4/6/2024 – Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Gukesh D and Vidit Gujrathi scored full points in the all-decisive second round of the Candidates Tournament. The most surprising result was Vidit’s impressive win over second seed Hikaru Nakamura. Praggnanandhaa v. Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi v. Alireza Firouzja were remarkable, tactical struggles, while Nijat Abasov all but self-destructed against Caruana. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

3/17/2024 – On yet another day of thrilling chess, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So advanced to the final of the Elimination Bracket by knocking out Leinier Dominguez and Sam Sevian respectively. In the final match of the Champions Bracket, Levon Aronian got a 2-0 lead against Ray Robson. In the women’s section, Irina Krush has a 1-point lead over Alice Lee in the Champions Bracket, while Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova and Jennifer Yu advanced to the final in the Elimination Bracket. | Photo: Austin Fuller

3/14/2024 – Four players advanced to the Champions Bracket’s semifinals in each section of the American Cup. While all the quarterfinal matches in the women’s event were decided after three or four games, one match in the open event was decided in blitz tiebreaks — Levon Aronian got the better of Sam Sevian in the 3-minute phase. Aronian will face Fabiano Caruana in the next stage, while Wesley So will play against Ray Robson, who defeated Leinier Dominguez in a sharp battle. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

3/13/2024 – The third edition of the American Cup kicked off at the World Chess Hall of Fame in Saint Louis. Each match saw the contenders playing a classical game and a rapid game on opening day. In the open, only Fabiano Caruana scored back-to-back wins (over Grigoriy Oparin), which means he only needs a draw on Wednesday to advance to the next stage in the Champions Bracket. Meanwhile, three out of four matches finished with 2–0 scores in the women’s section, with Nazi Paikidze, Alice Lee and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova obtaining consecutive wins on the first day of action. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/15/2024 – Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana signed a draw in the first game of the finals at the Freestyle G.O.A.T. Chess Challenge. In the match for third place, Levon Aronian barely escaped with a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Alireza Firouzja got the better of Gukesh D in the fight for fifth place. Finally, in the match for seventh place, Vincent Keymer defeated an out-of-form Ding Liren. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

2/14/2024 – Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen, the two highest-rated players in the world, will play the final match at the Freestyle G.O.A.T. Chess Challenge. While Carlsen defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov by a 1½-½ score, Caruana’s match against Levon Aronian went all the way to Armageddon. Caruana twice blundered in winning positions in what was a thrilling confrontation. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

2/12/2024 – The first (classical) games of the quarter-finals at the Freestyle G.O.A.T. Chess Challenge took place on Sunday. World number one Magnus Carlsen and world champion Ding Liren both suffered defeats with the black pieces, as they were outplayed by Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, respectively. The one ‘veteran’ to score a win was Fabiano Caruana, who got the better of Gukesh D, while Vincent Keymer and Levon Aronian signed a draw after a wild, entertaining struggle. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

12/25/2023 – Fabiano Caruana continued his 2023 hot streak at the end of November, and after clinching the 2023 GCT Sinquefield Cup, he became the winner of the FIDE Circuit. Given that Caruana already qualified for the Candidates in the World Cup, the second place in the FIDE Circuit (which gives a ticket to the Candidates) is worth its weight in gold. Dommaraju Gukesh, Anish Giri and Arjun Erigaisi will fight for this spot at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Samarkand.

12/13/2023 – Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov advanced to the semifinals of the Champions Chess Tour Finals after going through the ‘survival stage’ on Tuesday. The two players who were knocked out of the competition in this stage were Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura, with the latter coming inches away from reaching the semis via the longest path. The U.S. star would have needed to win three matches on a single day — he beat Denis Lazavik and MVL before losing in Armageddon to Abdusattorov. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio

12/1/2023 – With a final-round win over Richard Rapport, Fabiano Caruana secured tournament victory at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. This was Caruana’s third victory in this event, as he had previously won it in 2014 (when he famously grabbed seven wins in a row) and in 2018. Sole second place went to Leinier Dominguez, who drew Levon Aronian with the black pieces on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/29/2023 – Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez both scored back-to-back wins in rounds 6 and 7 of the Sinquefield Cup to join Wesley So in the lead of the standings. Caruana, in fact, defeated So on Tuesday, and he did it in remarkable style. By beating the former sole leader, Caruana also secured first place in the Grand Chess Tour and crossed the 2800-mark in the live ratings list! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

11/19/2023 – Fabiano Caruana became the 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz champion after a dramatic final day of blitz, which came down to a winner-take-all last round game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Caruana ended with 21/36 points, Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 20.5, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Le Quang Liem tied for third place with 20 points each. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

