4/28/2018 – On the surface, the round was a quiet one, with eleven draws out of the twelve games in both events, but things were not so simple. More than a few games seemed likely to leave a body behind, but this was not counting the defenders desire to not lose. Sam Shankland had a promising position against Fabiano Caruana with an extra pawn, but never quite built it up enough to win. Both Women’s leaders Nazi Paikidze and Annie Wang were dead lost in their games, but lived to fight another day. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/27/2018 – Sam Shankland and Fabiano Caruana both drew and remain tied after a tumultuous round in St. Louis. Ray Robson and Alex Lenderman scored full points with Robson's win coming after 144 moves over Varuzhan Akobian. In the women's championship, a whopping six decisive games, including another win from Annie Wang who scored a big point against Irina Krush and retains her full point edge, with just three rounds to go. |Photos: Lennart Ootes

4/26/2018 – Leader Sam Shankland played a calm draw against Wesley So, in the seventh round of the US championship, and remains at the top, but he was joined by Fabiano Caruana who scored his fourth win, defeating Varuzhan Akobian. So, meanwhile, had time for some fun trash-talk, giving all the commentators a good time during the live-broadcast, don't miss it! In another surprise, the "favorites fright" Zviad Izoria defeated Hikaru Nakamura. Annie Wang won once again in the Women's and now has a full point edge. After round six, players were invited to a party dubbed "Chess After Dark", abd the next day they gave simultaneous exhibitons against local students. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

4/24/2018 – Sam Shankland, after a big win Monday over Varuzhan Akobian, is in the sole lead with five rounds to go. Fabiano Caruana caught up with Wesley So after posting his third win of the tournament and the pair are in second place heading into the lone rest day. So drew his game with Zviad Izoria. Annie Wang is on | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/23/2018 – On the surface, the round was a quiet one, with eleven draws out of the twelve games in both events, but things were not so simple. More than a few games seemed likely to leave a body behind, but this was not counting the defenders desire to not lose. Sam Shankland had a promising position against Fabiano Caruana with an extra pawn, but never quite built it up enough to win. Both Women’s leaders Nazi Paikidze and Annie Wang were dead lost in their games, but lived to fight another day. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/22/2018 – It was a rather astonishing day, with the headline involving Fabiano Caruana once more. This time it was because he ended up losing to the caboose of the tournament after overpressing. This in turn opened it up to others, and Sam Shankland joined the lead with a win over Ray Robson. In the women’s event, it was a gripping day with some great wins such as the marathon 106-mover by 15-year-old Annie Wang, and the power attack display by Nazi Paikidze, both who lead with 3½/4. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/21/2018 – Round three of the US Championship saw the leaderboards begin to take shape, with a hint of what is to come. Wesley So had a scare as he escaped a dangerous position against young Awonder Liang, while Fabiano Caruana continues to steamroll as he defeated Jeffery Xiong. In the Women’s event, Nazi Paikidze and Annie Wang lead. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/19/2018 – Kicking off the US Championships at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, defending US Champion Wesley So and Varuzhan Akobian started with victories — both coming with the black pieces. Awonder Liang took half a point off Fabiano Caruana. In the Women's championship, there were two decisions in round one. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/22/2017 – Aryan Tari from Norway and Zhansaya Abdumalik from Kazakhstan lead at the World Junior Championships. In the Open Tari drew in round 7 against Awonder Liang from the US and won in round 8 against Grigoriy Oparin. With 7.0/8 he is now half a point ahead of two players with 6½/8 each. One of them is the Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa, who won against Liang in round 8 and scored his first GM-norm. In the Girls section Abdumalik won in round 7 but lost in round 8. With 6½/8 she now shares the lead with Anastasia Paramzina. | Photo: Bernd Vökler

11/21/2017 – Tuesdays at 5pm UK time Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show Lawrence Trent will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from the elite chess tournaments. This week features games from the World Junior Championships!

10/19/2017 – The first Jamaican International Chess Festival brought four strong youngsters to promote chess on the beautiful island of Jamaica: Awonder Liang, Akshat Chandra, Akshita Gorti and Qiyu Zhou — all up-and-coming players with notable achievements. They gave speeches, played simuls, blitz and rapid chess for the purpose of inspiring youth in Jamaica. Qiyu Zhou gives a first-hand account. | Photo: Changrong Yu

7/31/2017 – The Match of the Millenials was astonishing to say the least. On paper, the US under-17 team had such an Elo advantage that some bemoaned the lack of stronger foreign juniors to make it more ‘competitive’. Instead they had already lost a full round in advance, as had the under-14. A great result for the World team, winning 30.5-17.5, and a tribute to their team spirit and their captain. Full illustrated report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/26/2017 – Yet another interesting new event put on by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, the Match of the Millennials sees eight young American players face off against some of the best juniors from around the world. World Junior Champion Jeffery Xiong leads the USA squad, and Haik Martirosyan from Armenia heads the World team.

12/2/2015 – Records come and go, and US chess has seen an explosion in interest among young players in the past decade. Until a week ago, the record for the youngest IM in the US was held by Samuel Sevian, but it was just broken by IM-elect Awonder Liang, beating him by three months. Except his record of youngest national master was also just broken.

8/14/2015 – This event was staged in the multicultural city of Kitchener, Canada from July 26 to 30, and attracted 65 players from around North America to compete in the open section and girls section. Neither of the top seeds placed with a medal. One of them, Qiyu Zhou, sent us a lovely report. We dug into her background and pulled up some inspiring material that left us speechless. | Photos: John Upper and Penny Yu