5/7/2026 – Since 2012, chess has played a prominent role at Webster University in Saint Louis, as part of a chess scholarship programme. Now, despite great sportive success, the university has abruptly ended the programme and its collaboration with Susan Polgar's SPICE institute. | Photos: Webster University / SPICE

5/2/2026 – With the results of the Candidates Tournament and several other tournaments, there was some movement in the top of the FIDE world rankings. Javokhir Sindarov is the rising star in the overall list. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus also gained many points and extended his lead in the juniors list.

4/30/2026 – Two weeks ago, the chess auction at Sotheby's concluded, featuring numerous items from the collection of Lothar Schmid. The most valuable pieces fetched well over £100,000. The online auction was accompanied by an exhibition and a lecture. The musician and chess enthusiast Jason Kouchak was in attendance. | Photo: Jason Kouchak in front of the painting "The Chess Players" (or "The Devil's Checkmate") by Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch, circa 1831.

4/23/2026 – Ding Liren is back. After losing the World Championship title in December 2024, Ding Liren took a long break from classical chess tournaments and only participated in online or rapid events. At the Chinese Team Championships, he has now returned to classical chess - successfully. | Photos: Sports Bureau of Heilongjiang Province

4/9/2026 – Following the hugely successful miniseries "The Queen's Gambit" and the documentary on Judit Polgar "The Queen of Chess", Netflix is bringing another chess-themed story to the screen. The documentary "Untold: Chess Mates" focuses on the controversy involving Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann. It premiered this week. | Photo: Screenshots from the series / Netflix

4/8/2026 – Together with his brother Robert, Donald Byrne was among the best players in the United States in the 1970s. He won many games, but he became best known for a loss — against the then little-known Bobby Fischer. Donald Byrne died 50 years ago from an autoimmune disease. He was only 45 years old.

4/4/2026 – At the beginning of the 1970s, John Lennon dreamed of a world without war, and his partner Yoko Ono symbolised the futility of fighting and wars with a chessboard in which all the pieces are white. On the occasion of the Speed Chess Championship in London, which too place in February, Jason Kouchak draws a link between modern fast-paced chess and a peaceful world united through chess and music. | Photo: André Schulz

4/3/2026 – At the top three places in the world rankings, nothing has changed: Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana. Vincent Keymer has lost a few points and swapped places with Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Hou Yifan is the highest-rated female chess player in the world, and world champion Gukesh Dommaraju is the best under-20 player. Alua Nurman is the new number one in the girls' youth category.

3/26/2026 – The oldest surviving chess book is Lucena's "Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez" from 1497. One of the few remaining copies is now being auctioned at Sotheby's. Anyone looking to spruce up their chess book collection should seize this opportunity. | Photo: Sotheby's

3/24/2026 – The great tradition of chess cafés seemed to be something of the past, but now Sven Rehders, together with several other chess activists, is attempting to revive cafés and restaurants as meeting places for chess enthusiasts. And it is working. A smart app is helping to make it happen.

3/20/2026 – Bruno Parma passed away on 6 February this year. Born in Ljubljana, he was one of Slovenia's strongest chess players. Parma competed in eight Chess Olympiads for Yugoslavia, winning four silver medals and two bronze medals with the team. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

3/14/2026 – One hundred years ago, a major chess tournament was held at the Semmering mountain pass, a meeting place of Vienna's high society. It was not the top favourite and future world champion Alexander Alekhine who came out on top, but the great tactician Rudolf Spielmann. The players left behind a wealth of games that are now regarded as classics.

3/11/2026 – Last Sunday, on 8 March, Serbian grandmaster Slavoljub Marjanovic passed away. In the 1980s he was one of Yugoslavia’s strongest players and won a team bronze medal at the 1980 Chess Olympiad. After the end of his professional career, he made a name for himself as a coach. | Photo: ECU

3/3/2026 – The new FIDE world ranking for March includes the tournaments played in Wijk aan Zee. Among the biggest gainers are Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, as well as Matthias Bluebaum. The top of the women's world ranking remains firmly in Chinese hands. World Champion Gukesh, in his final year as a junior, is still number one on the U20 list. The (temporary) return of Sergey Karjakin caused some irritation.

2/21/2026 – Wilhelm Steinitz had lost his World Championship title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but he still retained the right to a return match. That rematch was scheduled to take place in Moscow at the end of 1896. Before that, however, Steinitz played a training match against Emanuel Schiffers. Join us on a brief journey back in time to Rostov-on-Don in 1896.

2/16/2026 – On 16 February 1906, Vera Menchik was born. After the Russian Revolution, her family lost their property, her parents separated, and Vera Menchik moved to England with her mother. As she did not have a good command of the English language, she devoted herself to chess. In this way, she became the first woman to be invited to top tournaments. Today marks the 120th anniversary of her birth.

2/6/2026 – The President of the Georgian Chess Federation and FIDE official Akaki Iashvili visited the ChessBase office in Hamburg to familiarise himself with the company’s training and educational programs. He was particularly impressed by the children’s chess learning program Fritz & Chesster. ChessBase CEO Rainer Woisin (pictured, on the right) and Akaki Iashvili (pictured, on the left) agreed on a cooperation in the field of scholastic chess.

2/3/2026 – The results of this year’s Tata Steel tournament could not yet be taken into account in the FIDE rating list of 1 February. There was, however, some movement in the women’s world ranking. With her results in the Chinese League, Hou Yifan has fallen below 2600 for the first time since 2013, but remains number one ahead of four other Chinese players. World Champion Gukesh is the top junior, ahead of Erdogmus. In the girls’ junior ranking, 15-year-old Lu Miaoyi leads.