6/4/2026 – The fifth qualification places for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship (Open and Women's) will now be decided through the Freestyle Friday standings after the final event on 26 June. The leaders in the Open and Women's divisions will each secure a direct spot in the finals at Weissenhaus. The series will then resume after the summer break, with the second half determining the sixth qualifiers in both categories.

6/4/2026 – At the Stepan Avagyan Memorial in Jermuk, Nihal Sarin, Ray Robson and Vladislav Artemiev share the lead on 3½ points after six rounds. Nihal and Artemiev are still unbeaten, while Robson has reached the same score with two wins and one loss. Four players, including defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram and 2023 winner Sam Sevian, are half a point behind with three rounds remaining. | Photos: Official website

6/3/2026 – Sabrina Vega (pictured) and Anastasiia Hnatyshyn share the lead on 7½/9 with two rounds remaining at the European Women's Chess Championship in Batumi. Vega drew with Black against Eline Roebers in round nine, while Hnatyshyn defeated Ulviyya Fataliyeva to rejoin her in first place. Five players stand half a point behind, with key pairings scheduled for Thursday's penultimate round. | Photo: European Chess Union

6/3/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva moved close to winning Norway Chess Women after defeating Divya Deshmukh in round eight, extending her lead with two rounds to play. A draw against Anna Muzychuk in the penultimate round will be enough to secure the title. Muzychuk moved into second after drawing Humpy Koneru in classical play, while Zhu Jiner beat Ju Wenjun in the all-Chinese clash. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/3/2026 – 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 will bring you regular 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.

6/3/2026 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Alireza Firouzja narrowed the gap to Wesley So with classical wins in round eight of Norway Chess. Pragg defeated Magnus Carlsen for a second time in the event, while Firouzja beat world champion Gukesh Dommaraju to move within 1 point of the leader. So stayed in first place by drawing Vincent Keymer in classical play and winning the Armageddon decider. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/2/2026 – A match between Hans Niemann and Ian Nepomniachtchi was held in Belgrade from 29 May to 1 June. The confrontation ended in a 4–4 draw. The Russian GM took the lead in the first encounter, and after six drawn games, Niemann levelled the score in the final contest. | Photo: Ljubomir Ljubojevic playing the honorary first move / Endgame AI on X

6/2/2026 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world's best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?

6/2/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva extended her lead at Norway Chess Women with a classical win over Zhu Jiner, her second three-pointer of the event. Divya Deshmukh missed a chance to keep pace in classical play against Humpy Koneru but won the Armageddon decider, while Anna Muzychuk defeated Ju Wenjun in the tiebreak to move into sole third place. Assubayeva is set to face second-placed Deshmukh in round eight. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/2/2026 – On the top board in round seven of the 2026 European Women's Championship in Batumi, 2023 European Champion Meri Arabidze (pictured left) defeated 15-year-old Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, bringing the Ukrainian youngster's winning streak to an end. With the victory, Arabidze caught up with Hnatyshyn in the standings. The third co-leader is Sabrina Vega Gutierrez, who defeated Ulviyya Fataliyeva. | Photos: European Chess Union

6/2/2026 – Counterplay counts: Queen and knight can often drum up a dangerous attack: White to move and draw.

6/2/2026 – There has been some movement at the top of the world rankings. Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana both lost rating points at the Candidates Tournament. As Nakamura's losses were more significant, both players dropped below the 2800 mark. In May, however, Caruana gained four rating points and caught up with Nakamura. As a result, Caruana is now listed in second place, with Nakamura in third. Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, is currently competing in Norway, where one of his goals is to avoid losing rating points. He remains the clear world number one. Players ranked fourth through seventh are Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer and Anish Giri. Hou Yifan remains the world's top-ranked female player, while World Champion Gukesh is the highest-rated player in the U20 category. Anna Shukhman is the new number one among the girls.