Monthly Archives: April 2026

The Carlsen-Niemann controversy: Netflix revisits chess’ biggest feud

Following the hugely successful miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit” and the documentary on Judit Polgar “The Queen of Chess”, Netflix is bringing another chess-themed story to the screen. The documentary “Untold: Chess Mates” focuses on the controversy involving Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann. It premiered this week. | Photo: Screenshots from the series / Netflix

Remembering Donald Byrne

Together with his brother Robert, Donald Byrne was among the best players in the United States in the 1970s. He won many games, but he became best known for a loss — against the then little-known Bobby Fischer. Donald Byrne died 50 years ago from an autoimmune disease. He was only 45 years old.

Candidates R8: Nakamura takes down Caruana, Giri beats Pragg

Javokhir Sindarov extended his lead at the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus despite only scoring a draw against Andrey Esipenko in round eight, as Fabiano Caruana, his long-time closest chaser, lost to Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, Anish Giri beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to join Caruana in second place. With six rounds remaining, Sindarov now leads by two points […]

A Game That Outlasted the Day (3)

Two months ago Valery Golubenko played what may well have been one of the longest chess games ever seen, measured by number of moves, under the rather restrictive conditions of modern chess life. At move 88, with queen and b-pawn against queen, Golubenko’s opponent held for 37 moves, until he missed an only move, and […]