1/12/2026 – From February 13 to 15, 2026, the first official Freestyle World Championship will take place in Weissenhaus, Germany. One spot is still open, and it will be decided in an online qualification tournament organised by FIDE on chess.com. The two-day event, which will determine the coveted final available place, begins on January 14 at 16:00 CET (10:00 ET / 20:30 IST).

1/12/2026 – On January 6, Magnus Carlsen and the 12-year-old Argentine Faustino Oro, who still has good chances of becoming the youngest grandmaster of all time, played Titled Tuesday at the Take Take Take Studio in Oslo. Afterwards, they chatted briefly and played a blitz game (3+2). Of course, “nothing” was at stake — but of course games between young talents, who may one day become world champions, and established or former world champions are always exciting and a battle for prestige. And this perhaps one day historically significant duel was captured on video.

1/12/2026 – The European Women's Rapid Championship, held over the weekend in Monte-Carlo, brought together 143 players from 30 countries for an 11-round Swiss at a 15+10 time control. After leading for much of the tournament, Alexandra Kosteniuk was overtaken in the final round by Nino Batsiashvili, who secured the title on tiebreaks. The event also featured an undefeated run by ten-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan and a closely contested fight for the remaining podium places. | Pictured: Kosteniuk, Batsiashvili and third-placed Sofio Gvetadze. | Photo: European Chess Union

1/11/2026 – The concluding day of the Tata Steel Chess India event decided the blitz titles in Kolkata. In the open section, Wesley So kept things under control to secured first place with a round to spare. Nihal Sarin got second place, while Arjun Erigaisi again finished third. The women's event ended in a playoff, where Carissa Yip claimed the title after beating Vantika Agrawal by a 1½-½ score. Stavroula Tsolakidou completed the podium. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/11/2026 – The final day of action in Kolkata sees the last nine of 3-minute blitz games in both sections. Wesley So and Carissa Yip entered the day as the sole leaders in the open and women's categories, respectively. | Follow the action live, with expert commentary starting at 15:00 local time (10:30 CET, 04:30 ET).

1/11/2026 – In the game Wei Yi-So, White opted for the Zukertort System which is gaining more popularity lately. In my video course The Menacing Colle & Zukertort System for the Club Player I discussed the unusual concept with castling queenside for White and I am glad to see the Chinese top player followed by recommendation. Despite the disappointing result, White had all the reasons to be satisfied with the outcome of the opening and got a promising attack. In timetrouble some huge chances to convert were not taken and White even lost due to a cruel blunder.

1/8/2026 – More convenience, better clarity, greater performance: ChessBase Mobile now comes with numerous improvements for even more efficient work at the chessboard — whether at home or on the go. And best of all, the app updates itself automatically, without requiring an update from the App Store. Just launch it and benefit immediately.

1/8/2026 – FIDE has revised the FIDE Circuit, a qualification pathway for participation in the Candidates Tournament. Among other changes, the number of tournaments taken into account has been increased, and the FIDE Circuit has been extended to cover a two-year period.

1/8/2026 – First of all, I'd like to wish the viewers all the best for the New Year 2026 with a lot of exciting Fast & Furious episodes! In the last week of 2025 Magnus Carlsen managed to add two more World Championships to his CV by winning both the Rapid and Blitz section. I have a look at his black game against Artemiev from the Rapid event, in which he chose one of his favorite lines in the Anti-Meran which had served the Norwegian pretty well on previous occasions. In the current game, things were less fun for Black due to a grave error on move 15 after which White was completely winning. Come and watch if you are interested in learning more about this specific variation!

1/8/2026 – The International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH have agreed to stage the first official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus, Germany, from February 13–15, 2026. There are eight players in the event, six qualified (Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Keymer, Erigaisi, and Sindarov), with one nominated (Niemann) and one to be still determined. Weissenhaus is just an hour's drive from Hamburg – in case you want to attend.

1/8/2026 – The opening day of Tata Steel Chess India in Kolkata delivered an entertaining start in both sections of the rapid tournament. In the open, Viswanathan Anand and Hans Niemann (pictured) share the lead with 2½ points after three rounds marked by a high number of decisive games. The women's event produced a sole leader in Carissa Yip, who also scored 2½ points. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/7/2026 – At Christmas 2025, Stefan Löffler delighted readers of his chess column in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung—one of Germany’s leading national newspapers—with a Christmas story. Forty years earlier, Garry Kasparov, still not yet world champion, had played a clock simul against the Bundesliga team of Hamburger SK and lost. Two years later, Kasparov returned to Hamburg as world champion. This time he won the rematch, and during the visit encountered a remarkable new development that was to change the game profoundly: a chess database.