Michal Krasenkow: "If you want a GM norm, beat a GM"

7/25/2026 – Michal Krasenkow gives an interview after a dramatic comeback win to talk about his turbulent game, his storied career and why he has no intention of making life easy for the Indian players chasing norms. Michal dominated the second edition of the Chola Chess Grandmaster Round Robin Tournament and won the event in style. | Photos and interview: Devansh Singh

Freedom Holding Founder Timur Turlov to Run for FIDE President

7/24/2026 – Timur Turlov, president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and founder of Freedom Holding Corp., an international financial services and technology group, has announced his decision to run for president of the International Chess Federation, or FIDE. Viswanathan Anand, one of the world’s most accomplished grandmasters and a former world chess champion, will join Turlov’s ticket as a candidate for vice president.
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Fabien Libiszewski: Master the Pirc Defence! - A review

7/24/2026 – The Pirc Defence is a dynamic opening strategy that temporarily allows the opponent to control the centre, enabling you to attack more aggressively there later on. This creates complex and often imbalanced positions in the middle game, offering many opportunities for counterplay, even against well-prepared opponents. In a recent course, French grandmaster Fabien Libiszewski explored Black's possibilities in the Pirc. Bahne Fuhrmann took a look and was impressed.
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FIDE President Dvorkovich added to EU Sanctions List

7/24/2026 – In its 21st package of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has added Arkady Dvorkovich to its list of sanctioned individuals. The FIDE President has temporarily stepped aside from his position, with Viswanathan Anand serving as acting president. A new FIDE Presidential Board will be elected in September.
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Ekstra class

7/24/2026 – White's many trumps in the diagram position are striking. Making the most of them is no easy task—so this might be just the thing for you!

Remembering Karel Mokry (1959-2026)

7/24/2026 – At the end of May, Czech grandmaster, publisher and author Karel Mokry passed away. He represented first Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic in international competition. In the 1990s, he won the Austrian Team Championship three times with SC Margareten. After retiring from competitive chess, Mokry, who was a renowned expert on chess literature, ran a chess bookshop.
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Aronian and Finek convincingly win 2026 Triathlons in Biel

7/24/2026 – Levon Aronian won the 2026 Biel Masters Triathlon on his first appearance at the festival, drawing his final classical game against Aydin Suleymanli to finish on 29½ points. The US grandmaster built his victory on strong rapid and blitz results, while Suleymanli took second place ahead of Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Le Quang Liem. Vaclav Finek won the Generations Challenge, and Christian Gloeckler secured the Masters Open title. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
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ChessBase Summer-Special! - Part 3

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!
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Review: Mastering the London System by Elisabeth Pähtz

7/23/2026 – The London System has enjoyed a remarkable rise in popularity. Once regarded as a modest sideline, it has evolved in recent years into a dangerous opening that Black players must take seriously. In his review, Lukas Köpl takes a close look at GM Elisabeth Pähtz's latest Fritztrainer.

Upcoming tournaments and events

7/23/2026 – Looking for an interesting over-the-board chess tournament to play, attend, or simply watch? There are plenty being staged all over the world, and we bring you an overviews of the most interesting of them. We do this in cooperation with MyChess.events, a global platform that helps players discover upcoming events, check dates, venues, formats, prize funds and registration details. In our selection we highlight selected events from around the world that may interest players, coaches, parents and chess fans.
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Biel Festival - Live!

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
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Christian Gloeckler, 14, wins Biel Masters Open with a round to spare

7/23/2026 – Christian Gloeckler won the Masters Open Tournament at the Biel Chess Festival with a round to spare, scoring 8/9 and securing his first grandmaster norm with a 2689 performance rating. The 14-year-old German IM entered as the ninth seed and took the title after impressively collecting four straight wins. In the Masters Triathlon, Levon Aronian still leads, while Aydin Suleymanli remains in contention before the final round. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival
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Alireza Firouzja wins Chennai Grand Masters, rejoins world top ten

7/22/2026 – Alireza Firouzja won the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters outright with an unbeaten 4½/7 score, drawing Arjun Erigaisi in the final round to finish half a point clear. Erigaisi and Dmitry Andreikin shared second place, with Andreikin defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the last round. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju finished last on 2/7 after suffering three defeats and losing 13.9 rating points. | Photo: Tushar Damor
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Azmaiparashvili re-elected as European Chess Union President

7/22/2026 – The election of the Executive Board at the European Chess Union's General Assembly in Bucharest last Saturday produced a clear result. The incumbent, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, was re-elected by a large majority. Ingrid Lauterbach was elected as the new Vice-President. | Photo: ECU and the Romanian Chess Federation
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Budapest to launch Total Chess

7/22/2026 – A new era in elite chess begins this November as Budapest hosts the official pilot of the FIDE-approved Total Chess World Championship Tour, a ground-breaking global championship created by Norway Chess that aims to redefine how the world’s best players compete—and how fans experience the sport. Among the backers of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot is football superstar Erling Haaland... | Photo Total Chess
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Chennai Grand Masters - Live!

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)
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Chennai GMs: Nihal beats Erigaisi, Pranesh stuns Gukesh

7/22/2026 – Alireza Firouzja has a half-point lead going into the final round of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters after drawing Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while former co-leader Arjun Erigaisi lost to Nihal Sarin. Meanwhile, Pranesh M scored his first win of the event by defeating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. Firouzja will face Erigaisi in the decisive final-round encounter, with Abdusattorov still in contention. | Photo: Tushar Damor
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Next week: USA v. Uzbekistan rapid and blitz match in Miami Beach

7/21/2026 – WR Chess will stage a USA v. Uzbekistan team event at Faena Miami Beach on 27–28 July, bringing together ten leading grandmasters in a rapid and blitz Scheveningen format. Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Levon Aronian will represent Team USA, while Uzbekistan's line-up includes World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Shamsiddin Vokhidov. The event marks WR Chess' US debut. | Image: WR Chess
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Svitlana's Smart Moves - Most underrated World Champion

7/21/2026 – Svitlana looks at Max Euwe, one of the most underrated world champions in chess history. Through one attacking game and one defensive game, she shows that Euwe was not just a logical and balanced player, but also capable of finding powerful sacrifices, active counterplay and precise prophylactic ideas. The lesson highlights how much can still be learned from classical games, especially when it comes to initiative, defensive resourcefulness and the idea that prophylaxis can be aggressive rather than passive.
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