1/22/2023 – Thanks to dedicated individuals who follow their own heart’s pursuits, ancient chess variants are still alive today. An overwhelming number of enthusiasts and associations throughout the world cultivate old variants and other board games. Among them is Greg Myers, founder of the ‘Tamerlane Chess Club’ in Jamestown, New York.

1/1/2023 – Turko-Mongol ruler Timur was appreciative of the arts and culture. The emperor was as fierce, cruel and ambitious as his predecessor, Genghis Khan. However, apart from his soft spot for the arts, he had one more peculiar weakness: chess. It is said that he even invented a chess variant called ‘Tamerlane Chess’. Diana Mihajlova tells us more.

12/29/2022 – The young Uzbek team winning this year’s Olympiad came as a pleasant surprise, but it is not an isolated example in the recent shift of world chess power. Other Central Asian countries are also looking to become more relevant in the elite chess scene, including Kyrgyzstan, a land that was once part of the Timurid Empire — its leader, Timur The Great, was an avid chess player.

12/25/2022 – The young Uzbek team winning this year’s Olympiad came as a pleasant surprise, but it is not an isolated example in the recent shift of world chess power. Uzbek boys, Kazakh girls, Azeri youth, Chinese, Indian and Iranian young phenoms ever more frequently lit the chess sky. What do their countries have in common? They all once lined the Silk Road.

11/13/2022 – A small country, Norway has produced exceptional representatives in various disciplines. Magnus Carlsen, the chess world champion, is joined by fellow geniuses hailing from the Scandinavian country: Niels Henrik Abel, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg and Edvard Munch. Diana Mihajlova tells us more.

10/31/2022 – Last Wednesday, 26 October, British International Master Michael Basman died of cancer at the age of 76. A prolific chess writer, he left his mark in the chess world as an uncompromising, inventive player. Among other endeavours, he will be remembered as a founder and organizer of the UK Chess Challenge, a tournament for juniors of all standards and ages. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE

7/17/2022 – In the ’90s, Igor Naumkin left his native Moscow, as did many other Soviet players, in order to seek playing opportunities at the many tournaments in Europe. Their grandmaster titles would help to get invitations and participation at various opens on the continent and secure a livelihood. Igor passed on July 13, a month before turning 57 years old.| Photo: Giordano Macellari

1/4/2022 – On the last day of 2021, one of the most distinguished personalities in the world of chess passed away. On 31 December 2021 the Hungarian Grandmaster Gábor Kállai died at the age of 62. Diana Mihajlova knew Kallai well and looks back to the achievements of the Hungarian Grandmaster who also worked as a trainer, author, organizer, arbiter, captain, journalist, radio and TV commentator. | Photo: Facebook page of the Hungarian Chess Federation

12/31/2021 – Nona Gaprindashvili wrote referring to Milunka Lazarevic: “A literary person by profession, lively and impressionable, Lazarevic is one of the brightest figures in women’s chess of the sixties”. Milunka attracted attention by her exciting, uncompromising style: sacrificing pawns and pieces and despising draws, which made her famous and endeared her to chess audiences! | Photo: Balkan Chess

12/28/2021 – Nona Gaprindashvili wrote referring to Milunka Lazarevic: “A literary person by profession, lively and impressionable, Lazarevic is one of the brightest figures in women’s chess of the sixties”. Milunka attracted attention by her exciting, uncompromising style: sacrificing pawns and pieces and despising draws, which made her famous and endeared her to chess audiences! | Pictured: Lazarevic, Tengiz Giorgadze and Gaprindashvili (National Parliamentary Library of Georgia)

6/19/2021 – With the World Cup just around the corner, players from all over the world are fighting to get a spot in the event scheduled to take place next month in Sochi. Diana Mihajlova tells us all about the Zonal Tournaments that were played in Asia and Canada.

6/12/2021 – Over the last several weeks zonal and continental qualifiers were taking place around the globe in anticipation of the World Cup scheduled for 10 July – 6 August, 2021 in Sochi, Russia. Among the latest qualifier tournaments was the American Continental Championship that took place 22 - 30 May and was played as a hybrid tournament. Eight players secured a ticket to Sochi.

6/5/2021 – The 2021 African Continental Championships were held on May 17-28 at the Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. The top players from the continent fought to get one of the fours spots granted to participate in the upcoming World Cup. Egyptian grandmasters Ahmed Adly, Amin Bassem, Fawzy Adham and Hesham Abdelrahman finished atop the standings. Diana Mihajlova reports from the ‘warm heart of Africa’

6/2/2021 – Due to the ongoing pandemic the Asian Individual Hybrid Chess Championship 2021 was played online. From 21 to 29 May 82 players from 15 countries battled in a hybrid tournament for the title, a place in the FIDE World Cup 2021, and the pitfalls of online play. After nine rounds the 19-year old Grandmaster Shamsiddin Vokhidov from Uzbekistan and IM Tin Jingyao from Singapore shared first with 7.0/9 each, but Vokhidov won the tournament on tiebreak. Top seed Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran finished tenth and suffered from power failures.

4/17/2021 – Chess players who ventured to go Belgrade this April are spoilt for choice among chess events which take place literally every single day of the month. We are halfway through the Belgrade Chess Spring Festival that has started on 2 April and will finish on 30 April. | Photos: Official website

3/25/2021 – The match between the USSR and the Rest of the World in 1970 featured no fewer than five world champions. Fifty years after the celebrated event took place, the Chess Informant has released a revised edition, extended and compiled by Douglas Griffin, chess historian and connoisseur, and Igor Zveglic, Chess Informant commissioning editor. Diana Mihajlova sent us a review.

3/12/2021 – The first "Chess Informant" was published in 1966, and it caused a revolution in the world of chess. After looking at the history of the "Informant" in part 1 and the current situation of the "Informant" in part 2, the third and final part of this series deals with the universal chess language the "Informant" has created and has made popular: a system of signs that allows readers all over the world to understand the annotations of chess games and the system of codes classifying the various chess openings. Diana Mihajlova took a closer look.

3/6/2021 – The International Russian Cup, also known as the Moscow Open, took place from February 19 until March 1 partly at the Russian State Social University and partly online. The two main events, which serve as stages of the Russian Cup, were won by GM Ivan Rozum (open section) and IM Marina Guseva (women’s section). Diana Mihajlova tells us all about the traditional festival. | Pictured: Marina Guseva | Photo: Anna Shtourman