6/29/2026 – The second volume of the FritzTrainer Master Class series revisits the games and career of Mikhail Tal (pictured in 1959), the eighth world chess champion, combining biographical context with training material. The FritzTrainer examines Tal's openings, strategy, endgame play and tactical imagination through video lessons by Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller. Two examples, against Antonio Medina and Boris Spassky, show how Tal's calculation and attacking instinct shaped his best-known games. | Photo: Anefo / Dutch National Archive

6/28/2026 – The inaugural Naroditsky Memorial Rapid & Blitz will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 3 to 5 July 2026, combining open tournaments with elite showcase events across a three-day festival. Featuring a guaranteed $50,000 prize fund and offering FIDE Circuit and US Chess Grand Prix points, the competition is open to players of all ratings, with participation limited to 300 entrants. Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Javokhir Sindarov headline a programme that also includes a Creator Invitational and blitz finals.

6/26/2026 – Jan Henric Buettner has announced that he will run for President of FIDE, with Malcolm Pein standing on his ticket as candidate for Deputy President. Buettner, a German entrepreneur and co-founder of Freestyle Chess, has become active in elite event organisation in recent years. Pein, an International Master, organiser and journalist, previously stood for FIDE Deputy President in 2018. | Photo: Freestyle Chess

6/26/2026 – Wadim Rosenstein has announced that he will run for President of FIDE. The German entrepreneur, founder of WR Chess, has become involved in elite events, team competitions and club chess in recent years. His candidacy follows a period in which he has built a profile as a sponsor, organiser and promoter of the game. | Photo: Wadim Rosenstein's X account

6/26/2026 – The United States has named its open and women's teams for the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian return in the open section, joined by debutants Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang. The women's squad includes Carissa Yip, Alice Lee and Irina Krush, alongside Rose Atwell, who will make her Olympiad debut, and Tatev Abrahamyan. | Photos: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

6/24/2026 – C'Chartres Échecs won the French Team Chess Championship for the third year in a row, claiming the 2026 Top 16 title on home ground in Chartres. After a demanding group stage, the defending champions were flawless in the upper pool and sealed first place with a final-round win over Aix-en-Provence. Marseille Échecs completed the podium, while four clubs were relegated to Nationale I. | Photo: French Chess Federation

6/21/2026 – Dragon Chilling completed a double triumph at the World Team Rapid and Blitz Championships in Hong Kong, adding the blitz title to their rapid victory. Led by Ding Liren, the Chinese squad defeated Endgame.AI in the final with two 5-1 wins, after surviving tiebreaks in the previous rounds. Uzbekistan took bronze after beating Hexamind in the consolation match, while WR Chess recovered from their quarterfinal exit to finish fifth. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

6/21/2026 – The World Team Blitz Championship began in Hong Kong with 48 teams split into four pools, followed by the first knockout round on the same day. WR Chess, Endgame.AI, Hexamind and Mr Birdie and Friends both won their groups and reached the quarterfinals, while Dragon Chilling, Uzbekistan, Team MGD1 and Chessgurukul also made it to Sunday's final stages. Chessgurukul produced the main upset by eliminating Chess United, led by Viswanathan Anand. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

6/20/2026 – Dragon Chilling won the 2026 World Rapid Team Championship in Hong Kong after a tense final day, taking gold on tiebreaks ahead of Team MGD1 and Hexamind Chess Team. Ding Liren scored in the last round as the Chinese squad recovered from two consecutive match defeats. Mr Birdie and Friends narrowly missed the podium, while favourites WR Chess finished 17th after a difficult rapid event - Magnus Carlsen, suffered two losses on Friday and was not in the lineup in the final two rounds. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

6/19/2026 – Gukesh Dommaraju's recent results have brought a different kind of scrutiny to his reign as world champion. After a difficult Norway Chess campaign, the Indian grandmaster spoke candidly to Hindustan Times about expectations, ambition and the challenge of enjoying chess under pressure. His reflections offer a measured look at the psychological demands facing a young champion preparing for his first title defence. | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde

6/18/2026 – Dragon Chilling emerged as the sole leaders after day two of the World Team Rapid Championship in Hong Kong, reaching 14/16 match points after eight rounds. The all-Chinese team remain unbeaten, while Team MGD1 climbed to second place with a strong run that included a win over WR Chess. Barys also deafened WR Chess and moved into contention, as they stand in sole third place a point behind Team MGD1. WR Chess' Magnus Carlsen suffered two defeats on Thursday. | Photo: FIDE

6/17/2026 – Kazchess, led by Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (pictured), and Dragon Chilling, with Ding Liren and Ju Wenjun in the lineup, were the only teams to finish the opening day of the World Rapid Team Championship on a perfect score, collecting four wins from four matches in Hong Kong. Several of the leading contenders dropped points early, with Magnus Carlsen's WR Chess losing in round two and Alireza Firouzja's Hexamind suffering two defeats. Mr Birdie and Friends, led by Vladislav Artemiev and Sam Sevian, ended the day in third place. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

6/17/2026 – Andrew Hong won the Masters section of the Aktobe Open 2026 – Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial after scoring 7/9 and finishing half a point clear of the field. The FIDE Circuit event in Kazakhstan brought together 210 players from 21 countries. Daniyal Sapenov took second place on tiebreaks, ahead of Daniil Dubov, while Polina Shuvalova was the top-scoring female player. | Photo: KazChess

6/16/2026 – FIDE launched a revised championship cycle for the under-8, under-10 and under-12 age groups in 2026, with the first World Cadets Cup U8-U12 scheduled for 15-28 June in Batumi, Georgia. The event serves as a qualifying stage ahead of the World Cadets Championships, with separate boys' and girls' tournaments in three age categories, under-8, under-10 and under-12.

6/16/2026 – The World Youth Chess Championships 2026 are taking place in Montesilvano, Italy, from 14 to 27 June. Organised by FIDE, the Italian Chess Federation and UniChess, the event features under-14, under-16 and under-18 sections, with open and girls' tournaments in each category. The 11-round Swiss competitions take place at the Congress Center Pala Dean Martin. | Photo: FIDE

6/15/2026 – Mukhiddin Madaminov won the UzChess Cup in Tashkent after defeating Shamsiddin Vokhidov in blitz tiebreaks. The 19-year-old Uzbek player, the lowest-rated participant in the Masters section, had entered the field only after Javokhir Sindarov's withdrawal. Madaminov and Vokhidov finished level after drawing their final-round games with the black pieces, before Madaminov won both blitz games to take first place. | Photo: Official website

6/15/2026 – Felix Blohberger defeated David Navara 3½-2½ in a six-game match held at the offices of the Austrian Chess Federation in Vienna. Five games were drawn, with Blohberger's win in game three proving decisive. The Austrian grandmaster organised the match as part of his effort to approach the 2600 Elo mark, while also providing post-game analysis of each encounter on his YouTube channel. | Photo: Emilia Castelao

6/14/2026 – Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Mukhiddin Madaminov remain tied for first place at the UzChess Cup with one round to go, after both drew their games on Sunday. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (pictured, right) scored wins to move within half a point of the leaders, while Nikolas Theodorou defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov after the Uzbek grandmaster was caught by the touch-move rule in an equal endgame. The final round kicks off four hours earlier than usual, at 8.00 CEST. | Photo: Official website