Vanessa West is a National Master, a chess teacher, and a writer for Chess.com. In 2017, they won the Chess Journalist of the Year award.
You can follow them on X: Vanessa__West
Saint Louis B and Arizona State were victorious in week six of Division II of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) Fall Season. Trailing by a point as they entered the final round, the SLU B team struck back with three critical victories. Perfec...
SRM added another victory to their winning streak in week five of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) Fall Season, reaching a perfect 5-0. Saint Louis defeated Yale and is tied for second with UT Rio Grande Valley. GM Pranesh M and IM L R Sri...
SRM extended their perfect score to 4/4 in week four of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) Fall Season. Saint Louis defeated Virginia and continues chasing SRM from a point behind. Even with a 4/4 sweep by Athens's board one, IM Dimitris Ale...
SRM and Athens prevailed in week three of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) Fall Season. SRM took the sole lead as the only remaining perfect score after defeating Saint Louis. The Indian team turned in a well-rounded result to edge ahea...
The underdogs roared as the 2024 Collegiate Chess League Fall (CCL) began on Saturday. The bottom boards led Saint Louis to victory over Athens. In an even bigger twist, Virginia defeated the top-seeded Missouri team. Boards three and four, GM D...
GM Andrew Tang won his fourth Bullet Brawl by a 20-point margin over GM Hikaru Nakamura. Tang began and ended on undefeated streaks to score 256 and take home the $400 first prize. Nakamura won $250 for second place. IM Renato Terry ea...
IM Nhat Minh To won every match in the Chess.com Duck Chess Championship 2024, defeating IM Eric Rosen in the Grand Final to clinch the title. After losing to the eventual winner in the Semifinals, Rosen fought his way through th...
IMs Eric Rosen and Nhat Minh To were the highest-ranked players to qualify for the Finals of the Chess.com Duck Chess Championship 2024. Six more Duck Chess mavens will join them in the knockout, including Kapik1337, the reigning number-one in the...
Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival 2024 celebrated its 10th anniversary on September 17-18. Following its motto of "Chess Connects Us," each year the festival aims to create an atmosphere that is welcoming and captivating for chess enthusi...
GM Daniel Naroditsky won his 23rd Bullet Brawl title by a 35-point margin over his closest rival, GM Hikaru Nakamura. Finishing with a 16-game winning streak, Naroditsky ended with 271 points to clinch the $400 first prize. Nakamura finished secon...
GM Magnus Carlsen just won his fourth Speed Chess Championship title, defeating GMs Alireza Firouzja and Hans Niemann along the way. Firouzja was the runner-up after he stopped GM Hikaru Nakamura from reaching the Title Match for...
GM Andrew Tang achieved his third Bullet Brawl victory of the year on Saturday. He started and ended the tournament with winning streaks, ultimately scoring 68 wins and 241 points. With a 24-game winning run, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk was close...
The upcoming 2024 FIDE World Championship between defending champion GM Ding Liren and the youngest challenger in history, GM Gukesh Dommaraju, will have a few differences from previous editions. FIDE has announced the official regulations, i...
IM Polina Shuvalova and GM Vaishali Rameshbabu prevailed vs. their women's world champion opponents in the Quarterfinals of the 2024 Julius Baer Women's Speed Chess Championship on Monday. Shuvalova knocked out women's world number-one, GM...
With a fighting draw vs. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM Alireza Firouzja clinched the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the battle for the 2024 Sinquefield Cup continues with GM Fabiano Caruana trailing by a point and i...
GM Alireza Firouzja defeated GM Ding Liren at the 2024 Sinquefield Cup on Monday, stretching his lead to a full point with two rounds to go. GM Fabiano Caruana is the only player in striking range from clear second. GM Nodirbek Abdusattoro...
GM Fabiano Caruana gained ground on GM Alireza Firouzja after GM Ian Nepomniachtchi made a shocking blunder at the 2024 Sinquefield Cup on Sunday. Caruana is now tied for second with GM Wesley So while Firouzja continues to have a half-point lead ...
GM Wesley So defeated GM Ian Nepomniachtchi at the 2024 Sinquefield Cup on Thursday, joining GM Alireza Firouzja in a tie for first. Firouzja himself narrowly survived GM Gukesh Dommaraju's sparkling tactical play in our Game of the Day. The Sin...
In an all-draw day, GM Alireza Firouzja kept his half-point lead on the field at the 2024 Sinquefield Cup in round two. GM Gukesh Dommaraju generated the most winning chances as he clashed vs. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in our Game of the Day.&nbs...
GM Alireza Firouzja gained the sole lead at the 2024 Sinquefield Cup by defeating GM Fabiano Caruana in round one. GM Ding Liren hinted at attacking intentions vs. GM Gukesh Dommaraju. Yet, when the 18-year-old challenger created counterpl...
Round one of the 2024 Sinquefield Cup will offer a sneak peek of the upcoming world championship match: GM Ding Liren and GM Gukesh Dommaraju will meet for the first time since Gukesh became the challenger. As the finale of the Grand Chess Tour,...
GM Alireza Firouzja captured first with two rounds to spare at the 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz on Friday. Leading the event during the entire last day, his victory was never in doubt, echoing his convincing performance at the same tournamen...
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is the sole leader of the 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz after the first day of rapid games. After escaping vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura and turning the tide vs. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, the French grandmaster defeated...
The Kids, WFM Bodhana Sivanandan and CM Antoni Radzimski, defeated the Stars, WGM Nemo Zhou and FM Anna-Maja Kazarian, by a five-point margin in the second edition of Kids vs. Stars. While the Stars scored their share of victories, the Kid...
GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Daniel Naroditsky have knocked everyone else out of the Winners Bracket of the Bullet Chess Championship 2024 (BCC). Nakamura led by a vast margin throughout his match vs. GM Nihal Sarin. Naroditsky fought off ...
