5/31/2026 – Divya Deshmukh scored a win with black in her classical game against Zhu Jiner in round five of the Norway Chess Women tournament. Deshmukh overtook former sole leader Bibisara Assaubayeva in the standings. Assaubayeva herself drew against Anna Muzychuk and lost in Armageddon. Deshmukh leads the field with 8½ points, followed by Assaubayeva on 8 points. In the duel between Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru, the Indian GM won the Armageddon game. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

5/17/2026 – Despite being a pawn up, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was unable to defeat Vincent Keymer in round three of the Super Chess Classic in Bucharest. Wesley So v. Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave v. Javokhir Sindarov also ended drawn. Anish Giri defeated Alireza Firouzja, who, under time pressure, failed to find the way to a saving draw. Jorden van Foreest scored a remarkable win with black against Bogdan-Daniel Deac. After round three, five players share the lead: Giri, Keymer, Praggnanandhaa, Vachier-Lagrave and Van Foreest. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

5/9/2026 – Fabiano Caruana scored 7/9 points on the final day of blitz action at the Super Rapid & Blitz Poland tournament. In the end, he fell half a point short of catching Hans Niemann in the overall standings. Alireza Firouzja made a strong start in the blitz tournament on Friday, but his gap to Niemann in first place only grew on the final day of the blitz event. With this tournament victory, against world stars such as Fabiano Caruana, reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Candidates' winner Javokhir Sindarov, Niemann has reached a new milestone in his chess career. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/12/2026 – Four draws in round eleven of the Candidates Open chiefly benefitted Javokhir Sindarov, who thus continues to lead the field, two points ahead of Anish Giri. With only three rounds remaining, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Giri to catch the Uzbek grandmaster. There was drama on the board in Matthias Bluebaum's game against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, but in the end the encounter concluded in a draw. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

2/8/2026 – The semifinals of the Speed Chess Championship in London took place on Saturday at 180 Studios. It began with Magnus Carlsen facing Denis Lazavik, and was followed by the match between Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja. Carlsen defeated Lazavik 17–9. The encounter between Firouzja and Nakamura was much more closely contested. After the scheduled 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 games, the players went into overtime games until a winner was decided. Firouzja eventually won by a 15–13 score. | Photo: chess.com / Luc Bouchon

1/2/2026 – The world elite were particularly active at the World Championships in blitz and rapid chess. There were not many changes at the top of the Top 100 and the Women's Top 100 in classical chess. Magnus Carlsen continues to lead the Top 100, and Hou Yifan remains at the top of the women's world rankings. At the top of the junior and girls' world rankings, in addition to changes in position due to tournament participation, there were also changes caused by players dropping out as a result of the age limit (under 20). The juniors are currently led by Gukesh Dommaraju, and the girls by the Chinese player Lu Miaoyi.