7/30/2025 – The Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 is scheduled to take place in April 2026. The winner will play reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun for the title. Currently, five players are qualified for the Candidates: Humpy Koneru, Tan Zhongyi, Divya Deshmukh, Zhu Jiner, and Aleksandra Goryachkina. But who has the best chances of claiming one of the three remaining spots? Here's an update from FIDE.

7/30/2025 – The traditional chess festival in Dortmund kicks off its 52nd edition this Saturday as the Sparkassen Chess Trophy. European champion Matthias Blübaum is the favourite in the A Open. On Sunday, the International Women's Tournament begins, featuring four grandmasters: Elisabeth Pähtz, Dinara Wagner, 15-year-old Chinese champion Miaoyi Lu, and Deimanté Daulyté-Cornette of France. | Photo: Elisabeth Pähtz and Dinara Wagner

7/23/2025 – The International Chess Federation has announced the venue for the 2025 FIDE World Cup. The knockout tournament will take place in India in November. The exact location is not yet known. 206 players will compete for prize money and three places in the Candidates Tournament. | Graphics and photos: FIDE

7/15/2025 – Golden State Warriors forward Quinten Post has claimed the title of first-ever NBA Chess Champion, winning the blitz tournament at the inaugural Chesstival, a unique crossover event co-hosted by Derrick Rose and Freestyle Chess at the Wynn Las Vegas. Post scored an impressive 4.5 out of 5, defeating several top basketball personalities in five fast-paced rounds. | Photo: Tania Sachdev and Quentin Post playing "Head and Hand" | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess

7/14/2025 – The Grandmaster Triathlon began on Sunday in Biel with the discipline of rapid chess. After five games of rapid chess the two favourites, Vladimir Fedoseev and Aravindh Chithambaram (pictured), lead in the Masters. Wojtaszek, the 2020 Biel winner, is lurking just behind them. Theodorou took the lead in the Challengers, remaining undefeated, as did his closest rival Hakobyan. GM Benjamin Bok won the open rapid one-day-tournament. The Dutchman prevailed against 149 competitors ahead of GM Mikhail Kobalia and Chen Yuan. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

7/14/2025 – With an opening press conference at Wynn Las Vegas, Freestyle Chess has officially launched its first-ever U.S. event: a full week of chess, celebrity, and competition. The week began with the Chesstival on July 13, and will continue with the $750,000 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam from July 16 to 20. | Photo: freestyle_chess and wwwchesscom

7/11/2025 – The 58th Biel Chess Festival, running from 12 to 25 July, offers a global celebration of chess with 16 tournaments spanning classical, rapid and blitz formats. With participants from 45 countries and events welcoming players of all backgrounds and abilities, the festival blends elite competition with cultural exchange. Highlights include the unique chess triathlons (Masters and Challengers), a Freestyle Chess tiebreaker and inspiring exhibitions tied to FIDE's Year of Social Chess.

7/7/2025 – Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Quang Liem has been crowned champion of the León Masters after defeating five-time world champion Vishy Anand by a 3-1 score in Sunday's final match. The tournament, which also featured Argentine prodigy Faustino Oro and local representative Jaime Santos, took place from 4 to 6 July and concluded with a closing ceremony honouring the memory of Zenón Franco and Manuel García Cob, prominent figures in chess who were associated with the León tournament.

6/20/2025 – Thanks to the help of Magnus Carlsen and his "Viking" friends, FC St. Pauli was able to stay in the German Bundesliga in the 2024/25 season. During his appearance for St. Pauli, Carlsen also made headlines beyond the chess world. The cult club has now announced that the world’s best chess player will continue to wear the club's colors next year. | Photo: André Schulz

6/17/2025 – In some countries, strong chess players have risen to prominent political positions, and in others, politicians happen to be skilled at chess. But even high-ranking chess officials can find their way into political office. According to the World Chess Federation, Zandanshatar Gombojav, former president of the Mongolian Chess Federation, has now been appointed Prime Minister of Mongolia.

6/15/2025 – After three days and 12 rounds of Rapid, things got hotter in London as the FIDE World Blitz Team kicked off. Following 13 rounds of fast-paced action, 16 out of 53 teams have advanced to the final playoff stage on Sunday. The blitz competition is split in two stages. On day one, the teams were divided into four equally strong pools, playing in a round-robin format. There were four pools – three had 13 teams, while Pool D had 14. The top four teams in each pool qualified for the knockout playoffs, which are taking place on Sunday, June 15. | Photos: Rafal Oleksiewicz/FIDE

6/14/2025 – Team MGD1 secured first place at the 2025 FIDE World Rapid Teams Championship in London, winning all matches on the final day. Hexamind finished second, while Freedom, Uzbekistan, and WR Chess shared third. | Photos: Rafal Oleksiewicz/FIDE

6/4/2025 – Nach Weissenhaus und Paris ist das Wynn in Las Vegas die dritte Station der Freestyle Grand Slam Tour. Am 13. Juli spielen ehemalige NBA-Spieler im einem K.o.-Schachturnier gegeneinander. Vom 16. bis 20. Juli wird das Freestyle-Turnier der Schachprofis gespielt. Wer vor Ort dabei sein möchte, kann jetzt schon Tickets ab 90 US-Dollar.

5/9/2025 – Chess fans are in for a treat: On 1 June the Italian town Pietrasanta will host a chess match between Faustino Oro, the world’s youngest chess master, and former world champion Vishy Anand. The event, supported by the famous singer Andrea Bocelli, is part of a broader program that includes the Chess Roads exhibition from June 2 to 15, featuring 40 rare and original chess sets from Asia and Europe.

1/15/2025 – 176 players took part in the International Grandmaster Open in Chennai in the first week of the New Year. Indian GM Inyan PA led the field and went on to win the tournament, beating Deepan, who had been leading the field, in the final round. | Photos: IA R Anantharam

1/15/2025 – The International Dortmund Chess Days will take place from 2 August to 10 August 2025 in the heart of the Ruhr region. The 52nd edition will once again be a chess festival for players of all classes with A-Open and B-Open. In the Open, top German players will compete with international grandmasters for a €20,000 prize fund. The two best German female chess players will play in parallel in an international women's tournament. Elisabeth Pähtz and Dinara Wagner will face 15-year-old Lu Miaoyi, one of the world's greatest young chess talents. | Photos: Dortmunder Schachtage

12/20/2024 – The opening tournament of the 2025 Freestyle Grand Slam Tour begins in WEISSENHAUS on 7 February. The current world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, will be competing, along with two of his predecessors, Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

11/15/2024 – In the run-up to the FIDE World Chess Championship at the end of November, where he will play against 18-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh, the reigning World Champion from China, Ding Liren, gave an interview where he spoke about the challenges he faces, both on and off the board. | Photo: Stev Bonhage