6/11/2023 – Vidit Gujrathi and Raunak Sadhwani won Maharashtra Challenge Match 2023. They both dominated their respective opponents, Peter Svidler and Nigel Short. Raunak won the match with six games and a day to spare, Vidit clinched it with four games left on the final day. Raunak dominated all three formats - Classical, Rapid and Blitz. Vidit scored more in Classical and Rapid events. Svidler was better in Blitz. Full report with videos and photos by Sagar Shah.

6/11/2023 – In the seventh round of the Cairns Cup played on Saturday, sole leader Anna Zatonskih got a rest day. Elisabeth Paehtz missed her chance to catch up with Zatonskih, as the German grandmaster lost to Bella Khotenashvili. Thanks to this win, the Georgian now stands half a point behind Zatonskih. Irina Krush is also back in the mix after beating Harika Dronavalli. Krush is one point behind Zatonskih, but the two still have to play each other. | Photo: Austin Fuller

6/10/2023 – A final-round win over long-time leader Fabiano Caruana gave Hikaru Nakamura outright victory at the 11th edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament. Nakamura scored three wins and no losses in his nine classical games, which allowed him to climb to the second spot in the live ratings list. Caruana finished second, while 17-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh impressed by grabbing third place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

6/10/2023 – In the diagram position White has just played 32.Rxf6!, which gives him an advantage after both 32...gxf6 and the game continuation 32...Dc3. There's a lot more to the position than I initially thought, though - let's climb up the variation tree!

6/10/2023 – In the sixth round of the Cairns Cup played on Friday, Anna Zatonskih won her game with black against Gunay Mammadzada and now stands alone at the top of the standings with a 4½/6 score. Elisabeth Paehtz is in second place after beating Nana Dzagnidze with white to reach a 3½/6 score. Zatonskih’s lead is not quite so clear, however, if you consider that the table is somewhat ‘skewed’ after Humpy Koneru withdrew due to health issues. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

6/9/2023 – From June 21 to July 2, the Global Chess League will be played in Dubai, with six excellent teams. Before that, inauguration events will take place in New York, London, Paris and Berlin. In Berlin, the event will take place next Sunday at the Schachfreunde Berlin, with Sebastian Siebrecht.

6/9/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura beat Fabiano Caruana in their last-round classical encounter to finish the tournament in sole first place. Nakamura climbed to the second spot in the live ratings list. Caruana got second place in Stavanger, while 17-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh impressed with his clear third place in the standings. | Replay the games with computer-assisted commentary.

6/9/2023 – In his new Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks at a strategically complex line in the Najdorf that surfaced in a recent game in Norway Chess. And Daniel knows what he is talking about! | 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.

6/9/2023 – D. Gukesh was the only player to win his classical game in the penultimate round of the Norway Chess Tournament by creating a veritable work of art against Aryan Tari. Hikaru Nakamura lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Armageddon, but still has a chance to win the tournament. Fabiano Caruana remains in the lead, and Magnus Carlsen won his seventh Armageddon game, but with 10.5/24 he is still in the lower part of the table. | Photos: Lenart Ootes/ Norway Chess

6/9/2023 – Last Monday, 5 June, Ukrainian grandmaster Vadim Malakhatko died of a heart attack in Kyiv. During his career Malakhatko won numerous open tournaments and played for the Ukrainian national team, although he moved to the Belgian Chess Federation in 2007. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

6/8/2023 – The Alekhine (1.e4 Nf6) is a rare guest in general and especially at a high-level. During the pandemic, however, this daring opening has been employed on several occasions, notably by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen. A faster time-control and perhaps the unusual atmosphere created by online games probably helped some players unleash, from time to time, a marginal opening to surprise their opponents.

6/8/2023 – Before round 5 of the Cairns Cup began, the organizers announced that Humpy Koneru had to withdraw due to medical issues. Humpy’s games in the first four rounds will not be counted in the tournament standings, though they will be rated by FIDE. In the fifth round, Bella Khotenashvili scored a third consecutive victory, as she defeated Nana Dzagnidze after the latter failed to make the most of a deadly kingside attack. | Photo: Crystal Fuller