4/19/2018 – Kicking off the US Championships at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, defending US Champion Wesley So and Varuzhan Akobian started with victories — both coming with the black pieces. Awonder Liang took half a point off Fabiano Caruana. In the Women's championship, there were two decisions in round one. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/19/2018 – The 19th European Single Women's Championship is being played in Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia from April 8th to 19th. More than 140 players take part, including top seed, former Women's World Champion Mariya Muzychuk. Live games from 15:00 CEST (9:00 AM EDT) | Photo: europechess.org

4/19/2018 – Elisabeth Paehtz was able to win her game against Laura Unuk in the ninth round of the European Women's Championship and thus took on the leader, Valentina Gunina in round ten. But the Russian star drew without much difficulty to maintain her full point edge going into the last round. Photos: Oleksandr Martynkov / Official site

4/19/2018 – Do you know how to use the "Find Player" function in ChessBase 14 to prepare for your next opponent? it takes only a few clicks and the opening repertoire of your opponent is revealed, strengths and weaknesses included. But maybe you also want to take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of other players? | Drawing: ChessBase

4/18/2018 – Wednesday at 8pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. This episodes about Caruana's attacking games. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. Puzzle and the live video...

4/18/2018 – Today the U.S. Championships start in Saint Louis, Missouri. The open and the women's championships will once again be held in parallel. The first prize in the Open Tournament is $50,000, with $25,000 for the winner of the U.S. Women's Championship. Wesley So is the defending champ, but both U.S. number one Fabiano Caruana and former U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura are also playing. All the key details... | Photos: CCSCSL

4/18/2018 – The Albin Counter-Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5!?) has been a favourite of Grandmasters and amateur players alike since it was popularised by Adolf Albin in the 1890s. This hyper-aggressive system, which immediately sets out to destabilise White’s position, had a renaissance in the mid-2000s when none other than GM Alexander Morozevich revitalised the opening with a number of fresh ideas and excellent results. Lawrence Trent is an International Master who has represented England as a player and as a coach and has been a 3-time winner of the Porto San Giorgio International tournament, finishing ahead of many Grandmasters.

4/18/2018 – Today in 1900, Rudolf Charousek, the Czech-Hungarian master, died at the age of 26. Charousek learnt to play chess when he was 16 but in the course of his short career managed to beat a number of strong players — among them World Champion Emanuel Lasker. The writer Gustav Meyrink immortalised Charousek in his novel "The Golem", one of the classics of fantastic literature.

4/18/2018 – The 24-year old former Women's World Champion, in an interview with Spiegel Online's Christian Gödecke, explains her current plans for the future, as she shifts her focus in the wake of her impending Rhodes Scholar status at Oxford University and says, "I would prefer not to distinguish between men and women players". | Photo: Macauley Peterson

4/17/2018 – Prof. Johann van Hulst, a teacher, parliamentarian, active chess player until his last days passed away last month in Amsterdam at the age of 107. For his humanitarian actions, saving over 600 Jewish children during World War II, he received the Yad Vashem distinction "Righteous Among the Nations" from the State of Israel in 1972. | Pictured: On January 28, 2011, Van Hulst celebrated his centenary in Wijk aan Zee | Photo: Alina l'Ami

4/17/2018 – 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 Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa.

4/17/2018 – GM Nicholas Pert is in Hamburg recording a Fritztrainer to be published later this year. He joins Karsten for a look some recent endgames from tournament practice. Watch on-demand!