2/17/2020 – Humpy Koneru comfortably held a draw with White against Harika Dronavalli and claimed first place at the Cairns Cup after Ju Wenjun defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk, the only player who had a chance to catch up with the leader. Ju's victory left her on clear second place, while Kosteniuk shared the third-fourth spot with Mariya Muzychuk. Meanwhile, Irina Krush got her first win of the event and Kateryna Lagno miraculously saved a half point for a second day in a row. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/8/2020 – The second edition of the Cairns Cup kicked off Friday at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Humpy Koneru and Nana Dzagnidze (pictured) were the first ones to get full points, as they defeated Carissa Yip and Valentina Gunina respectively. Both won after their opponents employed risky strategies with the black pieces. World champion Ju Wenjun started with Black and got a comfortable draw against Mariya Muzychuk. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/6/2020 – Starting Friday, most of the world's best female players will play the 2nd Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. The field is led by World Champion Ju Wenjun. The tournament winner will receive USD $45,000 from the total prize fund of $180,000. Rounds begin daily at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 14:00 EST) and the games will be broadcast live with commentary.

2/1/2020 – Fabiano Caruana did phenomenally at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee and was able to reduce his Elo distance to World Champion Magnus Carlsen from 50 to 20 points — Carlsen now stands at 2862 and Caruana at 2842. Ju Wenjun remained Women's World Champion, and world number two. Firouzja won the Juniors battle in the Tata Steel Masters, and Zhansaya Abdumalik maintains a healthy lead in among the top girls. | Pictured: Caruana watches the game Firouzja vs Dubov | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/25/2020 – Fabiano Caruana scored 4½ points in the last five rounds of the Tata Steel Masters to go into the final two days of action as the clear favourite to take the title, a full point ahead of second-placed Magnus Carlsen. In round eleven, Caruana defeated Vladislav Kovalev, Vladislav Artemiev took down Jorden van Foreest and Vishy Anand inflicted Alireza Firouzja's third defeat in a row. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, David Anton continues to impress, collecting his fourth straight win to also get a full-point lead. Do not miss the round-up video by GM YANNICK PELLETIER. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/24/2020 – The 2020 Women's World Championship came to a dramatic finale on Friday with a four-game rapid tiebreak. After a pair of draws, Ju Wenjun struck first with a win in the third game. But unlike in the final classical game, Goryachkina was not able to equalize the score and force the tiebreak into the blitz phase. Ju hung on for a draw, winning the tiebreak, the match and thereby retaining her title as Women's World Champion. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/24/2020 – The Women's World Chess Championship was decided by tie-breaks! Ju Wenjun won the third of four rapid games which was enough to retain her World Champions title. The final regulation game was a must-win for the challenger Goryachkina and she delivered, sending the match to rapid tiebreaks in Vladivostock tomorrow at 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST) with commentary by GM Nigel Short & GM Hou Yifan. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/23/2020 – With one regular match game to be played the momentum was very much on the side of current World Champion Ju Wenjun, who won back-to-back points in games 9 and 10 then easily made a draw in game 11. Her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina came into game 12 in Vladivostock knowing that she had to win at all costs. And she delivered! With the match now tied at 6:6, the World Championship will be decided in a tiebreaking series of rapid (and even blitz) games on Friday starting at the same time: 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST) with commentary by GM Nigel Short & GM Hou Yifan. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/22/2020 – Chinese defending champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina from Russia are playing a twelve-game match at locations Shanghai and Vladivostok. Game 11 of the Women's World Championship Match ends in a draw after 40 moves. Defending champion Ju Wenjun is leading 6-5. In the final game on Jan 23, the challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina has White in a must-win situation. Ju Wenjun took the lead with back-to-back wins in Game 9 and Game 10. The second half in Vladivostock starts two hours earlier with games commencing at 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST). | Photos: Zhang Yanhong, Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/18/2020 – With a convincing win in game eight, challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina took the lead in the Women's World Championship match against defending champion Ju Wenjun. After 8 of 12 games, it is now 4½ : 3½ to Goryachkina. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / wwcm2020.fide.com

1/15/2020 – In Shanghai on Sunday, the sixth game of the women's world championship between Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina ended in a draw. Goryachkina pulled out all the stops until the 105th move, but the fortress of the defending champion held fast. The match is all tied up at 3:3, and the action now moves to Vladivostok. Get up to speed on the first half's action in time for Thursday's Game 7. | Photos: Zhang Yanhong FIDE / Official site

1/9/2020 – Given past controversy over his views on women and chess, Grandmaster Nigel Short might seem a surprising choice for multiple roles at the 2020 Women’s World Chess Championship. Short is the championship’s FIDE Supervisor, Chair of the Appeals Committee, and a commentator. Short’s credentials include being the official challenger in the 1993 World Chess Championship, commentating expertise, and promoting chess in 129 countries. WIM ALEXEY ROOT sent us this brief interview.

1/7/2020 – The Women’s World Chess Championship match is from January 5-26, 2020. The first six games will be played in Shanghai, China and the remaining six games, plus any tiebreak games, will be played in Vladivostok, Russia. The match features Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun of China against challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina, of Russia. Here, Alexey Root, a lecturer teaching courses about chess in education at The University of Texas at Dallas, answers questions about the Women’s World Chess Championship. | Photo: Lewis Liu

1/2/2020 – Viswanathan Anand has not only achieved the highest honours in the game of chess but has also led India to become one of the chess superpowers in the world. But how was he when he was young? FREDERIC FRIEDEL (pictured), co-founder of ChessBase, has been a very close friend of his for decades. He has seen him grow from a prodigiously talented teenager into a mature and highly accomplished man. In a recent interview with IM Sagar Shah, Frederic related many of his interesting experiences with a young Vishy when he was still climbing to the upper echelons of the chess world. He winds back the clock and take you on a journey which is as nostalgic as it is insightful.

1/1/2020 – A Women's World Championship match and two traditional elite events will keep chess fans busy during the first month of the new year. On the one hand, the Tata Steel Tournament, which has Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja among the Masters, and a nice mix of strong talents in the Challengers. On the other, the Gibraltar Chess Festival, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Wang Hao as top seeds. In parallel, Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina play a match in China and Russia. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

1/1/2020 – Happy New Year! World Champion Magnus Carlsen heads into 2020 with a 50 Elo point lead in the classical ratings and a 45 point lead on the rapid list. Yet, despite winning the recent World Blitz Championship in a playoff over Hikaru Nakamura, the American clings to a 13 point margin atop the world blitz rankings. Alireza Firouzja, who gave both a run for their money in Moscow, is now #1 on the Juniors rankings. | Photos: Amruta Mokal / Jingda Chen on Unsplash

12/26/2019 – Another eventful chess year is behind us, with great events and tournaments, impressive personalities and fantastic chess games. Help us choose the player of the year, the female player of the year, the game of the year, the combination of the year and the endgame of the year in our annual ChessBase reader poll. Next up: The Female Player of the Year...

12/16/2019 – As Honorary Director of the London Chess Conference, which had the theme in 2019 of Chess and Female Empowerment, Grandmaster Judit Polgár wrote, “I make a point of never separating girls and boys, nor awarding special prizes for girls...Meanwhile, national federations use their resources, and public subsidies are creating more female-only competitions. It is high time to consider the consequences of this segregation — because in the end, our goal must be that women and men compete with one another on an equal footing.” WIM ALEXEY ROOT responds.