8/17/2024 – After 6 classical games, Hans Niemann has a 3-point lead over Nikita Vitiugov in their 5-day match taking place in London. Niemann won the first game and the remaining 5 encounters finished drawn - though there was no lack of fighting spirit. Saturday will see the protagonists playing 6 rapid games, while the event will end with 12 blitz games set to take place on Sunday. | Photo: Frans Peeters

8/17/2024 – In an exciting seventh round, the A-Open in Dortmund saw IM Vadim Petrovskyi becoming the sole leader after obtaining an upset win over GM Christopher Yoo. A total of 11 players stand a half point back, though, as there are two more rounds to go at the 51st edition of the traditional chess festival. | Photos: Official website

8/16/2024 – The fourth event of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour is the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. Taking place on 12-16 August, the event starts with 9 rounds of rapid action, followed by 18 rounds of blitz. Included in the field are the three frontrunners in the race to win the 2024 Grand Chess Tour: Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja and R Praggnanandhaa. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 20.00 CEST (14.00 ET, 23.30 IST)

8/16/2024 – For his new Power Play Show GM Daniel King selected a number of "tactical tales from the British Championship" which test the tactical imagination and help the ability to calculate. | Power Play is on air most Fridays. Watch it on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

8/16/2024 – Alireza Firouzja took the sole lead after the first day of blitz at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament. The French representative goes into the final 9 rounds of 5-minute games with a 1½-point lead over Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. It was So who obtained the best score on Thursday, as he scored 7/9 points despite losing his round-12 encounter against Firouzja. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/16/2024 – Recently, chess has been dogged by allegations of cheating, by some of the world’s best players. Promising the showdown to end all showdowns, World Chess has organised a rematch between grandmasters Vladimir Kramnik and José Martínez Alcántara, after their initial high-stakes game in Madrid earlier this year led to an inconclusive outcome. The highly anticipated rematch to be held in London from August 19-21, dubbed ‘Clash of Blames,’ will take place in person and on a state-of-the-art platform, which features an innovative anti-cheating engine endorsed by FIDE, ensuring no room for doubt or deception.

8/16/2024 – In his new Fast & Furious episode, Robert Ris takes a look at a game between Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, in which Caruana tried the Cozio Variation (3...Nge7) against the Ruy Lopez. Black's third move might appear harmless, but the board was quickly on fire. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/16/2024 – At 3 PM local time on August 15, Georgia has become the epicentre of the chess world for the next ten days, as elite women grandmasters embark on an intense competition that will extend into the coming year. The tournament is under way and can be watched live on the FIDE/Tblisi news page. It includes wonderfull photos by Anna Shtourman.

8/16/2024 – In his new Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft presents a game by himself. He writes: "It was certainly not the best game played in the past week, but I have analysed it a lot and there are many instructive moments. My young talented opponent Gachatur Kazarjan found a very sharp and interesting novelty over the board, resulting in a super tense fight." | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

8/15/2024 – After 4 (out of 6) games in the match between Elisabeth Paehtz and Dinara Wagner, the confrontation remains drawn - the final 2 encounters will be played on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, in the A-Open, there are 9 players tied for first place with 5/6 points each. Frederik Svane from Germany and Christopher Yoo from the USA (pictured) were 2 of the 6 players who joined the lead by scoring wins on Thursday. | Photos: Official website

8/15/2024 – The chess world is set to witness a historic shift after the announcement on Thursday, 25th July: ‘Magnus Carlsen raises $12 Million for Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.’ This project promises to bring high-level, exclusive chess tournaments to the global stage. While the format was initially introduced in February 2024, certain developments will make it exciting for players, fans, media, organizers, sponsors, and everyone involved. Jan Buettner is the co-founder of this project along with Magnus and in a candid interview with ChessBase India, he shares his journey of starting Freestyle Chess to raising US$12 million!

8/15/2024 – Ian Nepomniachtchi (pictured), Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave all scored 3/6 points on Wednesday and remained atop the standings of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Tournament. Going into the blitz, 9 out of 10 players in the field have realistic chances of winning the title - R Praggnanandhaa has been struggling in the event and is now a whole 7 points behind the co-leaders. | Photo: Lennart Ootes