Magnus Carlsen remains the undisputed world number one in chess. Hou Yifan is still the highest-rated woman player. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju has lost several rating points and has also relinquished his position as the world’s top junior – it is now 15-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus who stands as the top-ranked player […]
Category Archives: News
The 112th edition of the British Chess Championship is taking place on 1-9 August at the University of Warwick in Coventry. The main event is a 9-round Swiss open with a classical time control. Topping the starting rank are Luke McShane, Michael Adams and Shreyas Royal. Also noteworthy is the presence of 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana […]
Magnus Carlsen learnt to play chess at the age of five, although his tournament career began a little later, in late 1999 or early 2000. In the summer of 2000, exactly 26 years ago, Carlsen faced another nine-year-old at the Peer Gynt Open in Gausdal, who would also later become a grandmaster.
Alongside its latest releases, ChessBase’s Summer Specials also include a selection of older Fritz Trainers, such as titles from Daniel King’s long-running PowerPlay series and Karsten Müller’s endgame courses. This raises an interesting question: can Fritz Trainers that are up to 20 years old still be used on modern computers, and how well have they […]
Fintech entrepreneur and chess sponsor Timur Turlov has announced his candidacy for President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), standing together with five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand as his candidate for Deputy President. Press release.
The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz will bring ten grandmasters to the Saint Louis Chess Club from 2 to 6 August for the fourth leg of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer and Wesley So are the leading tour contenders in a field that also includes World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov (pictured), […]
Svitlana explores the Center Game with 1.e4 e5 2.d4 and explains why this historic opening remains a practical surprise weapon. She examines the main queen placements, Black’s most important defensive setups, and White’s typical plan of castling queenside and launching an attack. Particular attention is given to the choice between f3 and Nf3, the importance […]
The 53rd Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting gets underway on Saturday (1–8 August). Alongside a strong open tournament featuring German national team players Matthias Blübaum, Rasmus Svane and Dmitrij Kollars, as well as Biel Open winner Christian Glöckler (pictured), the festival also includes an international women’s GM tournament, where Dinara Wagner will defend her title. | […]
FIDE and the International School Chess Federation (ISCF) have introduced a new format for the World Schools Team Championship. Continental championships will first be held in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe, with the continental winners advancing to a final tournament in December.
On Monday, the African Chess Confederation elected a new executive board. In an extremely close vote, the incumbent continental president was voted out of office, and Benard Wanjala (pictured) was elected as the new president. The defeated candidate, Tshepiso Lopang, has accused Benard Wanjala of vote-buying and lodged a complaint against the result. | Photos: […]