1/22/2026 – We are thrilled to announce that GM Antoaneta Stefanova, former Women’s World Chess Champion, and one of the most distinguished figures in modern chess, will deliver a live lecture at the Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy. Keep January 25, 18:00 CET, free to listen to her.

1/22/2026 – The Floripa Open, part of the Brazil Chess Series, is taking place on 17-25 January as a 10-round Swiss open in Florianópolis. Niclas Huschenbeth recently announced that he would be competing in the popular Brazilian event. After six rounds, he has realised how difficult it is to consistently live up to the role of being among the top seeds. | Photo: Niclas Huschenbeth at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/22/2026 – Round five of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament saw four decisive games in the Masters, with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Hans Niemann and Javokhir Sindarov emerging as co-leaders on 3½/5. Sindarov joined the lead after inflicting a first loss on Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. In the Challengers, Andy Woodward and Faustino Oro both grabbed wins to catch Aydin Suleymanli at the top. | Photo: Nils Rohde

1/21/2026 – 19-year-old GM Pranav Anand was in superb form at the World Blitz Championship 2025. He scored impressive wins against strong players like Amin Bassem, Robert Hovhannisyan, Richard Rapport and Volodar Murzin. He finished the tournament with a score of 12/19 and obtained a 2739 TPR! In the fifth round, he faced Magnus Carlsen, a dream encounter for any young player. He has annotated his game against the world number one in this article. Check out how the exciting battle unfolded. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

1/21/2026 – World number one Magnus Carlsen and world number two Hikaru Nakamura appeared at ICE Barcelona for a blindfold exhibition match. The encounter, staged at the international gaming and tech expo, was accompanied by live commentary from Levy Rozman, a.k.a. GothamChess. Beyond the game itself, the event offered spectators insight into elite calculation, modern chess culture and the game's growing crossover with digital entertainment. | All photos: BETBY

1/21/2026 – Round four of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament featured three decisive games in the Masters, with Hans Niemann scoring an impressive win over Aravind Chithambaram, which included a well-timed queen sacrifice. Nodirbek Abdusattorov also won to share the lead, while Javokhir Sindarov defeated Matthias Bluebaim to stay in close contention. In the Challengers, Aydin Suleymanli kept the sole lead after defeating Lu Miaoyi with the white pieces. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lenart Ootes

1/18/2026 – ChessBase 26 is certainly the highlight among the November releases, but the other databases also offer a wealth of study material. There are many new options to explore, as well as in Harald Schneider-Zinner’s checkmate course, which combines a book with an online course. Finally, there are also new installments of Karsten Müller’s Endgame Academy and Ivan Sokolov’s middlegame strategy series. | All photos: ChessBase

1/18/2026 – Round one of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee began after an unusual delay provoked by protests outside the playing hall. In the Masters, decisive games followed uncharacteristic early blunders, with Hans Niemann, Vincent Keymer and Arjun Erigaisi all scoring with the white pieces. Later in the day, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju failed to make the most of a clear advantage, as Javokhir Sindarov narrowly escaped with a draw. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

1/17/2026 – Svitlana introduces the “Fake Sveshnikov,” an unconventional Sicilian where Black mimics familiar Sveshnikov structures but deliberately deviates with early …e5 and …Ne7 to sidestep typical pins and seize dynamic counterplay. The episode walks through White’s main setups (Bg5, Be3, Bd3, c3, c4), showing recurring Black ideas like sacrificing a pawn, rapid development, dark-square pressure, and timely breaks with …f5 or …Nd4. The lesson emphasizes pattern recognition over memorization, illustrating how surprising plans and imbalances can lead to strong practical chances—even revealing that Sveshnikov himself once played this “fake” version.

1/17/2026 – Today, on 17 January 2026, Maia Chiburdanidze celebrates her 65th birthday. For a long time, she was the best female chess player in the world, a world champion and a multiple gold medallist at Chess Olympiads. Like no other, Maia Chiburdanidze represents the golden era of Georgian women's chess, though she initially competed under the Soviet flag.

1/17/2026 – Karsten shows 5 endgame highlights from the last year. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

1/17/2026 – Gukesh, the World Chess Champion, endured a difficult 2025. Still, he produced a convincing win against Magnus Carlsen and finished tied for first at Tata Steel Chess, ultimately losing the blitz tiebreak to Praggnanandhaa. At the World Blitz Championship in Doha, he suffered a stunning upset against underdog Sergey Sklokin (2407), where an extraordinary endgame collapse saw Gukesh lose multiple pawns in succession.