12/25/2018 – 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. This week Lawrence looks at the Sunway International Chess Festival which just concluded in Sitges, near Barcelona.

12/24/2018 – In Sitges, the Catalan seaside resort near Barcelona, ​the fifth edition of the ten-day "Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival" ended yesterday with the victory of local hero GM Alvar Alonso Rosell. The 26-year-old Spanish grandmaster, like his three toughest rivals, started the final round with 7.0 / 9, but was the only one to win his game to reach 8.0 / 10. A larger chasing group composed of well-known players ended with 7½ the top three of which contested a tiebreak for 2nd-4th place. Photos: sunwaychessfestival.com

12/23/2018 – Two Indians pre-teeners came very close to breaking Sergey Karjakin's record of the youngest GM in history. Sergey made his final norm back in 2002 at the age of 12 years and 7 months. Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh were the boys that were within a hair of bettering that. Pragg missed the target by three months, and yesterday Gukesh, who had a realistic chance to complete his third GM norm at the Sunway Sitges International 2018, narrowly missed it. In the meantime 11-year-old Bharath Subramaniyam made his first IM norm. | All photos: Rupali Mullick

12/16/2018 – Fan favourite super-GM Vassily Ivanchuk lost to 12-year-old Sreeshwan Maralakshikari from India. The powerful youth are likely to remain one of the chief storylines in Sitges, a town just down the Mediterranean coast from Barcelona. In attendance are the top players in the world ages 11-14 — all from India — plus the European number one under-15 IM Vincent Keymer from Germany. | Pictured: The playing hall on the eve of battle | Photo: Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival

12/6/2018 – The Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival returns next week for a 5th edition in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain from December 13th to the 23rd. There are still a few places available in the tournament which is rapidly becoming one of the strongest open events in the chess world, and this year will feature Russian GM Dmitry Andreikin, Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk and Indian super-talents GM Nihal Sarin and GM R. Praggnanandhaa. | Photo: Sharath Elumulai