4/16/2026 – Vaishali Rameshbabu won the Women's Candidates Tournament by defeating Kateryna Lagno in the final round, finishing clear first on 8½/14 and earning the right to challenge Ju Wenjun in the match for the world title. In this interview, Vaishali looks back on the months of preparation that followed her Grand Swiss victory, discusses the support of her family and team, and explains how she coped with the pressure of a tense and closely contested tournament. | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde

4/16/2026 – The Candidates is over and eventually turned into a one man show: Javokhir Sindarov did what Veselin Topalov did back in the day: completely dominating the first half of the event by virtually winning everything and then convincingly staying out of trouble in the second half. Our Game of the Week is the sixth (!) win that Sindarov scored, in the tenth round, with the white pieces against Praggnanandhaa. Later on this year Sindarov will be the challenger of Gukesh for the highest title. Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

4/16/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov concluded the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus with a quick draw against Wei Yi, finishing on 10/14 and recording the highest score of the modern Candidates era. Anish Giri secured sole second place by beating Matthias Bluebaum, while Fabiano Caruana ended the event in third after defeating Andrey Esipenko. Sindarov gained more than 30 rating points and climbed to fifth place in the live ratings list. | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde

4/16/2026 – Preparations are fully underway for the FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026 in Hong Kong from 16 to 22 June. In previous editions, the tournament has featured numerous top players competing alongside amateurs and rising talents, producing a dynamic atmosphere rarely seen in traditional elite events. Magnus Carlsen is expected to participate in Hong Kong, adding further star power to the competition.

4/16/2026 – Strategical rules are important. Without them, learning chess would be much more difficult, if not impossible. When a beginner starts learning about the royal game, he needs a lot of guidance. Rules like “a bishop pair is stronger than a bishop and a knight” or “the threat is stronger than its execution” can provide such help. However, once the beginner turns into a grandmaster, he finds out that there is no need to follow the rules every time. Rules tend to have exceptions. Sometimes, specific aspects of the position are more important than an abstract rule. Let us have a look at four positions where it was good to break the rules! | Image: Markus Winkler

4/16/2026 – The ChessBase crew travels to Cyprus to cover the Candidates Tournament, bringing you daily impressions from one of the biggest events in chess. What is the atmosphere like around the world’s best players? How is the venue, and where do the stars spend their time? What happens behind the scenes in the media centre and beyond? And what is Cyprus like as a host for such a prestigious event? From travel moments and unexpected encounters to exclusive insights into the tournament environment, we take you along for the journey—day by day. Experience the Candidates from the inside.

4/14/2026 – The sting of the bishop scorpion: Races of passed pawns can be sharp: Black to move and win.

4/14/2026 – After eight games of their twelve-game match in Paris, Hans Niemann leads Awonder Liang by two points, having scored the only victories so far in games three and eight. The remaining six encounters have been drawn, though Liang missed clear chances in two of them. Niemann's most recent win came with black in a 31-move game, leaving Liang with limited time to respond as the match heads into its final two days. | Photo: Blitz Society

4/13/2026 – Nihal Sarin claimed outright victory at the Masters section of the Open Chess Menorca 2026. He ultimately finished half a point ahead of Ruslan Ponomariov and Richard Rapport. A further point behind finished world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Leinier Domínguez. What conclusions the world champion can draw from this performance regarding his form is something only he can assess. | Photo: Saji Mathew

4/13/2026 – Zhu Jiner caught Vaishali Rameshbabu in the lead after defeating her in round twelve of the Women's Candidates Tournament, with both players now on 7 points. Bibisara Assaubayeva moved to within half a point after overcoming Kateryna Lagno, while Tan Zhongyi secured her first win of the event, as she defeated Divya Deshmukh. Anna Muzychuk narrowly missed joining the leaders after allowing a stalemate in a winning rook endgame against Aleksandra Goryachkina. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga

4/13/2026 – The ChessBase crew travels to Cyprus to cover the Candidates Tournament, bringing you daily impressions from one of the biggest events in chess. What is the atmosphere like around the world’s best players? How is the venue, and where do the stars spend their time? What happens behind the scenes in the media centre and beyond? And what is Cyprus like as a host for such a prestigious event? From travel moments and unexpected encounters to exclusive insights into the tournament environment, we take you along for the journey—day by day. Experience the Candidates from the inside.

4/13/2026 – Sindarov's play at the Candidates Tournament is absolutely impressive and we have a look at his 10th round game against Praggnanandhaa. Did he take a lot of risks opting for a theoretical piece sacrifice in a sharp line of the Queen's Gambit Declined? Or was it actually a very clever practical decision, offering risk-free attacking chances against the opponent's king? In this episode I'll give you my take on his approach and discuss the current theoretical state of this opening variation.