11/20/2020 – Since 2005, fan favourite Vassily Ivanchuk has played ten times at the Capablanca Memorial. Playing in Cuba seems to bring out the best of the Ukrainian genius, who won the event no fewer than eight times, including the most recent edition in 2019. We look back on his two most dominating performances, in 2005 and 2007, when he scored +6 and +7 respectively.

11/6/2020 – After twenty years as the world’s highest-rated player, Garry Kasparov decided to quit chess and go into politics in March 2005. His last event was the now legendary Linares Tournament. Kasparov had a one-point lead over Veselin Topalov going into their direct encounter in the last round — Topalov won that game, but Kasparov nonetheless won the tournament, as he had a better tiebreak score (more wins with black). | Photos: Nadja Wittmann

10/3/2020 – A 17-year-old Hou Yifan, already the women’s world champion at the time, tied for first place with Nigel Short at the main event of the 2012 Gibraltar Chess Festival. Short won the playoff, but Hou’s performance was a milestone in her career, as she proved she could compete neck-in-neck with the very best in the world. Hou also defeated Judit Polgar in their first-ever encounter. | Photos: Zeljka Malobabic / Ray Morris-Hill

9/25/2020 – Leinier Domínguez Pérez turned 37 yesterday, September 23. The Cuban-American grandmaster has been a part of the “2700+ club” since July 2008 and has stood out for his consistent play in top events throughout the years. Now we look back into two of his greatest tournament performances — his first place at the 2006 Ciutat de Barcelona event (8/9 ahead of Ivanchuk, Korneev and Bologan) and his victory at the 2013 Thessaloniki Grand Prix (8/11 ahead of Kamsky, Caruana and Grischuk). | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/20/2020 – What has already become a landmark in the world of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club, opened in July 2008 and hosted the US Championship for the first time in 2009. A 21-year-old Hikaru Nakamura won his second national title that year, scoring 7 points in the 9-round Swiss. Robert Hess, then 17 years old and not yet a grandmaster, and Alexander Onischuk shared second place a half point behind. | Photos: Betsy Dynako

8/7/2020 – Known for their team camaraderie, Armenia obtained back-to-back gold medals at the 2006 and 2008 Chess Olympiads, played in Turin and Dresden respectively. Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and Arthases Minasian played in both events, with Akopian and Sargissian getting undefeated scores on both occasions — and individual gold medals in 2008.

7/9/2020 – Soon after rapidly climbing to the top of the chess elite, Vugar Gashimov sadly passed away at the young age of 27 on January 11, 2014. The Azerbaijani grandmaster was known for his joyful personality and his uncompromising style on the chessboard. We look back at a testimonial made about him and three of his greatest achievements as a chess player. | Photo: Nadja Wittman

6/19/2020 – “There has long been a lively debate about who is the strongest player of all. [...] But there is no argument about the greatest female player: she is 21-year-old Judit Polgar of Hungary”, wrote Robert Byrne in his New York Times column of August 26, 1997. Polgar was recently awarded a Honorary Doctorate in Budapest, so we want to use this opportunity to recall a few of her remarkable achievements as a chess player.

6/5/2020 – A memorable and dearly missed event for chess fans — the Melody Amber Tournament took place each year since 1992 until 2011. In its fourteenth edition, Vishy Anand won both sections outright, blindfold and rapid. This was the second time a player managed to do it. But who was the first one to do it? Vishy himself! He achieved the same feat back in 1997.

5/1/2020 – A week after his 44th birthday, Nigel Short added yet another accolade to his illustrious career. And he did it in style, scoring 4½ out of 5 at the Sigeman & Co Tournament, a six-player single round-robin. A 15-year-old Nils Grandelius arrived in Malmö as the clear underdog and nevertheless finished in clear second place, already showing his tremendous chess strength. Ivan Sokolov and Tomi Nyback shared third place. | Photos: Official site

4/24/2020 – At the end of 2006, the capital city of Navarre in Spain organized the 16th edition of the "Magistral Ciudad de Pamplona". The eight-player single round-robin featured a mix of fearless tacticians and rising stars. Top seed Alexander Morozevich — number five in the world at the time — won the event after scoring five wins and two draws. Dmitry Jakovenko and Alexei Shirov finished second and third in a tournament filled with exciting tactical battles. | Pictured: Morozevich in Biel, 2017. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/17/2020 – The fourth edition of the M-Tel Masters Tournament in Sofia saw Vassily Ivanchuk getting sole first place with a stunning 8 out of 10 score. The Ukrainian genius finished 1½ points ahead of Veselin Topalov, who had won all three previous editions. Ivanchuk kicked off the tournament with five straight wins and, after scoring one more victory in the second half, ended the event with a 2977 Tournament Performance Rating. | Photos: Europe Echecs

4/10/2020 – Back in 1999, Peter Leko confirmed his status as a serious contender for the World Championship title by winning the 27th edition of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, ahead of 'Mr. Dortmund' himself, Vladimir Kramnik. Leko was only 19, and three years later would qualify to face Kramnik in a match for the world crown. The event was also important for the Hungarian's personal life, as he met his future wife Sofia during the tournament. | Pictured: Leko in 2009 | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/3/2020 – This new series of articles will focus on reliving some of the best chess events from a relatively recent past. We will go back eleven years in the first instalment, to the 2009 edition of the Linares Tournament. Viswanathan Anand was the world champion at the time and headed an eight-player field set to play a double round robin. In the end, seventh seed Alexander Grischuk got the title, after scoring 8/14 and edging Vassily Ivanchuk on tiebreaks (most wins). An 18-year-old Magnus Carlsen finished third. | Photos: Frederic Friedel