in Skopje. Details and Press Release. Registration deadline is February 17, 2019. | Photos: Patricia Claros

1/11/2019 – The annual "Tata Steel Chess Tournament" starts on Saturday in the Dutch North Sea town of Wijk aan Zee. The "Masters" is super-strong this year: Of the 14 participants in the round-robin tournament, only the local hero GM Jorden van Foreest has an Elo rating below 2700; three players are over 2800 including World Champion Magnus Carlsen, the defending champion and six-time tournament winner. The average Elo of the tournament is 2753. The participants in the "Challengers" also has a mouthwatering field. Here you'll find all the details! | Photo: TataSteelChess.com

1/10/2019 – A few weeks ago we launched a reader poll with nominations for the best game, endgame and combination of 2018. The results are in! The "endgame of the year" was hotly contested, and best game of the year contest was virtually a dead heat. Games of Kramnik, Carlsen and Caruana were the top vote-getters in that category. But readers clearly felt that Ivan Cheparinov deserved to be recognised for the best combination of 2018 for his brilliant rook sacrifice way back in January at the Gibraltar Masters. Take a look...