1/6/2026 – With a one-point margin, third seed Xu Xiangyu of China won the Rilton Cup, which was played in Stockholm over the turn of the year. A total of 19 grandmasters competed for the title at the traditional tournament, but there was no way past Xu. He conceded just two draws: one against top seed Anton Demchenko in round five and another against Mahadevan Siva in the final round. These were also the two players he relegated to second and third place respectively. | Photo: Rilton Cup, Abdel Rahman Sadeh

1/6/2026 – Anastasia Corotcova explains how to create, manage, and organize variations in ChessBase when analysing games. It shows how to promote side lines to the main line, correct incorrect continuations, and safely replace moves. Finally, it demonstrates how to insert missing moves so game notation stays clear, accurate, and well-structured.

1/6/2026 – It's your chance to train and speak with Garry Kasparov and other world stars, LIVE! The KCF Academy announces the countdown to the official start of its new season on January 10, marking the beginning of another exciting chapter of learning, competition, and growth for our students and chess community. The Chess Star series of the lectures will open with a special highlight on January 11 – a masterclass by the legendary GM Veselin Topalov.

1/6/2026 – Black knight's knightmare: Sometimes a small tactic decides: White to move and win.

1/6/2026 – Vincent Keymer has enjoyed a very successful 2025. He went from one success to the next and, from January 2025 to January 2026, gained 43 rating points, starting 2026 as the world number four. At the World Blitz Chess Championship in Doha, which concluded on 30 December 2025, he finished only 38th with 12 points from 19 games. On the same day, however, he won the final Chess.com Titled Tuesday of 2025, rounding off his chess year with another success. | Photo: Vincent Keymer at the 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/6/2026 – A rare family chess spectacle took place in Budapest on 28 December, as four members of the Karácsonyi family combined for a 150-board team simul. With all siblings rated above 2000, they moved in sequence across every board, relying on shared understanding of the position throughout the six-hour event. Facing a competitive field, the quartet achieved an impressive overall score, creating what appears to be a unique moment in chess history and an inspiring example of collective play at a high level.

1/1/2026 – Chess has played a subtle but persistent role in English intellectual life, serving less as a pastime than as a lens through which writers and thinkers have examined reason, language, power and uncertainty. From Victorian debates on culture to literary modernism and twentieth-century philosophy, this article traces how chess has functioned in England as a symbolic structure, a narrative device and a reflective model of thought under rules. | Image (AI generated): Uvencio Blanco

1/1/2026 – This interview introduces Anastasia Corotcova as a member of the ChessBase team, sharing how she grew into chess through her grandmother, an international arbiter, before choosing an IT career while staying closely connected to chess. She talks about her work as an arbiter, a fun kids-tournament anecdote, and her experience creating a weekly TV chess show for children. The final part is a lighthearted rapid-fire Q&A that reveals her personality, interests, and everyday habits.

1/1/2026 – Did you enjoy our Christmas puzzles? They were computer-resistant, which meant you could not simply ask a chess engine to solve them for you. Today we bring you a first batch of solutions – and reveal for the first time the solution to the decades-old problem of a game starting 1.e4 and ending on move five with knight takes rook mate. The solutions to the remaining problems will appear shortly.

1/1/2026 – The National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF) and Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) presented Mindsets: The New York Chess in Education Conference at Quorum in Rockefeller Center. It brought together educators, school administrators, and researchers from across the United States, and as far away as the UK, Latvia, and Sri Lanka. Through addresses, research presentations, and practitioner panels, the conference examined how chess can be used more intentionally in education—shifting the focus from “natural talent” toward growth, mastery, and purposeful play.

1/1/2026 – Dutch FM Zyon Kollen won his first World Diving Chess Championship title in Groningen, emerging on top at the largest edition of the event to date. Entering the final round with a perfect score, he secured the crown with a quick draw. The oversubscribed tournament brought together a diverse field across ages and experience, underlining the growing appeal of this hybrid discipline that blends classical chess with underwater endurance and breath control. | Photo: Oscar Bos / Etan Ilfeld

12/31/2025 – The Hastings International Chess Congress remains one of the most enduring fixtures in the chess calendar, combining deep historical roots with a competitive modern format. From its famous 1895 origins to the current 2025/26 edition in East Sussex, the Congress continues to attract an international field. With six rounds completed, a tight race has developed at the top, with German IM Marius Deur as sole leader and ten players standing merely a half point back. | Pictured: Mr Dominic Lawson, President of the English Chess Federation, makes the first move on Harry Bryant's board in the first round. | Photo: Hastings Chess Congress