Chess News

Defending champion Faustino Oro remains unbeaten at the second edition of “Leyendas y Prodigios” in Madrid. The 12-year-old Argentine, who won last year’s tournament as a rising star and has since officially become a grandmaster, had to settle for two draws on the second day. He split the point with both José Fernando “Pepe” Cuenca Jiménez and David Antón Guijarro. After three of ten rounds, Oro and Antón Guijarro share the lead with 2 points each.

Search: Search: Language: 9/9/2026 – Andrew Martin presents the Evans Gambit as a dangerous and highly practical weapon for club players, especially those rated below 1800. Using a historic game by William Davies Evans, he shows how White gives up a pawn for rapid development, central control and direct attacking chances against the black king.

Mind vs. Machine: The Chess Match That Changed the World This thought-provoking graphic novel collaboration from first Black chess grandmaster Ashley (The Life-Changing Magic of Chess), Sheinkin (Diamond Fever!), and Pham (Family Style) celebrates human creativity and intuition amid an ever advancing technological landscape. A prologue set in present-day Brooklyn reveals Ashley as the work’s omniscient narrator.

Search: Search: Language: 9/8/2026 – The Alpine APL Pipers, with Magnus Carlsen on the icon board, took sole lead in the standings on day three of the Global Chess League in Bengaluru. In their first match of the day, Carlsen beat Viswanathan Anand on time (pictured), but the Pipers nevertheless lost to the PBG Alaskan Knights. Carlsen's team then bounced back with a 15-3 victory over the previously leading FYERS American Gambits.

Search: Search: Language: 9/8/2026 – Karsten shows two endgames from Chennai.| You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account. Fritz 21 YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.

Search: Search: Language: 9/8/2026 – Giri's stroke of genius: A rook usually wants to be active: Black to move and draw.

Oro Beats Teammate Flores The second edition of Legends & Prodigies began yesterday and runs until 12 September in Madrid. Faustino Oro returns to the tournament where he achieved one of the best results of his career so far last year: he won the inaugural edition in 2025 with 7½/9, finishing 1½ points ahead of a strong field. During the tournament, he crossed the 2500 Elo mark and earned his first grandmaster norm.

Three hundred years ago today, on 7 September 1726, André-François Danican Philidor was born. In his day, he was not only the strongest chess player in the world, but also a popular composer of operas. His musical legacy has since faded somewhat into the background, but in the chess world the memory of this early master has remained very much alive. Few people, even among chess enthusiasts, know Philidor's full name: André-François Danican Philidor.

Faustino Oro returns to the tournament: this is the second edition of Legends & Prodigies, albeit with different rules from last year's inaugural event. Oro, who won the tournament last year and recorded one of the best results of his career so far, has now fulfilled all the requirements for the GM title. The Argentine teenager will face five strong grandmasters in a six-player double round-robin at Nave Bellver and is seeded fifth.

Daniel King "New twists in the English Defence" Click on one of the following images to load the sample as a ChessBase Book! In the 1970s and 1980s, the English Defence (1.c4 b6 2.d4 e6 3.e4 Bb4+) was very popular amongst many top players in Britain. Our author also contributed to the development of this opening. For a long time, 3...Bb7 (followed by 4.Bd3 and the move 4...f5, which is questionable from today’s perspective) was the main line.