7/24/2018 – On Sunday, the Accentus GM tournament started in Biel with a few super GMs, including none other than the World Champion himself. Magnus Carlsen had an exciting duel with David Navara, in which Carlsen proved that the queen may be overrated. So far, the World Champion has shown himself in excellent form. On Monday he scored again, this time with Black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Peter Svidler celebrated his first victory, against Nico Georgiadis, and is tied with Mamedyarov for second place. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Simon Bohnenblust / Biel International Chess Festival

7/19/2018 – 40 years ago this week, Karpov and Korchnoi started their fight for the world title in Baguio City on the Philippines. Yesterday we published a lengthy interview with Karpov, who won the match 6 : 5, but Korchnoi almost became world champion. A good occasion to take a look at Genna Sosonko's new book "Evil-Doer: Half a Century with Viktor Korchnoi", a fine memoir of one of the most interesting chess players of the 20th century. | Pictured: Korchnoi and Sosonko | Photo courtesy Elk and Ruby

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

6/29/2018 – Magnus Carlsen weighs in on "peak performance" in a video published by Inc.com, and Play Magnus has launched a new app aimed at children five to nine years old called Magnus' Kingdom of Chess. The World Champion will play two tournaments plus the European Club Cup in the run-up to his title bout with Fabiano Caruana.

6/25/2018 – IM Malcolm Pein, now a candidate for FIDE Deputy President, took time out from a full schedule for a chat with Macauley Peteron in Leuven at the end of the "Your Next Move Rapid and Blitz" tournament. Malcolm discussed the Grand Chess Tour, the FIDE / Agon proposed "broadcast policy," the upcoming World Championship in London, and his thoughts on the election including having his old friend Nigel Short as a political sparring partner. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/13/2018 – Wesley So had the best start on the first day of the rapid tournament in Leuven and leads after wins over Caruana and Mamedyarov and a draw netting him 2½ points, using traditional scoring. Sergey Karjakin and Levon Aronian trail with 2 points. Rapid game point tallies will, however, count double in the final standings. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/8/2018 – Tension to the end! After Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave drew early and Nakamura and Aronian followed the example a bit later, it was up to Caruana and So to decide if we would see a clear winner or a five-way playoff. So attacked bravely, but in a wild time-scramble, Caruana gained the upper hand and thus became tournament winner. Games annotated by GMs DANIEL FERNANDEZ and DANIEL KING | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

6/7/2018 – Magnus Carlsen made a quick draw against Vachier-Lagrave in the final round, aiming to take his chances in a tiebreak with one or more of his colleagues. And indeed, we looked to be heading to a five-way playoff after draws from Nakamura (vs Aronian) and a win from Anand (over Karjakin), while Caruana-So looked to be also heading for a split point. But in a dramatic turnaround right after the time-control, Wesley So blundered, and Caruana went on to win and take the Altibox Norway Chess 2018 title! Replay the games and commentary!

6/7/2018 – Fabiana Caruana defeated Viswanathan Anand today with his dangerous Petroff Defence and Hikaru Nakamura also scored — his first full point came at a crucial moment against Sergey Karjakin. Thus, before the last round, Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura all lead the bottom half of the field. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

6/6/2018 – Leader Magnus Carlsen was without a game Tuesday and therefore watched from the Norwegian TV2 live broadcast studio to see if Wesley So would overtake him by defeating Mamedyarov. So only managed a draw, alongside two other boards. The one decision of the day was Viswanathan Anand's win with black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave which brings Anand to join the leaders. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

6/4/2018 – Wesley So showed his usual modesty when he declared that he had "caught Magnus on a bad day", after defeating the World Champion for the first time in his career. Carlsen was not at his best today — his light-squared bishop looked particularly tragic, as it spent most of the game stranded on the b1-h7 diagonal. The remaining games ended in a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/3/2018 – Ding Liren is expected to make a full recovery following surgery on Friday for a fractured hip after a fall off a bicycle. But his need to rest following the injury trumps his need to play chess and he has bowed out of the tournament in Stavanger. The three draws he has made will not count for score and the tournament continues with his remaining opponents getting a rest day. Fabiano Caruana was the beneficiary in round four, and he returned to the board with a vengeance on Saturday, scoring the day's only win. Report and games by ALEX YERMOLINSKY. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/2/2018 – In the first three rounds of the Altibox Norway Chess tournaments, Magnus Carlsen was the only player to win a game, but in round four Sergey Karjakin and Levon Aronian put their first number 1 up on the crosstable. Viswanathan Anand and Wesley So drew, as did Hikaru Nakamura and Carlsen. The game between Ding Liren and Fabiano Caruana was postponed following a serious bicycle accident suffered by Ding, who fractured a hip. Carlsen's lead has now shrunk to half a point. Report and games annotated by GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

