3/31/2017 – Round two of the US Championship saw fairly uneventful games among he biggest names. The big one was Caruana against Nakamura, bringing back memories of 2016, but no blood was spilt this year. A few surprises were still seen, such as Naroditsky's adventurous 6. h4!? in the Najdorf, as well as some unexpected turnarounds. Illustrated report and analysis by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

3/30/2017 – The ChessBase Magazine offers current news about top events, with lots of high-level analyses by the world's best players. These analyses make each issue timeless. ChessBase Magazine #176 took a look at the World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin in New York 2016. Professor Nagesh Havanur liked what he saw.

3/30/2017 – The US Championship has started, and it brings three of the world's Top Ten, including Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, and Hikaru Nakamura among others. While So defeated Shabalov in a fairly one-sided game, Nakamura overcame Robson with ease. In the women's event, Abrahamyan won well, while Zatonskih blundered into a mate. Report and analysis by Alexander Yermolinsky.

3/30/2017 – A key round, as they all are so near the finish, with nerves taking their toll as was evidenced by several games suffering from irrecoverable catastrophes early on. The biggest game of the say was Wang Hao's victory over Adhiban with black, when the Indian unwittingly entered a line the Chinese player had prepared in detail with a student! He analyzes his win with Daniel King in this illustrated report.

3/29/2017 – The 2017 U.S. Championship and 2017 U.S. Women's Championship are about to start and each will be 12-player Round Robin tournaments. At the top of the American chess Olympus will be stars such as defending champion Fabiano Caruana and Nazi Paikidze, as well as Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Irina Krush, and Anna Zatonskih to name a few. Here is all the info and a pictorial with photos by Lennart Ootes.

3/29/2017 – Georgios Makropoulos, seven time Greek Champion, is the Deputy President of FIDE, and has been in that role for twenty years now. In December 2015, after the US Treasury had placed FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on the sanction list, forbidding US citizens from conducting business with him, FIDE decided transfer the powers of legal, financial and business operations to Makropoulos. In the latest FIDE power struggle "Makro", as he is known to friends, has described his view of the events.

3/29/2017 – It's not exactly what it sounds, though that would not be completely implausible either. Actually "Disrupt" is an annual conference held by the AOL online publishing company TechCrunch, and from May 15-17 it takes place in New York City. One of the Disrupt themes is Artificial Intelligence, and the lead speaker is Garry Kasparov, who will offer his unique perspective on humanity's changing relationship with machines, computers and intelligence.

3/29/2017 – "Knight on the rim is dim!" Dr. Tarrasch knew right from wrong in chess. Indeed, knights on the edge of the board often lead a miserable life and can easily make life miserable for their colleagues. But no rule without exception. Which former U20 World Champion Ahmed Adly showed in round 3 of the Sharjah Masters by playing a little masterpiece with a knight on the rim.

3/29/2017 – There is a bit of a sense of 'finally' upon seeing only two players actually at the top of the hill now. Both Baskaran Adhiban and Martyn Kravtsiv scored important wins, taking them to 5.5/6. They are trailed very closely by a group of six at 5.0/6, and with three rounds to go, the final laps promise to be thrilling. Illustrated report with videos and GM analysis.

3/28/2017 – We reported yesterday: the official International Chess Federation web site announced the resignation of its President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, followed within hours by emphatic denials from Ilyumzhinov. Today there are new letters on the FIDE page, describing the circumstances of his alleged resignation: "During the Presidental Board Meeting in Athens, you several time threatened to resign, and at the end of the meeting three times you repeated 'I resign' before leaving the room." In a press conference of the Russian Chess Federation Ilyumzhinov explained his position.

3/28/2017 – Sam Collins is an International Master (with two grandmaster norms) and a prolific author. He was born in Dublin in 1982 where he now works as a barrister. In an interview he talks about his latest DVD about ...Bc5 in the Open Games, his career, how to study openings and his favorite games.

3/28/2017 – "All rook endings are drawn" is a popular saying. But it is only partly true. While rook endings indeed often have drawish tendencies you still have to find the right moves. Which even in seemingly simple rook endings is difficult enough. Today on the playchess server, 4 pm: Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller and Adrian Mikhalchishin.