5/3/2018 – Thursday in Shanghai, the Women's World Championship match between defending champion Tan Zhongyi and challenger Ju Wenjun commences. The competition is played over ten games, half in Shanghai (Ju Wenjun's hometown), half in Chongqing (Tan Zhongyi's hometown). Live games from 9:00 AM CEST (3:00 AM EDT) | Photo: Gu Xiaobing

4/18/2018 – The 24-year old former Women's World Champion, in an interview with Spiegel Online's Christian Gödecke, explains her current plans for the future, as she shifts her focus in the wake of her impending Rhodes Scholar status at Oxford University and says, "I would prefer not to distinguish between men and women players". | Photo: Macauley Peterson

4/10/2018 – Fabiano Caruana strikes again! A win with black in the final round in Baden-Baden leaves him alone atop the GRENKE Chess Classic standings, with no playoff needed. Caruana defeated Nikita Vitiugov, while all other games ended in a draw. Magnus Carlsen finished the tournament in clear second place. Vitiugov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian finished with 5 points apiece, tied for third through fifth. | Photos: Georgios Souleidis, Macauley Peterson

4/9/2018 – From March 31st to April 9th, the Grenke Chess Classic takes place in Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, Germany. Ten grandmasters play a single round-robin, headed by World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, the winner of the 2017 tournament, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Viswanathan Anand. Live games and commentary webcast. | Photo: Macauley Peterson

4/9/2018 – On a gorgeous Spring day in Baden-Baden there was another series of five draws in the eighth round. Magnus Carlsen tried to will his way to victory over Nikita Vitiugov, in the longest game of the round, but in the end, had to settle for a draw. Both remain a half point behind Caruana. It will be one of those three emerging as the GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 winner. Vitiugov, with White against Caruana in the final round (WATCH LIVE) has a chance to make a bold statement. For Magnus Carlsen, he'll have to try to win with black against Viswanathan Anand. Naiditch vs Anand is annotated by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson. | Photos: Macauley Peterson

4/8/2018 – In the GRENKE Chess Classic, standings shuffled dramatically after the seventh round. Fabiano Caruana managed a convincing win against his former co-leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces, to take the sole lead in the standings. World Champion Magnus Carlsen also won with Black, against Arkadij Naiditsch, and moved up to second place. Georg Meier missed chances to add to Viswanathan Anand woes. GM Daniel Fernandez annotates all five games | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

4/7/2018 – The sixth round of the Grenke Classic tournament lasted no less than seven hours today. Fabiano Caruana suffered long and hard against Yifan Hou but finally came to a happy draw. Matthias Bluebaum celebrated a great success against Viswanathan Anand, while Arkadij Naiditsch won against Georg Meier | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

2/7/2018 – The northern Chinese city of Harbin was the venue for a friendly competition between Hou Yifan and Anatoly Karpov. Over two days, the pair contested six rapid games. Karpov won the match 3½ : 2½. These days the 66-year-old Karpov rarely competes in serious tournaments. But he is still dangerous. | Photo: Imsa.cn

2/2/2018 – The Gibraltar Masters wrapped up Thursday, with Levon Aronian in first place. This year round ten passed without incident, in contrast to 2017 when, on February 2nd, the story of the day was a rare scandal involving women's World Champion Hou Yifan deliberately losing a game in protest of the high number of women she was paired against. She was further confounded when a similarly unlikely string of pairings happened in October at the Isle of Man Open. Johannes Meijer looks at the odds in detail. Hou did not return to Gibralter in 2018, but instead competed in the Tata Steel Chess Masters. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/31/2018 – January was naturally dominated by the Tata Steel Chess tournaments in Wijk aan Zee, and is otherwise a quiet month when most of the world's best players are inactive. It was a great success for Anish Giri, and a huge disappointment for Fabiano Caruana and Hou Yifan. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/29/2018 – Magnus Carlsen scored his record sixth Tata Steel Chess tournament win, on the same day tennis legend Roger Federer won his sixth Australian Open title. Draws from the tournament leaders in the Masters forced a playoff blitz match, which Magnus won with seeming ease. Challengers leader Vidit made a solid draw which secured him the top spot and automatic invitation to next year's Masters. And there will be a next year; at the conclusion of the round, it was announced that the tournament was guaranteed for January 11-27, 2019. Analysis and commentary by GM Daniel Fernandez | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/28/2018 – Magnus Carlsen won the 80th Tata Steel Masters which was decided in a blitz tiebreak over Dutch number one Anish Giri. The players contested two blitz games with 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move, with no sudden death Armageddon game needed. Vidit played solidly to earn a draw that was enough to win the Challengers, as Korobov could not manage to pull off a win with black on-demand. | Photo: Alina l'Ami TataSteelChess.com

