9/15/2018 – There was almost no intrigue regarding the final results, but the 2018 Champions Showdown was filled with curious highlights and enterprising chess. The main attraction was Garry Kasparov's presence — the 13th World Champion lost his match against Topalov, but finished on a high thanks to a pair of wins in the last rounds. In the other matchups, Nakamura, So, Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian emerged victorious. In terms of entertainment value, the Saint Louis Chess Club hit the mark! | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

9/13/2018 – After two days of Chess960 in St. Louis, Wesley So established the largest lead in his match against Anish Giri. Perhaps that why So says he prefers the variant over "normal chess". Or is it the other way around — preference breeds success? Garry Kasparov, on the other hand, is well behind in his match against Veselin Topalov. Elsewhere the rating favourites all lead, with the exception of Hikaru Nakamura vs Peter Svidler, which is tied at 6 points apiece. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/ Lennart Ootes, Austin Fuller

9/4/2018 – The placid outwardly appearance of the Petroff Defence could easily trick one into believing that he or she could use it to enjoy a quiet draw. It isn't unusual these days to see grandmaster games that drift into this line end in quick draws. But the Petroff has been around since the times of Greco and white players have found their fair share of traps, tactics and attacking opportunities in it. Even in some of the very recent games from master practice, black players have fallen prey to brilliant attacks. So, is the Petroff really as innocuous as advertised?

8/29/2018 – Following the Sinquefield Cup 2018 in Saint Louis, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana were working overtime: they played a tiebreak to determine who would participate in the London Chess Classic, the Grand Chess Tour final KO event for the top four finishers. Caruana won the match by taking the second rapid game to score 1½-½. V. SARAVANAN files one more report. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

8/13/2018 – After an amazing start, Fabiano Caruana kept his cool and drew all his games in the midst of a day filled with turnarounds and missed chances. Four players are now two points behind the leader, as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura tallied positive scores on Sunday. V. SARAVANAN reports straight from the Saint Louis Chess Club | Photos: Saint Louis Chess Club / Austin Fuller / Lennart Ootes

8/12/2018 – At the start of the 2018 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz, all eyes were on Fabiano Caruana, as everybody in the United States is eager to see how he will do in the match against Magnus Carlsen. Fabiano responded in kind by winning all three games in spectacular fashion. He is now the sole leader of the event, which continues until Wednesday. V SARAVANAN sent a full report from Missouri. | Pictured: Fabiano Caruana with Alejandro Ramirez and Rustam Kasimdzhanov | Photo: V. Saravanan

8/7/2018 – Here's the deal: you invest a small amount of time, reading a few paragraphs about an interesting opening line, selected for you by one of the world's top grandmasters. After that, you try it out, right there in your browser, against an engine that matches the playing strength of your potential opponents. You can play any number of games and test different ideas, as far as possible following the instructions of an experienced chess trainer. We have a brand-new application to support this kind of learning. Take a look — and admit: it is great fun!

7/9/2018 – In a very tense match, Wesley So defeated Paco Vallejo in the blitz tiebreak rounds despite the fact that the Spaniard obtained better positions in most of the games. So played offbeat openings that did not quite work out in his favour, but showed great tenacity in the ensuing positions. This was Wesley's second consecutive tournament victory in Leon. | Photo: Official website

7/7/2018 – The second youngest grandmaster in history, R. Praggnanandhaa came close to beating the second highest rated rapid player in the world Wesley So in the first semi-final of the Leon Masters. Pragg actually won the first game with Black and had a chance to obtain a big edge in the opening of the second. The Indian impressed both So and the audience. | Photo: Official website

7/4/2018 – It's Independence Day in the United States, and therefore a day for cookouts, celebrating and fireworks. Or, why not take in a film? In this case, you only need spare 13 minutes to learn all about the 2016 Olympiad triumph of Team USA. Starring Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Sam Shankland and Ray Robson, with John Donaldson (as "captain") and Aleksandr Lenderman (as "coach"). Produced by the World Chess Hall of Fame.

7/1/2018 – June was a busy month for rapid and blitz ratings with some players playing 36 games of the latter. In terms of classical performances, Sam Shankland has earned himself the cover of American Chess Magazine as he has continued his ascent among the 2700 echelons. Wesley So made a big leap in rapid ratings, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda is now the top junior. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/25/2018 – Sergey Karjakin seemed unstoppable after Saturday's first nine rounds of blitz, however, Nakamura finally emerged as the winner of the Paris Grand Chess Tour. Hikaru fought until last minute and finished one and a half points ahead of the field. Meanwhile, Wesley So played it safe to get clear third and keep the lead in the Tour overall standings. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour