1/29/2026 – 14-year-old German IM Christian Gloeckler remains perfect in the Qualifiers Tournament in Wijk aan Zee: six rounds have been played, and he has won all six. This gives him a performance rating of 3228, and with three rounds to go he leads Henry Edward Tudor by 1.5 points; Tudor is in sole second place with 4.5 out of 6. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/27/2026 – In Wijk, the Masters and the Challengers take centre stage, but there are other tournaments as well. One of them is the Qualifiers, a round-robin event with ten mostly young and ambitious players, whose winner can hope for a place in the Challengers 2027. Fourteen-year-old IM Christian Gloeckler, regarded as one of Germany’s biggest talents, made a perfect start with 4 out of 4 – and played some tactically exciting games. | Photo: Nils Rohde

1/20/2026 – On 20 January 1999, Garry Kasparov played what may have been the greatest chess game of all time in Wijk. With a series of sacrifices he drove the black king onto the back rank, where he finally delivered checkmate. In a free reader, Robert Ris presents Kasparov’s masterpiece and other brilliancies from Wijk aan Zee.

1/19/2026 – At first glance, the Andranik Margaryan Memorial, held from 9 to 16 January in Armenia, did not appear particularly historic. Three GMs, six IMs and one FM took part, and with a rating of 2514 the Russian IM Vladislav Nozdrachev was the top seed. In the end, however, it was the 21-year-old Indian Aaryan Varshney who emerged victorious, becoming India’s 92nd grandmaster with this success. His story shows how modern computers, software and databases can help to win titles and celebrate success in chess — even without a trainer or support from federations. | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

1/12/2026 – On January 6, Magnus Carlsen and the 12-year-old Argentine Faustino Oro, who still has good chances of becoming the youngest grandmaster of all time, played Titled Tuesday at the Take Take Take Studio in Oslo. Afterwards, they chatted briefly and played a blitz game (3+2). Of course, “nothing” was at stake — but of course games between young talents, who may one day become world champions, and established or former world champions are always exciting and a battle for prestige. And this perhaps one day historically significant duel was captured on video.

1/7/2026 – The Rapid and Blitz World Championships had barely finished when Faustino Oro and Magnus Carlsen were already playing their next tournament. Both took part in the first Titled Tuesday of 2026 and commented on and streamed their games live from the Take Take Take Studio in Oslo. After the tournament, they stayed on in the studio, chatting about chess, football, the Norwegian weather, and what it is like to be so young and already so good at chess.

1/6/2026 – Vincent Keymer has enjoyed a very successful 2025. He went from one success to the next and, from January 2025 to January 2026, gained 43 rating points, starting 2026 as the world number four. At the World Blitz Chess Championship in Doha, which concluded on 30 December 2025, he finished only 38th with 12 points from 19 games. On the same day, however, he won the final Chess.com Titled Tuesday of 2025, rounding off his chess year with another success. | Photo: Vincent Keymer at the 2025 World Rapid and Blitz Championships | Photo: Lennart Ootes

12/8/2025 – Young players are often said to thrive on tactics while veterans rely on strategy. But the fifth game of the six-game match in Monte Carlo between 34-year-old Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus told a different story. After four draws, the young Turkish talent claimed the first win of the match — a clean, textbook performance in the Spanish Exchange Variation.

12/4/2025 – The main attraction of the XTX Markets London Chess Classic is the elite tournament, but the FIDE Open was also very strong, featuring numerous titled players. After nine rounds, three players finished on 7 points and shared first place: GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu of India (pictured), GM Velimir Ilic of Serbia and GM Ameet K. Ghasi of England. As there were no tiebreaks in the event, the three also shared the prize money for the top three places. | Photo: Yury Krylov / London Chess Classic

12/1/2025 – The first half of the London Chess Classic was dominated by Nodirbek Abdusattorov (photo). In round 5 he defeated Nikolas Theodorou with White, reaching 4.5/5 at the halfway mark and pulling a full point ahead of Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja drew with Black against Gawain Maroroa Jones and now stands on 3.5/5. Abhimanyu Mishra and Luke McShane also drew, as did Pavel Eljanov and Michael Adams. The second win of the round went to Nikita Vitiugov, who won a theoretically interesting game against Sam Shankland.| Photo: Tennis legend Andy Murray (center) makes the ceremonial first move | Photo: Tournament page

11/27/2025 – From 26 November to 7 December, the XTX Markets London Chess Classic showcase the game with a packed programme of tournaments and side events. The centrepiece of the festival is the Elite Tournament, featuring ten top players. The opening round produced five draws and no decisive games, but offered several interesting theoretical contests. | Photo: Elo favourite Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes, Archive

11/21/2025 – The World Cup began on 30 October in Goa, India. Two hundred and six players entered the tournament; three weeks later, only four remain and will now meet in the semifinals. China’s Wei Yi faces the Russian GM Andrey Esipenko, while Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan takes on his compatriot Nodirbek Yakubboev. The top three finishers qualify for the Candidates Tournament. The winner earns 120,000 USD, the fourth-placed player 50,000. But who has the best chances of winning the event — and securing a spot in the Candidates? | Photos: Michal Walusza

11/14/2025 – “It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future” is a well-known witticism about the pitfalls of predictions. The quote is often attributed to American baseball legend Yogi Berra, but sometimes also to physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr. Predictions about the future may be difficult, but they can still be fun. Hikaru Nakamura recently ventured predictions about the round of the last 16 and the possible winner of the World Cup 2025.

11/12/2025 – In his best games, Vincent Keymer’s chess sense seems almost magical. In the second game of round three of the World Cup in Goa, he had Black against Indian grandmaster Pranesh M. After 29 moves, five of his six remaining pieces had retreated to the back rank — yet Black already stood better. Only twelve moves later, as if by sleight of hand, Keymer's pieces controlled the queenside, the kingside and the centre, breaking through into White’s position. It was an important and impressive victory for Keymer, who advanced to round 4 of the World Cup. | Photo: Michal Walusza

10/31/2025 – The first round of the World Cup will begin in Goa, India, on 1 November at 15:00 local time. A total of 206 players will compete; the oldest participant is 65-year-old Igor Efimov, while the youngest is Faustino Oro, who turned 12 in October. The prize money totals 2 million US dollars, and the top three finishers will qualify for the Candidates Tournament. Matches will consist of two games, with rapid chess and blitz tiebreaks following a 1–1 score. The loser is eliminated. Vincent Keymer is officially seeded 6th, but according to the live world rankings, he is effectively ranked 1st. So, how good are his chances of finishing in the top three? | Photo: FIDE

10/16/2025 – Richard Rapport had the best individual result at the European Team Chess Championship in Batumi. Playing on board 1 for Hungary, he scored 5.5 points from 7 games and had a performance rating of 2869, the highest of all players in Batumi. In the final round, he won a nice and theoretically interesting game against Maksim Chigaev. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (Archiv)

10/2/2025 – Magnus Carlsen no longer wants to compete for the World Championship title, but remains the clear number one in the world ranking. With an Elo rating of 2839, he continues to lead the FIDE world rankings by a clear margin. He has led the rankings continuously since July 2011 and is currently 23 points ahead of Hikaru Nakamura, who is number 2 in the world with 2816. In the women's rankings, Hou Yifan from China remains at the top. The best junior is Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu from India, while the best junior girl also hails from India – Divya Deshmukh.

9/18/2025 – On October 12, the U.S. Championship begins in St. Louis. Twelve of the country’s top players will compete, nine of whom also played in the Grand Swiss, which concluded on September 15 in Samarkand. Their performances there point to an interesting championship, with Abhimanyu Mishra and Andy Woodward delivering particularly notable results. | Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE