The 2025 Norway Chess tournament, set to take place from May 26 to June 6 in Stavanger, will once again feature some of the world’s strongest players. Both the main event and Norway Chess Women will follow a six-player double round-robin format, with the Armageddon tiebreak system ensuring a decisive result in every round. Norway […]
Monthly Archives: January 2025
A handshake controversy at the Tata Steel Challengers tournament sparked heated debate after GM Nodirbek Yakubboev declined Vaishali Rameshbabu’s pre-game gesture, citing religious reasons. The incident drew widespread criticism, with many questioning the inconsistency of his actions. In response, Yakubboev publicly apologised and later met Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh, offering chocolates and flowers. | Photo: […]
Suhani Shah is one of the finest mentalists we know. Certainly one of the most entertaining. In one of her acts she proceeded to read the minds of two chess World Champions – Vishy Anand and D.Gukesh. Check out the videos in our report to see how she fared works – and try to explain […]
Surya Ganguly recently visited the ChessBase office to record exclusive ChessBase Training videos. An ideal opportunity to interview a true chess legend. Known for his deep philosophical reflections, captivating anecdotes, and life-changing experiences, Ganguly brings the same mindset to both his chess and coaching career, allowing him to continuously find joy in the game and […]
Round 10 of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament saw the frontrunners in both the Masters and Challengers sections claiming crucial victories. In the Masters, Gukesh Dommaraju held onto his lead by beating Max Warmerdam, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu also won to keep the title race tight. Similarly, in the Challengers, Thai Dai Van […]
A new documentary, produced by chess.com, delves into the remarkable journey of Wesley So, tracing his rise from a chess prodigy in the Philippines to one of the world’s elite grandmasters. Narrated by So himself, the 26-minute film explores his early struggles, his federation switch to the United States and the support of his adoptive […]
The FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission Appeal Chamber has upheld and strengthened sanctions against IM Andrejs Strebkovs for severe misconduct, extending his ban to 12 years and revoking his International Master title. The ruling follows a thorough review of evidence, including police findings, confirming his involvement in sending offensive materials to female players, some of […]
The dispute between FIDE and Freestyle Chess continues. After Jan Henric Buettner attacked FIDE in an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Buettner has now published an open letter to FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky. In this letter he addresses the development of the conflict, and concludes by saying: “Freestyle seeks peace, not conflict. We are still […]
The first Underdog of 2025 has been chosen by Robert Ris. It is IM Lu Miaoyi. Currently, she is playing formidable at the Tata Steel Chess Festival tournament. She is second worst rated in the Challengers group, but could already gather 4.5 out of 8 points. One favourite to win the Challengers in Wijk aan […]
Dr Thorsten Heedt took chess lessons from Robert Hübner (1948–2025) for a long time and got to know the German Grandmaster very well. They became good friends and Heedt even asked Hübner to be best man at Heedt’s wedding. After Hübner’s death on 5 January 2025, Heedt shares some personal memories…