ChessBase

• Bavarian Championship: Four players finish tied for first, Sasikiran claims title on tiebreaks

  Indian grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran won the Bavarian Chess Championship in Gmund am Tegernsee, finishing on 7½/9 points and taking first place on tiebreaks. German GMs Frederik Svane and Roven Vogel finished second and third, while Indian FM Arun Daakshin also reached 7½ points. All four won their final-round games with the black pieces, bringing an event that attracted 548 participants to a close. | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

• Bodhana Sivanandan joins strong field in Salamanca

  The Salamanca Chess Festival will take place from 10 to 14 November, bringing together six players for a rapid round-robin tournament. The field includes 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan (pictured), former world top-ten player Loek van Wely and Spanish grandmaster Paco Vallejo, who returns to top-level competition after a lengthy absence. Elisabeth Paehtz, José Martínez Alcántara and Anastasiia Hnatyshyn complete the lineup. Several side events are also scheduled. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

• Yu Yangyi retains Chinese Rapid Championship title after Armageddon decider

  Yu Yangyi successfully defended his Chinese Rapid Championship title in Shaoxing, defeating 18-year-old Xiao Tong in an Armageddon decider after six games had failed to separate the finalists. Xiao had previously eliminated Ding Liren and Lu Shanglei in blitz tiebreaks to reach the final. Meanwhile, Lu secured third place by defeating Xu Xiangyu. | Photo: Chinese Chess Association

• Aaron Nimzowitsch: 140 years since the birth of a chess pioneer

  Born in Latvia, Aaron Nimzowitsch was one of the most important players and theorists of the first third of the 20th century, influencing generations of chess players with his strategic ideas. His life, however, was far from easy and sadly cut short. Today marks the 140th anniversary of his birth. | Photo: J. Graudenz

• The young king faces his toughest challenge

  Gukesh Dommaraju will defend his world title against Javokhir Sindarov in Geneva after a remarkable rise that made him the youngest undisputed champion in history. Since his 2024 triumph, however, the Indian grandmaster has endured a more difficult period and slipped down the world rankings. The match therefore presents a different challenge: rediscovering his best form while facing a younger rival who arrives with strong recent results and considerable momentum. | Image: FIDE

• Bavarian Championship: Sasikiran joins Gopal in the lead

  With 6 points from 7 rounds, Indian grandmasters Krishnan Sasikiran and G.N. Gopal share the lead at the Bavarian Chess Championship in Tegernsee. Their opponents' average ratings of 2413 (Sasikiran) and 2411 (Gopal) also leave them closely matched on tiebreaks, with both having faced stronger opposition on average than any other participant. Gopal drew with Elham Amar on the top board. While the games on the neighbouring boards also ended in draws, including Frederik Svane (5½/7) against Adrian Gschnitzer, Sasikiran secured a win over Rithvik Raja. | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

• Review: The Petroff Defence - Fight for More Than Equality by GM Fabien Libiszewski

  For a long time, the Petroff Defence had a reputation for being a purely drawish opening – reliable but dry. Those days are over, however. In a ChessBase video course, Grandmaster Fabien Libiszewski demonstrates how modern players can turn this old reputation to their psychological advantage. Christian Höthe took a close look at the course. | Photos: ChessBase

• Who will become the FIDE World Combined Champion?

  The Total Chess World Championship series is a new tournament format combining three different time controls: fast classic, rapid and blitz. The winner of the series will be crowned the FIDE World Combined Champion. Both the winner and the runner-up will then qualify for the Candidates Tournament for the classical World Championship. How did this format come about? | Photo: Michal Walusza / Norway Chess

• Loek van Wely: 10 Chess Principles That Actually Matter

  In his new course, GM Loek van Wely shares ten practical principles from a career spanning 14 Olympiads, eight Dutch championship titles and decades of games against Karpov, Kasparov, Anand and Carlsen. Instead of opening lines, he focuses on how decisions are really made at the board: managing your clock around the critical moments, knowing when to simplify, staying objective about mistakes and recognising the right moment to take a risk. He also covers the psychological side of chess, from not being intimidated by stronger opponents to trusting your own calculation under pressure. A course about the part of chess that opening theory can’t teach you.

• Bavarian Championship: Gopal emerges as sole leader

  Indian grandmaster G.N. Gopal has taken the sole lead at the Bavarian Chess Championship in Gmund am Tegernsee, reaching 5½/6 points after defeating 15-year-old German IM Hussain Besou on Thursday. Twelve players follow half a point behind, including top seed Frederik Svane, who defeated Polish IM Klaudia Kulon. | Photo: Finn Engesser