7/25/2026 – Michal Krasenkow gives an interview after a dramatic comeback win to talk about his turbulent game, his storied career and why he has no intention of making life easy for the Indian players chasing norms. Michal dominated the second edition of the Chola Chess Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament and won the event in style. | Photos and interview: Devansh Singh

7/24/2026 – Timur Turlov, president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and founder of Freedom Holding Corp., an international financial services and technology group, has announced his decision to run for president of the International Chess Federation, or FIDE. Viswanathan Anand, one of the world’s most accomplished grandmasters and a former world chess champion, will join Turlov’s ticket as a candidate for vice president.

7/24/2026 – The Pirc Defence is a dynamic opening strategy that temporarily allows the opponent to control the centre, enabling you to attack more aggressively there later on. This creates complex and often imbalanced positions in the middle game, offering many opportunities for counterplay, even against well-prepared opponents. In a recent course, French grandmaster Fabien Libiszewski explored Black's possibilities in the Pirc. Bahne Fuhrmann took a look and was impressed.

7/24/2026 – In its 21st package of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has added Arkady Dvorkovich to its list of sanctioned individuals. The FIDE President has temporarily stepped aside from his position, with Viswanathan Anand serving as acting president. A new FIDE Presidential Board will be elected in September.

7/24/2026 – White's many trumps in the diagram position are striking. Making the most of them is no easy task—so this might be just the thing for you!

7/24/2026 – At the end of May, Czech grandmaster, publisher and author Karel Mokry passed away. He represented first Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic in international competition. In the 1990s, he won the Austrian Team Championship three times with SC Margareten. After retiring from competitive chess, Mokry, who was a renowned expert on chess literature, ran a chess bookshop.

7/24/2026 – Levon Aronian won the 2026 Biel Masters Triathlon on his first appearance at the festival, drawing his final classical game against Aydin Suleymanli to finish on 29½ points. The US grandmaster built his victory on strong rapid and blitz results, while Suleymanli took second place ahead of Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Le Quang Liem. Vaclav Finek won the Generations Challenge, and Christian Gloeckler secured the Masters Open title. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

7/23/2026 – Dear chess friends! We’ve got another double offer for you today: this week (until July 26th, 2026), you can get over 25% off all Fritztrainer courses by Elisabeth Paehtz and all Fritztrainer courses by Fabien Libiszewski!

7/23/2026 – The London System has enjoyed a remarkable rise in popularity. Once regarded as a modest sideline, it has evolved in recent years into a dangerous opening that Black players must take seriously. In his review, Lukas Köpl takes a close look at GM Elisabeth Pähtz's latest Fritztrainer.

7/23/2026 – Looking for an interesting over-the-board chess tournament to play, attend, or simply watch? There are plenty being staged all over the world, and we bring you an overviews of the most interesting of them. We do this in cooperation with MyChess.events, a global platform that helps players discover upcoming events, check dates, venues, formats, prize funds and registration details. In our selection we highlight selected events from around the world that may interest players, coaches, parents and chess fans.

7/23/2026 – The Biel International Chess Festival is taking place on 11-24 July. Following the Chess960 tournament on Saturday and the rapid chess stage on Sunday, the players in the Masters and Generations Challenge Triathlon face off in the final stage of the classical section on 21-23 July. | Follow the games live starting at 14.00 CEST (8.00 ET, 17.30 IST) | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

7/23/2026 – Christian Gloeckler won the Masters Open Tournament at the Biel Chess Festival with a round to spare, scoring 8/9 and securing his first grandmaster norm with a 2689 performance rating. The 14-year-old German IM entered as the ninth seed and took the title after impressively collecting four straight wins. In the Masters Triathlon, Levon Aronian still leads, while Aydin Suleymanli remains in contention before the final round. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival