7/25/2019 – FIDE continues to encourage public participation in its wide-ranging survey with research firm Nielsen and the survey closes this weekend. Now is your last chance to participate! Meanwhile, another Nielsen, Magnus Carlsen's second Peter Heine Nielsen, continues to engage FIDE leadership in a public discussion around financial transparency and leadership.

7/25/2019 – This episode IM Robert Ris will examine the exciting Gruenfeld Defence which remains a potent weapon for Black against 1.d4. The live show at 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST / 1 PM EDT) is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. In the diagram, it's White to play and win!

7/25/2019 – Vidit Gujrathi didn't play perfect chess, but his slow and steady build-up was too much for Peter Leko to take, and the Indian GM now takes over sole lead in the tournament. Nodirbek Abdusattorov handed Sam Shankland a defeat in the 4.d3 Anti-Berlin after the 2018 US Champion lost his objectivity and overextended his queenside. Parham Maghsoodloo's loss of form turned worrying, as an overestimation cost him a sure draw, with Jorge Cori being the lucky beneficiary. | Photos: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

7/25/2019 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix series in Riga after defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with Black in Armageddon. The contenders showed great fighting spirit throughout their final match-up, with Vachier-Lagrave twice stepping up to get wins on demand. Thanks to this triumph, Mamedyarov now shares first place with Alexander Grischuk in the GP overall standings table. | Photo: World Chess

7/24/2019 – The FIDE Grand Prix has just ended and IM Merijn van Delft has flagged the semi-final Catalan of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov as his Game of the Week. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. Merijn is on-demand this week starting at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT).

7/24/2019 – Wolfram Runkel (1937-2019) was a journalist and writer of the prestigious Hamburg weekly "Die Zeit". In this role he was the founder of the tradition of chess reporting in a mainstream outlet. He was also a pioneer in bringing the subject of computer chess to the attention of the German public and, notably, of a young journalist who went on to co-found a large chess software company. Runkel died last Friday after a long illness. Read Frederic Friedel's personal eulogy. | Photo: Hans Walter Schmitt

7/24/2019 – Game one of the FIDE Grand Prix final in Riga finished surprisingly quickly, as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov took down Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from the white side of a Grünfeld Defence in 28 moves. In the second classical game MVL battled back to tie the score forcing a tiebreak, July 24th starting at 12:00 UTC (14:00 CEST, 8:00 AM EDT), with live games and commentary. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

7/24/2019 – One doesn't lose forever! Sebastian Bogner, the current Swiss Champion, taught us all how to get out of a rut by clinically destroying Parham Maghsoodloo's weak opening play to get himself back into contention. Sam Shankland had the (missed) chance of the round against Vidit, but the American failed to assess properly the best continuation available to him. Peter Leko continued his remarkable fable by turning over a new leaf yet again — his game against Georgiadis lasted an epic 101 moves!

7/24/2019 – The Slovenian city of Maribor celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first chess club in the city this year. A number of well-known grandmasters took this opportunity to participate in this year's chess festival, among them, Antoaneta Stefanova, women's world champion from 2004 to 2006. From there she won the strong Women's Open in Shaoxing, China, scoring 7 points from 9 games. The Bulgarian, born in 1979 and the mother of a nine-month-old girl, remained undefeated and ended up one point ahead of China's Guo Qi, Harika Dronavalli of India and Munguntuul Batkhuyag from Mongolia, who shared places two to four.

7/23/2019 – After a quick loss in game one, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave evened the score of the final with a 32-move win out of an Italian Opening at the Grand Prix in Riga. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov did not react well to his opponent's unhurried approach, which provoked his position to collapse rapidly. The winner of the event will be decided on Wednesday's tiebreaks, starting at 12:00 UTC (14:00 CEST, 8:00 AM EDT). | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

7/23/2019 – With so many events going on it must be hard for IM Lawrence Trent to choose. This week he's decided on two "fantastic attacking games" from ongoing events. Free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.

7/23/2019 – With the prestigious title of Biel Champion on the line, the players produced one of the most energetic rounds of classical chess in recent times, and produced a decisive result on all four boards in round one of the Biel GM 2019! Peter Leko and Vidit Gujarathi channelled their inner Karpovs and slowly squeezed the life out of Bogner and Cori respectively, while Shankland and Maghsoodloo beat back their opponents, Georgiadis and Abdusattorov, in contrasting Sicilian victories to maintain their spots in the standings.

7/23/2019 – Today, in the times of data gathering, data security and strict privacy rules, it is hard to imagine but in the 1960s chess yearbooks could and did publish the addresses of famous chess players. Which now allows you to virtually visit the houses in which Fischer, Fine, Denker and other chess players had lived in New York in 1966. | Photo: World Chess Hall of Fame, St. Louis

7/23/2019 – Mating attacks are always possible, even in the endgame with only a few pieces left on the board.

7/22/2019 – Game one of the FIDE Grand Prix final in Riga finished surprisingly quickly, as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov took down Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from the white side of a Grünfeld Defence in 28 moves. The second classical game of the finals will be played on Tuesday, July 23rd, starting at 12:00 UTC (14:00 CEST, 8:00 AM EDT), with Vachier-Lagrave in need of a win to take the match-up to tiebreaks. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

7/22/2019 – Rustam Kasimhanov is considered one of the best opening experts. On his series on the French Defence, he explains how to succeed as White with 3.Nc3, with a repertoire against the three major French system. This week only: All three DVDs as a package for only 49.90 euros (instead of 89.70).

7/22/2019 – In this Simon Says, Grandmaster Simon Williams, himself a great fan of 'Harry the h-pawn' examines the modern theoretical trend of launching h2-h4 earlier and earlier in the opening. Watch live for free (for a limited time) starting at the usual hour: 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT).

7/22/2019 – The 2019 edition of the Biel Chess Festival began with the rapid tournament. Three formats being used to determine the overall winner, and rapid wins earned 2 points with 1 point for a draw. Peter Leko turned back the clock with a commanding performance to take the tournament by storm, finishing sole first with 10/14! His subtle endgame play granted him a trio of wins, enough to finish ahead of the top seed Sam Shankland and his nearest competitors Vidit Gujrathi and Parham Maghsoodloo. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival