7/24/2017 – The label has settled into chess parlance, but its usage is a disservice to the inherent meritocracy of chess that all players appreciate. FM ALISA MELEKHINA argues that it's time to let the term “women’s chess” fade into our patriarchal past. | Photo: Doug Morisoli

7/23/2017 – With a convincing victory against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the Polish Grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek secured victory at the Grandmaster Tournament of the 45th Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund this afternoon. It turned out to be necessary, because with a draw, Wojtaszek would have been joined by Vladimir Fedoseev, who won today against Wang Yue, and could have edged him on the second tiebreak (most wins). In a remarkable contrast to rounds 1-6, today was a bloodbath — all four games where decisive!

7/23/2017 – On Saturday the 50th chess festival of Biel officially openedl. Today chess players such as Anatoly Karpov, Vlastimil Hort and Rafael Vaganjan participate in a rapid tournament. Monday sees the start of the GM-tournament, the main event in the annual festivities. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival (bielchessfestival.ch)

7/23/2017 – "When Nigel Short played Garry Kasparov in 1993 I watched it on TV, found I could still predict some of the moves and then entered the local chess congress where I was living in Exeter. I've be playing ever since as a keen amateur mostly in Devon and the year before last started playing in the 4NCL for West is Best who I still play for."

7/22/2017 – With all games drawn, Polish GM Radek Wojtaszek clings to a slim lead as a massive chasing pack tries to overtake him. He faced Bluebaum with Black today in a key matchup that was as close to equality as they come. It all comes down to one final round 7 on Sunday.

7/22/2017 – The 2017 U.S. Junior Championship and Girls Junior Championship were held in Saint Louis, in the same hall as the prestigious Sinquefield Cup and U.S. Championship. After ten days of gruelling chess, we had two very different tournaments. Akshita Gorti dominated the Girls section from beginning to end, while the Juniors had an absolutely last-minute result, in which GM-elect Awonder Liang prevailed. | Photos: Austin Fuller, Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

7/22/2017 – Matthias Bluebaum's luck seems to have turned. After missing chances on Thursday against Dmitry Andreikin in a long draw, Wang Yue ground him down in an endgame on Friday as the Chinese scored his first win.

7/21/2017 – Georg Meier wins 20th Maccabiah top group ahead of Alexander Moiseenko, while Tal Baron took the B group. Yochanan Afek sends stories, photos and highlights | Photos: Ritvo Photography

7/21/2017 – After three games in the Match of the Century the score was 2:1 for the reigning World Champion. In game four Spassky played a well-prepared Sicilian and obtained a raging attack. Fischer defended tenaciously and the game was drawn. Then came a key game, about which the 1972 US Champion and New York Times and Chess Life correspondent GM Robert Byrne filed reports. In Reykjavik chess fan Lawrence Stevens from California did something extraordinary: he manually recorded the times both players had spent on each move.

7/21/2017 – A murky position: in order to win, White must tackle the enemy king without disregarding the potential threats of Black's queen + knight tandem. How would you start his attack?

7/21/2017 – Amid a tumultuous summer thunderstorm in Dortmund, the standings of the 45th Sparkassen Chess Meeting remain the same through four rounds. With both rest days behind them, the players head for a tense final weekend, with Wojtaszek and Bluebaum clinging to a half point lead.

7/20/2017 – Some of you may not have noticed: in our live broadcast of international tournaments, when computer analysis is added to the games, there are "precision" statistics given at the end of the notes. They give the percentage of relevant (non-forced) moves that are identical with the ones a top chess engine would play. In top events we find correlations between 15% and 97%. You can compare the level of precision of different players, and also look for suspicious values. Here's how, and why you should care.