6/4/2019 – The 2019 Altibox Norway Chess Tournament officially kicked off Monday in Stavanger. The traditional Blitz Tournament, which takes place in lieu of the drawing of lots, was won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman overpowered Magnus Carlsen in their final round deciding match-up and became the highest-rated player in the blitz ratings list. Levon Aronian and Carlsen shared second place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / norwaychess.no

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

4/8/2019 – The one decisive game of round seven saw Magnus Carlsen defeat his Twitter arch-enemy Anish Giri to take the sole lead in Shamkir. It was a rather flashy win, which means Magnus will arrive in Monday's showdown against Sergey Karjakin in high spirits. With only two rounds to go, it seems almost impossible for any player other than Magnus or Sergey to win the event. Grandmaster YANNICK PELLETIER analysed the games in depth. | Photo: Official site

4/3/2019 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen looks determined and focused at the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir. After defeating Viswanathan Anand in Round 2, he also won in Round 3, beating David Navara with Black through good technique and energetic play. He is now the sole leader with 2½ out of 3 alone. The second win of the day was provided by Anand who bounced back from his prior day's loss to beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The remaining three games ended drawn. Report and analyses by GMs ARYAN TARI and DANIEL FERNANDEZ. | Photos: ShamkirChess.com

12/29/2018 – No tie-breaks were needed to decide the winners of the 2018 World Rapid Championships in Saint Petersburg. In the open section, Daniil Dubov arrived in the last round alone at the top of the standings and kept his position after all the top games finished drawn. Meanwhile, Ju Wenjun continued her great run and practically secured first place with a round to spare — will the Chinese manage to win the 'triple crown' of world championships this year? | Photos: Maria Emelianova / Lennart Ootes / Official site

12/27/2018 – The year 2018 is drawing to a close and it was filled with great events, strong tournaments and fantastic games. Now, at the end of the year, we invite you to vote for the player of the year (male and female), the newcomer, the game, the combination and the endgame of the year. What do you think: Who was the best player overall of 2018?

11/14/2018 – The Tata Steel Chess India 2018 Rapid came to an end on November 11th with American GM Hikaru Nakamura taking home the first prize with 6.0/9. Nakamura played the event as per the demands of the situation — calm on first and third days and three victories on day two! It was excellent news for Indian fans that Harikrishna managed to fight back with two wins against Levon Aronian and Vidit Gujrathi in last two rounds to finish second. Levon Aronian had to settle for the third spot. IM SAGAR SHAH brings you six things that happened on the last day of the rapid and reflections on the first super tournament held in his native India! Of course, one mustn't forget the small sensation — Vishy Anand was beaten by his former second Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the final round.

11/1/2018 – ChessBase Magazine 186 featured star analysis from World Number 3 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, but reflecting on the most recent issue, Professor NAGESH HAVANUR chooses to focus his review in large part on the games featuring Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana who will take centre stage next week. In that light, his highlights are worth reviewing even if you're familiar with the games from our contemporaneous coverage this past summer. Enjoy!

11/1/2018 – The vast majority of the world's best players were active in October thanks to the Batumi Chess Olympiad, the European Club Cup and the Chess.com Isle of Man International. So there's a lot to get to in this month's ratings update. Of course noteworthy is the closeness of the combatants in the upcoming World Championship, and Radoslaw Wojtaszek made good use of his 24 games played as he gained 22 Elo points to move back into the Top 20. Here Radek is pictured alongside his wife Alina Kashlinskaya who jumped 30 points and entered the Women's Top 20! | Photo: Maria Emelianova / Chess.com Isle of Man

10/17/2018 – A day filled with close matches at the top left four teams tied for first at the European Club Cup in Porto Carras. Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova held Alkaloid to a draw — and even could have won — while Valerenga and AVE Novy Bor edged Odlar Yurdu and Beer Sheva Chess Club by the closest margin. Therefore, two exciting rounds await with many top teams yet to play each other. In the women's section, Ugra and SSHOR qualified to the final knockout phase. DANIEL FERNANDEZ annotated six key games of the round. | Photo: Niki Riga / eurochess2018.com

10/13/2018 – Less than a month before the World Championship match begins in London, Magnus Carlsen flew to Porto Carras to represent Valerenga Sjakklubb at the European Chess Club Cup. The Norwegian expectedly rested on day one, when all the favourite teams comfortably swept their lower-rated opponents by wide margins. Only in the women's section we saw a surprise, as Caissa Italia Pentole Agnolli had to settle for a draw against the Russian SSHOR. | Photo: Niki Riga / eurochess2018.com

10/3/2018 – It was perhaps the most hard-fought round of the tournament. Nine out of the first ten matches ended decisively in the open section. We now have a sole leader — USA in the open section. The US team managed to beat Azerbaijan in a thrilling match. In the women's section, Ukraine managed to beat overnight leaders Armenia to take the top spot. They are joined by the Chinese girls. With three rounds to go this Olympiad is excitingly placed with the biggest match today being USA taking on Poland in the open section. Report from Batumi by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.