Aleksandra Goryachkina broke the deadlock in Pool B of the Women’s Candidates, as she defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk with the black pieces in game 3 of their match. Meanwhile, Tan Zhongyi held a draw in a rook endgame a pawn down against Kateryna Lagno their confrontation is still tied. The fourth and final games of this stage will be played on Saturday. | Photos: Timur Sattarov and Xushnud Baltaev
Fabiano Caruana remains in pole position at the U.S. Championship, but his lead has narrowed to a half point after Ray Robson scored a third consecutive victory in Thursday’s eighth round. Robson defeated an out-of-form Elshan Moradiabadi and now stands in sole second place a full point ahead of a big pack sharing the third spot on 4½/8 points. Meanwhile, Megan Lee also scored a hat-trick and is now the sole leader in the women’s tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Sam Sevian grabbed the sole lead on day 2 of the FTX Road to Miami online tournament. The US grandmaster collected a perfect 12/12 score on Monday, with one of his four wins obtained by default as Teimour Radjabov withdrew from the competition after round 5. Day 2 also saw Ju Wenjun collecting three wins to climb to the top half of the standings. The Chinese is the lowest-rated player and the only woman in the field. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
Magnus Carlsen picked up a fourth win at the World Championship match in Dubai to secure overall victory with three games to spare. Playing black, the world champion saw Ian Nepomniachtchi all but self-destructing for a third time in the match. This was Carlsen’s fourth consecutive successful defence of the title after becoming world champion in 2013. | Photo: Eric Rosen / FIDE
Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his title for the fourth time, clinching his match against Russian challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi with a powerful attack with the Black pieces in the 11th and final game of their scheduled 14-game match in Dubai Friday.