10/27/2017 – Laos is not a country that garners many international headlines, much less regarding its chess scene. But Singaporean contributor Edwin Lam reports that they seem to have made good progress, particularly in the area of Chess in Schools, which has the strong support of the government. Most importantly, they are hitting key milestones in chess education at the grassroots level, amongst administrators (for instance via FIDE Arbiters' seminars), and in tournament play (running local events). And come this January, 2018, they will be hosting Laos' first-ever international open!

10/26/2017 – Vassily Ivanchuk took on Wei Yi and Baskaran Adhiban faced Jorden van Foreest in a rapid tiebreak in Hoogeveen. Ivanchuk and Van Foreest both won 2-0. Full report on the second half coming Friday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/26/2017 – The 7th annual Chess Train tournament rolled into Prague's main station after five days and nine rounds of rapid chess October 13th to 17th. With games played entirely on board a dedicated train from Czech Railways, this is a one-of-a-kind event that is a lot of fun — so much so that some players return year after year. International Master Roman Khaetsky from Ukraine took top honors, as he finished undefeated, yielding just three draws. | Photos: Anezka Kruzikova

10/26/2017 – The "Chess tournament at sea", organised by Jörg Hickl, recently set out from Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, and is currently nearing its destination in Miami, Florida, on a route that takes it via the Azores, St. Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Among the special features, that make this seven round Swiss open unusual: the players will cover 7800 km during the tournament! German entrant Michael Dombrowsky, Elo rated 1997 (the number two seed!), sent us this "postcard".

10/25/2017 – David Bronstein is a chess legend. In his critical memoir, The Rise and Fall of David Bronstein, Genna Sosonko shares memories of the life and the career of the grandmaster who has inspired the chess world with his ideas and his games, and who in 1951 almost became World Champion. | Photo (right): Anne Fürstenberg

10/25/2017 – The 92nd Final Argentine Superior Championship was played between October 12th and 24th. Diego Flores was undefeated scoring 9½ points in 13 rounds. His triumph increases his Elo rating by 13 points, getting him back over 2600 for the first time since 2013. In positions two, three and four, were Federico Perez Ponsa, Ernesto Real de Azua and Sandro Mareco, all with 8 / 13 points. | Photo: Carlos Ilardo

10/25/2017 – Even at the age of 12, Paul Morphy (1837-1884) was regarded as an extraordinary chess player in the USA. But on his European tour of 1858-59 he showed himself to be also superior to players across the continent. We've taken several opportunities to celebrate Morphy of late, and now here's one more. The new masterclass DVD — the ninth in the series — we attempt to decipher the "Mythos Morphy".

10/24/2017 – Tuesdays at 5pm UK time Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show Lawrence Trent will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from the elite chess tournaments. This week Ivanchuk vs. Wei Yi from the Hoogeveen Tournament was undoubtedly the star of the show.

10/24/2017 – After three rounds of play at the Hoogeveen Matches, Vassily Ivanchuk took the lead against the Chinese star, Wei Yi after his win in the third round. In the other match between Adhiban Baskaran and local lad, Jorden van Foreest, the Indian number five was the first to taste blood in round two but van Foreest came back strongly in the third round to level scores. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

10/24/2017 – Rooks are strong but passed pawns are also strong, particularly in the endgame. But who is stronger — the rook or the passed pawns? It depends!

10/24/2017 – The Reti retains its seemingly inexorable grip on the top of our chart, while that club player favourite, the King’s Indian, makes a welcome return to the second spot. Elsewhere those non-c4 options after 1 d4 Nf6 continue to do well and the Kan has made gains under the patronage of Caruana, Andreikin and Artemiev. The statistics and a key game is given in this month's edition of the English chess magazine.

10/23/2017 – One of the world's strongest team events, the Bundesliga, pits 16 teams with eight boards each against each other, on seven weekends over six months for a round-robin tournament. As each team can nominate as many non-German players as money allows, top players such as Fabiano Caruana, Vishy Anand, and Anatoly Karpov, to name just a few, regularly show their skills in the league. This season's favourite is the OSG Baden-Baden, which has dominated for more than a decade. But Hockenheim and Solingen hope to have a shot at the title should Baden-Baden stumble. On the first weekend it did not.