10/21/2026 – In the top clashes of round four, Alkaloid, SuperChess Romania and Novy Bor secured important victories, putting themselves in a strong position for the final stages. Alongside Cero Invest Nitra, the underdogs in the leading group, they are tied for first place with perfect records. In the Women's Cup, Monte-Carlo were defeated by Gambit Bonnevoie. | Photos: Gerd Densing

10/18/2026 – The World Championship match between Gukesh Dommaraju and Javokhir Sindarov is approaching. The contest gets underway on 24 November in Cologny, near Geneva. Who will be helping the two contenders this time? Sindarov will be able to count on the assistance of his compatriot Abdusattorov, among others, as Abdusattorov himself recently revealed. | Photo: UzChess / Yoav Nis

10/17/2026 – From 17 to 23 October, Budva in Montenegro will host the European Club Cup. With over 100 teams competing in the open section and 22 teams in the women's competition, it is a large-scale event. The favourites, in each of the sections, are teams from Türkiye and Monaco. The highest-rated players in the field are Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wei Yi and Anish Giri. | Image: European Chess Union

10/15/2026 – Today, Rafael Vaganian celebrates his 75th birthday. In 1971, he became the first Armenian chess player after Tigran Petrosian to be awarded the grandmaster title by FIDE. He won numerous medals in team competitions representing the Soviet Union and Armenia, was at one point ranked fourth in the world and played for SG Porz in the German Bundesliga for many years. | Photo: Frank Hoppe

10/13/2026 – The German Chess Bundesliga is known for its continuity. For decades, it has operated under well-established rules, although players, spectators and arbiters have not always agreed on how to apply them. A particularly curious case arose in the 1986/87 season: A match started late, raising the question of whether a grandmaster had arrived on time. What followed was a furious battle over the rules, a series of appeals, a replayed match, a relegation play-off and repeated changes to which team would be relegated. | Photo: Dr Robert Hübner playing in the Bundesliga in the 1980s (All photos courtesy of Eising and Treppner, Schachbundesliga)

10/13/2026 – At the Shenzhen Masters, China's leading players faced young talents. The matches were contested in a knockout format, with four rapid games per encounter. In the event of a draw, blitz tiebreaks decided the matches. Defending champion Ding Liren faced Yu Yangyi in the final match. After a lengthy battle, Yu Yangyi came out on top. | Photos: Chinese Chess Association

10/11/2026 – Among all the Chess Olympiads held throughout history, the 1936 tournament in Munich occupies a special place. FIDE did not officially recognise the event as a Chess Olympiad. Nevertheless, the competition between national teams met all the requirements. Like in 2026, the German team also won the bronze medal on this occasion. | Photos: Ferenc Chalupetzky / Tournament Book

10/8/2026 – This is not an advertisement! The 'amateur move' 3.Bc4 (without a subsequent d2-d4) against the Sicilian Defence, combined with a setup resembling the Italian Game, is becoming increasingly popular. Even top professionals are now using this system successfully, first in online blitz and now also in classical over-the-board games. At the Chess Olympiad, Michael Adams used it to defeat Etienne Bacrot. | Photo: Michal Walusza

10/7/2026 – Older readers will remember. In the old days, before the invention of the internet, you actually had to meet in person to play chess. In blitz chess, you sat opposite one another, saw each other and even talked. It was a sociable affair and, at times, rather boisterous. In Hamburg last weekend, a secret gathering of veterans took place. "From Dusk till Dawn" was the motto.

10/6/2026 – In 1977, the historian and archaeologist Yuri Buryakov discovered a set of seven ivory pieces in the ruins of the ancient city of Afrasiab, near Samarkand. The pieces have been dated to the mid-seventh century and are regarded as the oldest known chess pieces in the world. | Photo: Samarkand State Museum

10/2/2026 – Russia is hardly known for treating people in general, and political opponents in particular, with restraint. Lithuanian and US security services have now uncovered an alleged network of Russian operatives and saboteurs said to have been preparing attacks on Russian exiles. One of the reported targets: Garry Kasparov. | Photo: Kasparov.com

10/1/2026 – Chess is currently banned in Afghanistan. This was not always the case. Despite the ban, Afghan teams took part in both the open and women's sections of the Chess Olympiad, a decision that was not welcomed by the ruling Taliban. Three of the players were arrested at the border on their return and placed under house arrest. They could potentially face severe punishment.

10/1/2026 – The results of the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan brought notable changes to the rankings. Among the big winners are Uzbekistan's Abdusattorov, Sindarov and Yakubboev. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has extended his lead over Gukesh in the junior rankings, while Alice Lee of the United States is now the top-ranked female junior.

9/29/2026 – The eleven-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan played on top board for England at the Women's Olympiad, was the best player on her team and one of the best performers on board one. With this result, she earned her third WGM norm and is now the youngest Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in history. | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

9/29/2026 – Over the past four years, Australian chess streamer Hannah Sayce has attracted considerable attention with her chess streams on Twitch, though not all of it was welcome. A stalker followed her activities, harassed her online and, after falsely accusing her of drug smuggling, caused her to be imprisoned twice.

9/21/2026 – In one of the key matches of the Women's Chess Olympiad, defending champions India faced Poland in Sunday's round five. The Indian team went into the match as favourites, but suffered a setback in the end. Aleksandra Maltsevskaya defeated Vaishali on board two to secure victory for the Polish side. | Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE

9/16/2026 – The 1992 Chess Olympiad in Manila was the first held after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Suddenly, instead of one dominant USSR team, there were several very strong teams representing former Soviet republics. Russia continued the Soviet Union's run of success. The surprise team from Uzbekistan, with just one grandmaster, took silver ahead of Armenia. In the women's event, Georgia won the gold medal. | Photo: Gerhard Hund

9/15/2026 – The first major international tournament after the end of the Second World War took place in Groningen in August and September. It was the anniversary tournament of the Staunton Chess Club, founded in 1871. For the first time ever, a group of Soviet players also took part in a tournament outside the Soviet Union. Before the tournament began, they inadvertently caused a number of organizational problems. Report with video... | Photos: Dutch National Archives (Anefo), unless otherwise indicated.