11/13/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. Lawrence is on-demand this week and free for ChessBase Basic account holders for a limited time! (Why not register for FREE in 30 seconds if you don't already have an account?) This week Lawrence covers the recently concluded rapid tournament as part of Tata Steel Chess India.

10/22/2018 – The second round of the Chess.com Isle of Man International Tournament left only eighteen players with a perfect score in a field of 167. It has been difficult for the favourites to beat their nominally weaker opponents in the first days of play, although none of them have actually given up full points. On Day 2, Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave won their games on the top boards, while Anand had another tough game that finished on a good note, as he saved an inferior rook endgame against Robert Hess. | Photos: John Saunders / Official site

10/3/2018 – It was perhaps the most hard-fought round of the tournament. Nine out of the first ten matches ended decisively in the open section. We now have a sole leader — USA in the open section. The US team managed to beat Azerbaijan in a thrilling match. In the women's section, Ukraine managed to beat overnight leaders Armenia to take the top spot. They are joined by the Chinese girls. With three rounds to go this Olympiad is excitingly placed with the biggest match today being USA taking on Poland in the open section. Report from Batumi by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal.

9/30/2018 – We have a sole leader in the women's section of the Batumi Olympiad 2018. Team USA has won all of their five matches and are now on 10.0/10 match points. They are being followed by six teams with a score of 9.0/10. In the open section, Czech Republic were able to create the upset of the round by beating the super strong Chinese team. Poland beat France and USA was unable to get past Israel. Everything related to this exciting round has been covered in this report which is filled with photos, videos, game analysis and much more. | Pictured: Jiri Stocek | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/25/2018 – It's a historic moment for Indian chess. The country will be hosting its first super tournament this November — the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz. Bigwigs like Aronian, Nakamura, Karjakin, So and Mamedyarov will be seen crossing swords with Anand, Harikrishna, Vidit and others. Prodigies, Nihal Sarin and R Praggnanandhaa will also be seen matching their wits with some of the absolute best in the world. Here's all you need to know about the event.

9/17/2018 – While Levon Aronian is fighting the chess elite in arduous events, his wife Arianne Caoili is engaged in various entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives in Armenia. The Australian Woman International Master will cycle through the south coastal region of Cilicia to raise funds on behalf of the Children of Armenia Fund. The biking tour's fundraising will allow COAF to expand its athletic programs for youth living in six villages of Armenia's Tavush region.

9/15/2018 – There was almost no intrigue regarding the final results, but the 2018 Champions Showdown was filled with curious highlights and enterprising chess. The main attraction was Garry Kasparov's presence — the 13th World Champion lost his match against Topalov, but finished on a high thanks to a pair of wins in the last rounds. In the other matchups, Nakamura, So, Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian emerged victorious. In terms of entertainment value, the Saint Louis Chess Club hit the mark! | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

9/13/2018 – After two days of Chess960 in St. Louis, Wesley So established the largest lead in his match against Anish Giri. Perhaps that why So says he prefers the variant over "normal chess". Or is it the other way around — preference breeds success? Garry Kasparov, on the other hand, is well behind in his match against Veselin Topalov. Elsewhere the rating favourites all lead, with the exception of Hikaru Nakamura vs Peter Svidler, which is tied at 6 points apiece. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/ Lennart Ootes, Austin Fuller

9/1/2018 – September is here, and as the month kicks off we check in with the FIDE rating lists to see how a busy (northern) summer season has shaken thinks up Elo-wise. Magnus Carlsen's top spot in both classical and blitz was briefly threatened, but he remains the king of all formats. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

8/28/2018 – The sixth edition of the Sinquefield Cup had an unprecedented finish. Levon Aronian defeated Alexander Grischuk in a memorable game, while Magnus Carlsen got a 97-move victory over Hikaru Nakamura. Therefore, Aronian, Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana tied for first — in points and in all tiebreak criteria! The rules stipulated that a drawing of lots would decide which two players would go to the playoff — Carlsen objected, as he thought it to be 'ridiculous'. Finally, the players and organisers decided all three would be declared co-winners! V. SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/27/2018 – Everything looked set for a day full of fireworks when the eighth round of the Sinquefield Cup had just begun — Grischuk opened with 1.f4, Karjakin and Nakamura went into what seemed to be a sharp Catalan and Carlsen surely was in the mood to avenge his Biel loss against Mamedyarov. The players did try to fight, but the final result was, once again, five drawn games. Curiously, with one round to go, all the GCT "regular" players still have chances to qualify to the final stage in London. V. SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/26/2018 – The much-awaited encounter between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana took place on Saturday in Saint Louis. The World Champion faced Caruana's Petroff and obtained a decisive kingside attack, but was not able to round off the game to a win. The rest of the games also finished with draws, so the World Championship challenger remains the sole leader with two rounds to go. V. SARAVANAN tells us all about the big clash. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/25/2018 – For the first time in this year's Sinquefield Cup, a sole leader tops the standings — Fabiano Caruana took advantage of Sergey Karjakin's bad form to get his second win of the tournament. Alexander Grischuk could have easily joined him in the lead, as he missed a big chance to defeat Magnus Carlsen, while Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura exchanged errors to draw the longest game of the day. DANIEL FERNANDEZ analysed all the games from the round and V. SARAVANAN sent his impressions from Saint Louis. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/23/2018 – In this year's Sinquefield Cup it is completely banned to sign agreed draws. After three rounds with one decisive result per day, the fifth day of play finished with all the games drawn. That does not mean we did not see fighting chess — Magnus Carlsen could not promote a far-advanced passed pawn against Wesley So, while Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ended up frustrated after drawing a rollercoaster game where both had chances. V. SARAVANAN reports from Saint Louis. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Spectrum Studios

