6/26/2026 – Jan Henric Buettner has announced that he will run for President of FIDE, with Malcolm Pein standing on his ticket as candidate for Deputy President. Buettner, a German entrepreneur and co-founder of Freestyle Chess, has become active in elite event organisation in recent years. Pein, an International Master, organiser and journalist, previously stood for FIDE Deputy President in 2018. | Photo: Freestyle Chess

6/26/2026 – Wadim Rosenstein has announced that he will run for President of FIDE. The German entrepreneur, founder of WR Chess, has become involved in elite events, team competitions and club chess in recent years. His candidacy follows a period in which he has built a profile as a sponsor, organiser and promoter of the game. | Photo: Wadim Rosenstein's X account

6/26/2026 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation Friendship Festival 2026 officially got underway on Thursday in Radenci, Slovenia, where more than 180 players from over 30 countries gathered for one of the strongest international chess festivals ever organized in the country. The tournament combines top-level competition with educational activities, featuring the Open Tournament, Kasparov Day, the International Trainers Conference and the KCF Chess Camp. Photos by Jernej Borovinšek.

6/26/2026 – The United States has named its open and women's teams for the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian return in the open section, joined by debutants Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang. The women's squad includes Carissa Yip, Alice Lee and Irina Krush, alongside Rose Atwell, who will make her Olympiad debut, and Tatev Abrahamyan. | Photos: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

6/26/2026 – In the diagram position White has the octopus knight d6, control of the c-file - and after 28.Be4! f5?? suddenly everything he needs to win! Can you guess what followed?

6/26/2026 – FIDE has opened its new Shenzhen Office in Qianhai, following an inauguration ceremony attended by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Chinese sports official He Fengxiang. The two sides discussed further cooperation in event organisation, youth training, cultural exchange and chess development, with Shenzhen set to serve as a hub linking FIDE's work with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and broader chess activity across China. | Photo: Liang Ziming

6/25/2026 – In the ChessBase training course "The Bulletproof 1.b3 Repertoire", GM Andy Woodward explains how White can meet King’s Indian setups after 1.b3. He presents two practical systems: a sharper setup with e3, Be2 and d4, where White challenges Black’s central play, and a quieter positional approach with c4 and a double fianchetto. The lesson shows the course’s main idea well: giving players a simple, practical and venomous repertoire that avoids heavy theory while still creating uncomfortable problems for Black.

6/25/2026 – From 25 to 28 June 2026, the Sheraton in Lima, Peru becomes the stage for one of the most unusual chess festivals of the year. Eight tournaments, elite simultaneous exhibitions, a top showdown, US$100,000 prize fund and a clock that essentially never stops for four days and nights for chess. Here is everything you need to know about the World Record Chess Marathon.

6/25/2026 – Peter Dankert was one of Hamburg's best players in the 1970s. He was Hamburg junior champion, German Cup winner, competed in German championships, played in the Bundesliga and was invited to international tournaments. His life came to a tragically premature end. Memories of a wonderful player and a great person. | Photos: Private collection

6/25/2026 – This week we'll have a look at the spectacular miniature played between two GMs at the UzChess Cup. Brandon Jacobson is known for his creative opening play, and he definitely surprised his opponent Jakhongir Vakhidov, by playing the Closed Sicilian with g2-g3. This variation used to be a very popular choice for White players avoiding loads of theory compared with the Open Variations. In this episode I'll bring an update on the latest trends in this variation and explain White's thematical ideas building up a kingside attack. Caught by surprise, the Uzbek GM failed to respond adequately and soon found himself in big trouble. White's pieces were flowing over the board and reached natural squares to contribute to the attack. An absolute modelgame for White how to play these positions as the thematical attacking ideas and sacrifices were perfectly carried out by the American GM.

6/25/2026 – The French league is usually a good source of exciting games and this week we are studying the highly entertaining and very complex game between Dutch number two Jorden van Foreest and the best French player of all time: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The World's former number two is known for this love of the highly theoretical and dynamic Grunfeld, but here he got seriously tested in the very sharp 5.h4 variation. The truely adventurous game ended with a very pretty finish. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

6/25/2026 – The World Youth Chess Championships 2026 are taking place in Montesilvano, Italy, from 14 to 27 June. Organised by FIDE, the Italian Chess Federation and UniChess, the event features under-14, under-16 and under-18 sections, with open and girls' tournaments in each category. With two rounds to go at the 11-round Swiss opens taking place at the Congress Center Pala Dean Martin, we bring a collection of photos from the multitudinous event. | Pictured: Jiang Tianyu from China | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde