8/1/2025 – Kavutskiy shares how he balances his pursuit of the Grandmaster title with his work as a content creator, coach, and co-founder of ChessDojo. Though his creative and educational work often limits his tournament prep, he remains deeply motivated by a love for the game and a desire to improve. In the interview, he reflects on chess as a tool for personal growth, his admiration for the King’s Indian Defense, and his belief that freestyle chess could shape the game’s future.

7/29/2025 – The Biel Chess Festival is one of the most important traditional tournaments, with an unbroken history stretching back over 58 years. Vladimir Fedoseev won the Masters tournament, Nikolas Theodorou won the Challengers tournament, and Karthikeyan Murali won the Masters Open tournament. On the last day of the tournament, the winners of these and other tournaments were honoured. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/25/2025 – Vladimir Fedoseev fought back after his painful defeat the day before and defeated Saleh Salem in the last round of the Biel GMT-Masters in commanding style. Since Aravindh missed the victory needed to win the tournament against Murzin and only played to a draw, Fedoseev secured victory in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon. | Photos: Schachfestival Biel

7/24/2025 – Aravindh Chithambaram has taken the lead of the GMT-Masters in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon with a victory over the previous leader Saleh Salem. Aravindh has thus not only overtaken Salem, but also Fedoseev, who lost his game against Murzin after a rollercoaster ride and thus falls back to 3rd place. The final round on Thursday must now decide the outcome. The decision in the GMT-Challengers has already been made one round before the end: Nikolas Theodorou celebrated a start-to-finish victory over the entire tournament and can no longer be caught in the final round. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/20/2025 – With a third consecutive win, Saleh Salem has taken the sole lead in the Biel Masters Triathlon. After defeating Vladimir Fedoseev, the Emirati grandmaster also beat Aravindh Chithambaram, who now shares second place with Fedoseev. In the Challengers, all games ended in draws, consolidating the lead of Nikolas Theodorou and Aram Hakobyan. Sunday's blitz section will be decisive in determining the finalists of the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/18/2025 – With a victory over Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Vladimir Fedoseev took the lead in the overall standings of the Biel Masters Triathlon. Aravindh is tied for second place after a draw against Volodar Murzin. Frederik Svane suffered his second defeat in a row against Saleh Salem. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/17/2025 – After the second round of classical chess at the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon, Aravindh Chithambaram has taken the sole lead in the Masters. Despite being behind at times, he managed to beat Svane, while his rivals Fedoseev and Wojtaszek both ended their games with an unspectacular draw. The Challengers tournament is now clearly structured: Theodorou, who defeated Navara today, is now 3 ½ points ahead of Hakobyan, who in turn even has a 6-point lead over the rest. | Photos: Official website

7/15/2025 – The chess world is showing increasing interest in what many now refer to as “Freestyle Chess.” Having served as Chief Arbiter at two such events this year - one in Weissenhaus, Germany in February and another in Paris, France in April - Gerhard Bertagnolli has encountered a number of unique challenges. These are worth sharing, as Freestyle Chess differs from classical chess in several subtle yet significant ways.

7/14/2025 – The Grandmaster Triathlon began on Sunday in Biel with the discipline of rapid chess. After five games of rapid chess the two favourites, Vladimir Fedoseev and Aravindh Chithambaram (pictured), lead in the Masters. Wojtaszek, the 2020 Biel winner, is lurking just behind them. Theodorou took the lead in the Challengers, remaining undefeated, as did his closest rival Hakobyan. GM Benjamin Bok won the open rapid one-day-tournament. The Dutchman prevailed against 149 competitors ahead of GM Mikhail Kobalia and Chen Yuan. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/11/2025 – The 58th Biel Chess Festival, running from 12 to 25 July, offers a global celebration of chess with 16 tournaments spanning classical, rapid and blitz formats. With participants from 45 countries and events welcoming players of all backgrounds and abilities, the festival blends elite competition with cultural exchange. Highlights include the unique chess triathlons (Masters and Challengers), a Freestyle Chess tiebreaker and inspiring exhibitions tied to FIDE's Year of Social Chess.

