Levon Aronian emerged as the clear winner of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, securing victory with two rounds to spare. The 42-year-old grandmaster demonstrated precise play throughout, prevailing over Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who took second and third places respectively. For world champion Gukesh Dommaraju the event was less successful, leaving him […]
Monthly Archives: August 2025
British writer Mary Harrington warns that the ability to think deeply is at risk of becoming a privilege in the digital age. Drawing on her own education and recent research, she links declining literacy and attention spans to the rise of smartphones and a “post-literate” culture. Her analysis suggests this shift could create a widening […]
Chess trainers love ChessBase 18 — and for good reason! With just a few clicks, you can create outstanding training material and even enrich it with interactive exercises. In this first part, we’ll show you how to set up a thematic database in no time — perfect for your own practice or for your students. […]
Duobeniajan Costa Calida from Murcia obtained their third consecutive title at the Spanish Team Championship. In the final round, the team could even afford to lose to Magic Extremaduara. Second place went to C.A. Silla from Valencia, while Magic from Extremadura completed the podium. | Photos: Spanish Chess Federation (FEDA)
Whether it’s strategy, technique, or opening knowledge – the July releases from ChessBase leave nothing to be desired! Renowned authors such as David Navara, Robert Ris, and Andrew Martin open their toolkits and share a wealth of professional tips. For those who want it all in one package, ChessBase Magazine issue 226 is the perfect […]
Vincent Keymer concluded the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters tournament with a commanding overall victory, finishing two points ahead of his nearest rivals after defeating Ray Robson in the final round. The result gave the 20-year-old a 2917 performance rating, a gain of over 20 Elo points, and secured his place in the live world top-10 […]
Wasselonne is one of the many picturesque towns in France’s Alsace region. The local Mossig Chess Club invited players to an open tournament. In addition to many French players, several chess enthusiasts from neighbouring Germany also accepted the invitation, including Bettina Trabert and her son Max. Vladyslav Larkin from Ukraine won the tournament on tiebreak […]
After the summer break, Svitlana shares one of her favourite tournament games, where she tried the O’Kelly Sicilian for the first time against a 2357-rated FM, using it to steer her opponent out of theory. She explains the strategic ideas behind the variation, demonstrates her pawn-storm attack on the kingside, and navigates through complex middlegame […]
In the penultimate round of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2025, all games in the Masters section ended in draws, confirming Vincent Keymer as tournament winner with a round to spare. The German number one, who now enters the live world top 10, maintained his 1½-point lead over Arjun Erigaisi and Karthikeyan Murali. In the […]
The Babson Task, one of the most difficult feats in chess composition, has finally been achieved in an endgame study for the first time in history. Italian composer Daniele Guglielmo Gatti succeeded where others, including leading figures, had fallen short, creating a fully legal, perfectly economical and thematically pure version. Published in EG in January […]