7/2/2026 – After nine hard-fought rounds, the Kasparov Chess Foundation Friendship Festival 2026 Open came to a thrilling conclusion. Chinese grandmaster Xu Xiangyu captured the title with an outstanding performance, prevailing in one of the strongest international open tournaments ever organized on Slovenian soil. Final report, with photos provided by Jernej Borovinšek.

7/2/2026 – FIDE has invited the global chess community to mark International Chess Day 2026 on 20 July through creative games, inclusive events and a live discussion on chess as a tool for social change. The programme includes the Creative Chess challenge, activities promoted by the FIDE Commission for Women's Chess and a Social Commission panel featuring speakers involved in prison chess, refugee projects and community programmes around the world.

7/2/2026 – Pranav Venkatesh and Anna Muzychuk have qualified for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship through the first part of the 2026 Freestyle Friday Championship. Pranav topped the open standings after 19 weeks of online play, while Muzychuk finished first in the women's standings. Both will join the already confirmed players in Weissenhaus, where the women's and open events are scheduled for February 2027. | Image: Freestyle Chess

7/2/2026 – Alireza Firouzja took the sole lead after the first day of the Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia in Zagreb, scoring two wins and a draw in the opening three rapid rounds. His victories over Ivan Saric and Bogdan-Daniel Deac were not straightforward, while a third-round draw against Anish Giri left him on 5/6. Four players are one point behind: Giri, Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/1/2026 – Bodhana Sivanandan took on the virtual version of José Raúl Capablanca in Fritz 21 at Master Candidate strength and impressed with her calm, confident decision-making throughout the game. Despite facing one of history's greatest positional players, she consistently found strong plans, converted her advantage into a favourable endgame, and secured a convincing victory. The post-game analysis highlighted her excellent endgame understanding and tactical awareness, showing why she is regarded as one of the brightest young talents in chess.

7/1/2026 – “Mate is great!”: Combinations, opening tactics, calculation drills – loads of training exercises + four interactive videos with Oliver Reeh – “Everything's ruined on the 50th move”: Peter Heine Nielsen comments on Carlsen’s game against Erdogmus at the TePe Sigeman 2026 – “Underrated and highly dangerous”: Yago Santiago examines the Sicilian Wing Gambit in the version 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b4!? – “A spectacle guaranteed”: Dorian Rogozenco presents the “Modern Classic” Kramnik–Shirov from Linares 1994 – “Javokhir Sindarov, the new challenger”: ChessBase authors comment on 20 winning games by the young Uzbek in the “Special”, and much more. New: Download version including a comprehensive and redesigned accompanying PDF (42 pages)! Take a look – a sample chapter awaits you!

7/1/2026 – Magnus Carlsen may have lost a significant number of rating points at Norway Chess, but he remains the undisputed world number one. World Champion Gukesh continues to lead the junior rankings, though only by a narrow margin. In the girls' rankings, Anastasiia Hnatyshyn is the new number one.

7/1/2026 – The 39th edition of the "Ciudad de León" Masters will take place from 3 to 5 July, with Le Quang Liem, Kirill Alekseenko, Faustino Oro and Jaime Santos in the four-player knockout. Le returns as defending champion, while Oro arrives with grandmaster-elect status and Santos once again represents the host city. The XI Open Internacional "Magistral de León" will be played alongside the main event. | Image: Official website

7/1/2026 – The KazChess Masters Almaty has begun in Kazakhstan's largest city, with five established international grandmasters facing five rising local players in a ten-player single round-robin. The opening round produced two decisive results, as Igor Kovalenko defeated Alexander Donchenko with a strong attacking display, while Sam Shankland converted an endgame against Aldiyar Ansat. | Photo: Official website

6/30/2026 – The Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia, the third leg of the Grand Chess Tour, will take place in Zagreb from 1 to 5 July. The 10-player field includes six members of the world top 20, among them Gukesh Dommaraju, Vincent Keymer, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri (pictured) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. After events in Warsaw and Bucharest, the tournament will offer another chance to gain ground in the overall standings. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

6/30/2026 – Chris Ward looks at a sharp Dragon main line from the French League, featuring GM Surya Ganguly with Black. The focus is on the fashionable Bishop c4 system and Black’s fresh-looking plan with ...a5, which helps activate the queenside pieces and create pressure before White can build a dangerous kingside attack. The game becomes a model Dragon victory, with Black taking over the b-file, pushing ...d4 at the right moment, and finishing with a powerful interference tactic that forces resignation. | Photo: John Upham

6/30/2026 – Georgia honoured Nona Gaprindashvili at a ceremony in Tbilisi marking her 85th birthday, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, government officials and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich among the guests. Held at the Rustaveli National Theatre, the event combined tributes to Gaprindashvili’s chess career with Georgian cultural elements. The former women's world champion also received Georgia's highest award for sporting achievement during the ceremony. | Photos: gov.ge