5/18/2022 – The world’s top two chess stars go head-to-head starting Thursday at the Chessable Masters, the fourth leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Norway’s world champion Magnus Carlsen will face Ding Liren, who returns having regained his second spot in the world ranking. The field also includes two of the most promising rising stars in the chess world, Praggnanandhaa and Abhimanyu Mishra.

5/18/2022 – The Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland will be held at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw on May 17-23. It will feature four full tour players and six wildcard players. The field will be headed by Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian. Vishy Anand and Jan-Krzysztof Duda are the highest-rated wildcards included in the mix. The first round of the Rapid Tournament starts 19 May, 14.00 CEST (8.00 EST, 12.00 UTC). | Photo: Lennart Ootes (Croatia GCT, 2019)

5/17/2022 – In his ‘Weekly Show’ Lawrence Trent focuses on the Superbet chess classic. The game of the day is the clutch victory by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the tiebreak vs Levon Aronian which secured him the tournament win. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

5/17/2022 – Under the motto "Check, Mate, Donate", the two Swiss juniors Oliver Angst (photo, left) and Vincent Lou have organised an online tournament for the benefit of Ukraine Aid and are calling for people to join in. For 5 Swiss francs, you can join in, play and help. Thursday, 29 May from 20:00 CEST ( 14:00 ET, 18:00 UTC).

5/16/2022 – Four-time Indian women’s champion IM Padmini Rout reflects on ‘The 4 Player Types standard model’, a FritzTrainer authored by GMs Karsten Müller and Luis Engel. She writes, “This has been one of the most useful DVDs I have come across, and I recommend everyone to watch it. Know more about your strengths and weakness [and] what areas to work on”. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

5/16/2022 – Midsummer is traditionally the time of the Dortmund Chess Days. After last year's relaunch, the festival will be expanded this year with, among other things, a large international open. At the weekend, the pairings have been drawn, which also means that the schedule is fixed. It all starts on 17 July. | Photos: Dortmunder Schachtage

5/15/2022 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 79th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to talk about pawn majorities. | Photo: Pascal Simon

5/14/2022 – Four French champions will gather at Blitz Society (pictured), the hip new chess meeting point in the heart of Paris, for a rapid match against four champions from Ukraine. The match will take place on Saturday, May 14, starting at 17.30 CEST. Donations for Ukrainian relief efforts are being collected by UNICEF!

5/14/2022 – The Superbet Chess Classic is being held in Bucharest, Romania at the Sheraton Hotel from May 5 to May 14. It includes all nine full tour players and one wildcard player, Romanian grandmaster Bogdan-Daniel Deac. After tying for first place on 5½/9, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are deciding who wins the tournament in a rapid-chess playoff. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/13/2022 – A sceptic regarding the value of ‘learning styles’ approaches, Professor Barry Hymer feared that “The Human Factor in Chess”, a book written by GMs Karsten Müller and Luis Engel, would fall short of expectations. As he states in his review, though, the book “recognises the dynamic evolution of many players’ styles and, for the most part, it avoids assertions that are overly deterministic and mystical”. Moreover, Hymer asserts that the book is both instructive and a pleasurable read.

5/12/2022 – The All India Chess Federation has announced the biggest squad of Indian teams for the upcoming FIDE Olympiad. Vishy Anand has been named as the mentor for all four Indian teams, while the country’s third GM in history, Pravin Thipsay, will be the Head of the Delegation. | Photo: AICF

5/11/2022 – Much has been discussed regarding the tiebreak system used in previous editions of the Candidates Tournament. Given the controversy, FIDE decided to reconsider the regulations before this year’s edition. After consulting the participants, the rules have been updated — in case of a tie for first, a rapid (and blitz, if necessary) playoff will decide who wins the tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (2020)

5/10/2022 – In his ‘Weekly Show’ Lawrence Trent focuses on the Superbet Chess Classic currently taking place in Romania. He looks at a fine win by Fabiano Caruana over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here

5/10/2022 – Sergey Karjakin was born in 1990 in Simferopol, the second-largest city in Crimea – Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia in 2014. At 12 he became (at the time) the youngest grandmaster in history. In the past months, Karjakin publicly supported the Russian assault on Ukraine, for which he was banned for six months from all FIDE chess competitions. Now he has sought revenge with a deep-fake call to FIDE Director General GM Emil Sutovsky. The British Chess Magazine reports.

5/9/2022 – The legendary grandmaster Yuri Averbakh passed away in Moscow. Yuri Averbakh was the world’s oldest living Grandmaster. In his prime, he was one of the strongest players in the USSR and the world, and in 1953 he took part in the legendary Candidates Tournament in Zurich. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Yuri Lvovich’s family and loved ones. Video added. | Photo: Maria Emellianova

5/6/2022 – The Appeal Chamber of the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission has announced its decision to dismiss the appeal presented by Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin, confirming the 6-month ban that was imposed by the EDC on March 21. This decision is appealable to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 calendar days following communication of this decision. | Photo: FIDE

5/6/2022 – In a review published in Chess Life, John Watson looks at a number of titles that explore the Jobava London System. He notes, “It’s remarkable that 2.Nc3 was considered a marginal and even anti-positional move for most of chess history. It is now played by the world’s elite and creates fresh and interesting play”.

5/3/2022 – In his ‘Weekly Show’ Lawrence Trent does a round-up of the action over the past week, including the Capablanca Memorial, the Bundesliga and the Oslo Esports Cup. Lawrence also analyses a nice attacking game he played at the Bundesliga Nord Division! | Lawrence’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here