12/27/2019 – The World Rapid Championships 2019 kicked off with some exciting chess on day one. In the open section we have five leaders — Smirin, Mamedyarov, Duda, Dominguez and Wang Hao on 4½/5. They are followed by a group of seven players on 4 points, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. In the women's section, we have three leaders — Olga Girya, Meri Arabidze and Irina Bulmaga. We bring you a detailed report from Moscow with interviews, photos, game analyses and more.

4/15/2019 – The 2019 season of the Israeli Team Championship finished last week in Ramat Aviv. Ashdod obtained their seventh national title, led by Emil Sutovsky and a host of international reinforcements, including Pavel Eljanov and Alexander Moiseenko. Beer-Sheva Levant, led by Maxim Rodshtein, finished in second place, while Kfar Saba A, with Israeli champion Tamir Nabaty on board one, took home the bronze medals. YOCHANAN AFEK sent a report from the Western Asian country. | Photos: Dr. Mark Livshitz