1/13/2026 – The Marshall Attack has long been one of the most important systems against the Ruy Lopez, and it is one of the sharpest. With the advance 8...d5, Black sacrifices their e-pawn and then attempts to launch an attack against the White's king, making use of the open diagonals and lines. Until now, after 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5, 11...c6 was considered the absolute main continuation. Variants up to the 40th move have been analysed here. In his article for the current CBM #229, Robert Ris presents an alternative with 11...Bb7, which is by no means worse, more natural and very promising in practice. Take a look at this week's CBM reading sample!

1/13/2026 – A little girl in Jaipur picked up a chess piece at age four, simply because she was curious. Three years later, that same child is winning State, National and International titles! This is the story of seven-year-old Shreyanshi Jain. She is a fearless player who does not hesitate to take risks on the board. Her rise includes big wins, tough lessons and a support system that allows her to dream freely. At the Asian Schools Championship, she brought home medals in all three formats: Classical, Rapid and Blitz. Read the article to see how it all unfolded and what shaped her early success.

1/12/2026 – The former fishing village of Wijk aan Zee is world-famous, at least in the chess world. Virtually all world-class players, including almost all world champions, have passed through here. The long-standing sponsor has always been the steelworks in IJmuiden. The chess tradition is very old. Fifty years ago, some things were different from today, but much was already much the same as it is now. | Photo: Rob Mieremet, Anefo

1/12/2026 – From February 13 to 15, 2026, the first official Freestyle World Championship will take place in Weissenhaus, Germany. One spot is still open, and it will be decided in an online qualification tournament organised by FIDE on chess.com. The two-day event, which will determine the coveted final available place, begins on January 14 at 16:00 CET (10:00 ET / 20:30 IST).

1/12/2026 – On January 6, Magnus Carlsen and the 12-year-old Argentine Faustino Oro, who still has good chances of becoming the youngest grandmaster of all time, played Titled Tuesday at the Take Take Take Studio in Oslo. Afterwards, they chatted briefly and played a blitz game (3+2). Of course, “nothing” was at stake — but of course games between young talents, who may one day become world champions, and established or former world champions are always exciting and a battle for prestige. And this perhaps one day historically significant duel was captured on video.

1/12/2026 – The European Women's Rapid Championship, held over the weekend in Monte-Carlo, brought together 143 players from 30 countries for an 11-round Swiss at a 15+10 time control. After leading for much of the tournament, Alexandra Kosteniuk was overtaken in the final round by Nino Batsiashvili, who secured the title on tiebreaks. The event also featured an undefeated run by ten-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan and a closely contested fight for the remaining podium places. | Pictured: Kosteniuk, Batsiashvili and third-placed Sofio Gvetadze. | Photo: European Chess Union

1/9/2026 – FIDE and Norway Chess are pleased to announce the first 16 players who have earned the right to receive an invitation to the 2026 Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot tournament (“Total Chess 2026 Pilot”), the new combined competition across Fast Classic, Rapid, and Blitz.

1/9/2026 – The second day of the Tata Steel Chess India tournament brought further movement in the standings ahead of the final rapid rounds. In the open section, Vishy Anand remained at the top, now joined by Nihal Sarin after the young Indian's perfect day. The women's event again produced a sole leader, as Kateryna Lagno pulled clear with an undefeated performance, leaving Carissa Yip a half point back. | Photo: Vive Sohani

1/8/2026 – With their inclusion project Open Window, Tatiana Flores and Laura Schalkhäuser provide a forum for communication and the exchange of experiences related to living with disabilities. One of the topics they address is sport — including chess — and participation despite physical impairment. In an interview, Paralympic champion Martin Braxenthaler spoke about his personal experiences.

1/8/2026 – More convenience, better clarity, greater performance: ChessBase Mobile now comes with numerous improvements for even more efficient work at the chessboard — whether at home or on the go. And best of all, the app updates itself automatically, without requiring an update from the App Store. Just launch it and benefit immediately.

1/8/2026 – FIDE has revised the FIDE Circuit, a qualification pathway for participation in the Candidates Tournament. Among other changes, the number of tournaments taken into account has been increased, and the FIDE Circuit has been extended to cover a two-year period.

1/8/2026 – First of all, I'd like to wish the viewers all the best for the New Year 2026 with a lot of exciting Fast & Furious episodes! In the last week of 2025 Magnus Carlsen managed to add two more World Championships to his CV by winning both the Rapid and Blitz section. I have a look at his black game against Artemiev from the Rapid event, in which he chose one of his favorite lines in the Anti-Meran which had served the Norwegian pretty well on previous occasions. In the current game, things were less fun for Black due to a grave error on move 15 after which White was completely winning. Come and watch if you are interested in learning more about this specific variation!