10/16/2021 – Vincent Keymer and Awonder Liang made it into the semifinals of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour Finals after beating Leon Mendonca and Nodirbek Abdusattorov respectively. Keymer, who finished the preliminary stage — consisting of four tournaments — atop the overall standings table, had to work hard to take down Mendonca.

10/15/2021 – For the first time in this year’s US Championship, a round finished with all six games drawn, which means Wesley So, Sam Sevian and Aleksandr Lenderman are still sharing the lead going into the second rest day of the event. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Carissa Yip kept the sole lead by scoring her third consecutive victory. Katerina Nemcova is in second place, a half point back, as she also won her round-8 encounter. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/15/2021 – Praggnanandhaa and Christopher Yoo advanced to the semifinals of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour Finals after knocking out Volodar Murzin and Lei Tingjie respectively. While Pragg obtained a commanding 3-0 victory, Yoo was inches away from losing more than once in a match that was decided in blitz tiebreaks. The other two quarterfinal matches will be played on Friday.

10/14/2021 – Three decisive results in round 7 left Wesley So, Sam Sevian and Aleksandr Lenderman in the shared lead of the US Championship. Former co-leader Ray Robson was beat by Fabiano Caruana, who bounced back from two painful consecutive losses. In the women’s championship, Carissa Yip beat Anna Zatonskih to grab the sole lead. Irina Krush and Katerina Nemcova stand a half point behind. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/14/2021 – After taking down former leader Kirill Alekseenko in round 4, Dmitry Andreikin was defeated by Nikita Vitiugov on Wednesday. Vitiugov thus grabbed the sole lead on 3½/5 points. In the women’s section, Valentina Gunina is now sharing first place with Evgenija Ovod, who scored back-to-back wins in rounds 4 and 5. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

10/13/2021 – After drawing their direct encounter, Aleksandr Lenderman and Ray Robson remain in the shared lead of the US Championship. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana lost a second game in a row, this time against Sam Sevian. In the women’s event, Katerina Nemcova is now sharing the lead with Carissa Yip and Ashritha Eswaran. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

10/12/2021 – After three rounds, the Superfinals in Russia have two sole leaders — Kirill Alekseenko in the open section, and Valentina Gunina in the women’s tournament. Both of them have scored two wins and a draw so far in Ufa. Aleksandra Goryachkina, who is playing in the open event, drew Pavel Ponkratov, beat Alexander Motylev and was defeated by Alekseenko. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

10/10/2021 – Ray Robson (pictured) inflicted Jeffery Xiong’s third straight loss to take the sole lead in the US Championship. Five players stand a half point behind, including Leinier Dominguez, who defeated Sam Shankland on Saturday. In the women’s section, Carissa Yip joined Katerina Nemcova in the lead after beating 8-time champion Irina Krush. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/8/2021 – Wesley So joined Ray Robson and John Burke in the lead of the US Championship after beating Dariusz Swiercz in round 2. Meanwhile, Katerina Nemcova (pictured) became the only player in both sections to keep a perfect score after two games, as she defeated Sabina Foisor with the black pieces. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/7/2021 – The US Championships, again taking place over the board, kicked off on Wednesday. The open section saw Ray Robson (pictured) and John Burke grabbing the early lead, while among the women Irina Krush, Katerina Nemcova, Ashritha Eswaran and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova scored full points on the first day of action. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

9/22/2021 – German prodigy Vincent Keymer obtained his second consecutive tournament victory at the Julius Baer Challengers Tour by winning the Hou Yifan Challenge, a 17-player single round-robin tournament that took place online on September 18-21. Christopher Yoo and Praggnanandhaa shared second place, finishing two points behind the winner. Keymer, Yoo and Pragg are 3 out of 8 players who qualified to the knockout final of the tour, set to start on October 14. | Photo: John Saunders

9/21/2021 – Vincent Keymer grabbed the lead on the third day of action at the Hou Yifan Challenge. Praggnanandhaa, who had a perfect 9/9 start, only scored a half point on Monday and is now sharing second place with Christopher Yoo. Pragg has played one more game than Keymer and Yoo in the 17-player single round-robin.

9/20/2021 – Apparently there is no stopping Praggnanandhaa at the Hou Yifan Challenge for young stars. The Indian prodigy has won all 9 of his games so far in the rapid tournament taking place online. Vincent Keymer is currently in second place, two points behind Pragg, albeit with one game less to his name. Keymer will face Pragg on Monday, in round 11. | Pictured: Pragg during a training session with Vladimir Kramnik in 2019 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/18/2021 – Day 1 of the Hou Yifan Challenge, the last regular event of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour, saw Praggnanandhaa scoring five wins in as many games to take the sole lead. Vincent Keymer won his first four games, but lost against Christopher Yoo in the final round of the day, and now stands in sole second place. Pragg’s sister Vaishali was the strongest among the women, as she collected 2½ points in four games. | Pictured: Vaishali and Pragg with their mother, Nagalakshmi | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/18/2021 – Magnus Carlsen beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in Armageddon to secure first place at the 2021 Norway Chess Tournament. This is the world champion’s third straight triumph in his home super-tournament. Alireza Firouzja had a great performance, ending the tournament with four wins in a row to get sole second place and climb to ninth place in the world ranking. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

9/17/2021 – The Hou Yifan Challenge, the final regular event on the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, will take place on September 18-21 in the chess24 Playzone. The prize fund is $15,000, with $3,000 for the winner, who also gets to play alongside Magnus Carlsen and co. in the next edition’s first event of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

9/17/2021 – A fourth straight win prompted Magnus Carlsen to grab the lead at the Norway Chess Tournament in Stavanger. The world champion had an inferior position in the middlegame against Sergey Karjakin, but ended up making the most of his material advantage after the Russian gave up an exchange for the initiative. Meanwhile, Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Richard Rapport in Armageddon, and Alireza Firouzja scored his third consecutive win in classical chess. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

9/16/2021 – By scoring a third straight win — taking down sole leader Richard Rapport — Magnus Carlsen is now only a half point behind the Hungarian with two rounds to go at the Norway Chess Tournament. Round 8 also saw Alireza Firouzja beating Sergey Karjakin and Aryan Tari getting the better of World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. | Photo: Lennart Ootes