1/28/2018 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov made a quick draw with Gawain Jones in under 30 minutes. That gave both Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen an opening to grab the lead with a win, heading into the final round on Sunday. In the Challangers, Vidit got a critical win with black against Girya, and takes a half point edge into round thirteen. Analysis and commentary by GM Daniel Fernandez | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/27/2018 – A draw between co-leaders Carlsen and Mamedyarov did not change the basic calculation, as Giri had the unenviable task of black against Caruana, and also drew. Anand's win over a downtrodden Hou Yifan, gives him some momentum heading into the final weekend half point behind. Karjakin beat Kramnik, but both (along with Wesley So) still have theoretical chances, just a point back. Vidit and Korobov keep their edge with a safe draw in their head-to-head game. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/25/2018 – Wins from Carlsen and Mamedyarov — the latter with the black pieces — re-established a three-way tie between the pair and Anish Giri, who drew with Sergey Karjakin. Kramnik also won to move within a half point of the leaders. Anand too notched a full point and is a full point back. In the Challengers no change at the top but newcomers Dmitry Gordievsky and Matthias Bluebaum improved to plus one scores with their victories today. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess on Facebook

1/24/2018 – Giri grabbed a chance after an oversight from Maxim Matlakov and notched an important win heading into the homestretch of this year's Masters tournament. With all other games drawn, there remain several players within striking distance, including Magnus Carlsen. GM Daniel Fernandez is back with the play-by-play. The Challengers has been status quo for several rounds, with Vidit and Korobov at the top by a safe margin. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/22/2018 – A tumultuous day in Wijk aan Zee as Anish Giri won his head-to-head with Mamedyarov and Magnus Carlsen recovered from a huge blunder, as the three players are now in a dead heat heading into the second rest day. GM Mikhail Golubev annotates the game that stole the show more than any other. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/21/2018 – 'Shak' Mamedyarov won again — his third straight and took a full point lead through the half-way mark of the Masters. Vladimir Kramnik put a big dent in Anand's tournament by winning with black against his successor to the World Champion title. Sergey Karjakin got his first win of the week, breaking his drawing streak and dealing Fabiano Caruana his third loss. And Magnus Carlsen handed Hou Yifan her fifth loss, as the World Champ moves up into a four-way tie for second place. GM Mikhail Golubev annotates all the decisive games of the round. Meanwhile, the Anton Korobov train keeps chugging along in the Challengers, as he drew with Black against Mikhail Krasenkow, keeping his full point lead over Vidit. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/20/2018 – The rest day after round five obviously did not hurt the fighting spirit at the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Round 6 brought dramatic games, two wins and a new leader: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. He won with some luck against Adhiban Baskaran and is now the sole front runner with 4½ out of 6. Peter Svidler and Magnus Carlsen had an entertaining exchange and Wesley So pulled a rabbit out of a hat to beat Wei Yi from a losing position. In the Challengers Anton Korobov leads with 5½ out of 6. | Photo: Alina l'Ami, Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/18/2018 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat Fabiano Caruana to pull even with Anish Giri and Viswanathan Anand for the tournament lead, in the "on tour" fifth round played in Hilversum. In the other two decisive games, Hou Yifan's woes continue as she lost to Peter Svidler — his first win of the tournament. Wesley So also got his first win, dealing Adhiban his third loss. Anton Korobov scored again in the Challengers and now leads alone. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/17/2018 – Yesterday Anand caused a sensation, but in today's fourth round it was Vladimir Kramnik's turn to be the ex-World Champion star. After just 24, moves Peter Svidler gave up resistance as his lifetime classical score versus Kramnik dips to -8. Anish Giri and Anand remain in the lead in the Masters. In Challengers Korobov and Vidit extended their lead to a full point. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/16/2018 – Magnus Carlsen drew quickly with Wei Yi to start round three, and there were more draws to follow including the leader Anish Giri. That gave Anand an opportunity to pull equal on 2½ points. In the challengers, top seed Vidit Gujrathi scored for the second straight day, but Anton Korobov kept pace, and both now stand at 2½ as well. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/15/2018 – Magnus Carlsen won in round two and, as luck would have it, two of three co-leaders after the first round met in round two. Anish Giri toppled Vladimir Kramnik, while Vishy Anand drew, so the Dutchman moves to the fore. In the Challengers group, no one can claim a perfect score after two rounds. The 2018 Tata Steel Masters and Challengers takes place January 13th to 28th. Grandmaster Daniel Fernandez dissects the Masters games in detail. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel

1/14/2018 – One down, twelve to go; Tata Steel Chess is often described as a "marathon" — more of a "Belmont Stakes" than a "Preakness" — where anyone can recover from a loss and the early lead isn't necessarily indicative of how things will be down the stretch. Still, it's nice to be out in front! Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri, jumped out to an early lead on Saturday, as Anand starts his bid for a record busting sixth Wijk aan Zee title. The 2018 Tata Steel Masters and Challengers takes place January 13th to 28th. Grandmaster Daniel Fernandez breaks down the action in our extensive round one report. | Photo: Alina l'Ami Tata Steel Chess on Facebook © 2018 Tata Steel