5/10/2021 – Already one round before the end of the event, the Russian team champions in the Premier League as well as in the women’s competition have been decided. In the Premier League, the Mednyi Vsadnik from St. Petersburg secured their fourth consecutive title after winning seven out of seven matches. The women’s tournament was similarly won by the Moscow Chess Team, which also has a perfect score. | Photo: Vladimir Barsky

5/8/2021 – Four (out of nine) rounds of the Mitropa Cup have alerady been played. After a 3-1 victory over Hungary in round four, the German team is currently in second place, only one team point behind the leading Czechs. In the women’s category, Italy has won every single match so far and has a two-point lead over Hungary and Germany. | Photos: Claudia Münstermann

5/1/2021 – Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will play the final of the New In Chess Classic online tournament. Carlsen safely won his second semifinal mini-match against Levon Aronian 3-1 on Friday after the first set had ended 2-2 the day before. The match between Nakamura and Shakriyar Mamedyarov was more exciting. Mamedyarov initially levelled the score with a convincing 3-0 victory in the second set. The Azerbaijani, however, went on to lose the tiebreaker in Armageddon. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/25/2021 – The preliminaries of the New In Chess Classic, the fifth event of the Champions Chess Tour, kicked off on Saturday. The most successful player on day 1 was Teimour Radjabov, who scored 4 out of 5 points. Second place is shared by Alireza Firouzja and Magnus Carlsen with 3½/5 each. The aim of the preliminaries is to find out which 8 (out of 16) players move on to the knockout stage. Expert analyses by GM Karsten Müller. | Photo: FIDE

4/11/2021 – The Kader-Challenge came to an end on Sunday. Draws were seen on all boards in the men’s section. At the top of the table finished Alexander Donchenko, Dmitrij Kollars, Matthias Bluebaum and Daniel Fridman, each with 5½ points, with Donchenko getting tournament victory on tiebreak criteria. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Jana Schneider drew Elisabeth Paehtz with the black pieces and thus remained half a point ahead of her last-round opponent in the final standings. | Photos: Sandra Schmidt, Frank Hoppe

4/11/2021 – Saturday saw the top games of Round 8 — Rasmus Svane v Matthias Bluebaum and Dmitrij Kollars v Alexander Donchenko — ending in draws. Daniel Fridman seized the opportunity, as he managed to catch up with Bluebaum, Kollars and Donchenko with a win over Andreas Heimann. The tournament ends on Sunday with the ninth round (starting at 10:00 CEST). In the women’s tournament, Jana Schneider defended her lead in the standings with a win against Antonia Ziegenfuß. | Photo: Frank Hoppe

4/10/2021 – In Round 7 of the Kader-Challenge in Magdeburg, Alexander Donchenko leapfrogged previous leader Rasmus Svane by beating him in their direct encounter. Two players previously equal on points with Donchenko also won their games, so the standings table is now headed by a trio: Matthias Bluebaum, Dmitrij Kollars and Donchenko. In the women’s competition, Jana Schneider is still the sole leader with two rounds to go. | Photo: Kevin Högy

4/9/2021 – Round 5 of the men's tournament at the German "Kader-Challenge" in Magdeburg brought a number of interesting endgames and two decisive results. Niclas Huschenbeth won against Dmitrij Kollars and Daniel Fridman defeated Frederik Svane. Rasmus Svane drew against Luis Engel but that was enough to defend his lead and with 3.5/5 he is still sole first. In the women's tournament table leader Jana Schneider (pictured) lost her first game - against Annmarie Mütsch - but still leads with 3.0/4. | Photo: Bernd Vökler

4/8/2021 – Wednesday, April 7, brought a double shift for the players in the German "Kader-Challenge" - rounds 3 and 4. Rasmus Svane made the most of these opportunities: in round 3 he won against his younger brother Frederik and in round 4 he defeated Niclas Huschenbeth, and is now sole leader with 3.0/4. In the women's tournament only one round was played. Jana Schneider continued to win and now leads with 3.0/3. But it was Antonia Ziegenfuß, who played the game of the day: she defeated Elisabeth Pähtz in a powerful attacking game. | Photo: Frank Hoppe

