7/10/2023 – After winning every single game on Saturday, Magnus Carlsen secured tournament victory at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament by scoring 5 points in the first 6 rounds of the event’s final day of action. With overall victory in the bag, Carlsen went on to lose his blitz-chess undefeated streak against Alireza Firouzja. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Firouzja finished second and third, respectively. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/10/2023 – European Rapid Chess Champion Jaime Santos Latasa won the final against Boris Gelfand to become the winner of the 36th edition of the "Magistral de Ajedrez Ciudad de León". Santos, is the second Spaniard to win the tournament after Paco Vallejo in 2012.

7/10/2023 – In about a week, on 15 July, the traditional Biel Chess Festival will begin. In a Grandmaster Triathlon eight top players will show their skills in classical, rapid and blitz chess, and this Grandmaster Tournament is embedded in a wide range of open tournaments for all tastes and playing levels. | Photo: Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: ChessBase India

7/10/2023 – Simen Agdestein emerged as the winner of the 2023 Norwegian Championship Championship and took his ninth national title. Aged 56, Simen beat his own record set last year and again became the oldest Norwegian champion of all time. | Photo: Helge Brekke (tournament page)

7/9/2023 – In the longest game of the Women’s World Championship match so far, Lei Tingjie surprised Ju Wenjun in the opening. Ju struggled at first, but later got to put pressure on her opponent in the endgame. A fourth draw in Shanghai means the score remains tied in what has so far been a high-quality, tense confrontation. | Photo: Stev Bonhage / FIDE

7/9/2023 – 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 133rd instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to talk about the skills and the legacy of Emanuel Lasker. | Photo: Pascal Simon

7/9/2023 – In the current ChessBase Magazine #214 you'll find three opening videos with a total playing time of over an hour. Ivan Sokolov presents Gukesh's novelty and pawn sacrifice 9.Qc2 in the Catalan from the Menorca Open 2023 - "excellent preparation by Gukesh!” Sipke Ernst examines the novelty 8.h4 in the Ragozin Variation of the Queen’s Gambit, which was discussed in the duel between his compatriots Van Foreest and Giri at the Tata Steel Tournament 2023. And Mihail Marin takes up the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Be2 Nc6 5.0-0, which came up on the board in the 12th game of the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi, among others. You can watch an excerpt from Ivan Sokolov's analysis here!

7/9/2023 – The final day of action at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament sees a host of strong players trying to keep up with Magnus Carlsen, who leads the standings after scoring a perfect 9/9 on Saturday. Follow the games live and with commentary from the Saint Louis Chess Center. | Rounds start at 15:00, 16:30 and 18:00 CEST.

7/9/2023 – Kazakhstan, host of the World Championship match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, has a lively and thriving chess scene and continues to organise attractive tournaments. The Uralsk Open (20-29 July) and the World Schools Team Championships in Aktau (3-8 August) are in the pipeline, but below is a report on the recently concluded Aktobe Open, which took place from 19-28 June and was won by Iranian grandmaster Daneshwar Bardiya. | Photo: The main square of Aktobe | Photo: Kazakhstan Travel

7/9/2023 – Magnus Carlsen obtained a 3-point lead going into the final day of action at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament after scoring a magnificent 9 out of 9 in the first half of the blitz section. After beating all of his opponents, an elated Carlsen told Anastasiya Karlovich: “I’ve had good days, but of course, this is something special”. Former co-leaders Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana are now sharing second place with 17 points each. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/8/2023 – In the third game of the FIDE Women’s World Championship on Saturday, defending champion Ju Wenjun, playing black, briefly got an edge, but it quickly evaporated. Challenger Lei Tingjie was able to regain a balanced position in which the draw could no longer be averted. All three games have ended drawn so far in Shanghai. The fourth game will take place on Sunday. | Photos: David Llada and Stev Bonhage (FIDE)

7/8/2023 – Magnus Carlsen likes to play with, and against the Dragon. Chris Ward found two recent games of the Norwegian GM, and shows us which variation the former World Champion chose to defeat the Sicilian, and how to counter the variation better. Furthermore, we dive into the win of Magnus, and what mistakes his strong opponent made. Remember, all the variations are available on Ward's Fritztrainers! | Photo: John Upham