11/26/2017 – The Fifth International Chess Meeting of the Francophone Countries took place from October 28th to November 4th, in Yasmine Hammamet in Tunisia. Here is a report about the tournament which was played throughout the Meeting. A French version is available for our French speaking readers.

11/26/2017 – What an astonishing event Palma turned out to be. From the get-go, the question was on what both Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov needed to earn a spot in the Candidates. However, in spite of promising starts and chances at the end for both, neither made it and the spots will go to Mamedyarov and Grischuk. Enjoy this final report with analysis by GM Moradiabadi. | Photo: World Chess

11/25/2017 – The 100th episode of Endgame Magic is airing on Monday. We have a special guest for this jubilee: None other than Wesley So. He joins Karsten to look at some fascinating endgame from recent tournament praxis! Live at 15:00 CET (9:00 AM EST)!

11/25/2017 – Levon Aronian survived the pressure from Hikaru Nakamura, making a draw that ensured him a share of first place. He was somewhat surprisingly joined by Dmitry Jakovenko, who beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces. MVL was in a must win situation, so had to go for broke. All other games ended in draws including the remaining key game for the Candidates qualification: Teimour Radjabov vs. Richard Rapport. In the end Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk maintained their lead in the overall Grand Prix standings and secured the final two Candidates tournament spots.

11/25/2017 – With only two rounds left, round eight was decisive in showing how alive the chances to qualify for the Candidates are for both Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov. After another draw, MVL is still on a modest +1 and needs to win at all costs in round nine. Radjabov has come back from his loss roaring with two wins, this time against Gelfand in a do or die game analyzed in detail by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson. | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

11/24/2017 – Mihail Marin is considered one of the premier opening theorists and treats all his topics with great care and thoroughness. Hannes Langrock has watched his DVD on the main variation of the King's Indian Defense. Langrock calls it "an ambitious classical repertoire...the analysis is quite thorough and complete."

11/24/2017 – A solid tactical understanding is sure to help any chess player in critical situations. Whether it is a simple exchange or a mating attack, tactics are ubiquitous. Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your tactical understanding in this series with IM Oliver Reeh and Pascal Simon! Friday at 3.30 pm CEST it's all about the Perpetual Check!

11/24/2017 – Although little changed overall in round seven, perhaps the buzzword that best describes the action of the day was ‘determination’. On board one, it was Rapport’s tenacity that won out over Aronian, who came close to winning, while Radjabov overcame his disappointment to outplay Li Chao. Finally, Boris Gelfand scored his first win, beating Riazantsev in a game analyzed by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson. | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

11/23/2017 – Over the years the "Thoresen Chess Engines Competition" (TCEC) has become the unofficial Computer World Championship and the very best programs start in this tournament. After two qualifiers, season 10 now finishes with the superfinal in which Komodo faces Houdini. They play 100 games against each other, and the games are shared live on PlayChess. As a bonus, we bring you a brief modern history of computer chess. @StockfishLegalNotice

11/23/2017 – Thursday at 6pm UK time Daniel King will go on air on playchess.com. You can watch the episode live for free. Daniel King will discuss the latest news on the FIDE Grand Prix in Palma de Mallorca, showing how Magnus Carlsen de-fangs the London System and, as usual, will be setting puzzles and answering your questions. Puzzle and the live video...

11/23/2017 – Peruvian grandmaster Julio Granda Zúñiga has been crowned World Senior Champion in the over-50 category, scoring an impressive 9½ points out of 11 rounds. The silver and the bronze went to Rogelio Antonio and Eric Prie respectively, both with 8½ / 11 points. In the over-65 section, Evgeny Sveshnikov stood out with 8½ / 11 points. The title of Senior Women's World Champion over-50 was awarded to WGM Elvira Berend (7/9). The great favourite of the over-65 women's section, Nona Gaprindashvili managed only the runner-up spot this time, behind Tamar Khmiadashvili. Both scored 7½ / 9 points, but Khmiadashvili won their direct encounter. | Photo: (Granda) Alina l´Ami | (Sveshnikov) Helen Milligan

11/23/2017 – Round six of the FIDE Grand Prix in Palma was a bit of confirmation of how the tournament had gone thus far. Levon Aronian built a big advantage against Svidler, but after a mistake settled for a draw, and is still sole leader. The next notable result was Teimour Radjabov’s loss to Tomashevsky after declining a draw earlier. Read on in this illustrated report. | Photo: Valerij Belobeev