7/5/2019 – In consecutive days, Magnus Carlsen defeated two players from the elite he had never managed to take down in a classical game ever before. After beating Ian Nepomniachtchi on Wednesday, he got the better of Ding Liren in round eight of the Croatian Grand Chess Tour. Second-placed Wesley So also got a win, though, which means Carlsen still has a mere half point lead in Zagreb. Meanwhile, Anish Giri inflicted Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's third defeat of the event. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/30/2019 – There were no decisive results in round four of the Croatian Grand Chess Tour, but not for a lack of trying. Most notably, Magnus Carlsen vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Anish GIri were wild struggles which could have gone either way. Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana also fought hard, while fortune continues to smile on Ian Nepomniachtchi, who was in a difficult position against Sergey Karjakin but ended up taking home the half point and still commands the standings table. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/27/2019 – Looking for a great attacking weapon against the Sicilian Rossolimo? You better come and watch this episode of the Fast & Furious show! The live show at 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT) is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows.

5/22/2019 – The FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Moscow is played in KO format, starting with 16 players. Top seeds Giri and Mamedyarov were eliminated in the very first round, which pretty much illustrates that everyone can beat anyone in this elite tournament. The only downside is that some players prefer quick draws, to save their energy for the tie-break. Nevertheless, some amazing chess is being played and tonight we'll focus today on the futuristic game Dubov vs Giri. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. Merijn is live at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT).

5/18/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Radek Wojtaszek won with the white pieces at the start of the FIDE Grand Prix in Moscow, which means Levon Aronian, Wesley So and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov will need to push for a win on Saturday if they want to survive the first round. Three match-ups ended with quick draws, while Peter Svidler and Anish Giri accepted the draws offered by Nikita Vitiugov and Daniil Dubov in games that could have easily kept going. | Photo: World Chess

5/15/2019 – The race to qualify to the 2020 Candidates Tournament begins this Friday, with the first leg of the Grand Prix Series in Moscow. The tournament is a 16-player knock-out that will use similar rules to the ones seen at previous World Cups. Only one player in the field has a rating below 2700, although we all know that current World Rapid Champion Daniil Dubov (2690) is completely capable of upsetting any member of the elite. | Photo: worldchess.com

5/11/2019 – Anish Giri is one of the more extroverted Grandmasters on the professional circuit. He can be quite witty, and always has something interesting to say. He's also one of the more proactive social media presences on "chess Twitter" where he can be biting at times. He's been making the interview rounds following his win in the Shenzhen Masters in China last month. A few months ago he gave an entertaining blindfold simultaneous at his sponsor's office, Optiver in Amsterdam, which has recently published video of the event.

4/27/2019 – In Shenzehn, China, Pentala Harikrishna defeated Yu Yangyi in the penultimate round to retake a half point lead over Anish Giri. But he had Black in the final round while Giri was White. Could 'Hari' score his first super-tournament victory? It looked like he was headed for a tournament-clinching draw, but a slip-up gave Ding Liren a chance to turn the tables and Giri a golden opportunity to grab tournament victory. | Photo: cca.imsa.cn

4/24/2019 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT). On this week's show: Giri vs Harikrishna from the ongoing Shenzhen Masters. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows.

4/23/2019 – There's a whole lot of chess going on in Europe at the moment, but we shouldn't forget about the double round-robin tournament taking place to the Far East in Shenzehn, China. Pentala Harikrishna leads the field with 4½ points after his fourth consecutive win in today's sixth round. Anish Giri trails a half a point behind. IM Sagar Shah annotates Harikrishna's latest exploits. | Photos: cca.imsa.cn

4/19/2019 – Ding Liren, Anish Giri and Yu Yangyi are back in Shenzhen, as the trio has participated in all three editions of the six-player double round robin. Pentala Harikrishna is returning to the Chinese city after having played in 2017 but not in 2018, while the newcomers are Dmitry Jakovenko and Richard Rapport. After three rounds, Giri is the only player on a plus score. Harikrishna fell victim to Anish in round two but bounced right back the very next day. | Photo: cca.imsa.cn

4/10/2019 – Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every Wednesday at 18:00 UTC (20:00 CEST / 2 PM EDT). On this week's show: Wrapping up Shamkir Chess with a look at the tournament from the Dutch perspective. The live show is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows.