11/4/2025 – The knight blocks the king: In an endgame it is often very important, if the attacking king can invade: White to move and win!

11/4/2025 – After a long break from competitive play, GM Jon Speelman returned to the board with three intense games in quick succession - each offering instructive lessons and a few painful oversights. In his latest column, he revisits the most critical moments from these battles, including a London League clash against Jonathan Parker and two 4NCL encounters, inviting readers to test their tactical vision and find the winning ideas that eluded him over the board. | Photo: John Saunders / 4NCL (2014)

11/4/2025 – A tense day of tiebreak battles brought the opening round of the FIDE World Cup to a close on Monday in Goa. Rapid and blitz games decided the fate of 20 hard-fought encounters, as most favourites advanced but a few unexpected heroes emerged. Among them were India's Aronyak Ghosh, Argentina's 12-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro and Kazakhstan's Alisher Suleymenov, each earning a remarkable victory to move into round two. | Photo: Michal Walusza

11/3/2025 – At the start of the 28th Open International Bavarian Chess Championships (OIBM) on the picturesque shores of Lake Tegernsee, there was palpable tension on the first day of the tournament, both around the chessboards and during the breaks when the more than 500 participants from over 30 countries gathered together. As soon as the first move was made, it was clear that this was a tournament where a passion for chess met international standards. It deserved special attention not only because of its size, but also because of the quality of the competitors. The historic Gut Kaltenbrunn estate provided the perfect setting for a tournament that skilfully combined leisure and competition. | Photos: Organiser / Stev Bonhage, Sandra Schmidt, Sebastian Siebrecht

11/3/2025 – FIDE Grand Swiss 2025: analyses by Giri, Bluebaum, Vaishali, Abdusattorov, Mishra, Vidit and many more – "The double blockade": Mihail Marin highlights scenarios in which it is advantageous to block passed pawns with a knight and bishop – Action in the Nimzo-Indian: Balázs Csonka examines 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.e5!? – "The key defender": In his ‘Practical Tips for Tournament Players’, Jan Markos shows how to identify and eliminate your opponent's most important piece – All in One: Romain Edouard himself was amazed at how well 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 e5!? works, and much more.

11/3/2025 – Bringing together veteran masters from across the globe, the World Senior Championships concluded in Gallipoli, Italy, after eleven rounds of classical play. The event attracted a record 467 participants from 67 countries. Victor Mikhalevski, Alexander Reprintsev, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant and Galina Strutinskaia claimed the world titles, rounding off a memorable edition rich in experience and international spirit. | Photos: FIDE

10/30/2025 – Budva is all about chess as the 2025 European Youth Chess Championship gets underway. The best young players from across Europe have gathered in the Montenegrin coastal town to compete in twelve age groups, from U8 to U18, with separate competitions for boys and girls, to determine their European champions. The tournament is being played with a classical time limit, with each player having 90 minutes thinking time, plus an additional 30 seconds per move. | Photos: Mark Livshitz

10/30/2025 – Magnus Carlsen secured overall victory at the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown in Saint Louis with two games to spare, finishing on 25½ points after winning four consecutive games on the final day. Fabiano Caruana, coming from his US Championship triumph, took second place on 16½ points, while Hikaru Nakamura finished third with 14. Gukesh Dommaraju, who had led after day one, ended in fourth on 10 points ahead of the upcoming FIDE World Cup. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/30/2025 – GM Surya Ganguly’s Calculation Training – Part 2 takes players beyond the structured basics of the first course (forcing moves, elimination, short calculation, visualization, and comparison) into a more complex, tournament-like environment. The lessons mix attack, defense, long calculation, imagination, and unusual tactical patterns, forcing students to think without hints and develop practical decision-making under pressure. Ganguly also emphasizes psychology and mindset, sharing his own instructive experiences against elite players like Morozevich and Nigel Short - moments of missed tactics, emotional struggle, and recovery. The goal is to help players train calculation depth, accuracy, and resilience as if playing real tournament games.

10/29/2025 – Wijk aan Zee is set to welcome the chess world once again as the 88th Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place from 16 January to 1 February 2026. Known as the 'Wimbledon of Chess', the event boasts its youngest lineups to date, with four top-10 players and a 23-year average age. Rising stars, established elite competitors and a passionate local community promise a thrilling and vibrant edition by the Dutch coast. | Photo: Official website

10/29/2025 – Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown is a high-profile rapid tournament gathering four elite competitors. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju joins Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in a concentrated three-day battle. The competition runs from 27 to 29 October and follows a "clutch" structure of three double round-robins, where results become progressively more valuable with each round-robin. | Follow the action live starting at 18.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST)

10/29/2025 – In Saint Louis, Fabiano Caruana has just won the U.S. Championship for the fourth time in a row and is currently playing in the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown. Sagar Shah from ChessBase India is also in Saint Louis to cover the event and took the opportunity to interview Caruana. In their conversation, Caruana spoke about the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown and the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, and also shared fond memories of Daniel Naroditsky. | Picture: Video screenshot