11/3/2023 – Four players are sharing the lead with three rounds to go in the open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss after Fabiano Caruana, Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Andrey Esipenko scored full points on Thursday to join Vidit Gujrathi atop the standings. Nine players stand a half point behind, including second seed Hikaru Nakamura and Indian prodigy Arjun Erigaisi. In the women’s tournament, meanwhile, Anna Muzychuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and Vaishali Rameshbabu continue to share first place. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/27/2023 – After two rounds, seven players still have perfect scores in the open section of the FIDE Grand Swiss. Joining elite players Fabiano Caruana (pictured) and Arjun Erigaisi in the lead, among others, is IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov from Kazakhstan, who stunned Bassem Amin on Thursday. In the women’s section, five players are sharing first place on 2/2. Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk are the highest-rated in this group, while, similarly to the open, a Kazakh representative gave the biggest surprise, as Meruert Kamalidenova beat Valentina Gunina to enter round 3 as one of the co-leaders. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

10/17/2023 – Fabiano Caruana successfully defended his title at the 2023 U.S. Championship in Saint Louis. The 31-year-old beat Abhimanyu Mishra to secure tournament victory with a round to spare, and thus claimed his third U.S. title — Caruana won the championship in 2016, 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Carissa Yip beat Anna Zatonskih to leapfrog Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova atop the standings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/16/2023 – Fabiano Caruana continues to have a full-point lead over his closest chasers with two rounds to go at the U.S. Championship. Caruana beat Hans Niemann, one of the players sharing second place before round 9, but the remaining three chasers all won to remain one point behind the leader. Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova grabbed her fifth consecutive win to become the sole leader — now only she and Carissa Yip, who stands a half point behind, are in the race for first place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/11/2023 – An exciting round both at the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championship finished with 10 (out of 12) decisive results. In the open, Fabiano Caruana grabbed his third consecutive win to remain as the sole leader, while Carissa Yip and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova also kept their spots at the top of the standings by collecting full points on Tuesday. The highlight of the day, though, was Ray Robson’s 29-move victory over Jeffery Xiong. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/9/2023 – Wins in rounds 3 and 4 allowed Fabiano Caruana to go into the first rest day as the sole leader at the U.S. Championship in Saint Louis. Three players are sharing second place with 2½/4 points: Sam Shankland, Hans Niemann and Abhimnayu Mishra. In the women’s championship, Carissa Yip and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova are sharing the lead with 3/4 points each. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

9/2/2023 – The French Defence is one of the most popular openings – for club players to grandmasters. It’s a very solid opening against 1.e4, but leaves room for counterplay and initiative. In this two-volume video course former world-champion and startrainer Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the ins and outs of the hugely complex opening. This week you can save 20 Euros – the Summer Special price is just €39.90 (instead of list €59.80). Don't miss the chance of improving your chess understanding!

8/24/2023 – Magnus Carlsen has won it all. The world number one beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in tiebreaks to win the FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career. After his victory, the Norwegian noted that he will not attempt to recover the World Championship title unless there is a major change in the format, especially regarding the shortening of time controls. Meanwhile, third seed Fabiano Caruana beat Nijat Abasov in the match for third place to secure a spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

8/24/2023 – Both the final and the match for third place will be decided in tiebreaks at the FIDE World Cup in Baku. While Magnus Carlsen played it safe with white against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to secure a second draw in the final, Fabiano Caruana bounced back from a disastrous showing on Tuesday to keep his chances of reaching the podium alive. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

8/10/2023 – Six players have already reached the round-of-16 in the open section of the FIDE World Cup, including Fabiano Caruana, who beat Ray Robson, and Alexey Sarana, who knocked out sixth seed Wesley So. The remaining ten spots will be decided in Friday’s tiebreaks, with Magnus Carlsen reaching that stage after bouncing back in his match against Vincent Keymer. In the women’s section, three players secured their spots in quarterfinals: Aleksandra Goryachkina, Tan Zhongyi and Polina Shuvalova. | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

7/11/2023 – Professionals today have tight schedules. There are many more tournaments in the world, with the extra addition of online events. After Norway Chess, the Global Chess League in Dubai and the Grand Chess Tour event in Zagreb, Magnus Carlsen is now playing in the Aimchess Rapid — with no signs of fatigue. Carlsen beat Jorden van Foreest, and will face Fabiano Caruana next. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

7/8/2023 – Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana are tied in first place after nine rounds of rapid chess at the Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb. Former co-leader Vishy Anand failed to keep up with his colleagues, as he was defeated by Dommaraju Gukesh in their first-ever official confrontation. With 18 rounds of blitz to go, the one player standing a single point behind the leaders is Magnus Carlsen, who impressed on Friday by ending the rapid section with two consecutive, remarkable wins. | Photo: Lennart Ootes