8/8/2026 – Shreyas Royal has taken the sole lead at the British Chess Championship after seven rounds in Coventry. The 17-year-old followed a draw against Svyatoslav Bazakutsa with consecutive wins over Bodhana Sivanandan and top seed Luke McShane to reach 6/7. Bazakutsa is among five players half a point behind. Royal will face nine-time British champion Michael Adams in Saturday's penultimate round. | Photo: Yury Krylov

8/7/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz after leading the tournament from start to finish. The Indian grandmaster secured the title with a round to spare by holding Javokhir Sindarov in their penultimate-round encounter, before finishing 1½ points clear. The result moved Praggnanandhaa into second place in the Grand Chess Tour standings ahead of the Sinquefield Cup. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/6/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu retained the lead after the first nine blitz rounds of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, scoring 6/9 to extend his advantage over Javokhir Sindarov to 1½ points. Sindarov remained the closest challenger after three consecutive wins, while Wesley So lost ground. The direct encounter between Sindarov and Pragg proved pivotal, as Sindarov failed to convert a winning pawn ending and had to settle for a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/5/2026 – Svyatoslav Bazakutsa took sole possession of the lead at the British Chess Championship after defeating nine-time champion Michael Adams in round four. The 18-year-old Ukrainian now has a perfect 4/4, half a point ahead of a five-player chasing group. Among them is 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan, who continued her strong start by beating fifth seed Ameet Ghasi with the black pieces. | Photo: Yury Krylov

8/5/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu finished the rapid section of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz in first place with 12/18 points, despite losing to Jorden van Foreest in the final round. Javokhir Sindarov trails by one point, with Wesley So another point behind. Praggnanandhaa recorded four wins, four draws and one defeat across nine rounds, while also entering the top ten of the live rapid world rankings for the first time in his career. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Grand Chess Tour

8/4/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu remained in sole first place after six rounds of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, extending his lead to 2 points over Javokhir Sindarov. The Indian GM defeated Awonder Liang and drew his other two games on day two, including a 117-move encounter with Wesley So. Despite several missed opportunities and fluctuating positions, only two of the day's games ended decisively. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/3/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu took the outright lead after the first three rapid rounds of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, scoring 5 points from a possible 6. The Indian grandmaster defeated Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana after opening with a draw, while Javokhir Sindarov and Wesley So finished 1 point behind. Five games were decisive on day one, with Jorden van Foreest suffering two defeats. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/2/2026 – The top seeds made a solid start to the British Chess Championship in Coventry, with Luke McShane, defending champion Michael Adams and four other top contenders winning their opening games. Most results on the leading boards followed the ratings, although 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan was held to a draw by George Zhao after recovering from a pawn deficit in a queen-and-minor-piece ending. | Photo: Yury Krylov

7/31/2026 – The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz will bring ten grandmasters to the Saint Louis Chess Club from 2 to 6 August for the fourth leg of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer and Wesley So are the leading tour contenders in a field that also includes World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov (pictured), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and three wildcards from the United States. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

7/30/2026 – Argentine 15-year-old IM Francisco Fiorito won the 42nd Andorra Open, scoring 7½ points from 9 rounds to finish half a point clear of the field. After suffering his only defeat in round four, he recovered to win four of his final five games, including victories over GMs Egor Bogdanov and Andrey Sumets. Top seed Miguel Santos from Spain finished second on tiebreak. WGM Lile Koridze from Georgia, the 79th seed, had a remarkable performance, scoring 7/9 to obtain an IM norm. | Pictured: Francesc Rechi (President of the Andorran Chess Federation), Miguel Santos, Francisco Fiorito and Vladyslav Larkin | Photo: Andorra Open

7/29/2026 – Alireza Firouzja has withdrawn from the remainder of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour after choosing to compete in the Esports World Cup in Paris, whose dates overlap with the Sinquefield Cup. His tour points have been annulled and contractual penalties will apply, while Samuel Sevian will replace him in Saint Louis. Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave faced the same clash but retained their Grand Chess Tour commitments. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

7/29/2026 – Team USA defeated Uzbekistan 14–10 in the WR Chess Rapid & Blitz Miami event, clinching the match with one round to spare. The Americans followed their 5–3 advantage in the rapid section by winning the blitz phase 9–7. Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov posted the highest individual scores, but the greater consistency of the US lineup proved decisive across the twelve-round contest. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

7/28/2026 – Team USA took a 5–3 lead over Uzbekistan after the rapid section of the WR Chess match in Miami, winning two of the four encounters played on Monday. Levon Aronian was the leading American scorer, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov produced Uzbekistan's best individual result. World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov defeated both Hikaru Nakamura and Leinier Dominguez, but lost to Aronian. The teams are set to play eight rounds of blitz on Tuesday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / WR Chess

7/27/2026 – Andy Woodward retained the US Junior Championship after finishing unbeaten on 6½/9, while Zoey Tang successfully defended the US Girls' Junior title with 7½/9. Both tournaments were held at the Saint Louis Chess Club, where Woodward edged Abhimanyu Mishra in the final round and Tang took control after defeating early leader Rachael Li in their direct encounter. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

7/27/2026 – Vladimir Akopian won his second US Senior Championship in three years after defeating Alexander Onischuk in a playoff, while Anjelina Belakovskaia claimed the US Senior Women's title with an unbeaten 7/8 score. Both events were held at the Saint Louis Chess Club, where Akopian prevailed 3–1 in rapid and blitz games after sharing first place, and Belakovskaia finished a full point ahead of defending champion Natalya Tsodikova. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

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

7/22/2026 – Alireza Firouzja won the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters outright with an unbeaten 4½/7 score, drawing Arjun Erigaisi in the final round to finish half a point clear. Erigaisi and Dmitry Andreikin shared second place, with Andreikin defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the last round. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju finished last on 2/7 after suffering three defeats and losing 13.9 rating points. | Photo: Tushar Damor

7/22/2026 – Alireza Firouzja has a half-point lead going into the final round of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters after drawing Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while former co-leader Arjun Erigaisi lost to Nihal Sarin. Meanwhile, Pranesh M scored his first win of the event by defeating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. Firouzja will face Erigaisi in the decisive final-round encounter, with Abdusattorov still in contention. | Photo: Tushar Damor