8/14/2026 – Magnus Carlsen will look to defend his title at the $1.5 million Esports World Cup. Chess is part of the event for the second time, with this year's competition taking place in Paris from 11 to 15 August. Eight players have reached the quarterfinals: Carlsen will face Nihal, Nakamura will play Erigaisi, Abdusattorov will take on Lazavik, and Firouzja will face Niemann. The tournament is played in a knockout format, with four games per match in the quarterfinals and six games per match in the semifinals. | Photos: Esports World Cup 2025 | Live from approximately 12:30 CEST

8/13/2026 – The Cairns Cup, one of the strongest women's tournaments in the circuit, is being held at the renowned Saint Louis Chess Club from 10 to 20 August. It is a 10-player single round-robin with a classical time control. The contenders battle for a share of the $250,000 prize fund. Bibisara Assaubayeva, Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru head the strong field. Follow the games live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/13/2026 – In April 2026, Timur Turlov, entrepreneur and President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and the International School Chess Federation, acquired ChessBase. In June, he announced his candidacy for FIDE President. In an interview with Sagar Shah, founder and driving force behind ChessBase India, Turlov discusses, among other things, his plans for FIDE, the acquisition of ChessBase, the digital transformation of the chess world and the sanctions against Russia. One important point for context: although ChessBase India adopted the ChessBase name, it is a completely independent company.

8/12/2026 – Dear chess friends! We’ve got another great offer for you: this week (until August 16th, 2026), you can get over 25% off all Fritz Trainer courses by Svitlana Demchenko and Karsten Mueller!

8/6/2026 – The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is taking place on 2-6 August at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The 10-player event sees three days of rapid chess (single round-robin) followed by two days of blitz (double round-robin). A stellar lineup features, among others, World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. Follow the games live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes

8/4/2026 – Dear chess friends! We’ve got another great offer for you: this week (until August 9th, 2026), you can get over 25% off all Fritz Trainer courses by Ivan Sokolov!

8/9/2026 – The 112th edition of the British Chess Championship is taking place on 1-9 August at the University of Warwick in Coventry. The main event is a 9-round Swiss open with a classical time control. Topping the starting rank are Luke McShane, Michael Adams and Shreyas Royal. Also noteworthy is the presence of 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, already the highest-rated woman player in this year's edition. | Follow the games live starting at 15.30 CEST (9.30 ET, 19.00 IST)

7/31/2026 – The 53rd Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting gets underway on Saturday (1–8 August). Alongside a strong open tournament featuring German national team players Matthias Blübaum, Rasmus Svane and Dmitrij Kollars, as well as Biel Open winner Christian Glöckler (pictured), the festival also includes an international women's GM tournament, where Dinara Wagner will defend her title. | Photos: Tournament organisers

7/31/2026 – Dear chess friends! We’ve got another great offer for you: this week (until August 2nd, 2026), you can get over 25% off all Fritztrainer courses by RB Ramesh, Surya Ganguly and Michael Prusikin!

7/29/2026 – From August 3 to 10, 2026, Almaty will become the center of global university chess. Kazakhstan’s largest city will host the finals of the FIDE World University Team Chess Championship, the first-ever world team championship for universities. The tournament will feature 16 university teams. Among them are institutions with centuries of academic history and deep-rooted chess traditions, such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard. | Photo: FIDE

7/28/2026 – WR Chess stages a USA v. Uzbekistan team event in Miami Beach on 27–28 July, bringing together ten leading grandmasters in a rapid and blitz Scheveningen format. After the first day of rapid chess, Team USA have a 5-3 lead over Uzbekistan. On Tuesday, eight rounds of blitz will decide the winner of the match. | Follow the games live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST)

7/23/2026 – Dear chess friends! We’ve got another double offer for you today: this week (until July 26th, 2026), you can get over 25% off all Fritztrainer courses by Elisabeth Paehtz and all Fritztrainer courses by Fabien Libiszewski!

7/23/2026 – The Biel International Chess Festival is taking place on 11-24 July. Following the Chess960 tournament on Saturday and the rapid chess stage on Sunday, the players in the Masters and Generations Challenge Triathlon face off in the final stage of the classical section on 21-23 July. | Follow the games live starting at 14.00 CEST (8.00 ET, 17.30 IST) | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

7/22/2026 – The Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters is taking place on 16-22 July as an eight-player single round-robin with a classical time control. In its fourth edition, it brings together a field headed by world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi and Alireza Firouzja. Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 11.30 CEST (5.30 ET, 15.00 IST)

7/20/2026 – Did you know that today is the International Chess Day, which commemorates the founding of FIDE in 1924. Every year on July 20, the global chess community comes together to celebrate International Chess Day, by staging a game in the most unusual, meaningful or symbolic places - whether on a mountaintop, beside a famous landmark, underwater or anywhere else that captures the imagination. Here are some inspiring examples provided by FIDE.

7/16/2026 – Dear chess friends, from July 13–19, you can get the Champion’s Bundle: ChessBase’26 & FRITZ 21 – Summer Special: Instead of €269.80, get both for just €209.90! This is our summer special, and it runs for seven days. Two flagships, one price, built to work together.

7/12/2026 – Paul Werner Wagner devoted the latest instalment of his chess column in the "Berliner Zeitung" to the recently deceased Iivo Nei. Born in 1931, the same year as Viktor Korchnoi, the Estonian had latterly been the oldest living chess grandmaster. | Photo: Estonian Public Broadcasting

7/5/2026 – The inaugural Naroditsky Memorial Rapid & Blitz is taking place in Charlotte from 3 to 5 July, combining open tournaments with elite showcase events across a three-day festival. Sunday's schedule includes a Creator Invitational featuring prominent online personalities, followed by the Blitz Finals, in which the top ten finishers from the Masters blitz section will compete for overall honours. | Follow the games live starting at 17.00 CEST (11.00 ET, 20.30 IST)