7/22/2023 – Ju Wenjun claimed her fourth Women’s World Champion title after clinching a crucial victory in the decisive, final, 12th game of the match against challenger Lei Tingjie. With this victory, Ju has now equalled the record set by her compatriot Hou Yifan, both having won the world crown four times. Apart from defending the title, Ju also won €300,000 in prize money, while €200,000 went to the runner-up Lei Tingjie.

7/21/2023 – Ju Wenjun and Lei Tingjie seem to be heading to a playoff at the Women’s World Championship in China. Game 11 saw the contenders for the title signing the ninth draw of the match, which remains tied with one game to go. The twelfth and last classical game of the contest will be played on Saturday. | Photos: Stev Bonhage / FIDE

7/21/2023 – On Thursday, the strong Isbank Turkish Super League, Turkey’s team championship, came to an end in Ankara. The Turkish Airline Sports Club topped the standings. The best player on board one was Dommaraju Gukesh, who climbed to eleventh place in the live elite ratings list and became the youngest-ever player to cross the 2750-mark. | Photos: Turkish Chess Federation

7/21/2023 – Living legend Vasyl Ivanchuk received a wild card from FIDE to participate in the upcoming World Cup in Baku. According to current legislation, he needs permission from the Ministry of Youth and Sports to leave the country for sports purposes as he is under the age of 60. Such permission was not granted. To address this situation, some of the world’s top GMs — including Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand — signed an open letter to the Minister of Youth and Sport of Ukraine, Mr. Vadym Gutzeit. | Photo: sunwaychessfestival.com

7/21/2023 – Vincent Keymer won the duel of pursuers in the Biel Grandmaster Tournament on International Chess Day, as he defeated Le Quang Liem with the white pieces. Keymer is now sharing the lead with David Navara. Bassem Amin also won in round 4, as he got the better of Arjun Erigaisi to claim 4 points for the standings (in the classical section of the Triathlon, wins grant 4 points while draws grant 1½ points). | Photos: Official website

7/20/2023 – Melikset Khachiyan, a former coach of Levon Aronian, won the clash of co-leaders in round 5 of the US Seniors Championship as he beat Maxim Dlugy with white to take the sole lead in the standings. In the Junior Championships the leaders could not extend their leads. To the contrary, the fields are now closer together, both in the open and the girls’ sections. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

7/20/2023 – In his Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris analyses an outstanding game from the Geza Hetenyi Memorial. Eventual winner Praggnanandhaa lost with black against Amin Tabatabaei, as the rising stars fought in a wild middlegame out of a rare line in the Ruy Lopez. Unmissable! | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/20/2023 – The Austrian Chess Federation has a new top grandmaster representing their country. Kirill Alekseenko (photo) has joined the Austrian federation and with his 2674 rating is the new number one in the European country. The Spanish Chess Federation also reports a prominent addition, as Sara Khadem has completed her transfer. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

7/20/2023 – The tenth game of the Women’s World Championshipe ended in a draw. Ju Wenjun followed in Vincent Keymer’s footsteps in the opening, but failed to gain an advantage. The last two classical games will be played on Friday and Saturday, following a rest day. | Photos: Stev Bonhage / FIDE

7/20/2023 – Le Quang Liem was the only player to score a victory in the second round of classical games at the Grandmaster Triathlon in Biel. Meanwhile, sole leader David Navara successfully defended an outstanding endgame with rook and pawn against six pawns in his game against Arjun Erigaisi. Le is now sharing second place with Vincent Keymer. | Photos: Official website

7/19/2023 – In his Game of the Week show #577, Merijn van Delft shares one of his games from the Science Park Tournament in Amsterdam. He and Murad Abdulla fought in a remarkably imbalanced position! | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

7/19/2023 – At the US Junior Championships in Saint Louis, some of the youngest players in the fields (open and girls’) are showing remarkable performances. Alice Lee (photo), aged 13, took the lead in the girls’ tournament, while Abhimnyu Mishra, aged 14, dethroned former leader Andrew Hong in the open. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club