Draws on the top three boards in round 6 of the Sharjah Masters allowed Aravindh Chithambaram to keep the sole lead in the standings. Arjun Erigaisi and Alexey Sarana grabbed full points to join the chasing pack, which now includes six players. Meanwhile, fourth seed Teimour Radjabov obtained a remarkable win over Arseniy Nesterov, his first of the event. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
The Jeddah Youth Chess Festival was held from 24 to 30 January in this Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia. It was a celebration of youth, chess and friendship. In the Young Masters tournament, a 10-players single round-robin for rising stars aged 18 or younger, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus from Turkey finished first with 6½ points. Volodar Murzin (FIDE), Raunak Sadhwani (India) and Andy Woodward (United States) obtained 6 points each.
The Isle of Man plays host once more to the chess world's crème de la crème, as the 3rd FIDE Grand Swiss and 2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss tournaments are set to launch on 25 October. The return of these prestigious world championship qualifying competitions to the Isle of Man marks a momentous occasion. Over the course of 12 days, from 25 October to 5 November, the island in the Irish Sea will emerge as the epicentre of the chess world, hosting an elite assembly of top-tier players fighting for the prizes, prestige and a spot in the 2024 Candidates.