7/8/2026 – FIDE has decided that the Best Creator category at the inaugural FIDE Excellence Awards will be named The Daniel Naroditsky Best Creator Award. The dedication comes as the chess world continues to honour the memory of Daniel Naroditsky, known to friends and fans as Danya, who passed away in October 2025 – a loss still felt deeply across the chess community. FIDE press release.

7/7/2026 – Three full days! What if, out of those 72 hours, you play chess for 67 hours? Would you be able to survive? This was the question posed to all the players as the WR Chess World Record Marathon kicked off in Lima, Peru at the Sheraton Hotel. Some of the best grandmasters from South America participated in this amazing chess celebration that had US$100,000 at stake! We bring you the entire report from Lima.

7/7/2026 – Indian Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca has never been shy about letting people into his world. Long a familiar face at the ChessBase studio, the 20-year-old from Goa has spent recent years building a genuine chess résumé, headlined by his surprise victory in the 2024 Tata Steel Challengers. Now the man who became India's 67th grandmaster back in January 2021 is channelling that same openness into his own YouTube channel, where he shares tournament battles, game analysis and glimpses of life on the professional circuit. His tagline says it all — "Just here to play chess and have fun".

7/7/2026 – Black's knight's knightmare: The duel bishop against knight can be deep. As defender the knight often wants to construct a fortress: Black to move and draw.

7/7/2026 – The Naroditsky Memorial featured rapid and blitz tournaments in tribute to Daniel Naroditsky, whose association with fast chess made the format a fitting choice. Javokhir Sindarov won the rapid after a playoff against Aravindh Chithambaram, then took first place outright in the Blitz Final. The event also raised funds for the Daniel Naroditsky Memorial Fund and the Naroditsky Fellowship for young players. | Pictured: Javokhir Sindarov and Daniel Naroditsky's mother Lena Schuman | Photo: Charlotte Chess Center

7/6/2026 – In the London System, after 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3, Black has the choice between the main lines 4...c5 (the move most frequently played to date) and 4...Bd6 (the modern continuation). In his opening article for the new ChessBase Magazine #232, Christian Braun suggests the counter 5.Bd3!? against 4...Bd6. In his detailed analysis – the article includes, amongst other things, seven annotated model games – Braun highlights the advantages of this move. This opening offers a high degree of flexibility. And “very often, White gets the better development and simply has ‘the stronger pieces’.” Take a look at the free sample from CBM #232 – in the ChessBase Books format, you can view the full article with all the analyses directly in your web browser.

7/3/2026 – In the diagram position, both queens are attacked, and Black only has one move that leads to victory. Your call!

7/3/2026 – Alireza Firouzja increased his lead at the Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia in Zagreb after scoring two wins and a draw for the second day in a row. He now has 10/12 points, 3 more than Vincent Keymer, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Gukesh Dommaraju and Bogdan-Daniel Deac. Firouzja won both his games with black on Thursday, while Gukesh and Deac both scored 4/6 to move into shared second place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/2/2026 – After nine hard-fought rounds, the Kasparov Chess Foundation Friendship Festival 2026 Open came to a thrilling conclusion. Chinese grandmaster Xu Xiangyu captured the title with an outstanding performance, prevailing in one of the strongest international open tournaments ever organized on Slovenian soil. Final report, with photos provided by Jernej Borovinšek.

7/2/2026 – FIDE has invited the global chess community to mark International Chess Day 2026 on 20 July through creative games, inclusive events and a live discussion on chess as a tool for social change. The programme includes the Creative Chess challenge, activities promoted by the FIDE Commission for Women's Chess and a Social Commission panel featuring speakers involved in prison chess, refugee projects and community programmes around the world.

7/2/2026 – Pranav Venkatesh and Anna Muzychuk have qualified for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship through the first part of the 2026 Freestyle Friday Championship. Pranav topped the open standings after 19 weeks of online play, while Muzychuk finished first in the women's standings. Both will join the already confirmed players in Weissenhaus, where the women's and open events are scheduled for February 2027. | Image: Freestyle Chess

7/2/2026 – Alireza Firouzja took the sole lead after the first day of the Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia in Zagreb, scoring two wins and a draw in the opening three rapid rounds. His victories over Ivan Saric and Bogdan-Daniel Deac were not straightforward, while a third-round draw against Anish Giri left him on 5/6. Four players are one point behind: Giri, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photo: Lennart Ootes