8/14/2026 – Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi, Denis Lazavik and Hans Niemann claimed the final four places in the Esports World Cup playoffs after progressing through Thursday's losers brackets. They join Alireza Firouzja, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, who had qualified a day earlier. The quarterfinals will see Carlsen face Nihal, Nakamura meet Erigaisi, Abdusattorov play Lazavik and Firouzja take on Niemann. | Image: Esports World Cup webcast

8/13/2026 – The World Championship match between Gukesh Dommaraju and Ding Liren demonstrated how important it can be to catch your opponent on the wrong foot in the opening. In her 60-minute course, Svitlana Demchenko shows how this can be achieved with both colours and very little theory. | Photos: Nils Rohde

8/13/2026 – After three decisive games in each of the first two rounds, things were a little quieter on the third day of the Cairns Cup: India's Divya Deshmukh was the only winner. She handed former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk her third defeat. Such a disastrous start must be hard to find anywhere else in the career of the Swiss representative. There was no change at the top of the standings: Alice Lee and Tan Zhongyi dropped their first half-points but remain in front. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

8/13/2026 – In April 2026, Timur Turlov, entrepreneur and President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and the International School Chess Federation, acquired ChessBase. In June, he announced his candidacy for FIDE President. In an interview with Sagar Shah, founder and driving force behind ChessBase India, Turlov discusses, among other things, his plans for FIDE, the acquisition of ChessBase, the digital transformation of the chess world and the sanctions against Russia. One important point for context: although ChessBase India adopted the ChessBase name, it is a completely independent company.

8/13/2026 – Wesley So took the sole lead at the Sinquefield Cup after defeating Fabiano Caruana with black in round three. Vincent Keymer bounced back from his previous-round loss by beating Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while Sam Sevian overcame Anish Giri after 110 moves. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian remain half a point behind So following draws against Javokhir Sindarov and Jorden van Foreest, respectively. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/13/2026 – A few weeks ago this great chess organiser and sponsor passed away at the age of 57. For many years he invited us to his "Zurich Chess Challenge", which saw some of the world's top players competing. During that time we had interesting, personal interaction with him. For us news of his passing came out of the blue, and it left us deeply saddened.

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.

8/10/2026 – Shreyas Royal and Bodhana Sivanandan claimed the main titles at the 2026 British Chess Championships in Coventry, bringing the largest edition in the event's history to a record-breaking conclusion. Royal, 17, won his first overall British title after finishing ahead of Luke McShane and Michael Adams, while 11-year-old Sivanandan became Britain's youngest-ever women's champion after defeating Trisha Kanyamarala in a rapid playoff. | Photos: Yury Krylov

8/9/2026 – One of the world's strongest women's super-tournaments returns to Saint Louis this summer as the 2026 Cairns Cup welcomes ten of the world's top women chess players to compete for a $250,000 prize fund - one of the largest in women's chess. The tournament will take place on 10-19 August at the recently expanded Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC), where it will run alongside the prestigious Sinquefield Cup, creating one of the world's premier showcases of elite chess. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club