FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss 10-21 October

Today the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss begins on Isle of Man. This event has usually been a well attended Open chess tournament but this year things have changed. FIDE have teamed up with Chess.com and together with the Isle of Man hosts created a Grand Swiss tournament for the top rated players (and some wildcards).

FIDE Grand Prix Moscow – round 1

The first leg of this candidates cycle FIDE Grand Prix kicked off on Friday. Today (Sunday) the first tiebreaks begin, but out of 8 mini-matches just 2 return for the tiebreak day. Here’s a short recap of what has happened so far and my initial impressions. Round 1 – game 1 One big question going

Preview: Altibox Norway Chess 2018

After a rather quiet May for many of the top chess players things kick off for real today  Monday May 28 in Norway Chess (after the blitz on Sunday determined which of the 5 players got 5 games with white). In its 6th edition the tournament continues to be a highlight in the chess calendar,

Upcoming events in chess: U.S. Championship & Shamkir Chess

The top chess players continue having a busy schedule. Caruana  pulled  off an impressive win at Grenke Chess beating Carlsen and the rest of the field by a full point after 9 rounds. An extremely strong result after the grueling candidate tournament – can he keep that form up to November and  Carlsen is in 

FIDE BERLIN CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT 2018: Round 10-12

The candidates tournament really took fire after Saturdays 12th rounds as what seemed to be a two-horse race suddenly have 5 players fighting for a win with just 2 rounds remaining. The story of the tournament, even outshining the terrible showing of Aronian and the ups and many downs of Kramnik, is of course Sergey

FIDE BERLIN CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT 2018: ROUND 7-9

We’ve passed the half-way point of the candidates tournament, and after 9 rounds the field is pretty well dispersed into a leader group, a middle section and the tailenders. As action picks  up today (Thursday 22.) with a highly interesting round 10 let’s first take a look at what transpired the last three rounds before

FIDE BERLIN CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT 2018: Round 4-6

Today round 7 of the Berlin  candidates tournament kicks of after the second rest day, so before the action again picks up here’s a short recap of round 4 through 6 and a look at what’s in store in the upcoming rounds. One thing is certain, the candidate tournament has lived up to the hype

FIDE BERLIN CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT 2018: Round 1-3

The Candidates tournament in Berlin is living up to the hype with three thrilling rounds already in the books. On the other hand  (and as expected) the organizers are showing their ineptitude with with several major problems, both at the playing hall and  with their live broadcast. Luckily both chess24.com and chess.com via the Chessbrah’s

FIDE Berlin Candidates Tournament 2018

The candidate tournament to determine who will be the next challenger for Magnus Carlsen kicks of in Berlin on Saturday.  Let’s have a quick preview of what’s in store for chess fans the coming few weeks. The format The grueling 14-round robin tournament goes from March 10 to March 27 and pits 8 of the

Carlsen wins TATA STEEL Chess

The 80th edition of Tata Steel Chess ended on Sunday with Magnus Carlsen winning the playoff against Anish Giri. With that win Carlsen is off to a great start in 2018, a very important year with everything to play for in November when he again will have to defend his WC title. The event has