2/28/2017 – Without taking anything away from his last-minute wresting of the gold from the two previous leaders, Alexander Grischuk's win of the FIDE Grand Prix in Sharjah was a bit of a disappointment, not for the result, much less the player, but because of the extremely modest 5.5/9 score required to do so. In many ways, it reflected the very sedate event and its astonishingly high draw rate. Here is the final report with analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky.

2/28/2017 – Even seemingly simple endgames can be surprisingly tactical. A good reason to be careful till the end of the game.

2/28/2017 – This week's Agony (and a soupcon of lukewarm Ecstasy) is all mine, after two rather challenging weekends at the 4NCL in Northampton and then the Bunratty Open. The latter was my first weekend tournament since I played there over a decade ago, and quite a shock to the system given the old-fashioned schedule of a game on Friday evening, three on Saturday and two on Sunday.

2/28/2017 – In the first game of the four-game finals for the Women's World Championship 2017, Tan Zhongyi managed to carry out her game strategy by forcing a calm and strategic play onto Anna Muzychuk. The opening she chose to play with black did not allow Anna, with her white any chances to put pressure. Illustrated report with GM analysis by Elshan Moradiabadi.

2/27/2017 – What to do against 1.d4? Michal Krasenkow recommends the "Triangle Setup": Black puts his pawns on c6, d5 and e6 - a solid and flexible system that offers Black still a lot of scope to play for a win. This is what FM Markus Hochgräfe was looking for and why he had a careful look at Krasenkov's DVD.

2/27/2017 – Chess is a powerful game. It has the ability to transform lives. But what happens when the inmates of a high security prison in Spoleto, Italy are taught chess? FM Mirko Trasciatti was entrusted with this task and he tells about the impact that his teachings had on the lives of the prisoners. A heart warming story on how potent the game of chess is.

2/27/2017 – Good news or bad news first? The good news is that only one game ended in a short draw, while almost all games were played out to a proper end. The bad news is that only two ended in a decisive result, and it could have been just one. The unquestionable win was that of Pavel Eljanov over Jon Hammer, while the most important was Grischuk's victory over Mamedyarov. Mamedyarov had an equal endgame, but blundered fatally on move 49, and resigned soon after. Full report with analysis by Tiger Hillarp-Persson.

2/26/2017 – There is something about Aeroflot Open that brings out the best in Evgeniy Najer. In 2016 he went on to win the tournament ahead of Boris Gelfand. In 2017 he is already the sole leader with 4.5/5. Najer played some exquisite games to beat players like Jobava and Bluebaum. In this report we have the analysis along with some excellent pictures.

2/25/2017 – What an amazing semifinal it was for all involved and watching. After a very close affair in game one, which she won, Anna Muzychuk won her second game against Kosteniuk to make the final with no tiebreaks and 9.0/10 in the standard games. On the flip side, Harika Dronavalli and Tan Zhongyi played a gripping tiebreak that went to the tape with constant swings that left everyone on the edge of their seats. Here is the large illustrated report.

2/25/2017 – One interesting aspect of the FIDE Grand Prix in Sharjah has been some of the extreme opening preparation battles in which neither player shirked the opportunity to test the other. In round seven, two such examples that led to fascinating battles were Ding Liren vs Nakamura, as well as Salem vs Riazantsev. The latter saw Salem win that battle as he emerged with the lead and converted. The top standings are unchanged with two rounds to go. Full report with analysis by Alex Yermolinsky.

2/25/2017 – Two American grandmasters won the first major chess events of 2017. Wesley So triumphed in the traditional Dutch tournament in Wijk aan Zee and Hikaru Nakamura prevailed in Gibraltar. Their victories were almost upstaged by the Women’s world champion Hou Yifan. She deliberately lost a last round game in five moves with the white pieces. GM Lubomir Kavalek recapitulates with seven annotated games.

2/24/2017 – It was the closest of affairs, and Nakamura had to think it was in the bag as he pressed forth with a won endgame against Grischuk, but a late misstep was all it took, and the chance to join the leaders slipped away. Nepomniachtchi made no such mistakes and took down Li Chao to enter the group a half point behind the leaders, while Rapport is back at 50% after defeating Riazantsev. Full report with analysis by Tiger Hillarp-Persson.