4/8/2026 – Together with his brother Robert, Donald Byrne was among the best players in the United States in the 1970s. He won many games, but he became best known for a loss — against the then little-known Bobby Fischer. Donald Byrne died 50 years ago from an autoimmune disease. He was only 45 years old.

4/8/2026 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world's best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?

4/8/2026 – Head-to-head records between the participants of the Candidates Tournaments provide useful context for each pairing. Drawing on data compiled via Mega Database 2026, the key statistics from past encounters highlight imbalances and trends. While such figures are not decisive, they offer an additional perspective on how rivalries have developed before a tournament that will determine the next challenger for the world title.

4/8/2026 – Three decisive games in round eight left five players tied for the lead in the Women's Candidates Tournament. Divya Deshmukh defeated former sole leader Anna Muzychuk, who had held a clearly superior position before letting the game slip. Kateryna Lagno and Zhu Jiner also scored wins and joined the leading group. With the standings tightly grouped, the next round will feature two direct clashes between co-leaders. | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

4/8/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov extended his lead at the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus despite only scoring a draw against Andrey Esipenko in round eight, as Fabiano Caruana, his long-time closest chaser, lost to Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, Anish Giri beat Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to join Caruana in second place. With six rounds remaining, Sindarov now leads by two points over his closest rivals. | Photo: FIDE / Yoav Nis

4/7/2026 – Vincent Keymer has done it! With a quick draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the ninth and final round of the grenke Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, he secured overall victory and qualified for the 2027 Freestyle Chess World Championship. The draw left both Keymer and Vachier-Lagrave tied for first place with 7½ points each, but Keymer won thanks to his superior tiebreak score. Seven players finished half a point behind on 7/9. This group included Magnus Carlsen, who finished third on tiebreaks. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

4/7/2026 – The best university teams will meet in Almaty this August to compete for the title of FIDE World University Team Chess Champion. The event is governed by FIDE and organised by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, together with Almaty city administration and support from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Sports and Tourism.

4/7/2026 – Head-to-head records between the participants of the Candidates Tournaments provide useful context for each pairing. Drawing on data compiled via Mega Database 2026, the key statistics from past encounters highlight imbalances and trends. While such figures are not decisive, they offer an additional perspective on how rivalries have developed before a tournament that will determine the next challenger for the world title.

4/7/2026 – The Candidates has started, arguably the most exciting event of the world with so much at stake. Beforehand, there was the usual speculation about who should be considered the favourites. After three rounds, already a lot was clear: both top favourite Fabiano Caruana and dark horse Javokhir Sindarov had a dream start with 2.5 out of 3, while world number 2 Hikaru Nakamura is struggling so far. Our Game of the Week is the truely astonishing fourth round clash between Sindarov and Caruana. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/7/2026 – Carlsen's king: Dangerous passed pawns are often mighty in an endgame. Here the question is, which direction should White's king take to secure the draw?: White to move and draw.

4/7/2026 – An exciting piece of home preparation was seen in the game Caruana-Bluebaum. Fabi introduced a new concept in the Petroff with 4.Nc4, followed by placing the knight on e3 and pushing the pawn to f5. Bluebaum was clearly caught by surprise and failed to come up with an adequate answer. In a position with opposite-castled kings White's attack was really fast and it was checkmate on move 28!

4/6/2026 – Anna Muzychuk leads the Women's Candidates Tournament at the halfway stage with 4½/7 after drawing a quiet game with Bibisara Assaubayeva in round seven. Vaishali Rameshbabu secured the only win of the day, capitalising on a late mistake by Tan Zhongyi to move into sole second place. The other games saw long, hard-fought draws, including a 135-move marathon between Divya Deshmukh and Kateryna Lagno. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza