Magnus Carlsen took the sole lead after day two of the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown in Saint Louis, reaching 11½ points following four wins from six games – despite expressing dissatisfaction with his play. Fabiano Caruana climbed from last place to second on 10½ points by scoring 9 points across the day, while Hikaru Nakamura […]
Monthly Archives: October 2025
In this second October Monthly Dragon, Chris Ward let Arne pick two games. Game 1 (Yugoslav, Chinese variation) shows classic opposite-wing play, while Game 2 (Yugoslav, with g3) is a model Dragon win. The episode highlights practical Dragon themes—pawn sacs on the queen side, neutralizing Bh6 ideas, pinned-knight motifs on d5, and the power of […]
The 33rd FIDE World Senior Championships are underway in Gallipoli, Italy, with a record 467 participants competing across four age-group categories. After seven rounds, the standings remain tightly contested, particularly in the largest section, the 65+ Open. Leading figures such as Victor Mikhalevski and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant currently top their respective groups, but with four rounds […]
We take a unique behind-the-scenes look at how top chess masters organize their digital workspace. Grandmasters and trainers like Svitlana Demchenko, Robert Ris, Michael Prusikin, Harald Schneider-Zinner, Frederik Svane, Felix Blohberger, and Dorian Rogozenco share their screens to reveal their personal ChessBase 18 setups — from meticulously clean desktops to chaotic databases full of ideas. […]
Some days ago, we presented the tough and complex battle that ensued between Emanuel Lasker and Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin. In a semi-endgame the young German world champion held the pair of bishops, but it was the Russian forefighter with the pair of knights who emerged victorious in the end. The game has been the subject […]
Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju leads the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown after the opening day in Saint Louis, having recovered from an early loss to Magnus Carlsen with three wins and two draws. Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana all experienced fluctuating fortunes across a demanding schedule of rapid double round-robin play. With the value […]
Last Sunday, 26 October 2025, Mihai Șubă passed away in Spain. Born in Romania, he started playing chess very late in life but became one of the best players in his country. In the 1980s, he was considered a leading expert on the “hedgehog” structure. In 2008, Suba tied for first place at the World […]
Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown is a high-profile rapid tournament gathering four elite competitors. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju joins Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in a concentrated three-day battle. The competition runs from 27 to 29 October and follows a “clutch” structure of three double round-robins, where results become progressively more valuable with […]
Two hundred and six of the world’s best chess players from more than 80 countries will descend on Goa, India, this week for the 2025 FIDE World Cup, arguably the most important individual chess event of the year. From October 30 to November 27, players will battle through a gruelling knockout format for a share […]
The eighth edition of the Salamanca Masters once again brought top-level rapid chess to the historic Spanish city. Six players from five countries took part in a double round-robin event valid for FIDE rapid ratings, with world junior champion Pranav Venkatesh producing a dominant performance. The format maintained equal representation between male and female competitors, […]