2/9/2026 – The Speed Chess Championship concluded in London, with live matches deciding both the title and third place. Magnus Carlsen defeated Alireza Firouzja 15–12 to claim a third consecutive crown, while Denis Lazavik edged Hikaru Nakamura in the consolation match. The event introduced the Daniel Naroditsky Cup, with past and future champions' names to be engraved on the trophy. | Photo: chess.com / Luc Bouchon

2/9/2026 – The Queens' Online Chess Festival returns in March 2026 for its sixth edition, offering a free, month-long celebration of women's chess around International Women’s Day. Organised by the FIDE Commission for Women's Chess, the event features a global Women's Open with continental qualifiers and a separate Princesses' tournament for unrated girls. Blitz competitions, titles, training prizes and fair-play safeguards form part of a programme open to players of all ages and levels worldwide.

2/8/2026 – ChessBase´26 offers a unique range of professional features. This series gives users of ChessBase tips for the first important steps. In the first part of this series we showed you how to enter and save your own games. In part 2 of our tutorial we will show you how to add new variations to a game in ChessBase´26. These can be your own moves or those of an engine, which you might want to add.

2/8/2026 – The final weekend of the Speed Chess Championship moves from the online arena to a live stage in London, combining rapid, blitz and bullet segments. On Sunday, Hikaru Nakamura faces Denis Lazavik in the match for third place, while Magnus Carlsen will attempt to successfully defending his title against Alireza Firouzja. | Follow the games live with expert commentary. The consolation match starts at 14.00 CET, while the final starts at 19.00 CET.

2/8/2026 – The semifinals of the Speed Chess Championship in London took place on Saturday at 180 Studios. It began with Magnus Carlsen facing Denis Lazavik, and was followed by the match between Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja. Carlsen defeated Lazavik 17–9. The encounter between Firouzja and Nakamura was much more closely contested. After the scheduled 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 games, the players went into overtime games until a winner was decided. Firouzja eventually won by a 15–13 score. | Photo: chess.com / Luc Bouchon

2/7/2026 – This article talks about how a frightening diagnosis unfolds into an unexpected but tender journey. Ariana Hinckley-Boltax is diagnosed with cancer and undergoes surgeries and chemotherapy. During such an uncertain period, chess became an escape and a comfort zone for her. Her dream of attending the World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 leads her to Doha, where the experience proves far more beautiful than she imagined. Her mission was to get her chessboard signed by the players. | All photos: Ariana Hinckley-Boltax

2/7/2026 – In this episode, Svitlana takes on one of the most aggressive setups against the Modern Defence: the Austrian Attack. She explains the key ideas behind White’s early central pawn storm, typical attacking plans, and what you should be aiming for before the tactics even begin. A practical, idea-driven lesson that helps you understand when to attack, how to build it up, and what Black is trying to survive.

2/7/2026 – A regular fixture in the German "Schachkalender", edited by Wolf Böese and Stefan Löffler, is the biographical puzzle. Yesterday we asked which player would have celebrated a milestone birthday today. Here's the solution…

2/6/2026 – Just two years after its launch, the New Zagreb Classic has become one of Europe's largest open tournaments, attracting more than 500 players from dozens of federations. Conceived by local organisers to give young talents broader competitive opportunities, the event combines a compact weekend format with wide participation across rating levels. The 2026 edition in Zagreb featured established masters, emerging juniors and first-time competitors, reflecting the tournament’s growing place on the European chess calendar. | Photos: Official website

2/6/2026 – On Sunday you have the opportunity to see a legendary chess mind: Alexander Beliavsky, a four-time USSR Champion, three-time Olympiad Champion, who has defeated no fewer than nine World Champions. In a live training session at the Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy "Big Al", as he is known for his bold, uncompromising style, offers a rare chance to understand how grandmasters think when the stakes are highest. Keep February 8, 18:00 CET to listen to him.

2/6/2026 – The President of the Georgian Chess Federation and FIDE official Akaki Iashvili visited the ChessBase office in Hamburg to familiarise himself with the company’s training and educational programs. He was particularly impressed by the children’s chess learning program Fritz & Chesster. ChessBase CEO Rainer Woisin (pictured, on the right) and Akaki Iashvili (pictured, on the left) agreed on a cooperation in the field of scholastic chess.

2/6/2026 – Take as look at this position. Is there any way you can stop the two black pawns that are ready to promote? And actually win this game? There are three challenging positions to solve on our live diagrams. And in a few days we will provide full explanations and strategies – in video clips. It is a learning experience.