6/1/2018 – Ding Liren is at a career best 2798 on the Elo ratings and number four in the world. But Thursday night it emerged that he's suffered a hip fracture while bicycling in Norway and will miss today's fourth round. The scheduled game with Caruana has been postponed (for now) until the next rest day, June 4th. Before the incident, the players took part in a "cook-off" where they were paired up and got to play the roll of professional chefs for a while. Here Ding enjoys the fruits (or rather veggies) of his labour. Behind him (L-to-R): Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, Caruana and Karjakin | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

5/31/2018 – Magnus Carlsen seems to be in top form at this year's Norway Chess tournament. In Round 3, he defeated Levon Aronian in a near miniature and in a manner that was typically Carlsen-esque. This puts the World Champion in the clear lead after with 2½ of 3. The four other games ended in a draw, leaving Carlsen the only player who has yet scored a full point — and with two of them, he's already a heavy favourite to win the tournament if history is any guide. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

5/30/2018 – The second round of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament did not bring a winner, but some interesting draws and opening finesses. Magnus Carlsen remains in the lead. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Norway Chess

5/29/2018 – An omen for the upcoming World Championship? Magnus Carlsen played the opening round of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament against Fabiano Caruana, his next challenger in for the World Champion's title, and won, improving his classical record against the American. The remaining games ended in draws. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

5/28/2018 – The Altibox Norway Chess Tournament started with a blitz tournament, and with 10 of the world’s best players competing it was probably one of the best blitz tournaments in the history of chess. It determined which five players will have one more game with White in the classic tournament which starts today on Monday, April 28, but was of course also about prestige and invites predictions of form. Magnus Carlsen was favourite but Wesley So won. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

5/17/2018 – For the first part of this review, our columnist has selected a featured game from our magazine — Magnus Carlsen's notable win over Gawain Jones in Wijk aan Zee — offering both the background and the outcome from the point of opening theory. Prof. Nagesh Havanur combines analysis from Mikhail Golubev, Peter Heine Nielsen, and the players themselves, plus his own research in an engaging look at one of the most dramatic days at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

5/9/2018 – The Chess Festival in Biel takes place from July 21 to August 1, 2018, and the grandmaster tournament will be exceptionally strong. All six players of the ACCENTUS Grandmaster Tournament are now known. World Champion Magnus Carlsen will also face world number 3 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) in Biel. A new multi-round Fischer Random Chess Tournament will be held at the Biel Chess Festival, as well as three ACCENTUS simultaneous tournaments for 75 juniors. Press release.

5/1/2018 – It was a month in which the two best players 'explained' once more to the world, why they are the best. Magnus Carlsen came storming through the second half of the Gashimov Memorial to win it, while Fabiano Caruana won the Grenke Classic, and came second in the US Championship with a plus five score. Sam Shankland enjoyed the greatest result of his career with a huge US Championship win, and a 2701 rating to boot. Here are the ratings and report for your perusal. | Photo: Shamkirchess.az

4/29/2018 – The writing was on the wall, and the last round clash between Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren remained somewhat anticlimactic as they drew after just 27 moves. To be fair, Magnus never gave his opponent a chance to liven things up. The one decisive game of the last round was Sergey Karjakin’s win over Veselin Topalov. A great tournament victory for the World Champion with signs of what is to come. | Photo: Shamkir Chess

4/28/2018 – World Champion Magnus Carlsen heads the 5th Shamkir Chess tournament in memory of Vugar Gashimov, being played in Azerbaijan from April 19th to 28th. Live games and commentary from 13:00 CEST (7:00 AM EDT)

4/28/2018 – In today's penultimate round of the Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, the dam has finally burst: Four of the five games were decided. Magnus Carlsen finally has a plus score against Anish Giri for the first time since their initial meeting in Wijk aan Zee, 2011, but Ding Liren won as well to keep pace, ahead of their crucial final round pairing. Magnus with white and a half point lead of course has excellent chances to win another title in Shamkir. | Photos: Shamkirchess / Eteri Kublashvili