This is not an advertisement! The ‘amateur move’ 3.Bc4 (without a subsequent d2-d4) against the Sicilian Defence, combined with a setup resembling the Italian Game, is becoming increasingly popular. Even top professionals are now using this system successfully, first in online blitz and now also in classical over-the-board games. At the Chess Olympiad, Michael Adams […]
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The Chess Bundesliga, a.k.a. German League, kicks off its 2026/27 season this coming weekend. Last season’s champions SC Viernheim and OSG Baden-Baden are the favourites to win the title. SV Erkenschwick 1923 will be making their debut in the league, while the other two promoted teams from the second division – SF Bad Mergentheim and […]
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has met newly elected FIDE President Timur Turlov to discuss the development of chess in the country and future cooperation with FIDE. Their talks covered chess in education, coach and arbiter training, youth development and the organisation of major events. Tokayev also highlighted Kazakhstan’s recent progress, including the women’s team’’s silver […]
Two Olympiads, thirteen wins, seven draws, no defeats, two individual gold medals and a team bronze – Frederik Svane’s Olympiad record is impressive. At the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, he also set a low-key record: never before had a German player won two Olympiad gold medals for the best performance on his board. | […]
Older readers will remember. In the old days, before the invention of the internet, you actually had to meet in person to play chess. In blitz chess, you sat opposite one another, saw each other and even talked. It was a sociable affair and, at times, rather boisterous. In Hamburg last weekend, a secret gathering […]
Coming from badminton and motorsport, Naganethra Reddy expected chess to feel quiet and hard to read. Watching the Global Chess League changed that: the drama was in the glances, pauses, and small gestures around the board, and in the stories shared through the commentary. Here’s what she thinks. | Pictured: Bibisara Assaubayeva | Photo: Global […]
In 1977, the historian and archaeologist Yuri Buryakov discovered a set of seven ivory pieces in the ruins of the ancient city of Afrasiab, near Samarkand. The pieces have been dated to the mid-seventh century and are regarded as the oldest known chess pieces in the world. | Photo: Samarkand State Museum
The success of the German national team has something to do with Thuringia. The foundations were laid almost 20 years ago, when national youth coach Bernd Vökler entered a youth team as Germany’s second squad at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. The “Princes’ Group” was born. Axel Eger reported for the Thüringer Allgemeine. | Photo: […]
For the first time in its history, the renowned German chess magazine SCHACH is available in English. Published under the title CHESS INSIGHT, the new edition was released on October 1, 2026, and is available digitally through Forward Chess.
On Saturday, 21 November 2026, Prague’s Hotel Don Giovanni will host the second Vlastimil Hort Tournament, a rapid chess tournament dedicated to one of the greatest Czech chess players of all time, Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort, who had a very special connection to Prague and the Hotel Don Giovanni. | Photo: Alina l’Ami