2/27/2023 – A new super-tournament took place in Düsseldorf, with five vetted GMs facing five raising talents. Karsten Müller kept a close eye on the event, and sent us a number of fascinating endgames, annotated. Find here five instructive positions. Time to learn and enjoy! | Pictured: Andrey Esipenko | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/26/2023 – Levon Aronian convincingly prevailed in a three-player rapid tiebreaker to win the first edition of the WR Chess Masters. After quickly drawing their round-9 game, Aronian and Dommaraju Gukesh saw Ian Nepomniachtchi beating Vincent Keymer to join them in the lead. A double round-robin playoff between the three players followed. Aronian won his first three 10-minute games to secure the title. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/25/2023 – The WR Chess Masters took place in Düsseldorf on February 15-25. A 10-players single round-robin, the event featured a mix of established, elite players and young, ambitious talents. Levon Aronian won the tournament after prevailing in a three-player rapid tiebreaker over Ian Nepomniachtchi and Dommaraju Gukesh. | Replay all the games with computer-assisted analysis.

2/25/2023 – Vincent Keymer scored his second win at the WR Chess Masters in round 8, as he defeated Wesley So with the black pieces and left him out of the race for tournament victory. Levon Aronian and Gukesh are sharing the lead on 5/8 points and will face each other in the final round. If they draw and Ian Nepomniachtchi manages to beat Keymer, a three-way play-off will decide the winner of the tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/24/2023 – Round 7 was a major turning point at the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf. Levon Aronian, who had a full-point lead and seemed to be cruising to victory, lost to Ian Nepomniachtchi, while Dommaraju Gukesh got the better of Andrey Esipenko. Thus, Gukesh and Aronian are now sharing the lead with 4½ points each. Wesley So and Nepomniachtchi stand a half point back with two rounds to go. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/23/2023 – A new super-tournament is taking place in Düsseldorf, with five vetted GMs facing five raising talents. Karsten Müller is keeping a close eye on the event, and has sent us a number of fascinating endgames, annotated. Find here six instructive positions. Time to learn and enjoy! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/22/2023 – After all games finished drawn in round 6 of the WR Chess Masters, Levon Aronian continues to have a full-point lead atop the standings. The sole leader entered a sharp line with black against Wesley So, but failed to find a couple of precise continuations that would have given him very good winning chances. Three games lasted more than six hours in a round that featured plenty of tense, imbalanced positions. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/21/2023 – Levon Aronian scored a third win in five rounds to get a full-point lead at the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf. Aronian beat Anish Giri with white, breaking the Dutchman’s 28-game unbeaten streak. The other decisive game of the round saw former tail-ender Vincent Keymer defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov with white, leaving five players in shared 6th-10th place in the standings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/21/2023 – Different tournaments have different kinds of rest days! At the WR Chess Masters 2023, the players and organizers had a great time with a well organized mini-table tennis event. 7 out of the 10 participants of the main tournament took part in this round robin tournament with Gelfand, Dana Reizneice and Wadim Rosenstein joining them. It was a keenly contested event with Andrey Esipenko edging everyone out and taking the top spot. Sagar Shah who travelled to Dusseldorf brings you a fun report.

2/19/2023 – Levon Aronian continues to lead the standings at the WR Chess Masters, as all five games ended drawn in Sunday’s fourth round. A few of the encounters featured double-edged openings, but accurate defensive responses prevented any of them from finishing decisively. Monday is a rest day in Düsseldorf. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/18/2023 – Levon Aronian is now the sole leader at the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf. The Armenian ace, representing the United States since 2021, defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov from the white side of a Sicilian Dragon in a rather lopsided game. Meanwhile, in the one game of the day featuring two youngsters, Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer, also with white. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/18/2023 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Dommaraju Gukesh joined Wesley So and Levon Aronian in the lead of the WR Chess Masters after beating Andrey Esipenko and Praggnanandhaa in the super-tournament’s second round. Abdusattorov’s victory featured a demolishing attack, while Gukesh saw Pragg blundering the game away in a double-edged position. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/17/2023 – Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Andrey Esipenko kicked off the WR Chess Masters with wins, as they defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer respectively. Out of the three, So was the first one to leave the playing hall with a full point to his name. Aronian and Esipenko needed to work harder to convert their superior endgame positions against resilient opponents. | Photo: Lennart Ootes