2/25/2026 – The eighth edition of the Prague International Chess Festival was officially opened at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, launching the Masters, Challengers and Futures tournaments. The event features the reigning World Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, who played a symbolic opening duel with Czech beach volleyball world champion Ondřej Perušič. The game was part of the festival's ceremonial start ahead of play through 6 March. | Photo: Petr Vrabec
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
€39.90
Gukesh: "I have very good memories of this place"
Press release
The eighth edition of the Prague International Chess Festival was officially opened by a ceremonial event at the Don Giovanni Hotel Prague. The Czech capital welcomes top world players, including the reigning World Champion, 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju. Fans of the royal game can look forward to thrilling matches until 6 March. The Masters, Challengers and Futures tournaments all began today.
Two Super Grandmasters from India explain the ins & outs of Attack, Tactics an Calculations in these two video courses.
Gukesh previously competed at the Prague International Chess Festival in 2024, before becoming the World Champion. He explained:
Two years ago, Prague was my final test before the Candidates Tournament, which I went on to win, so I have very good memories of this place. Much has changed since then. After becoming World Champion, expectations are higher and I face greater pressure. I’m looking forward to show what I’ve learned since then.
Gukesh also delighted many fans by attending an autograph session, allowing visitors to take home a valuable memory from the Don Giovanni Hotel.
Both guests and fans of the royal game were guided through the evening by host Mikoláš Tuček, who joked light-heartedly about his "victory" over a seven-year-old computer bot named Magnus Carlsen. The floor was soon given to the reigning king of classical chess, who, of course, drew the number one.
Gukesh Dommaraju drew number one | Photo: Petr Vrabec
Players from the elite Masters category also took part in the drawing of lots to pair up with players from the Futures tournament, continuing the Prague tradition of mutual inspiration, where experienced grandmasters line up side by side with the youngest talents.
Among the guests of the gala evening were, among others, the President of the Nový Bor Chess Club Roman Mužík, Executive Director of Czech Inn Hotels Jaroslav Svoboda, FIDE Secretary General Łukasz Turlej and Czech mathematician and innovator Karel Janeček.
VIP guests and chess personalities were treated not only to a performance by magician David Kopecký, but also to a unique duel that symbolically opened the eighth battle for the Prague chess crown. Two world champions faced each other across the board - the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and beach volleyball world champion from Czechia Ondřej Perušič. Both elite athletes showcased several strategic moves on the new Česká klubovka digital chessboards by DGT, which are offered in the Czech Republic by our partner Sachy.biz.
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
Beach volleyball world champion Ondřej Perušič | Photo: Petr Vrabec
A painting of defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram was disclosed during the opening ceremony | Photo: Petr Vrabec
The participants of the Challengers tournament | Photo: Petr Vrabec
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains a total of 11 766 games from Mega 2026 or the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 1136 are annotated.
For the Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbook 2026 the ratings average was set again at 2400. 2.24 million games from the engine room of playchess.com met this threshold, to which were added over 130 000 games played by humans.
In this volume, we dive into core aspects of chess technique. Smyslov taught the principle of tactical hierarchy, “checks, double attacks, and unprotected pieces”, and Mikhalchishin demonstrates how this method of calculation is vital.
Videos: Nico Zwirs examines two Petroffs from the 2026 Candidates. Robert Ris has a tip against the Caro-Kann Advance Variation with 3…c5. Fiona Sieber reveals a surprise weapon against the Najdorf. ‘Lucky Bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, L'Ami et al.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
€19.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
