2/26/2021 – A 10-player closed GM tournament was organized in Barcelona on February 16-24. Former French national champion Matthieu Cornette finished in clear first place on 7/9. His countryman, 13-year-old Marc Andria Maurizzi, got sole second place and obtained his second GM norm — Maurizzi is still in time to become France’s youngest-ever grandmaster. | Photo: Echiquier Bordelais

2/25/2021 – In a mind-boggling performance, Fabiano Caruana won the second edition of the Sinquefield Cup after scoring victories in his first seven games and obtaining a stratospheric Tournament Performance Rating. The six-player field had an average Elo rating of 2802 and included world champion Magnus Carlsen. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

2/23/2021 – The Armenian Championships, open and women’s, are taking place on February 16-28 at the Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. After 6 rounds, Hovhannes Gabuzyan and Susanna Gaboyan are the sole leaders of the national events. | Photos: Gevorg Perkuperkayn / ArmenPress

2/22/2021 – Grenke Bank defeated SBER in the final match to win the 1st FIDE World Corporate Championship. The German team, led by Georg Meier and Alina Kashlinskaya, beat Anahuac (Mexico) and PT Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok (Indonesia) in the knockout stage before facing the Russian favourites headed by Ian Nepomniachtchi.

2/19/2021 – Due to the worldwide crisis, the Candidates Tournament was interrupted exactly halfway through after seven rounds had been played on 26 March 2020. The second half of the event will resume 389 days later. We take a look at the performances of the eight participants during the last 11 months. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

2/18/2021 – Now that FIDE has announced that the second half of the Candidates Tournament will be played in April, it’s a good time to remember how Magnus Carlsen qualified to play for the World Championship title for the first time, in 2013. The Norwegian was the favourite and started strong, but Vladimir Kramnik made an impressive comeback in the second half. The Russian, however, fell barely short at the very end, and Carlsen won the tournament on tiebreaks. | Photos: Ray Morris-Hill

2/15/2021 – Wesley So defeated Magnus Carlsen in the final of the Opera Euro Rapid tournament to bag a second consecutive victory in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Carlsen lost game 1 after playing a speculative piece sacrifice and never managed to bounce back, missing opportunities in games 3 and 4. Meanwhile, Teimour Radjabov convincingly beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to claim third place.

2/13/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So advanced to the final of the Opera Euro Rapid tournament, to be played on Saturday and Sunday starting at 17.00 CET. For a second time in a row, Carlsen knocked out his opponent in the Armageddon decider, while So had a much shorter day at the office, as it was impossible for Teimour Radjabov to win the match once the American collected two points in their second mini-match. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

2/11/2021 – Two out of four quarterfinal matches at the Opera Euro Rapid tournament went to tiebreaks, with Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov eliminating Daniil Dubov and Anish Giri in the blitz section of their matches. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So also moved on to the semifinals. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

2/9/2021 – One of the pre-tournament favourites, online blitz specialist Hikaru Nakamura, did not make it into the knockout stage of the Opera Rapid tournament after failing to convert a winning position in the last round against Sam Shankland. Nakamura was eliminated on tiebreak criteria, as he got the same score as Daniil Dubov but won fewer games than the Russian. Ian Nepomniachtchi also had a tough day at the office and was eliminated. Magnus Carlsen won the preliminary stage; Anish Giri scored as many points as the world champion but collected fewer wins. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

2/7/2021 – Alexei Shirov won his last two games to remain ahead of David Anton and Eduardo Iturrizaga — who also won their last two encounters — and get clear first place at the Salamanca Masters. Shirov finished with an outstanding 6/7 score in the rapid tournament. Elisabeth Paehtz was the strongest among the women. | Photos: Official site

2/7/2021 – Day 1 of the Opera Euro Rapid tournament finished with Magnus Carlsen alone atop the standings table on 4/5. Carlsen had lost his first game against Wesley So, but managed to win four in a row to go into day 2 half a point ahead of So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The preliminary round robin serves as a qualifier to the knockout stage — 8 out of 16 players will advance to the quarterfinals. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

2/6/2021 – An eventful fifth round in Salamanca left Alexei Shirov as the sole leader of the single round robin tournament. In typical style, Shirov went all in for a kingside attack — which the engines evaluated as unsound — to take down Almira Skripchenko. Former co-leader Veselin Topalov, in the meantime, was defeated by Eduardo Iturrizaga. Expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller. | Photos: Official site

2/5/2021 – Veterans Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov are sharing the lead at the Salamanca Masters, taking place this week as an over-the-board rapid tournament. David Antón and Eduardo Iturrizaga are trailing the leaders a half point behind and are yet to face the Bulgarian. Only round 5 will be played on Friday, while the tournament will come to an end on Saturday. | Photos: Official site

2/1/2021 – There was no lack of excitement on the last day of action at this year’s Tata Steel Masters tournament. Jorden van Foreest defeated Nils Grandelius from the white side of a Najdorf to catch up with Anish Giri, who drew David Anton with the black pieces — these results meant an all-Dutch playoff would decide the winner. Two draws in the blitz tiebreakers were followed by an Armageddon decider, in which Giri got a major advantage but ended up losing in a wild time scramble. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

1/31/2021 – Anish Giri failed to convert a superior position against Alireza Firouzja in the penultimate round of the Tata Steel chess tournament. The Dutchman nevertheless goes into the final day of action as the sole leader, with three players standing a half point behind. In case of a tie for first place, a blitz tiebreaker — and Armageddon, if necessary — will decide the winner. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

1/29/2021 – Anish Giri is still the sole leader with two rounds to go at the Tata Steel chess tournament. The Dutchman drew world champion Magnus Carlsen with black while none of the players from the chasing pack managed to score a full point. Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja played a thrilling game, in which both missed chances to win. Jorden van Foreest rejoined the group trailing Giri by a half point with a victory over Pentala Harikrishna. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

1/28/2021 – Anish Giri scored a win from what seemed to be a drawn position over Radoslaw Wojtaszek to grab the sole lead in round 10 of the Tata Steel chess tournament. Three players are chasing the Dutchman a half point behind — Andrey Esipenko joined previous co-leaders Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja in shared second place thanks to his victory over David Anton. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021