5/1/2017 – There were few surprises in the final round of the Gashimov Memorial, and kudos to Alex Yermolinsky for so astutely predicting the action (or lack thereof). Shakhriyar Mamedyarov capped his great run by taking clear first for a second year in a row, showing the event inspires him. Most games were quiet cautious affairs with one exception: Eljanov-Kramnik that had swings and study-like wins. Here is the report with fascinating analysis by GM Elshan Moradiabadi. | Photos: ShamkirChess.az

5/1/2017 – GM Jan Timman, in his work as a chess composer, is a fan of checkmates with the bishop. He may be pleased to see that we will be presenting studies where a bishop is the hero of the day – partly as a gift to Jan, whose 65th birthday composing tourney has as its theme "mate by the bishop or struggle against mate by the bishop". Todays three studies are by Soviet composers, one of whom perished tragically under Stalin. Fortunately (for the chess world) he handed his notebook to Mikhail Botvinnik before he disappeared.

4/30/2017 – At 2.30 p.m. CET ( 6 p.m. Indian standard time) we will witness an extra ordinary event on the Playchess server. The 2nd ChessBase India online prize money blitz tournament. 14 grandmasters and 12 International Masters are going to fight for the champion's trophy. The biggest attraction is the participation of B. Adhiban, who finished third at the Tata Steel Masters. Here's how you can view the tournament live.

4/30/2017 – These were the words that accompanied the present article, and it is no surprise. What a difference a day makes! After a snoozefest in the previous round, today the players unleashed their warrior spirit, and in no small way either. Three decisive games were the result, and in all of them the player with a lower score came on top. Of course, it caused a big upheaval in the tournament standings department. Report and predictions by Alex Yermolinsky.

4/29/2017 – A chess paradise must be something like this idyllic setting with gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, clement weather and beautiful beaches, with chess to boot. Concluding her account of the event, people, food, and games, here is the large illustrated report with plenty of high-resolution photos by Alina L'Ami.

4/29/2017 – Officially the day off was after round five, but round seven was also a day when not much happened. To be fair to the players, it wasn't all about quiet nothings happening at the board as was the case between Eljanov and So, who played a more interesting game. On the other hand, Topalov could not break from the theory cage Radjabov set up that killed the action before it had a chance to happen. Report and analysis by Alex Yermolinsky.

4/25/2017 – In an endgame pawn race every tempo counts. But rushing blindly forward is rarely a good strategy. Karsten Müller shows why.

4/25/2017 – With a description such as “sacrificed the rook for some pawns and initiative”, a few players come to mind in the field at such as the current leader Mamedyarov, or Topalov, but Kramnik, in spite of his enormous ability, is not your usual choice. Yet in round four, in a dubious position against Harikrishna, the Russian took preemptive measures and turned the game on its head with a spectacular rook sacrifice. Illustrated report with enlightening analysis by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson.

4/24/2017 – In March there was an international furore over a chess position, published by famous mathematics professor Sir Roger Penrose. It purported to show a key difference between human and computer thinking, and have general implications for our understanding of Artificial Intelligence. The example was unconvincing, but as a reaction a number of chess players and AI researchers have sent us papers we want to share with you. We start with a challenge to humans and machines issued by GM Miguel Illescas.

4/24/2017 – The Berlin Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6) is a very solid line for Black - so solid that players dubbed it "The Berlin Wall". But Alexei Shirov has some ideas "how to crack the Berlin Wall". Hedinn Steingrimsson liked these ideas - and so did Hou Yifan who used Shirov's recommendations to beat Fabiano Caruana in round 1 of the Grenke Classic.

4/24/2017 – Round three saw intriguing matchups, and two decisive results. The first matchup was the classic between Kramnik and Topalov, who always promise a game worth watching for the spectators, but no blood was spilled this time. The big one due to the standings, was between Mamdeyarov and Eljanov. It was an extremely complicated King's Indian that saw both players have winning edges, and the Azeri with the last word. See the game, and read the notes by Aleksander Lenderman!

4/23/2017 – In conjunction with the Kasparov Chess Foundation's 15th Anniversary Celebration, the Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific proposed five activities as its contribution and four of them came together with a tour of four countries in Asia with the common theme of Chess in Education. Here is an illustrated report by Peter Long