4/4/2021 – With ten players in the men’s section and eight participants in the women’s category, the Kader-Challenge — organized by the German Chess Federation — kicks off on Monday at Magdeburg’s Maritim Hotel. A number of measures will be in place to deal with the current sanitary crisis. Matthias Bluebaum and Alexander Donchenko are the top seeds in the men’s event, while Elisabeth Paehtz and Josefine Heinemann are the highest-rated players among the women.

4/3/2021 – When a chess club reaches a nice round anniversary, a proper celebration is called for. And what better way to celebrate than with a grandmaster tournament? That’s what the ‘SG Bochum 31’ club did in 1981, when it celebrated its 50th anniversary with the “International German Championship” held at Stadtpark Restaurant. Those who were already active chess fans at the time will certainly look back and remember one or two of the participants — among them was Lubomir Kavalek, who in fact won the tournament! It all happened 40 years ago to the day. | Photo: Gerhard Hund, via Wikimedia Commons

4/1/2021 – With a commanding performance, Schachfreunde Deizisau secured victory in the European Chess Club Cup. The winning team, consisting exclusively of German players, kept a series of top clubs at bay: Clichy (France), Mednyi Vsadnik (Russia) and Odlar Yurdu (Azerbaijan), among others. This was probably one of the most remarkable successes ever achieved by a German club. | Pictured: Vincent Keymer | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

3/31/2021 – The finals of the European Online Chess Club Cup started on Tuesday with rounds 1 to 4. Clichy Echecs 92 and Schachfreunde Deizisau were the best performers with six match points each, but since the French team scored one more individual point it currently occupies first place. The rapid online tournament ends on Wednesday with rounds 5 to 9 (starting at 14.30 CEST).

3/21/2021 – In the first set of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational finals on Saturday all the games played between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi ended in draws. In the first game, Giri missed a chance to win, while the remaining three games were evenly matched. In the match for third place, Wesley So had no chance against Magnus Carlsen: the World Champion won the first set 3:1. | Photo: FIDE

3/16/2021 – The Israeli Championships came to an ended on Monday in Haifa, the country’s third-largest city. Soviet-born GM Victor Mikhalevski was the clear winner of the open section. The veteran obtained a 7/9 score and finished a half point ahead of Ido Gorshtein and Tamir Nabaty. This was Mikhalevski’s second title, as he also won the event in 2014. Yuliya Shvayger dominated the women’s section, winning the event with an 8/9 score. | Photo: Dorit Ritvo

3/15/2021 – The Austrian Bundesliga came to an end on Sunday with SV “Das Wien” St. Veit winning the title for the first time. A 3:3 draw in the last round was enough for the team from Carinthia, led by Hungarian star player Richard Rapport, to finish in sole first place, ahead of SV Raika Rapid Feffernitz. The league ran with modifications due to the coronavirus crisis. Instead of the usual twelve, only seven teams participated. All rounds were played on two 3-day meets in Graz. | Photo: Misty Pine / cca.imsa.cn

2/14/2021 – Wesley So scored a win on demand to tie the score in the first mini-match of the Opera Euro Rapid’s finals against Magnus Carlsen. Meanwhile, Teimour Radjabov got ahead on the scoreboard against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the match for third place. Report with instructive analysis by Karsten Müller. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

2/8/2021 – The Opera Euro Rapid tournament saw rounds 6 to 10 of the preliminaries being played on Sunday. At the top of the standings table, Magnus Carlsen defended his half-point lead over Wesley So and Anish Giri. The remaining five rounds will be played today (Monday) at 17.00 CET. Do not miss Karsten Müller’s analyses of five highly instructive endgames! | Photo: Play Magnus Group