The FIDE Candidates Tournament, which captivated audiences for three weeks, is in the books. The closing ceremony was held at 1 Hotel Toronto, the residence of the players for almost a month. The champions, Gukesh D and Tan Zhongyi, were honored with unique trophies crafted from reclaimed Toronto wood, symbolizing their achievement and the enduring connection with the city they’ll carry home. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza ..read more

Alexander Donchenko was the rating favourite at the third edition of the Sunway Formentera Open and lived up to the role at the end of the event. Before the final round, he was tied for first place with Vasyl Ivanchuk. Doncehnko scored a full point in the last round, while Ivanchuk only managed a draw. | Photos: Sunway Formentera Chess Festival ..read more

Round 12 of the Candidates Tournament saw three players scoring full points to greatly increase their chances of achieving overall victory. Hikaru Nakamura and Gukesh D defeated Alireza Firouzja and Nijat Abasov respectively to join Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead, while Fabiano Caruana got the better of Vidit Gujrathi to go into the final two rounds at a half-point distance from the co-leaders. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza ..read more

Anish Giri has recorded a two-volume Fritztrainer course in which he gives an overview of all the openings. The course is now available, also in ChessBase Book format. In a live stream, Anish Giri and his co-author Sagar Shah talk about Giri's Fritztrainer and what else is important in the chess world ..read more

The Indian Grandmaster RB Ramesh is regarded as one of the best and most successful coaches in the world, and he has played a significant role in the many successes of talented Indian players. In the ChessBase course "Improve your Pieces" he now reveals his chess and training philosophy. Harry Schaack watched the course and was impressed ..read more

Three out of four games ended drawn in round 12 of the Women’s Candidates Tournament, as Vaishali R scored her third win in a row in her encounter with black against Anna Muzychuk. The games that featured Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie could have easily ended with decisive results — Tan escaped with a draw from a losing position against Nurgyul Salimova, while Lei failed to make the most of clear winning chances against Kateryna Lagno. Thus, Tan kept her half-point lead over Lei. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza ..read more

It came as something of a surprise that Toronto was chosen by FIDE as host of both Candidates Tournaments, but Canada has a rich chess history and has produced some great players over the years. Here's a brief outline ..read more

The Sharp Arkhangelsk variation, utilized by chess masters like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, emerges from a series of strategic moves beginning with 1.e4 e5. This rich variation offers multiple playstyles, making it a challenging preparation for opponents, with model games highlighting its diverse strategies and concepts for players of all levels ..read more

Defending champions Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova won the 55th edition of the Italian Team Championship, but had to work hard to do so. They only won the final against ASD Pedone Isolano in the second tie-break. However, ASD Pedone Isolano won the women's title (photo). | Photos: Matteo Zoldan ..read more

"I am a big fan of Aron Nimzowitsch," writes IM Zoran Petronijevic, who works as a chess trainer and lives in Nis (Serbia). "In yesterday's game Firouzja-Nepo, I found some ideas by him. We can often read that the study of the classical heritage of chess is completely unnecessary for advancing in chess, that the games of the classics are outdated, and that there is no (or almost no) benefit from them. I deeply disagree with that ..read more