8/22/2018 – Fabiano Caruana joined the leading pack at the fourth round of the Sinquefield Cup after using a daring novelty against Hikaru Nakamura. With this result, no less than five players are co-leading at the fourth leg of the Grand Chess Tour. Closing on half-time, those still in the run will start taking into account the results they need in order to qualify to the GCT finale in London, adding interest to the event. V. SARAVANAN reports. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/21/2018 – Three rounds have already been played at this year’s Sinquefield Cup. Four different players have achieved a single win to share the lead on 2/3 — the last one to join this group was Alexander Grischuk, who defeated Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces on Monday. V. SARAVANAN tells us about yet another day in the United States’ capital of chess. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/20/2018 – Four out of five games finished drawn in the Sinquefield Cup’s second round. The only winner was Magnus Carlsen, who defeated his former World Championship challenger Sergey Karjakin after enterprisingly sacrificing an exchange in what seemed to be a balanced position. Thus, the Norwegian joined Mamedyarov and Aronian in the lead. V. SARAVANAN reports from the Saint Louis Chess Club. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Spectrum Studios

8/19/2018 – After the hard-fought St. Louis Rapid & Blitz event, the already traditional Sinquefield Cup started on Saturday. Two players achieved clean wins to reach the top of the standings right from the get-go — Levon Aronian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Sergey Karjakin and Wesley So, respectively. V. SARAVANAN recapped the action and included some behind-the-scenes curiosities. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/17/2018 – The chess action continues in Saint Louis. After the Rapid & Blitz tournament and before the Sinquefield Cup, Team Randy and Team Rex came back for another version of the ‘Ultimate Moves’ event. The Sinquefields led their Grandmaster-packed teams in a fun exhibition match that was eventually won by Randy’s squad. Magnus Carlsen was already in the premises and was part of the winning team. V. SARAVANAN reports | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/16/2018 – Hikaru Nakamura triumphed at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz leg of the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare and landed at the top spot in the overall standings of the tour with 33 points. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored 6½ from the final nine blitz games of the tournament to top the section, just outpacing Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at the finishing line to place himself second in the tour with 25 points. His score of 13½/18 in the Blitz was a whopping three points more than Nakamura, who finished second on 10½. V. SARAVANAN's report includes a full pictorial look at the final day. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/15/2018 – The first day of blitz action in Saint Louis was won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman scored no less than five wins (four with Black) to recover after a disastrous third day. Both Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura totalled positive scores and are still sharing the lead, while Caruana won three and lost three and is currently in sole third place. V. SARAVANAN reports from Saint Louis. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/14/2018 – On the third and final day of rapid, Hikaru Nakamura lodged two more wins and a draw bringing his final rapid tally to 12 (using double-scoring), a point ahead of Caruana and equal with Mamedyarov. "I believe in giving my fullest, and for me, that means to be aggressive and letting myself go completely", the American said. Caruana faded after an awful blunder against Dominguez in the first round of the day. V. SARAVANAN breaks down the highlights. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

8/13/2018 – After an amazing start, Fabiano Caruana kept his cool and drew all his games in the midst of a day filled with turnarounds and missed chances. Four players are now two points behind the leader, as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura tallied positive scores on Sunday. V. SARAVANAN reports straight from the Saint Louis Chess Club | Photos: Saint Louis Chess Club / Austin Fuller / Lennart Ootes

8/12/2018 – At the start of the 2018 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz, all eyes were on Fabiano Caruana, as everybody in the United States is eager to see how he will do in the match against Magnus Carlsen. Fabiano responded in kind by winning all three games in spectacular fashion. He is now the sole leader of the event, which continues until Wednesday. V SARAVANAN sent a full report from Missouri. | Pictured: Fabiano Caruana with Alejandro Ramirez and Rustam Kasimdzhanov | Photo: V. Saravanan