7/2/2023 – The inaugural edition of the Global Chess League is taking place in Dubai from June 21 to July 2, 2023. The league, which introduces the franchise format to the sport of chess, also brings a mixed-team format to the fore featuring the best from the ecosystem among men, women and U21 players. Six squads headed by the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand and world champion Ding Liren participate. Follow the games live from 15.30 CEST (9.30 ET, 19.00 IST). With live commentary!

7/2/2023 – More than 500 players are taking part at the 50th Dortmund Chess Festival — a record number! The A-Open, a 9-round Swiss event, has Matthias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko and Michael Adams as the top seeds. Meanwhile, the Sportland NRW Cup is a 10-player round-robin tournament with ambitious players within the 2300-2550 rating band. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 15.00 CEST.

7/2/2023 – Shamsiddin Vokhidov (Uzbekistan) and Divya Deshmukh (India) were crowned winners of the 2023 Asian Continental Chess Championships. The tournaments took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan on June 3-12. GM Karsten Müller followed the games and selected what he considered to be the most interesting endgame positions to share with us. Find here five remarkable endings with instructive analyses by our in-house expert!

7/2/2023 – Going into the final day of action at the Dortmund Chess Festival, Fabiano Caruana, Frederik Svane and Dinara Wagner are leading the standings in the No Castling Masters, the A-Open and the Sportland NRW Cup, respectively. Caruana defeated Vladimir Kramnik in style to get a half point lead over the former world champion and Dmitrij Kollars. Kollars beat Pavel Eljanov with white in Saturday’s fifth round. | Photo: Michelle Lassak

7/1/2023 – The final day of the double round-robin stage started with SG Alpine Warrior's loss against Chingari Gulf Titans 0-3 (7-8). Magnus Carlsen won the sole game for his team as he beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda. However, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's win over Gukesh gave CGT a crucial victory as all the remaining games ended in draws. Then, Triveni Continental Kings eliminated Ganges Grandmasters by beating them 3-0 (11-6). Wei Yi, Sara Khadem and Jonas Buhl Bjerre scored key wins, which helped the team (TCK) secure a spot in the Finals. SG Alpine Warriors suffered a shockingly huge defeat by 0-3 (2-18) against upGrad Mumba Masters. Alexander Grischuk, Vidit Gujrathi, Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli's wins prompted the top seed and tournament favourite SGAW's elimination. In the last match of the stage, Chingari Gulf Titans went down in flames against Balan Alaskan Knights 0-3 (4-12). Thus, TCK will face uMM tomorrow in Sunday's finals, from 5:30 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST. | Photo: Maria Emelianova

7/1/2023 – Kazakhstan is gradually becoming a Mecca for chess. In April 2023 the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi took place in Astana, at the beginning of June the Asian Continental Championship was held in Almaty, to name just two of the biggest events. While looking back at the Asian Continental Championships, Diana Mihajlova describes the development of chess in Kazakhstan and wonders about the predicament of Russian chess players after Russia left the European Chess Federation to join the Asian Chess Federation. | Photo: Panorama of Almaty | All Photos: Kazakhstan Chess Federation

7/1/2023 – In the diagram position, White has just set his centre in motion with 15.e4?, having full confidence in his bishop on h4, which is looking at Black's queen on d8. But this move backfires - can you see how Black gains the advantage? Don't hold your horses!

7/1/2023 – Ray Robson won the 2023 edition of the Prague Masters tournament after beating Bogdan-Daniel Deac in blitz playoffs. Robson’s strong nerves served him well in the blitz encounters, as he never stopped looking for tactical chances despite having lost his advantage in the first of two 5-minute games. Meanwhile, Mateusz Bartel scored a final-round victory to win the Challengers section. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

6/30/2023 – Levon Aronian has beaten Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi in three consecutive must-win situations. Today he defeated Carlsen and Nepo in consecutive games. While the World no.1 allowed the two-time World Cup winner to score a quick 27-move victory, against Nepo he had to grind in the endgame and wait till the former world championship contender blundered. Triveni Continental Kings are now tied with Ganges Grandmasters on 15/27 points. SG Alpine Warriors also have the same match points. However, they still have two matches left. On an eventful day, upGrad Mumba Masters defeated GG 3-0 (10-4) without losing a single game. The last four matches of the double round-robin stage start tomorrow with SG Alpine Warriors vs Chingari Gulf Titans from 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. | Photo: Maria Emelianova

6/30/2023 – World Championship Match 2023: All seven decided games annotated by Anish Giri, Hou Yifan, Sam Shankland and Wesley So - TePe Sigeman Tournament: Analyses by Peter Svidler, Boris Gelfand, Nils Grandelius, Abhimanyu Mishra and Jorden van Foreest - All-rounder Boris Spassky: "Special" with 27 top-class encounters from the period 1949 to 1989 + articles on strategy (Marin) and endgame (Mueller) – Is Scandinavian with 3...Qa5 busted? Martin Lorenzini thinks so - and recommends 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Bd2 e6 7.Ne5! – “How I became U14 World Champion”: Ilamparthi presents the decisive moments together with Sagar Shah – “Practical tips for the tournament player”: Why are symmetrical positions much more dangerous than you expect? and much more!

6/30/2023 – After the end of the Global Chess League in Dubai on 2 July, Magnus Carlsen will travel to Zagreb to play some more speed chess against top opponents in the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. The tournament takes place from 4-9 July and boasts a very strong field. Apart from Carlsen, Firouzja, Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Duda, Anand, Rapport, Gukesh, Saric and Lupulescu will be playing. | Photo: Carlsen after winning the Superbet Rapid & Blitz in Poland | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/30/2023 – The Prague Chess Festival is drawing to a close, but after eight of nine rounds the battle for tournament victory is still wide open. In the Masters, Bogdan-Daniel Deac (pictured) and Ray Robson lead with 5 out of 8 each, but theoretically five more players have a chance of sharing first place. In the Challengers, Mateusz Bartel is sole leader with 5.5 out of 8, but there are no less than three players within half a point of him. | Photos: Petr Vrabec