6/5/2026 – This week there is a truly remarkable new concept in the Sicilian already on move 3! After the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 the bizarre looking move 3.f3!? was played by Nihal Sarin in his game against Alexander Donchenko at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Armenia. Admittedly, the move isn't entirely new as it has been played by a few top GMs (including Carlsen and Nihal himself!) in some online and shorter time control games. Despite its weird appearance, this little pawn move still has some points which will be discussed in detail. Eventually the game turned into some Dragon type of position, in which Black was objectively speaking doing fine, but the German GM lost track in the middlegame and White got the chance to seize the initiative and launch a massive attack against the black king. An inspirational new approach in the heavily analyzed world of the Sicilians!

6/5/2026 – Norway Chess is arguably the strangest tournament in many years. Last week we discussed that Magnus Carlsen had already lost two games, but after eight rounds, he in fact already lost four games. This really seems to be caused by the fact that they play without increment before move 40 and with only 10 instead of 30 seconds increment after move 40. Our Game of the Week between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh was highly spectacular and entertaining. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

6/5/2026 – The 25th edition of the European Women's Chess Championship is taking place from 25 May to 5 June in the Georgian city of Batumi. The tournament is played over 11 rounds using the Swiss system. More than 150 players from 32 European federations have registered to participate. Ten players have an Elo rating above 2400. | Follow the games live starting at 11.00 CEST (5.00 ET, 14.30 IST) | Pictured: Adhara Rodríguez | Photo: European Chess Union

6/5/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva secured the Norway Chess Women title with a round to spare after drawing her classical game against defending champion Anna Muzychuk. The Kazakh grandmaster, unbeaten on a plus-three classical score, has gained 15.2 rating points in Oslo and climbed to fifth place in the women's live rankings. Zhu Jiner climbed to second place after beating Divya Deshmukh with black in the day's only decisive classical game. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/5/2026 – In the diagram position, Black is exerting enormous pressure on the kingside. But White wins - can you see what Siegbert Tarrasch saw?

6/5/2026 – Three players will enter the final round of Norway Chess with chances of taking the title after an etnertaining penultimate round in Oslo. Wesley So remains the sole leader, but only half a point ahead of Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who scored a third consecutive classical win by beating Gukesh Dommaraju. Alireza Firouzja stayed in contention by defeating Vincent Keymer in Armageddon and will face So with white in the final round. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/4/2026 – The fifth qualification places for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship (Open and Women's) will now be decided through the Freestyle Friday standings after the final event on 26 June. The leaders in the Open and Women's divisions will each secure a direct spot in the finals at Weissenhaus. The series will then resume after the summer break, with the second half determining the sixth qualifiers in both categories.

6/4/2026 – At the Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Nihal Sarin, Ray Robson and Vladislav Artemiev share the lead on 3½ points after six rounds. Nihal and Artemiev are still unbeaten, while Robson has reached the same score with two wins and one loss. Four players, including defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram and 2023 winner Sam Sevian, are half a point behind with three rounds remaining. | Photos: Official website

6/3/2026 – Sabrina Vega (pictured) and Anastasiia Hnatyshyn share the lead on 7½/9 with two rounds remaining at the European Women's Chess Championship in Batumi. Vega drew with Black against Eline Roebers in round nine, while Hnatyshyn defeated Ulviyya Fataliyeva to rejoin her in first place. Five players stand half a point behind, with key pairings scheduled for Thursday's penultimate round. | Photo: European Chess Union

6/3/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva moved close to winning Norway Chess Women after defeating Divya Deshmukh in round eight, extending her lead with two rounds to play. A draw against Anna Muzychuk in the penultimate round will be enough to secure the title. Muzychuk moved into second after drawing Humpy Koneru in classical play, while Zhu Jiner beat Ju Wenjun in the all-Chinese clash. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/3/2026 – Looking for an interesting over-the-board chess tournament to play, attend, or simply watch? There are plenty being staged all over the world, and we will bring you regular overviews of the most interesting of them. We do this in cooperation with MyChess.events, a global platform that helps players discover upcoming events, check dates, venues, formats, prize funds and registration details. In our selection we highlight selected events from around the world that may interest players, coaches, parents and chess fans.

6/3/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Alireza Firouzja narrowed the gap to Wesley So with classical wins in round eight of Norway Chess. Pragg defeated Magnus Carlsen for a second time in the event, while Firouzja beat world champion Gukesh Dommaraju to move within 1 point of the leader. So stayed in first place by drawing Vincent Keymer in classical play and winning the Armageddon decider. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza