5/12/2025 – After a day of all draws at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, the standings remain unchanged, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu still sharing the lead on 3/5 points. Despite the lack of decisive games, round five featured tense battles across all boards, with Jan-Krzysztof Duda narrowly missing a chance to claim his first win against Gukesh Dommaraju and Wesley So pressing against Caruana in a sharp Sveshnikov Sicilian. Four rounds remain after Monday's rest day. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/11/2025 – Would you like to make the most of ChessBase 18, especially in the opening, to improve your repertoire? With the Powerbooks and Powerbases, you will always be one step ahead of your opponents. Learn how to use these comprehensive and up-to-date databases with ChessBase and how to train your favourite openings with Fritz.

5/11/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 229 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer. | Photo: Pascal Simon

5/11/2025 – Ukrainian chess legend Vasyl Ivanchuk has made a remarkable comeback, gaining 40 rating points in April and re-entering the top 100 with a FIDE rating of 2644. The 54-year-old grandmaster remained unbeaten in 27 games across three tournaments, including the Reykjavík Open, Semana Santa Open and Menorca Open, where he finished first with an impressive 8/9 score. Despite the turmoil in Ukraine, Ivanchuk continues to demonstrate his enduring talent, reminding the chess world of his prodigious skill and unpredictable brilliance. | Photo: Andreas Kontokanis, via Wikimedia Commons (2007)

5/11/2025 – Round four of the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest saw Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian securing crucial wins to shake up the standings. Vachier-Lagrave's victory over world champion Gukesh Dommaraju propelled him into a three-way tie for the lead alongside Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, both of whom drew their games. Meanwhile, Aronian claimed his first win of the tournament by outplaying Jan-Krzysztof Duda, while Alireza Firouzja missed a major opportunity against Wesley So. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/10/2025 – The Baku Open, the inaugural event of the newly launched "Chess Tour Azerbaijan", concluded on 6 May at the Baku Crystal Hall. Serbian GM Aleksandar Indjic emerged as the clear winner in the Group A section, finishing unbeaten with a score of 7/9. Georgian GM Baadur Jobava and Turkish GM Vahap Sanal shared second place, just half a point behind. Nearly 700 players from 16 countries competed across three sections, with prize funds totalling $55,000. | Photos: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

5/8/2025 – Vaishali Rameshbabu and Tan Zhongyi emerged as the only players with perfect scores after two rounds of the final leg of the Women's Grand Prix in Grosslobming, Austria. Vaishali defeated Lela Javakhishvili in a well-executed Reverse Grünfeld, while Tan capitalised on Olga Badelka's missteps to secure her second win. Anna Muzychuk claimed a key victory over Zhu Jiner, moving to third place. | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel

5/7/2025 – MegaBase 2025 is Chess History in action. Regularly updated every month, the Main Database currently offers 11 million games, many of them annotated. Here our columnist offers a review with focus on chess in the 21st Century.

5/7/2025 – The Online Marketing Rockstars Festival is Europe's largest digital trade fair. On Tuesday, streamers Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess), Daniel Rensch and Anna Cramling were guests at a panel discussion. Between football and Formula One, they presented the digital world of chess on the big stage – and did so very well! | Photos: André Schulz

5/7/2025 – The European edition of the political news magazine Politico published an article on its website about Russia's influence on the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and how Russia is exploiting chess and the World Chess Federation for its own political ends. | Graphics: POLITICO

5/7/2025 – The opening round of the final leg of the 2024/2025 FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Grosslobming, Austria, saw three decisive games. Olga Badelka (pictured) secured a surprise win against Alexandra Kosteniuk, Vaishali Rameshbabu capitalised on Nurgyul Salimova's time pressure, and Tan Zhongyi emerged victorious after a five-and-a-half-hour struggle against Zhu Jiner. | Photo: Przemysław Nikiel

5/7/2025 – Despite trying our best, time trouble is sometimes unavoidable. We all have experienced the stress that comes with being under time pressure. Our hearts race, our palms sweat, and our minds become confused. However, it is useful to understand how being in time trouble affects the decisions we make. Of course, we don’t play our A-game. But what kinds of mistakes do we make? I am sure that understanding the nature of these mistakes is the first step in minimizing them.