6/17/2026 – Following a complaint by the Ukrainian Chess Federation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ordered FIDE to suspend the Chess Federation of Russia over the staging of tournaments in occupied territories. The FIDE Council complied with the ruling - but only in part. Several federations have already protested.

6/16/2026 – A little over ten years ago, Viktor Korchnoi, one of the true greats of chess history, passed away. Korchnoi had many facets and remained one of the world's best players well into old age. But trying to talk to him about Curaçao 1962 was not a good idea. A recollection. | Photo: Rob Bogaerts / Anefo

6/9/2026 – At just 15 year of age, Anastasiia Hnatyshyn became the surprise winner of the Women's European Championship. However, looking at the Ukrainian's career so far, her success is not quite so surprising. She began playing competitive chess at the age of seven and has already played in over 200 tournaments. A portrait. | Pictured: Sabrina Vega, Anastasiia Hnatyshyn and Olga Badelka | Photo: European Chess Union

5/26/2026 – Christian Gloeckler's tournament victory at the Limburg Open has taken him past the 2500 rating mark, confirming his status as one of the world's best players in his age group. At the end of the tournament, eight players were tied on points at the top. The best tiebreak score gave Gloeckler overall victory. | Photos: Frans Peeters /Limburg Open

5/13/2026 – A little over a hundred years ago, the Dresden Chess Club celebrated its 50th anniversary with a major international tournament. It was not the favoured Alexander Alekhine, who became World Champion a year later, but Aron Nimzowitsch who emerged as the winner of the tournament.

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