8/11/2026 – Fabiano Caruana was the only winner in the opening round of the Sinquefield Cup, defeating Jorden van Foreest to take the early sole lead in Saint Louis. The remaining four games were drawn, though Javokhir Sindarov missed chances to convert a favourable endgame against Levon Aronian. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

8/11/2026 – The inaugural Apogee Chess Festival will take place in Caissargues, near Nîmes, from 22 to 30 August 2026, combining competitive chess with the cultural heritage of southern France. Organised by IM Silvia Alexieva, the event will feature two FIDE-rated open sections, a €26,000 prize fund and a special appearance by former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, who will give a simultaneous exhibition near the historic Maison Carrée.

8/10/2026 – Magnus Carlsen will return to defend his Esports World Cup title as chess makes its second appearance at the event, this time in Paris. The competition runs from 11 to 15 August and features a rapid 10-minute time control without increment. Fourteen players have already qualified directly for the group stage, while eight others will contest Tuesday's Play-In for the final two places in the 16-player field. | Photos: Esports World Cup 2025

8/10/2026 – Elham Amar (pictured, right) won the main open tournament at the Dortmund Chess Festival. The Norwegian GM went into the final round with a half-point lead over two pursuers. He drew against one of them, Surya Ganguly, while the other, Sumiya Chinguun, lost to Amilal Munkhdalai. Amar's 7 points were enough to secure clear first place, half a point ahead of a group of five players. In the Women's International Tournament, a draw in the final round was enough for Song Yuxin to grab outright victory. The B Open was won by Max Pick on tiebreaks, ahead of Oleksandr Kasapchuk Jr. and Thomas Peter. | Photo: Dariusz Gorzinski

8/10/2026 – Karsten shows 3 endgames from Biel. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

8/10/2026 – Ural State Mining University has been crowned champion of the inaugural FIDE World University Team Championship Finals, defeating Saint Louis University in Sunday's final in Almaty. The final day of competition brought the championship down to its two decisive encounters: Ural State Mining University against Saint Louis University for the title and Kazakh National University of Sports against The University of Texas at Dallas for third place.

8/7/2026 – Today, for a change, there's a little quiz on the Two Knights Defence - let's see if you know all the names!

8/7/2026 – The group stage of the inaugural FIDE World University Team Championship Finals came to an exciting conclusion on Thursday in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with the eight quarterfinalists now confirmed after three days of intense competition. With all sixteen participating universities in action for the final time, the last rounds determined which teams would continue their quest for the inaugural title and which would conclude their championship journey.

8/7/2026 – In the early years of the British Championship, Henry Atkins won the title seven times in succession between 1905 and 1911, before adding two more victories later on. This made him the record holder until the 1960s. What makes this achievement especially remarkable is that Atkins was essentially an amateur player who rarely competed in other tournaments. | Photo: Theo F Gidden, Wikipedia

8/6/2026 – The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is taking place on 2-6 August at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The 10-player event sees three days of rapid chess (single round-robin) followed by two days of blitz (double round-robin). A stellar lineup features, among others, World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. Follow the games live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/6/2026 – In the International Women's Tournament at the Dortmund Chess Festival, Dinara Wagner (pictured) moved into first place after defeating the previous leader, Nataliya Buksa. As Klaudia Kulon, who had been level on points with Wagner, lost to Song Yuxin, Wagner now holds a half-point lead after three of six rounds. In the A Open, defending champion Matthias Bluebaum also looked well-prepared and defeated the previous sole leader, Amilal Munkhdalai. Bluebaum now shares the lead with Kacper Piorun and Yu Tian Poh. | Photo: Official website

8/6/2026 – One month before the Chess Olympiad gets underway in Samarkand, FIDE has published the team line-ups. They reveal a number of significant changes since the 2024 Olympiad: the United States have included Hans Niemann, World Champion Gukesh will play on board four for India, hosts Uzbekistan once again rely on their young golden generation, and the battle for medals in the Women's event also promises to be fiercely contested.