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)

4/27/2018 – Veselin Topalov has yielded the lead to Magnus Carlsen at the Vugar Gashimov Memorial. In their head-to-head encounter, Topalov gave up his queen for rook and bishop, but could not hold the game against the reinvigorated world champion. Ding Liren also came out on top against the floundering David Navara. Is Carlsen's success off the board foreshadowing a Norwegian win in Shamkir? GM Daniel Fernandez annotates all games of round seven. | Photos: ShamkirChess.az

4/25/2018 – Round 6 of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir brought interesting games, but only one win. Anish Giri benefited from a tactical blackout by David Navara, to net his first full point of the tournament. The four remaining games ended in a draw, two without much excitement, but two after an interesting run. | Photos: Shamkir Chess

4/24/2018 – After a lethargic start, the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir has slowly gained momentum. On Monday two games were decided: Magnus Carlsen celebrated his first win, against Radoslaw Wojtaszek, and Veselin Topalov made it two in a row by beating David Navara with the black pieces. Topalov continues in sole first place as we reach the one and only rest day. | Photos: Shamkirchess.az

4/23/2018 – After 15 draws over the first three rounds in Shamkir, Sunday's round saw one of the players finally win a game. Veselin Toplalov wrestled with Shakriyar Mamedyarov in a razor-sharp Open Spanish and thus takes over the sole lead. Plus: David Navara analyzes the Caro-Kann until the end, Anish Giri lets Liren Ding off the hook and Teimour Radjabov explains his strategy with White against World Champion Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Shamkirchess.az

4/22/2018 – At the Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijani, the curious "remis-sery" (to use a cross-language pun) could not be broken in the third round either. The ten top grandmasters have played fifteen games; because none of them was decided, there are naturally also ten "leaders" with 1½ points. GM Alex Yermolinsky reports that things could have changed today round three, which saw the Bulgarian ex-FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov miss a winning chance against Ding Liren. Unfortunately, of the two ways in which Topalov could sacrifice his knight, Topalov chose the wrong one, and Ding could save the game in a draw. | Photo: Shamkirchess.az

4/20/2018 – The first round of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir ended with five draws, and the second round also brought five draws. The most excitement offered the game between Anish Giri and Veselin Topalov but in the end the two players shared the point. | Photos: Shamkir Chess

4/20/2018 – The Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan began with five draws. The top game between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Magnus Carlsen was rather unspectacular. The best chances for a victory were held by Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren, but at the crucial moment against Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Ding lacked a killer instinct. | Photo: shamkirchess.az

3/28/2018 – GM Daniel King was, of course, one of our round-up show hosts, but he also covered the Candidates Tournament in Berlin round-by-round for his Power Play YouTube Channel, culminating in extensive reporting from on-site for the final two rounds. In case you missed some of his great work, we present it here in one convenient place. Grandmaster analysis in easily digestible bites.

3/28/2018 – With a confident performance in the last round, Fabiano Caruana secured victory in the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin. He played against Alexander Grischuk with a half point lead, and as the round progressed it became clear that a draw would be enough for the tournament victory. But that wasn't enough for Caruana, who pressed on for the full point and finished with a fantastic 9.0 / 14 score and clear first. | Photo: World Chess

3/27/2018 – The final four games, the final four players who have a chance — Monday's play brought some clarity to the stakes in the last round, but Tuesday is shaping up to be a barn-burner. Sergey Karjakin's late surge (since Saturday) stalled as he made a dry draw against Wesley So from, and he puts all his hopes on Tuesday's game. Fabiano Caruana took advantage: The American won in a wild melee against Levon Aronian and is now half a point ahead of Karjakin. And Shakh is back: the Azerbaijani world number two won Monday against Grischuk and is now equal second with Karjakin. Ding is the dark horse who will have to go all-out to win. | Photo: Niki Riga

3/26/2018 – The first thirteen rounds of the Candidates Tournament brought top-class chess, brilliant games and many surprises. And the finale is set up to be exciting: four players can still hope to win the tournament and become the challenger of Magnus Carlsen. Fabiano Caruana takes a small lead into the final round, but with two other players within a half point of first, we can see a maximum of three players tied after Tuesday's final round. Who has the best chances? Read on... | Pictured: Sergei Karjakin in profile | Photo: Niki Riga

3/24/2018 – Round twelve had everyone reeling as the event was stood on its head. Sergey Karjakin beat Fabiano Caruana in a powerful game with a superb exchange sacrifice, and now shares the lead with a better tiebreak. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov lost to Ding Liren, who won his first game and thus joins the group a half-point behind the leaders. Read the report and enjoy the analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky! | Photo: World Chess

