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Round eight of the London Chess Classic started slowly with three early draws but then took a dramatic turn of events that changed the nature of the tournament.

Tournament co-leader Fabiano Caruana felt comfortable with his draw believing that a plus two score is needed to at least tie for first. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who needs to score three more tour points than Carlsen, was not thrilled with his draw with the white pieces but still kept his chances open for taking the overall tour title.

The 2018 Grand Chess Tour will conclude with an exciting new format at the London Chess Classic. The four top‑scoring players will contest a semi-final and final that will determine the overall winner and top 4 places in the 2018 GCT.

The format change has been determined by the GCT Advisory Board and was announced earlier today during the 8th and penultimate round of the London Chess Classic.

Houdini is the winner of Season 10 of the Top Chess Engine Championship. With its gold medal Houdini becomes the engine with most titles in TCEC history.

Houdini, by Robert Houdart, is the winner of Season 10 of the Top Chess Engine Championship. After 96 out of 100 games Houdini has collected 50,5 points to secure the title.

The day before the rest day saw a lot of action in London Chess Classic. Once again, only Fabiano Caruana emerged victorious and extended his lead to a full point.

Magnus Carlsen’s five-and-a-half-hour struggle against Wesley So did not yield the result he was looking for, giving Caruana a full point lead over the rest of the field.

Vachier-Lagrave was the only other player who had significant winning chances, but he did not handle the complications in his game well.

After four rounds, there is finally a clear leader! Fabiano Caruana spilled first blood by defeating Sergey Karjakin in a complicated Sicilian.

At the beginning of London Chess Classic, Caruana said he would be happy to come out unscathed after four games as he had three games with the black pieces. He now stands in an excellent position to win the event with three whites left in the remaining games.

Grandmaster Axel Bachmann from Paraguay announced his retirement from chess at the 3rd International Open of Patagonia which finished this Saturday in Neuquen, Argentina.

Bachmann didn’t manage to defend his Champion title at the event which he considers as very important in his chess career, but he used the opportunity to declare his decision in the following notes.

The World Schools Individual Championships 2018 will be held from 20th to 29th April 2018 in Durres, on the Adriatic coast of Albania, under the auspices of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Albanian Chess Federation.

All member national federations of FIDE and eligible players are invited to participate in the World School Chess Championships 2018 (categories for boys/open and girls under 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 years old).

The 77th edition of the Italian Chess Championship takes place in Cosenza, Italy, from 28th November to 11th December and consist of three simultaneously played events:

Round three of the London Chess Classic did not bring any decisive results, but it was not for the lack of effort.

Levon Aronian gave everyone hope by predicting that in an effort to win, at one point, someone will play something complicated, blunder and lose their game. It could have very well been him today were it not for a well-timed draw offer during his opponent’s time trouble in a completely lost position. It was a disappointing result for Karjakin who could have been leading the tournament.