7/30/2016 – The idea of critical moments is not hard to understand, and perhaps because of this is so easy to underestimate. These key moments in our games are essentially the turning point, leading to a decisive and negative change if missed or played improperly. Veteran trainer Adrian Mikhalchishin casts his expert eye on this topic to teach the student to recognize them and not misplay them.

7/30/2016 – In the midst of revolutionary turmoil, Turkey still hosted its top chess league, the Turkish İş Bank Chess League, with stars such as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2764), Vassily Ivanchuk (2728), Ernesto Inarkiev (2730), and many more. It is held in in Izmir, at the Kaya Thermal Hotel, and has reached its midway point with six of thirteen rounds, with tons of great action. Here is the illustrated report with games.

7/30/2016 – Magnus Carlsen has won the event twice before. This year the Norwegian World Champion, playing in a six-player double round robin, started slowly, losing for the first time to Hikaru Nakamura in the classical time limit. He went on to win four games, one more than all his opponents combined. Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek analyses two games of the winner who turned the other world-class players into spectators.

7/29/2016 – The 2016 Sinquefield Cup, one of the strongest tournaments of the year, will start in about a week, on 5th August, in St. Louis. Unfortunately Vladimir Kramnik, with a rating of 2812 currently officially number two in the world, had to withdraw due to health issues. But with Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Ding Liren, Vishy Anand, Wesley So and Veselin Topalov the line-up is still enormously impressive, promising a fantastic tournament. Press release...

7/29/2016 – Bournemouth, the large resort town on the south coast of England, hosts the 103rd British Championships. From 23rd July to 6th August a large number of various tournaments are played. 86 players start in the Championship group, among them Michael Adams, David Howell and Gawain Jones. After four rounds these three all have 3.5/4 and share the lead with Nicholas Pert, Keith Arkell and Justin Tan. After each round Andrew Martin presents the game of the day.

7/29/2016 – As so often before it was the Najdorf that brought Maxime Vachier-Lagrave an important victory. The French Grandmaster had Black in the third game of his match against Peter Svidler, and Svidler, who had to win the game to stay in the match, tried an unusual, sharp line of the Najdorf. But while Vachier-Lagrave at one point in the game was worse he managed to win with a surprising counterattack. Including rapid and classical games Vachier-Lagrave now leads 7.5-2.5 and won the match with one round to go.

7/26/2016 – Currently, Grandmaster Nigel Davies, author of 40 DVDs and 17 books, does not play in tournaments. But he attends them, as parental support for his 14-year-old son Sam. In this interview, Nigel discusses chess improvement, the concept of being fully engaged, martial arts and fighting, chess parenting, and why he and Sam are in different chess federations.

7/25/2016 – Iran has been especially active in chess of late, organizing events such as the FIDE Women Grand Prix in Tehran, to the International Khazar Cup. Nevertheless, one of its most interesting was the recent First Stars Cup pitting a team of international grandmasters such as Nigel Short, and more, against a team of Iran's best players. The top performer was 15-year-old Maghsoodloo.

7/25/2016 – Miguel Najdorf was a successful businessman, a colorful personality, a man with a passion for chess and one of the best chess players of his time. He was born in Poland but when the Second World War broke out during the Chess Olympiad 1939 in Buenos Aires he decided to stay in Argentine. But Poland still honors him with a memorial that year after year attracts strong players. This year Grzegorz Gajewski won.

7/25/2016 – From 19th to 22nd July the Chinese number one Ding Liren, with a rating of 2778 currently number eight in the world, and Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk, with a rating of 2747 currently number 18 in the world, played a four-game match in Wenzhou, China. Grischuk won the first game from a worse position and Ding Liren did not manage to equalise the score in the following three games. Grischuk won the match 2.5-1.5.

7/25/2016 – The most illustrious event of the International Chess Festival Biel is the match between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Peter Svidler. Yesterday's rapid games were entertaining and made one wish for more. Now follow four games with classical time-control interrupted by a rest day after two games. But one should not forget the strong A-Open. Daniel King comments the most interesting moments in a daily live-show.

7/24/2016 – The 49th International Chess Festival Biel has just started and will go from Saturday, July 23 until Wednesday, August 3 2016. Of great interest is the Masters Challenge, an eight-game Rapid and Classical match between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, currently World number two, and Peter Svidler, number 14. Here is the illustrated report with video and games.