11/21/2017 – After the tempestuous round the day before, round five was an understandable anticlimax with draws on all boards. For the top two boards in particular, this was quite expected, as it pitted the leaders against each other. Lions don't attack other lions for the 'challenge', they wait for easier prey. Still, it was not all dull games or lack of theoretical ideas as shown by GM Alex Yermolinsky in his round five report. | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

11/21/2017 – Emanuel Lasker, World Champion from 1894 to 1921, was a strong defender who kept his cool in bad positions and always seemed to find ways to pose his opponents problems. But Lasker was also an excellent attacker and tactician. Lasker's perhaps most brilliant attacking game is his victory against Harry Nelson Pillsbury, played at the St. Petersburg tournament 1895/1896. A brilliancy in a crucial moment. | Photo: Cleveland Public Library

11/21/2017 – "Welcome to the Sniper" – officially created in 2010, it has now been tested with success against top grandmasters and computer programs and still manages to ensure new and creative opening situations full of imbalance, and hence winning prospects for Black. DVD author Charlie Storey has used the Sniper, in conjunction with deep computer analysis, to help gain 145 UK Open victories and has seen his students employ it successfully in European Youth Championships.

11/20/2017 – In this Simon Says Simon Williams takes a look at some crazy games that he has recently played. Expect lots of crazy sacrifices! Watch live from 18:00 CEST (12 Noon EDT).

11/20/2017 – The Aeroflot Open Chess Festival, which is popular throughout the world, will be held in Moscow from 19th February (the date of arrival) to 2nd March 2018 (the date of departure). This major event is open to chess players from all over the globe, of most varied qualification: from unrated to those having a very high rating. As before, the festival is held under the wings of Aeroflot – Russian Airlines.

11/20/2017 – What an exciting round it was! Round four not only saw a plethora of decisive games, but spectacular ones at that. Levon Aronian was once more his brilliant best as he defeated Anish Giri in a beautiful game with sacs coming from all directions. Ding Liren's imaginative attack against Ernesto Inarkiev was also a joy to watch, and even Hikaru Nakamura's endgame squeeze over Radjabov started with a sparkling queen sac. Report and analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky. | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

11/19/2017 – Round three was mostly one of missed opportunities as many games failed to capitalize on the promise of their positions. The first and foremost was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's excellent chances against co-leader Levon Aronian that fizzled out during the technical transition, while Rapport will regret his near-win not yielding its fruits. That said, Peter Svidler did deliver mate on the board against Jon Hammer! Report and analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

11/18/2017 – In a recent discussion with top grandmasters, notably GM John Nunn, the topic came up on what the ideal configuration and setup would be for chess analysis, whether at home, or abroad. Naturally we are talking about reasonable budget restraints as well, since otherwise the sky is the limit. What is better? Several strong machines, or just one top computer? Read on to find out. | Photo: AMD

11/18/2017 – Max Deutsch is an obsessive learner, a product builder, and guinea pig for a "Month to Master" project: the 24-year-old entrepreneur who lives in San Francisco has shown that he can train himself to memorize a deck of cards in two minutes, hold a 30-minutes conversation in Hebrew and develop perfect pitch, in each case after just 30 days of training. After eleven tasks he set himself for 2017 the twelfth was to beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a game of chess. The experiment, described in the Wall Street Journal, took place in Hamburg earlier this month. Tell us what you think.

11/18/2017 – After a cautious game in round one, Teimour Radjabov roared like a lion as he unleashed a powerful King's Indian as only he, one of the world's foremost proponents, could do. It was a masterful game as he beat Vallejo Pons. Levon Aronian is another who scored a brilliant win, showing magnificent opening preparation that caught Inarkiev in his net. Here is the round two report with analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky. | Photo: Agon

11/17/2017 – A solid tactical understanding is sure to help any chess player in critical situations. Whether it is a simple exchange or a mating attack, tactics are ubiquitous. Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your tactical understanding in this series with IM Oliver Reeh and Pascal Simon! Friday at 3.30 pm CEST it's all about the Rook-Bishop Battery!

11/17/2017 – It's a well-known scenario: you think you made the time control but you are not quite sure, and therefore you quickly make one more 'neutral' move to be on the safe side. But that is often easier said than done. The diagram position is one example how difficult it is to play it safe: How does White keep the balance, with 41.Kg2 or 41.h4?