5/1/2018 – It was a month in which the two best players 'explained' once more to the world, why they are the best. Magnus Carlsen came storming through the second half of the Gashimov Memorial to win it, while Fabiano Caruana won the Grenke Classic, and came second in the US Championship with a plus five score. Sam Shankland enjoyed the greatest result of his career with a huge US Championship win, and a 2701 rating to boot. Here are the ratings and report for your perusal. | Photo: Shamkirchess.az

5/1/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show, Lawrence will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. Today, Lawrence will have a look at games from the final three rounds of the Schachbundesliga (the German League).

5/1/2018 – Beautiful scenery and tough competition made for a wonderful event at the 2018 Jersey International tournament. IM Alan Merry picked up his 2nd GM norm, while GM Tiger Hillarp Persson took home first. A total of 42 talented veterans and up and coming youth competed in the nine-round event. ALINA L'AMI provides visuals and impressions.

5/1/2018 – As we are privileged with so many interesting visitors and authors coming to the ChessBase office in Hamburg and frequenting our studio, we often try to grab them for a few quick questions to see how they are and what's new. This time it was GM Simon Williams who visited us in Hamburg in order to prepare two new FritzTrainer video series. Of course, he also took time out for an impromptu interview. | Photo: ChessBase

5/1/2018 – In a nail-biting rapid and blitz playoff, Nazi Paikidze came from behind to take her second U.S. Women's Championship title. Annie Wang played brilliantly in the first rapid game, winning with the White pieces in fine style. But Paikidze kept her cool, and in the second rapid game in a must-win situation, she stunned Wang with a clutch win, and then took the sudden death 'Armageddon' game, and with it the Championship. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/30/2018 – Top class U.S. Championship chess returned to Saint Louis Chess & Scholastic Center for the tenth time from April 18th to 30th. Sam Shankland won the Open Championship with an astounding score of 8½ / 11. The Women's Championship will be decided in a rapid and (if necessary) Armageddon blitz tiebreak match between Annie Wang, and Nazi Paikidze. Live games and commentary from Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade and Maurice Ashley starting at 20:00 CEST (13:00 CDT, local St. Louis time).

4/30/2018 – In this Simon Says, Simon Williams will be taking a look at some of the most amazing moves of all time. Come and join the show for lots of entertaining chess! Watch live from 18:00 CEST (12 Noon EDT). Puzzles, free sample and information inside... | Photo: Alina l'Ami

4/30/2018 – It was a fantastic final sprint as both Fabiano Caruana and Sam Shankland fought to win their games to deny each other the title. Sam Shankland won again, giving his rival Fabiano Caruana no chance to steal it, and thus became the 2018 US Champion with a near 2900 performance. Nazi Paikidze and Annie Wang finished tied and will decide the title in a playoff on Monday. Report and analysis by GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/29/2018 – From Sunday through Tuesday, the German League's central finals takes place in Berlin. Solingen SG and the OSG Baden-Baden are fighting for first place. The unified Bundesliga has been around for 37 years, with the first season played in 1980 and 1981. At that time the Solingen SG won, after a tie against the team of SG Porz. There was a world champion among the participants. | Pictured: Boris Spassky, Chess Olympiad Thessaloniki 1984 | Photo: Gerhard Hund

4/29/2018 – The writing was on the wall, and the last round clash between Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren remained somewhat anticlimactic as they drew after just 27 moves. To be fair, Magnus never gave his opponent a chance to liven things up. The one decisive game of the last round was Sergey Karjakin’s win over Veselin Topalov. A great tournament victory for the World Champion with signs of what is to come. | Photo: Shamkir Chess

4/29/2018 – Both Sam Shankland and Fabiano Caruana won crucial tenth round games. Caruana came out swinging with the black pieces, going for a Sicilian, while Shankland played the last placed but still dangerous Alexander Onischuk. ALEX YERMOLINSKY looks at the key games of the round. With one more to play Shankland is tantalizingly close to his first U.S. Championship victory, but Caruana remains close behind. Annie Wang easily drew with multi-time U.S. Women's Champ Anna Zatonskih and remains a half point up on Nazi Paikidze. But while Wang has black in the final round, Paikidze will have white against Rusa Goletiani, which should make for an exciting conclusion. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/28/2018 – Chess is a wide field with many interconnections, and while preparing this month’s article about pawn endgame composer Nikolay Grigoriev, study expert and historian SIEGFRIED HORNECKER learned about a nearly forgotten chess organizer from the early Soviet Union, Valerian Eremeev. But also Alekhine’s five queen game might have influenced Grigoriev.