11/18/2019 – Alexander Grischuk defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2½:1½ in the rapid tiebreakers of the final match at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg. He thus claimed tournament victory and greatly increased his chances of reaching next year's Candidates. The Russian lost the first game of the day but bounced back with two straight victories. In the fourth encounter of the day, he had a winning position when the draw was agreed. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

11/17/2019 – For a second day in a row, Alexander Grischuk got the upper hand against Jan-Krzysztof Duda at the final of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg. Duda lost the opening battle but managed to find correct defensive moves one time after another until the draw was agreed. The champion will be decided in Sunday's tiebreakers. | Photo: Official site

11/16/2019 – In the first game of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg, Alexander Grischuk was the one missing a good chance to get ahead on the score board. The Russian got a promising position with White, but could not make the most of it, after both he and Jan-Krzysztof Duda survived a deep time trouble scramble. Another draw in game two will mean the final will be decided in Sunday's tiebreaks. | Photo: Official site

11/14/2019 – The second finalist at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg is Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The Polish grandmaster will be facing Alexander Grischuk starting Friday to decide who will become the champion in the second-largest city of Germany. Duda defeated Daniil Dubov in rapid tiebreaks despite losing the first encounter against the Russian. | Photo: Official site

11/13/2019 – Alexander Grischuk knocked Maxime Vachier-Lagrave out of the Grand Prix in Hamburg by beating him in the second classical game of the semi-finals. Grischuk thus massively increased his chances to reach the 2020 Candidates Tournament through the series. Meanwhile, Daniil Dubov got a slight edge against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but could not make much of it — their semi-final match-up will be decided in tiebreaks. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

11/12/2019 – The first classical games of the semi-finals at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg ended in draws. Both games went into theoretical lines that led to draws in less than thirty moves. In Tuesday's rematch games, Alexander Grischuk and Daniil Dubov will have the white pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, respectively. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

11/11/2019 – The one match that went to tiebreaks at the second round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg saw Daniil Dubov getting the better of Peter Svidler. Svidler had the upper hand in both 25-minute encounters, but could not convert any of his good positions into a win. Dubov, on the other hand, made the most of his good position in game three of the rapid play-offs. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

11/10/2019 – Only one match-up will be decided in tiebreaks at the second round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg, as Russians Peter Svidler and Daniil Dubov drew for a second day in a row and will be playing rapid and blitz on Sunday. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda secured their spots in the semi-finals in the classical phase, thus getting one extra point at the overall GP standings. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

11/9/2019 – The quarter-finals of the Hamburg Grand Prix kicked off at the Theater Kehrwieder on Friday. The only winner of the day was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who beat Veselin Topalov with the black pieces and only needs a draw in the rematch game to advance once again without needing tiebreaks. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, David Navara and Peter Svidler drew with Black against Yu Yangyi, Alexander Grischuk and Daniil Dubov respectively. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

11/8/2019 – A pair of rapid games were enough to decide three out of four tiebreaker match-ups at the third leg of the Grand Prix in Hambrug. Daniil Dubov eliminated Teimour Radjabov only when the blitz phase was reached, while David Navara, Alexander Grischuk and Yu Yangyi dispatched their opponents after playing two 25-minute games. Nikita Vitiugov, Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Dmitry Jakovenko were knocked out of the competition. | Photo: Valeria Gordienko

11/7/2019 – All eight rematch games of round one finished drawn at the Grand Prix in Hamburg. Thus, opening day winners Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Veselin Topalov and Peter Svidler secured a spot at the quarter-finals. Hikaru Nakamura, who was eliminated by Topalov, finished his Grand Prix run this year, as this was his third and last appearance in the series. Four match-ups will be decided in rapid, blitz and potentially Armageddon tiebreakers. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

11/6/2019 – Four players kicked off the third leg of the FIDE Grand Prix Series with a win at the Theater Kehrwieder in Hamburg. The results of the day particularly favoured Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, as he beat Wei Yi with the white pieces, while Ian Nepomniachtchi — another big contender to get one of the two Candidates spots at stake — lost against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Peter Svidler and Veselin Topalov also won their inaugural encounters. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

11/3/2019 – Wesley So needed only six out of the twelve scheduled games to take down Magnus Carlsen at the final of the Fischer Random World Championship in Bærum. The final score was a resounding 13½:2½ in favour of the American, who thus became the official world champion in this format. In the match for third place, Ian Nepomniachtchi got the better of Fabiano Caruana after recovering from his painful loss against So in the semis. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

11/2/2019 – Both Russian squads took clear first place at the European Team Championships in Batumi. Kirill Alekseenko scored the sole win that gave his team a final round victory over Poland in the open section. Ukraine managed only a draw against Croatia, but nevertheless got the silver medals ahead of England, who were relegated to third place on tiebreak criteria. In the Women's, Georgia and Anzerbaijan got second and third places, respectively. | Photo: Official site

11/2/2019 – Wesley So impressed during day two of the finals at the Fischer Random World Championship as he defeated Magnus Carlsen twice to get a whopping 10½:1½ lead, which means he only needs two more points to take the title. In the match for third place, Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Fabiano Caruana once to get a three-point edge before Saturday's 'fast rapid' and blitz games. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

11/1/2019 – With one round to go at the European Team Championships in Batumi, Russia and Ukraine are sharing the lead on 13 match points in the open section. The deciding final day of action will see Ukraine facing Croatia and Russia playing against the third seeds from Poland. Meanwhile, among the women, Russia did manage to reach the final round in the sole lead, which means a victory over Turkey will be enough to secure the gold. The final round starts four hours earlier than usual. | Photo: Official site

11/1/2019 – Wesley So has a 4½:1½ lead over Magnus Carlsen after day one of the finals at the Fischer Random World Championship in Norway. The Filipino-born grandmaster and the world champion played two remarkable games, but only So made the most of the time he had a better position. Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi, in the meantime, traded wins and go into day two with the score tied in the match for third place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

10/31/2019 – The Russian teams are alone atop the standings table both at the open and women's sections of the European Team Championships in Batumi. In round six, Dmitry Andreikin defeated Vassily Ivanchuk in the only decisive game of the key Russia v Ukraine match-up, while Germany upset Azerbaijan to take sole second place. Among the women, Russia failed to win a match for the first time in the tournament, as Azerbaijan held them to a draw. | Photo: Official site