8/25/2026 – "Even stronger. Even more beautiful. Even more direct." That is the slogan ChessBase uses to promote the latest edition of its well-known Fritz series. But what does the new version actually offer? Who is Fritz 21 designed for? Lukas Köpl took a close look at the latest release to find out what really lies behind the promises of being stronger, better looking and more direct.

8/25/2026 – Dance of the kings: Pawn endings should be calculated precisely: White to move and draw.

8/25/2026 – Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu booked their places in the deciding match of the Grand Chess Tour Finals after prevailing in Monday's rapid and blitz section of the semifinals in Saint Louis. Praggnanandhaa clinched his match against Vincent Keymer with four games to spare, while Caruana completed an 18-12 win over Wesley So. The finalists will start from scratch on Tuesday, as Keymer and So contest the third-place match. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/25/2026 – 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 – focused mainly on the period after the Chess Olympiad, with events from early October through the beginning of November. 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.

8/24/2026 – GM Dominik Horvath successfully defended his title at the 2026 Austrian National Championship. With 6½ points, he edged out IM Laurenz Borrmann on tiebreaks, who also scored 6½ points and achieved a grandmaster norm. In the Oberbank Challenger Open, young German IM Ruben Gideon Köllner triumphed with 7½ points. Olga Badelka was the top performer in the Open and thus claimed the women's national title. | Pictured (from left): Laurenz Borrmann, Dominik Horvath and Valentin Baidetskyi | Photo: Peter Kranzl

8/24/2026 – Drama in the second game of the semifinals at the Grand Chess Tour Finals: Vincent Keymer had black against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and after a relatively quiet opening the position became increasingly complicated as both players ran short of time. Keymer reached a winning position, but in an almost hopeless situation Praggnanandhaa managed to capture the German star's rook with a king move and went on to secure the point. There was plenty of tension in the other semifinal as well. Wesley So found himself under severe pressure after a novelty by Fabiano Caruana, but Caruana allowed his opponent to escape with a draw. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/24/2026 – In 1997, World Champion Garry Kasparov was defeated 3½–2½ by Deep Blue, an IBM supercomputer in New York. The loss in their second encounter marked the first time a machine beat a world champion in a standard tournament play. It was an historic moment that reshaped global perceptions of artificial intelligence. Almost three decades later, Kasparov has described his perception of AI and what he thinks about its future, in a Washington Post interview. Here are some excerpts.

8/23/2026 – Indian grandmasters Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh have been named among the 17 recipients of the Arjuna Award for 2025, India's second-highest sporting honour. The National Sports Awards were announced on 18 August 2026 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Divya's selection follows her victory at the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup, while Vidit is recognised for his sustained contribution to Indian chess. | Photo: FIDE

8/23/2026 – In the first classical games of the semifinals at the GCT Finals, Vincent Keymer faced Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Keymer gave up the exchange in the middlegame, after which enough pieces were traded off to leave him with an inferior position. In the end, he managed to save a draw. Fabiano Caruana was also on the defensive side in his draw against Wesley So. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

8/23/2026 – Use ChessBase´26 for training purposes: with smart use of the database functions and the training tool, you can quickly put together excellent training material. There’s no need anymore to pore over books, copy diagrams, or scan pages. In this second part of the tutorial, you’ll learn how easy it is to prepare your material in a didactic way and turn it into exercises. This saves you valuable time that you can use for your own training or for your students.

8/22/2026 – A legendary centre-back for FC Barcelona, a 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 champion and one of sport's most restless entrepreneurs is now a stakeholder in a chess franchise. Gerard Piqué has come on board the Fyers American Gambits as a strategic shareholder, joining former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin in the ownership group, ahead of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 4 in Bengaluru (3-13 September 2026). It is one of the biggest crossovers chess has seen between football and the 64 squares. | Pictured: A press conference to announce the partnership took place in Bengaluru

8/22/2026 – FIDE has opened nominations for the Svetozar Gligoric Trophy 2026, an award recognising exemplary fair play and sportsmanship in chess. Candidates will be assessed for actions or initiatives carried out between September 2024 and September 2026, including gestures of sportsmanship, promotion of fair play values and support for integrity in the game. Nominations must be submitted by 10 September, with the award ceremony to take place during the Samarkand Olympiad.