6/25/2018 – Sergey Karjakin seemed unstoppable after Saturday's first nine rounds of blitz, however, Nakamura finally emerged as the winner of the Paris Grand Chess Tour. Hikaru fought until last minute and finished one and a half points ahead of the field. Meanwhile, Wesley So played it safe to get clear third and keep the lead in the Tour overall standings. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/23/2018 – Another single round-robin of rapid chess was completed in Paris over the past three days. This weekend the French capital hosts a double-round blitz tournament, with the scores of the two tournaments combined to produce an overall winner. As before in Leuven, the lead in the standings is in the hands of the American Wesley So, but this time his margin is much narrower, as he has only one point more than his compatriot Hikaru Nakamura and the Russian former World Blitz Champion Sergey Karjakin. Today, So calmly drew all three of his games. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/21/2018 – After the second day of the GCT rapid tournament in Paris, as in Leuven last week, Wesley So has taken the lead again. Today, the US Grandmaster won two games and played one draw. In the live Rapid Elo list So has now gained 86 points and is second behind Magnus Carlsen. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/21/2018 – The second leg of the Grand Chess Tour has begun, with three rapid chess rounds played in Paris today. After the first third of the rapid round-robin, Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian and Wesley So are in the lead with 4 points each. Paris, like the tournament in Leuven last week, uses double-points scoring for the rapid games, which will be combined with the scores in the blitz tournament this weekend to produce an overall winner. Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/16/2018 – In the Belgian city of Leuven, the "Your Next Move Rapid & Blitz" ended today with the victory of the American Wesley So. His score in the rapid tournament, which ended on Thursday, gave him a substantial lead in the overall standings. But a bad run of form in the blitz saw his lead melt away to zero, and set up an exciting if somewhat unlikely final round that saw So — but also his closest rivals Sergey Karjakin and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — all lose. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/16/2018 – The first of two days of blitz in Leuven finished with Wesley So still in the lead, despite his losses in the final two games of the day. Sergey Karjakin was the star of the day, getting four wins and no losses to reduce So's advantage to only 1½ points. Levon Aronian won four and lost two and is tied with Karjakin in second place. The tournament concludes tomorrow with nine more rounds of blitz. | Photo: Spectrum Studios / Grand Chess Tour

6/15/2018 – Wesley So survived the third day of the Grand Chess Tour in Leuven, Belgium, without a loss and won the tournament confidently with 14 out of 18 possible points. Three points behind are Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Tomorrow, the first nine of 18 rounds of blitz are on the program, and So must defend his lead against some legendary blitz specialists like Vachier-Lagrave, Karjakin, Nakamura and Grischuk. | Photo: Lennart Ootes, tournament page

6/13/2018 – Wesley So got off to a good start in the rapid tournament in Leuven, with 5 / 6 (rapid games use double scoring). So maintained his lead on day two, keeping the same rhythm. He won in rounds 4 and 5, in round 6 he played a draw, bringing his point tally to 10 / 12. In second place is Levon Aronian with 8 / 12 | Photo: 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

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

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

4/5/2018 – On April 5th, the 5th round of the "GRENKE Chess Classic", now in Baden-Baden was the first in which all five games ended in a draw. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana and Nikita Vitiugov thus continue to lead the standings; a half point behind are Levon Aronian and World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Against Georg Meier, Carlsen was on the verge of losing shortly before the time control, but the German grandmaster missed the win! Another game was nearly decisive: Arkadij Naiditsch stood much better against Matthias Bluebaum, but here it was the young German, who somehow managed to survive a devastating attack and fight back in the endgame. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis