Hikaru Nakamura continued his bid to qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament by winning the Maritime Open Chess Championship in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Playing against much lower-rated opposition, the world number two scored 5½/6 to take first place outright. Though he lost a few rating points, the event brought him closer to fulfilling […]
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The concept behind the “60 Minutes” courses is simple: one hour of video instruction for just under 10€. There are also courses on middle game and endgame topics, but most courses focus on opening variations. In the first instalment of a short series, Jochen Schwarz presents the most important “60 Minutes” courses for 1.e4 players […]
Take a look at this position. In order to have any winning chances, White must clearly move his rook. There are nine squares it can safely occupy, but only one retains the win. Can you find it? Today we have four problems that will challenge your endgame skills. Try to solve them by moving pieces […]
Wilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague in 1836, is regarded as the first official World Chess Champion after winning the historic 1886 match against Johannes Zukertort. He founded modern chess theory by replacing romantic, attacking chess with strategic and positional thinking, formulating numerous principles that still shape the game today. The Master Class, featuring four international […]
Hans Niemann was the sole winner in Round 4 of the Open section at this year’s U.S. Championships. Playing Black, he defeated Sam Shankland to move into a tie for second place with defending champion Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, half a point behind leader Wesley So, who drew his game against Abhimanyu Mishra. In […]
Richard Rapport had the best individual result at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi. Playing on board 1 for Hungary, he scored 5.5 points from 7 games and had a performance rating of 2869, the highest of all players in Batumi. In the final round, he won a nice and theoretically interesting game against […]
The Colle and Zukertort Systems offer White a simple yet powerful setup with d4–Nf3–e3–Bd3, aiming for rapid development and a strong kingside attack. The Colle-Koltanowski focuses on c3 and e4, while the Zukertort System employs b3 and a fianchettoed bishop for added strategic depth. Easy to learn and highly effective for club players, this course […]
Two decisive games were seen in the open section and four in the women’s section as round three of the US Chess Championships took place in Saint Louis. In the open, Wesley So defeated Sam Shankland to move into the sole lead on 2½ points, while Grigoriy Oparin scored his first win of the tournament. […]
In a surprising move, FIDE has officially approved a new world championship format: the Total Chess World Championship Tour, organized by Norway Chess. The Tour will determine a FIDE World Combined Champion across three disciplines – Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz – through four global events each year. With a $2.7 million annual prize pool, […]
The 2025 European Team Chess Championship concluded in Batumi with Ukraine and Poland emerging as the continental champions in the open and women’s sections respectively. Both teams entered the final round in control of their own destinies and confirmed their titles with victories on the last day of play. The tournament featured 40 teams in […]