9/9/2018 – The World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in London will begin in exactly two months on November 9th, and their last direct encounter before the match in London was at the Sinquefield Cup 2018 in Saint Louis. Together they won the tournament along with Levon Aronian. They drew each other, although Carlsen was close to winning. What does that mean for the World Championship in London? CONRAD SCHORMANN looks for answers, and you can have your say in our poll! | Graphic: World Chess

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?

9/1/2018 – September is here, and as the month kicks off we check in with the FIDE rating lists to see how a busy (northern) summer season has shaken thinks up Elo-wise. Magnus Carlsen's top spot in both classical and blitz was briefly threatened, but he remains the king of all formats. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

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

8/28/2018 – The sixth edition of the Sinquefield Cup had an unprecedented finish. Levon Aronian defeated Alexander Grischuk in a memorable game, while Magnus Carlsen got a 97-move victory over Hikaru Nakamura. Therefore, Aronian, Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana tied for first — in points and in all tiebreak criteria! The rules stipulated that a drawing of lots would decide which two players would go to the playoff — Carlsen objected, as he thought it to be 'ridiculous'. Finally, the players and organisers decided all three would be declared co-winners! V. SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/27/2018 – Everything looked set for a day full of fireworks when the eighth round of the Sinquefield Cup had just begun — Grischuk opened with 1.f4, Karjakin and Nakamura went into what seemed to be a sharp Catalan and Carlsen surely was in the mood to avenge his Biel loss against Mamedyarov. The players did try to fight, but the final result was, once again, five drawn games. Curiously, with one round to go, all the GCT "regular" players still have chances to qualify to the final stage in London. V. SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/26/2018 – The much-awaited encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana took place on Saturday in Saint Louis. The World Champion faced Caruana's Petroff and obtained a decisive kingside attack, but was not able to round off the game to a win. The rest of the games also finished with draws, so the World Championship challenger remains the sole leader with two rounds to go. V. SARAVANAN tells us all about the big clash. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/25/2018 – For the first time in this year's Sinquefield Cup, a sole leader tops the standings — Fabiano Caruana took advantage of Sergey Karjakin's bad form to get his second win of the tournament. Alexander Grischuk could have easily joined him in the lead, as he missed a big chance to defeat Magnus Carlsen, while Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura exchanged errors to draw the longest game of the day. DANIEL FERNANDEZ analysed all the games from the round and V. SARAVANAN sent his impressions from Saint Louis. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/23/2018 – In this year's Sinquefield Cup it is completely banned to sign agreed draws. After three rounds with one decisive result per day, the fifth day of play finished with all the games drawn. That does not mean we did not see fighting chess — Magnus Carlsen could not promote a far-advanced passed pawn against Wesley So, while Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ended up frustrated after drawing a rollercoaster game where both had chances. V. SARAVANAN reports from Saint Louis. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Spectrum Studios

8/22/2018 – Fabiano Caruana joined the leading pack at the fourth round of the Sinquefield Cup after using a daring novelty against Hikaru Nakamura. With this result, no less than five players are co-leading at the fourth leg of the Grand Chess Tour. Closing on half-time, those still in the run will start taking into account the results they need in order to qualify to the GCT finale in London, adding interest to the event. V. SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/21/2018 – Three rounds have already been played at this year’s Sinquefield Cup. Four different players have achieved a single win to share the lead on 2/3 — the last one to join this group was Alexander Grischuk, who defeated Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces on Monday. V. SARAVANAN tells us about yet another day in the United States’ capital of chess. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/20/2018 – Four out of five games finished drawn in the Sinquefield Cup’s second round. The only winner was Magnus Carlsen, who defeated his former World Championship challenger Sergey Karjakin after enterprisingly sacrificing an exchange in what seemed to be a balanced position. Thus, the Norwegian joined Mamedyarov and Aronian in the lead. V. SARAVANAN reports from the Saint Louis Chess Club. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Spectrum Studios

8/19/2018 – After the hard-fought St. Louis Rapid & Blitz event, the already traditional Sinquefield Cup started on Saturday. Two players achieved clean wins to reach the top of the standings right from the get-go — Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Sergey Karjakin and Wesley So, respectively. V. SARAVANAN recapped the action and included some behind-the-scenes curiosities. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/17/2018 – The chess action continues in Saint Louis. After the Rapid & Blitz tournament and before the Sinquefield Cup, Team Randy and Team Rex came back for another version of the ‘Ultimate Moves’ event. The Sinquefields led their Grandmaster-packed teams in a fun exhibition match that was eventually won by Randy’s squad. Magnus Carlsen was already in the premises and was part of the winning team. V. SARAVANAN reports | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/16/2018 – Hikaru Nakamura triumphed at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz leg of the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare and landed at the top spot in the overall standings of the tour with 33 points. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored 6½ from the final nine blitz games of the tournament to top the section, just outpacing Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at the finishing line to place himself second in the tour with 25 points. His score of 13½/18 in the Blitz was a whopping three points more than Nakamura, who finished second on 10½. V. SARAVANAN's report includes a full pictorial look at the final day. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/15/2018 – The first day of blitz action in Saint Louis was won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman scored no less than five wins (four with Black) to recover after a disastrous third day. Both Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura totalled positive scores and are still sharing the lead, while Caruana won three and lost three and is currently in sole third place. V. SARAVANAN reports from Saint Louis. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/14/2018 – On the third and final day of rapid, Hikaru Nakamura lodged two more wins and a draw bringing his final rapid tally to 12 (using double-scoring), a point ahead of Caruana and equal with Mamedyarov. "I believe in giving my fullest, and for me, that means to be aggressive and letting myself go completely", the American said. Caruana faded after an awful blunder against Dominguez in the first round of the day. V. SARAVANAN breaks down the highlights. | 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

8/1/2018 – Shortly after the last round of the Biel Tournament was over, World Chess announced the venue for this year's most important chess event. The Carlsen-Caruana match will take place at The College in Holborn, Central London. The organizers also provided some information regarding the live broadcast of the games and the Premium packages that will be available. | Photos: Location House

7/29/2018 – Among other things this issue includes games from the World Championship Candidates, Grenke and Gashimov Memorial Tournaments. 2295 games (several annotated) with 10 opening surveys from the Caro-Kann to the Queen’s Indian. A collector’s issue. Not to be missed.

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