7/8/2025 – In today's competitive chess landscape, even legends would struggle to maintain spotless records. This reflective piece contrasts the rare losses of Capablanca with the regular defeats modern players face, particularly in rapid formats. From Nodirbek Abdusattorov's heartbreaking loss in Tashkent to Richard Rapport's brilliant comeback, the article explores the psychological toll of losing - and recovering - in elite chess. Personal memories and missed chances add an introspective touch to this insightful journey through triumph and defeat. | Pictured: A 16-year-old Jon Speelman | Photo: Hulton Archive

6/24/2025 – For the first time, the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour comes to the United States. From July 16 to 20, Wynn Las Vegas will host 16 of the world’s top chess players, competing for $750,000 in prize money in a format designed to reward creativity and skill. The event marks the fourth stop of the 2025 global tour and is the first to welcome a live audience. | Photo: Freestyle Chess

6/4/2025 – Nach Weissenhaus und Paris ist das Wynn in Las Vegas die dritte Station der Freestyle Grand Slam Tour. Am 13. Juli spielen ehemalige NBA-Spieler im einem K.o.-Schachturnier gegeneinander. Vom 16. bis 20. Juli wird das Freestyle-Turnier der Schachprofis gespielt. Wer vor Ort dabei sein möchte, kann jetzt schon Tickets ab 90 US-Dollar.

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

5/1/2025 – Chess 960, or Freestyle Chess, is currently experiencing a boom with many tournaments and games. The idea is that each new game with an unknown starting position brings new challenges. Now the first major collection of games is available, the Chess 960 Yearbook by Arno Nickel. Hartmut Metz took a look at it.

4/22/2025 – The organisers of the Biel Chess Festival have once again put together an interesting line-up for their Masters and Challengers tournaments for the 58th edition of the event (12-25 July 2025). Top seed is Aravindh Chithambaram, second seed is Le Quang Liem. And anyone who registers for one of the open tournaments now may be able to take advantage of a discount offer. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival 2024

4/22/2025 – Magnus Carlsen claimed victory at the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open with a flawless 9/9 score - an exceptional achievement at this level of competition. The event, held in Karlsruhe, Germany from 17 to 21 April, featured a nine-round Swiss format and classical time control in the Freestyle (chess960) variant. Carlsen secured first place with a round to spare and finished two points clear of the field. Seven players tied for second place and will play a tiebreaker to determine Grand Slam qualification. | Photo: Dariusz Gorzinski

3/23/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 222 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Levon Aronian. | Photo: Pascal Simon

3/6/2025 – The second day of play at the Champions Showdown in Saint Louis saw Fabiano Caruana overtaking Wesley So in the standings after winning their rapid game, with the blitz and semi-classical encounters ending in draws. Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian also secured mini-match victories, with Nakamura defeating Ray Robson in their rapid game and Aronian beating Leinier Dominguez in the semi-classical format. Despite his loss to Nakamura, Robson remains in third place and is set to face leader Caruana on the final day. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

3/5/2025 – The Champions Showdown began on Tuesday at the Saint Louis Chess Club, featuring six of the top players from the United States competing in blitz, rapid, and semi-classical games. Instead of a points-based system, standings are determined by prize money earned. The first day saw Fabiano Caruana defeating Hikaru Nakamura in the semi-classical game, while Wesley So secured two victories against Levon Aronian. Meanwhile, Leinier Dominguez and Ray Robson won one game each in their head-to-head encounter. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/26/2025 – World Chess PLC, a global chess company and the operator of ChessArena.com, has announced the launch of The World Chess Show, a dedicated global TV program now airing in 156 markets across 53 networks. The show is the first of its kind – a major sports media property bringing chess to mainstream audiences beyond the chess community. The World Chess press release includes a 23-minute video of the first show. Just sit back and watch.

2/22/2025 – Vladimir Fedoseev is a distinguished chess grandmaster known for his aggressive and imaginative play. He earned a remarkable second place (behind Magnus Carlsen) in the World Rapid, and led Slovenia to impressive results at the Chess Olympiad. Don´t miss your chance to e-meet Fedoseev, ask questions and learn invaluable insights, in the live KFC lecture on Sunday.

2/11/2025 – Vincent Keymer will keep good memories of his Tuesday game in Weissenhaus, as he managed to beat Magnus Carlsen in the first semifinal game at Freestyle Chess tournament. Keymer's win was achieved in the only decisive game on the day. The other semifinal saw Javokhir Sindarov missing a chance to beat Fabiano Caruana in a tricky endgame. | Photo: Freestyle Chess / Lennart Ootes

2/11/2025 – At the beginning of the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Tournament Jan Henric Buettner was inundated with interview requests. The dispute with FIDE had attracted a lot of media attention and everyone wanted to know exactly what it was all about and what the current situation was. At the start of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Weissenhaus Buettner invited the ChessBase team to his office for an interview.