8/6/2017 – Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan needed a change from his routine. When he was invited to play in the Faroes Open 2017, he was thrilled with anticipation, yet a little skeptical. The pictures painted a mesmerising impression. Yet, questions lingered: How would the real thing turn out to be? Will it be like online dating? Breaking through the incertitude, he decided that he had to give it a go. | Photos: Hanna Ólavsdóttir Jacobsen/Jógvan Martin Joensen

8/5/2017 – It was a calmer day in St. Louis with all games in Round 3 ending in draws. Still plenty of interesting chess, as the tournament heads into the weekend. The main attention was on Anand-Carlsen. | Photo: Austin Fuller

8/5/2017 – There is a six-minute long crazy mix of music genres, recorded for fun by a musical idol, which became — against all warnings of the people working at the record labels — a megahit. It was “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the band was Queen. And then there is there is a fast-paced pop song about a 17-year-old girl, providing a great performance. So one has to “see that girl, watch that scene.” ABBA called her the Dancing Queen. Today we are going to watch her on the chessboard.

8/4/2017 – The Sinquefield Cup continues to delight the spectators and chess fans, with its indomitable fighting games and typical drama. The second round too saw three games ending decisively and near-complete effort from all the players. | Photos: Lennart Ootes (Grand Chess Tour)

8/4/2017 – After the first two traumatic games World Champion Boris Spassky was leading 2-0 in the Match of the Century. But then Fischer started to play and struck back: in the next eight games he scored 6½ points, chalking up a 6.5-3.5 lead. Games 8, 9 and 10 were quite spectacular, and are the subject of today's report. Younger players will also learn about "adjournments" and how exactly "sealed moves" were handled. Some were born after these practices were abandoned.

8/4/2017 – In the diagram position Black has just attacked the white queen in the c-file with 26...Nc4-e5, initiating a forced sequence of captures which finally lead to... well, that's for you to work out!

8/4/2017 – It was a remarkable month for ratings, with notable results all over. A few standouts are 18-year-old Wei Yi, who is now no. 14, 14-year-old Alireza Firouzja poised to become a GM at 2518 FIDE, and 13-year-old WFM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who flew to 2421 and will get her IM title soon. If that's not enough, Magnus Carlsen has now opened an 80-Elo gap in the Blitz ratings. Still, the nod must go to Teimour Radjabov, the second youngest player ever in the Top 100, for his win at Geneva.

8/3/2017 – The Xtracon Open and it's forbearer the Politiken Cup is a strong annual open tournament north of Copenhagen. This year fan favorite Baadur Jobava took first place clear with an impressive 8.5 / 10. Krishnan Sasikiran and Marin Bosiocic were second and third. IM David Midema was on the scene in Elsinore | Photo: Sigfred Haubro

8/3/2017 – Aronian’s creativity, Karjakin’s precision in an advantageous position, and full-fledged fights in all the boards were the talking points of the first round at Sinquefield Cup which started today at Saint Louis, USA, the 4th leg of the Grand Chess Tour. So Wesley fell for the time immemorial classic zeitnot tragedy when he blundered on the 40th move and lost to Vachier-Lagrave from a difficult position. | Photos: Lennart Ootes (Grand Chess Tour)

8/3/2017 – Tigran Petrosian had a unique style. But do you recognize his games if you just see the moves? Have a try! Part 1 and 2 of the "Exercises in Style" presented games by Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Aljechin, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal, now follow games by Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer and Karpov. Do you know which World Champion played which game?

8/3/2017 – The new ChessBase Magazine arrived! Issue #179 is packed with games and reports from current tournaments, analyses by top players such as Levon Aronian and Ding Liren, endgame training, tactics and middlegame training, plus lots of hints, tipps and advice to improve and sharpen your opening repertoire. A must for the serious player!

8/2/2017 – Andreas Dückstein is living proof that chess keeps you young. In his long career he played against the world's best and won against Euwe, Botvinnik and Spassky. Today he turned 90 and still loves to play chess. And he is still strong!