The make-or-break moment from the thrilling tiebreak match between Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the Grand Chess Tour semifinal: 35.Nc5 is the kind of mistake that's hard to recover from.

The world champion after the critical 35.Nc5 blunder against a Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in full hustle mode.

Great technique by MVL in the knight endgame #GCTFinals

Magnus Carlsen had some very nice words to say about Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after their exciting match in London. https://bit.ly/387duCw

Carlsen: "He's a great player and a deserved winner. He outlasted me in the match. At this format, he is very, very good. I knew if I didn't have a perfect day, it was going to be tough.

The finals are set, and will start on Friday. #GCTFinals
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will face off against Ding Liren for the title of 2019 Grand Chess Tour Champion in addition to the $150,000 prize.
Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian will battle it out for third place and $60,000.

Who do you think will win the 2019 Grand Chess Tour?
anonymous poll

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 🇫🇷 – 4
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 50%

Ding Liren 🇨🇳 – 4
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 50%

👥 8 people voted so far.

Some rare photos of Tal-Botvinnik 1961 WCC rematch.
We can see both how Tal is thinking and how Botvinnik is thinking.

@UnityChess

"The Middle Game is chess in excelsis, the most beautiful part of the game, in which a lively imagination can exercise itself most fully and creatively in conjuring magnificent combinations."

🔸 Siegbert Tarrasch (1935). “The Game of Chess”

@UnityChess

BBC News - Spassky vs Fischer: How the chess battle became a theatre event

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50599525

Averbakh-Petrosyan: friends and rivals. It's hard to believe, but Yuri Averbakh is personally acquainted with all world champions, starting with Euwe !!! And if you remember that he started playing chess when Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine were alive ...

@UnityChess

On this day in 1995: IBM unveils its chess-playing computer Deep Blue.

@UnityChess

US Chess Leads at London Chess Conference

A delegation from US Chess attended the London Chess Conference. Here's a report on the event.

https://new.uschess.org/news/us-chess-leads-london-chess-conference/

🔸TCh-SVK 2018–19
🔸Round 2
⚪️Cernousek,L (2436)
⚫️Balogh,C (2629)
🔸0-1

17...Nfd7! [A dual-purpose move: 1. Transferring the knight to the queenside in order to put more pressure there. 2. Clearing the path for the f7–pawn to attack the base of White's pawn chain on e4.]

18.b3 cxb3 19.Nxb3 Na4!‚ [19...Nxb3?! 20.Rxb3 △R×b5 20...Ra5 21.Bd2 Nc5 22.Rb1 Rfa8 23.c4 bxc4 24.Bxa5 Qxa5 25.Qf1!²]

20.Bd2 Ndb6 [△Nc4]

21.Bd3 Nc4 22.Bxc4 bxc4! [△f5]

23.Na1 f5! [The principle of two weaknesses!]

24.exf5 Nb6!–+ [24...Rxf5!? 25.Nc2 Bxd5 26.Nb4 Bb7 27.Ra1 Nc5 28.Rxa8+ Bxa8–+]

Humpy Koneru keeps the lead in Monaco Women's Grand Prix after a draw against Anna Muzychuk in the eventful third round. Nana Dzagnidze and Harika Dronavalli follow with half-a-point less.

Our report: https://www.fide.com/news/247