3/24/2018 – In the Candidates Tournament in Berlin, the leader and his closest pursuer played draws in the eleventh round: Fabiano Caruana found precise answers to Vladimir Kramnik's opening ideas, Shakriyar Mamedyarov steered Wesley So towards an early peace. With three rounds to go, Caruana is still half a point ahead of Mamedyarov. Musical chairs in the chasing group. The Chinese Ding Liren was on the verge of a brilliant victory against Alexander Grischuk, but in mutual time pressure, Grischuk managed a miraculous escape. For Ding, his eleventh consecutive draw. | Photo: World Chess

3/23/2018 – Fabiano Caruana had to face his most persistent pursuer in Berlin, Shakriyar Mamedyarov, in the tenth round with the black pieces. Both players wanted to win the game and thus take a huge advantage into the remaining games, but ultimately played to bare kings. The tournament is still completely open at the top. On the other end of the standings table, Vladimir Kramnik staged a small comeback after several bruising defeats, by winning against Levon Aronian. Both the remaining games, Ding Liren vs So and Grischuk vs Karjakin were drawn. | Photo: Niki Riga

3/20/2018 – Fabiano Caruana failed to put an end to Ding Liren's drawing streak today in the Candidates Tournament, and the US Grandmaster missed several good opportunities in the endgame. Vladimir Kramnik showing fighting spirit, sacrificing a while rook against Karjakin, but his queen and bishop pair was not enough to crack the "Minister of Defence", and he went on to lose his fourth game. Who would have predicted that Kramnik and Aronian would be tied for last place!? | Pictured: Lakhdar Mazouz, FIDE President's Assistant for Africa made the ceremonial first move Photos: Niki Riga

3/20/2018 – At the beginning of the second half of the tournament, the symbolic first move was played by German IM Elisabeth Paehtz. Grischuk and Kramnik, along with Caruana and So provided most of the entertainment. Kramnik sacrificed a pawn, but then could not hold the endgame. So defended successfully against Caruana, however, despite being down the exchange. | Photos: World Chess

3/19/2018 – At the midway point, Fabiano Caruana took the sole lead after beating Levon Aronian in a wild game. Aronian seemed to be ina bit of a panic, while Caruana played very precisely, staved off the attack and took the point. Sergey Karjakin won his first game beating Wesley So and moves out of last place. Ding Liren, usually such a fighter, seems content to not lose, and drew Vladimir Kramnik after creating good winning chances. Here is the report and analyses by GM Alex Yermolinsky | Photo: World Chess

3/17/2018 – The fifth round of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin brought the first round of all draws, but Levon Aronian missed a huge chance against Alexander Grischuk. Friday was a day full of surprises: Vladimir Kramnik overplayed his hand against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and was dealt a painful loss, while Wesley So managed a fantastic comeback against Aronian, whose confidence looks shaken. Fabiano Caruana played a double-edged game against Grischuk and now shares the lead with Mamedyarov. | Photo: World Chess

3/14/2018 – The fourth round of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin brought some serious drama. Kramnik vs Caruana was a wild back-and-forth battle. Caruana was much better, then Kramnik was close to winning before finally blundering it all away on move 59. Grischuk missed a killer chance against Ding Liren and played to a draw. Aronian won with Black thanks to good preparation against Karjakin, and Mamedyarov and drew an unspectacular game against So. Caruana is now in the sole lead with 3.0 / 4.

3/12/2018 – The big winner of round 3 of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin is Vladimir Kramnik. With a powerful and brilliant attack, he won a crucial game with Black against Levon Aronian. The other three games of the round ended in a draw. With 2½/3 Kramnik is now sole leader. Tuesday is the first rest day in Berlin. The tournament resumes on Wednesday at 15:00 CET (10:00 AM EST) | Photo: World Chess

3/12/2018 – Round 2 of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin brought one win and three draws. Alexander Grischuk bounced back from his loss against Vladimir Kramnik in round 1 and won an energetic attacking game against Wesley So. Mamedyarov and Aronian, Kramnik and Karjakin, and Ding Liren and Caruana all drew their games. | Photo: André Schulz

3/10/2018 – The players for the next Grand Chess Tour circuit have been announced, settling the question of whether or not Magnus Carlsen would return to defend his 2017 win — he won't. The demanding schedule of the GCT was too much to commit to fully during a World Championship match year. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/6/2018 – 13 rounds of blitz is tiring. If you are not playing well you want to get over with it as soon as possible. But if you are winning like Sergey Karjakin was at the Tal Memorial Blitz 2018, you would want to keep playing forever! Sergey was in top-notch form as he mustered up 10.0/13 (+8,=4,-1) and finished 1½ points ahead of second-placed Nakamura. The American tried hard but couldn't keep up with Karjakin's pace. Third place was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi. We have the full coverage with interesting games, positions and lot of videos!