11/4/2026 – FIDE President Timur Turlov met Georgian Chess Federation President Akaki Iashvili to discuss major events, the 2027–2028 international calendar and possible improvements to competition formats and organisational standards. The talks also covered chess development in Georgia, including the reconstruction of the Tbilisi Chess Palace and preschool initiatives, as well as a proposed World Chess Championship for Miners. Both officials also discussed ways to expand FIDE's global reach and support national federations. | Photo: FIDE

11/4/2026 – From November 10 to 20, Budapest will host the first Total Chess tournament, bringing together 24 top players, including Magnus Carlsen. The new format combines Fast Classic, Rapid and Blitz chess to test players across three time controls. The organisers have now announced their broadcast team: Anna Rudolf, Fiona Steil-Antoni, David Howell and Jovanka Houska will cover the tournament, while Levy Rozman, better known as GothamChess, will host a daily highlights show featuring interviews, analysis and special guests.

11/3/2026 – Denis Lazavik won the KazChess Masters in Almaty with 6½/9 points, finishing unbeaten after drawing his final-round game against Aram Hakobyan. The 19-year-old Belarusian overtook Daniil Dubov in the penultimate round and eventually finished half a point ahead of the Russian. Another notable result came from 14-year-old Kazakh IM Mark Smirnov, who scored 5½/9, shared third place with Shamsiddin Vokhidov and earned his first GM norm. | Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE (World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships 2026)

11/3/2026 – 2026 Chess Olympiad: Game analyses by Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alexander Donchenko, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Anish Giri, Ediz Gurel, Nils Grandelius, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Wesley So, Nikita Vitiugov, Wei Yi and many more. Felix Blohberger demonstrates his "great win" against Peter Leko in the video! – ‘Rooks love open files’: 35 games packed with tactical exercises + 4 interactive videos by Oliver Reeh – Endgames with knight and bishop against rook: In his series ‘Endgame Basics’, Dr Karsten Mueller explains why the minor pieces do not always triumph – Queen on the third rank: Petra Papp favours the flexible 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Qd3!? - Sicilian Dragon Variation, Jaenisch Gambit, Caro-Kann: Daniel King, Ivan Sokolov and Nico Zwirs highlight new trends and offer tips for your repertoire in the video and much more! Take a look into the new issue!

11/3/2026 – The USA Championship was super strong with 12 top grandmasters participating, and only Nakamura/Dominguez missing. A key role was played by 16-year-old Andy Woodward, who impressively beat Caruana, but lost to So. In the final round Caruana caught up with So, but in the rapid tiebreak Wesley So was crowned the winner. From many fascinating games we selected the encounter between Xiong and Liang as our Game of the Week, because of its highly surprising plot twist. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

11/3/2026 – In his last tournament before the World Championship match later this month, Javokhir Sindarov showed great form by winning Clutch Chess in Saint Louis. My favorite game was his spectacular victory with the black pieces against Nakamura. In a Saemisch Variation of the King's Indian, Nakamura used his pet line with 6.Bg5 which he has been using frequently playing against his own favorite opening he's had great successes with over the years. Interestingly up till move 17 the players were following an earlier blitz game played in Saint Louis back in 2016 between two KID specialists Nakamura and Kasparov! Despite the short time control (10 min + 5 sec) the young Uzbek superstar considered this game as ''one of his best games with the King's Indian'', so it's an absolute must-see!

11/3/2026 – The Illusion of Hopelessness: Amazingly, White can defend against the passed pawns thanks to his own passer: White to move and draw.

11/3/2026 – The open tournament at this year’s English Championships was dominated by the two top seeds. Gawain Maroroa Jones won convincingly, finishing unbeaten with 7½ points out of 9. In round five, he drew with Michael Adams, who also remained undefeated and secured second place, one point behind the winner. In the women's event, Elmira Mirzoeva claimed the title with the same one-point margin over runner-up Anusha Subramanian. | Photos: Official website / Melinda White

11/3/2026 – The KazChess Masters Almaty 2026 takes place from 26 October to 3 November in Kazakhstan. The ten-player invitational tournament brings together five international grandmasters and five players from the host country. Among the best-known participants are Muhammad Muradli, Daniil Dubov and Denis Lazavik, who recently reached the Esports World Cup final. Another player to watch is 14-year-old Kazakh talent Mark Smirnov. | Live from approximately 6:15 AM ET / 3:45 PM IST / 11:15 AM CET | Pictured: Edgar Mamedov | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

11/2/2026 – The US Chess Championships and the European Club Cup were the most important tournaments of the past month, bringing about a number of changes in the rankings of the world's top players. Magnus Carlsen, Hou Yifan, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Alice Lee top the rankings in their respective categories. Meanwhile, Nihal Sarin entered the world top 20 and Hans Niemann dropped below the 2700 mark.

11/2/2026 – With the World Championship match in Geneva just over three weeks away, Jon Speelman considers the prospects of defending champion Gukesh Dommaraju and challenger Javokhir Sindarov. He reflects on the demands of a 14-game match, recent form and the importance of preparation, while revisiting Sindarov’s attacking win over Hikaru Nakamura in Saint Louis. Speelman also draws on past Candidates battles to underline the tactical possibilities ahead. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

11/2/2026 – In many ...e6 Sicilians, Black pursues the concept of actively developing their f8-bishop or exchanging it favourably. However, in the diagram position, 11...Ba3?? is simply bad. Can you see why?