6/10/2017 – The idea of learning to create and use techniques like the Memory Palace is both enticing and intimidating. Where to start? How exactly should one go about it? What are the mistakes one can make and should avoid? All this and more is answered in this next article in the series on Memory Techniques, teaching how to build a Memory Palace with some exercises to test yourself. The author also explains what is needed to apply these techniques to chess.

6/10/2017 – It should come as no surprise that after his run, and above all, victory at the US Championship, Wesley So has begun to catch the eye of mainstream media in ways that had eluded him somewhat until now. The Washington Post recently caught up with the young star, with an interview and profile, presenting him to the wider audience.

6/9/2017 – It was back in the 1920s that the Russian master Benjamin Blumenfeld invented his famous gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!?, and to the present day the opening retains great popularity. Black plays for the initiative and the win from the word go. We have a marvellous new Fritztrainer by the very popular English chess trainer Andrew Martin, 4 hours 44 min of intense training with interactive video feedback.

6/9/2017 – In the diagram White can win if he finds the right way to parry Black's mate threat ...Qh1++. The game continuation 36.Qc1 did not hit the bull's eye. Can you do better? Unleash your creativity!

6/9/2017 – The players continue to exhibit an incredibly high level of chess in Norway, but unfortunately it comes at the cost of a bit too many draws.Five equal results make the tournament seem rather dull, and truly it hasn't been a shell-shocker of a tournament. There was some action today, as Nakamura was pressured by Carlsen, and at least Aronian's game against Giri was quite wild.

6/8/2017 – The San Francisco-based company is an online education platform that provides online classes taught by world-renowned instructors: Christina Aguilera (singing), Kevin Spacey, (acting), Gordon Ramsay (cooking), Serena Williams (tennis), Aaron Sorkin (screenwriting), Steve Martin (comedy). Now the teachers are joined by Garry 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov. For $90 you get 20+ lessons, a workbook and Q&A sessions. Pre-enrolment begins today.

6/8/2017 – Round eight of the European Championship finally brought the first sole leader of the event: English GM David Howell. One might have expected a cagey draw between the two leaders of round seven, but the two players battled it out, and Spanish GM Anton Guijarro fell. Now tied for second and third are Bulgarian GM Cheparinov and Russian GM Demchenko. Report and analysis by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

6/8/2017 – This issue is not only packed with thousands of games from top tournaments – Grenke Chess Classic, US Championship, Gashimov-Memorial – many annotated by world class GMs – Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Emil Sutovsky. It also contains 24 video lessons, openings training with eleven surveys by leading experts, and a special section on how a prodigy like 12-year-old IM Nihal Sarin thinks.

6/8/2017 – It was a day of small advantages in Norway, but most of them could not be converted. The games were of a very technical nature, without too many fireworks, but with plenty of interesting endgames and technical difficulties. It was not the type of chess that reminds us of people showering chess boards with gold coins, but it was a day of very high caliber...

6/7/2017 – Rounds six and seven saw an important development: the number of co-leaders has been drastically reduced to two, as two young Spanish and British GMs scored back-to-back victories to take sole lead with six out of a possible seven points. Both GM David Anton Guijarro and David Howell are now the sole leaders, but being an 11-round event, anything goes still. Also note 13-year-old WFM Bibisara (2244 FIDE) who has a 2558 performance so far, all against GMs and IMs!

6/7/2017 – The number of entries for this year's CCWC were disappointingly low, mainly due to the cost of participation. To overcome this problem the International Computer Games Association has decided to change the format and make it much like the FIDE human world championships. This year, from July 3rd-7th, there will be a tournament of four teams, each receiving a subsidy of €2000 from the ICGA. Anf from 2018 on the World Computer Chess Championship will be played as a match, between the reigning World Champion and a challenger chosen by a process that is still to be determined.

6/7/2017 – To put "rooks behind passed pawns" is not always good advice but very often and therefore it's a good endgame guideline. Particularly so, when things get complicated.