5/15/2021 – Despite losing his last-round encounter against women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, Yu Yangyi won the open section of the Chinese Championship for a second time in less than six months. The fourth highest-rated player in the country collected 7 points in 11 rounds and edged Wei Yi and Li Di on tiebreaks. Tan Zhongyi had already secured first place in the women’s section with a round to spare.

5/14/2021 – Chess and bridge are the only ‘mind sports’ recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The two highly popularized games also share that cheating has become a growing preoccupation for fans and organizers alike. In a recently released documentary, Israeli filmmaker Daniel Sivan tells the story of a cheating scandal which involved Lotan Fisher, the strongest bridge player in the world. | Pictured: Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz

5/14/2021 – Garry Kasparov has described him as a world-champion level grandmaster, an assessment that is shared by much of the chess world. A true genius, Vasyl Ivanchuk has won a number of super-tournaments and has been ranked number 2 in the FIDE rankings three times. The Ukrainian also won the World Rapid Championship in 2016, and celebrated in style.

5/12/2021 – The Chinese Chess Championships are being played on May 7-15 in Xinghua Jiangsu, a county-level city in eastern China. After seven rounds, three players are sharing the lead in the open event while rating favourite Tan Zhongyi has grabbed the sole lead in the women’s tournament. | Pictured: Tan Zhongyi during the 2018 Women’s World Championship | Photo: Gu Xiaobang

5/11/2021 – There was no stopping the favourites at the Premier League and the Women’s Tournament of the Russian Team Championships. Mednyi Vsadnik and the Moscow Chess Team won their final matches despite having secured first places with a round to spare. In the open section, the winning team had an inspired Andrey Esipenko on board 4 — the 19-year-old scored 6½/7 points. | Photo: Vladimir Barsky

5/9/2021 – The Russian Team Championships are being played on May 1-10 at the Hotel Zhemchuzhina in Sochi. Besides the Premier League, a 9-team round robin, the Women’s League and the Higher League are taking place as Swiss tournaments. Both in the Premier League and the Women’s Tournament, the clear favourites have managed to win all of their matches — the Mednyi Vsadnik (Iron Horsemen) led by Nikita Vitiugov and the Moscow Chess Team led by Kateryna Lagno. | Pictured: Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: Vladimir Barsky

5/8/2021 – Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Klaudia Kulon prevailed in the open and women’s sections of the 2021 Polish Championships, played over the board in Bydgoszcz. This was Wojtaszek’s fourth victory in the national championship, while Kulon won the women’s title for the first time in her career. | Photos: Official site

5/6/2021 – Wesley So has proven to be capable of beating any player from the elite, including world champion Magnus Carlsen. The Filipino-born grandmaster, currently representing the United States, obtained his highest-ever live rating in April 2017, following a streak of remarkable results in the elite circuit. We look back at the successes that helped the ever-humble star to reach the second spot in the world ranking. | Photo: South African Junior Chess Championship Facebook page

5/5/2021 – The 2021 Icelandic Championship took place on April 22-30 in Kópavogur. It was a 10-player single round robin. Rating favourite Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson finished in sole first place with a 7/9 score. Jóhann Hjartarson came second with 6½ points, while defending champion Guðmundur Kjartansson got third place after collecting 6 points. | Pictured: Grétarsson during round 7 | Photos: Official site

5/4/2021 – The 2021 Polish Chess Championships are taking place from April 29 to May 7 in Bydgoszcz. The open tournament is a 16-player knockout event, while the women’s section is being played as a 9-round single round robin. The biggest upsets in the open were given by IM Pawel Teclaf, who knocked out GM Mateusz Bartel and Robert Kempinski in consecutive rounds. | Pictured: Joanna Dworakowska facing Joanna Majdan | Photo: Official site

5/3/2021 – Only needing a draw in the second set of the finals against Hikaru Nakamura, Magnus Carlsen bounced back from a loss in game 1 with a win in game 3 — Nakamura could not win on demand in game 4, which meant Carlsen had won his first event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov obtained a 2½-½ victory over Levon Aronian to secure third place.

5/2/2021 – In a hard-fought first set of the New in Chess Classic finals, Magnus Carlsen grabbed the lead by scoring a 3-1 win over Hikaru Nakamura. After drawing the first two games and losing the third encounter, Naka had a better position in a must-win situation. The American mishandled his advantage and Carlsen ended up scoring a second win in a row. Meanwhile, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Levon Aronian tied the first set in the match for third place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/30/2021 – Hikaru Nakamura won the first set of his semifinal match against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian drew their first mini-match. Both Carlsen and Nakamura were undefeated before the semis, and both were beaten for the first time in the New in Chess Classic on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/28/2021 – Ding Liren, Kirill Alekseenko and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished the 2020-21 Candidates Tournament on a high note, scoring wins over Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri and Wang Hao respectively. Fabiano Caruana and Alexander Grischuk signed a draw. In his last interview of the event, Wang announced his retirement from competitive chess. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/26/2021 – Ian Nepomniachtchi gained the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen in the upcoming World Championship match after winning the Candidates Tournament with a round to spare. Russia’s number 1 drew Maxime Vachier-Lagrave while second-placed Anish Giri was defeated by Alexander Grischuk. Given the tiebreak criteria, even if Giri catches up with Nepo in the last round, he would not be granted tournament victory. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/26/2021 – With two wins and three draws, Magnus Carlsen climbed to sole first place in the preliminaries of the New in Chess Classic. The world champion and Hikaru Nakamura are the only two players who remain undefeated in the online tournament. Naka, who also collected two wins on Sunday, is now sharing second place with Alireza Firouzja. The best score of day 2, was obtained by Vietnamese star Le Quang Liem. | Pictured: Carlsen, Tari and Christiansen are playing from the Meltwater offices in Oslo.

4/25/2021 – An exciting round with four decisive results left two players as the main contenders to win the Candidates Tournament. Anish Giri continued his run of excellent form and beat Fabiano Caruana with the black pieces, but could not catch up with Ian Nepomniachtchi, who got the better of Wang Hao. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren also won. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/24/2021 – Anish Giri climbed to sole second place at the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg thanks to a brilliant win over Ding Liren in round 11. While Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana drew their direct encounter, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was defeated by Alexander Grischuk in a sharp battle. In a crucial face-off, Caruana will have the white pieces against Giri in Saturday’s twelfth round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes