5/19/2025 – The TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament returns to Malmö this May, bringing together a carefully selected mix of seasoned grandmasters and emerging talents, this year including the likes of Richard Rapport, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Nils Grandelius (pictured) and Turkish rising star Yagiz Erdogmus. Known for its thoughtful organisation and competitive format, the event continues its recent focus on promoting top female players, with Tan Zhongyi joining the 2025 edition. | Photo: Mikael Svensson

5/18/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 230 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the many achievements of Anish Giri. | Photo: Pascal Simon

4/27/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 227 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi. | Photo: Pascal Simon

3/30/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 223 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Hikaru Nakamura. | Photo: Pascal Simon

3/29/2025 – Pentala Harikrishna, one of India's finest chess grandmasters, has built a life in Prague, blending his passion for chess with a deep connection to the city. In an insightful interview with Sagar Shah, Harikrishna shares his journey - from his rise in the global chess rankings to his experiences working with world champions Gukesh and Ju Wenjun. As they explore Prague's landmarks, he reflects on the challenges of professional chess, the evolving landscape of Indian chess and the importance of unwavering support from family. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

2/21/2025 – The Djerba Chess Festival's Masters section brings together top grandmasters from around the world for a highly competitive tournament on the island of Djerba, a.k.a. the Island of Dreams. Vetted GMs such as Vasyl Ivanchuk, David Navara and Parham Maghsoodloo compete alongside rising talents like Volodar Murzin and current tournament leader Marc'Andria Maurizzi. The event, enriched by Tunisian culture and hospitality, also welcomed the country's Minister for Tourism. | All photos: Diana Mihajlova

2/16/2025 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In episode 217 of his "Understanding before Moving" show Herman looks at the career of Fabiano Caruana. | Photo: Pascal Simon

1/27/2025 – Wei Yi and Fabiano Caruana scored victories in round 8 of the Tata Steel Masters, with Wei beating Max Warmerdam and Caruana getting the better of Vincent Keymer. The two winners of the day stand a full point behind co-leaders Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Meanwhile, Thai Dai Van Nguyen defeated Lu Miaoyi to become the sole leader in the Challengers section. Monday marks the penultimate rest day for the players. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit

11/19/2024 – The 2024 FIDE World Championship match, sponsored by Google, will unfold in Singapore from November 23 to December 13, pitting reigning champion Ding Liren against 18-year-old prodigy Dommaraju Gukesh. The duo will battle across 14 classical games for the lion's share of a $2.5 million prize fund. Ding, a seasoned champion, faces Gukesh, the youngest-ever challenger and a rising star in chess. With high stakes, expert analysis and unpredictable outcomes, this clash promises to captivate chess enthusiasts worldwide.

11/12/2024 – Tata Steel, sponsor of the traditional chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, has also been organising a top-level tournament in India every year since 2018, a rapid and blitz event. It starts again on Wednesday, with Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer, among others.

11/3/2024 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books on chess training and strategy. In the 202nd episode of his ChessBase show "Understanding before moving" Herman continues his series "Chess history in a nutshell" and continues to look at the career of Magnus Carlsen. | Photo: Pascal Simon

10/25/2024 – Ding Liren's journey to becoming the first Chinese World Chess Champion is a testament to resilience. Rising from modest beginnings, he became the youngest Chinese national champion at 16, leading to a series of historic achievements, including two Olympiad golds and a record-breaking 100-game unbeaten streak. However, his road was far from smooth; he faced challenges and even took a hiatus in 2024 for mental health. Ding’s recent comeback showcases his determination to maintain his status among the chess elite | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

9/16/2024 – Round 5 of the Chess Olympiad saw four teams scoring wins on the top boards to end the day tied for the lead with a 10/10 match points, including pre-tournament favourites India, China, and Hungary. The surprise co-leader is Vietnam, the only team outside the top-10 seeds to keep pace with the elite. Among the standout individual performances, India's Dommaraju Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi continue to shine, each maintaining a perfect score so far. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

7/23/2024 – Pictorial portraits of ten chess players from many different countries, engaged in various sections (GMT Masters Triathlon, GMT Challengers Triathlon, Masters Open, and Amateur Open) at the 57th edition of the Biel Chess Festival. An unparalleled mix of chess activities! Our author, who lives in Biel, presents both known and unknown faces from the Festival | Photos: Organiser (Simon Bohnenblust, Peter A. Steffen)

4/24/2024 – Records were shattered and history was made at the 2024 FIDE Candidates. Two events — open and women’s — took place simultaneously for the first time at the same hall. We saw the first brother-sister duo, R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali, participating. In the end, D Gukesh broke a number of records: he was the youngest ever to win the Candidates Tournament and thus become the youngest ever challenger to the World Championship. Gukesh was interviewed by Sagar Shah in what turned out to be a conversation lasting close to two hours. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/22/2024 – Tan Zhongyi obtained the draw she needed to claim outright victory at the Women’s Candidates Tournament in Toronto. The Chinese GM grabbed the sole lead from the get-go, as she obtained back-to-back wins in the first two rounds. At some point, Lei Tingjie managed to catch her atop the standings, but Tan turned out to be more consistent than her compatriot in the long run. With her triumph, Tan became Ju Wenjun’s challenger in the next match for the Women’s World Chess Championship. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/2/2024 – The strong A-Open, played alongside the Grenke Chess Classic, saw Hans Niemann becoming the outright winner after scoring 8/9 points. A victory with black in the final round, over Velimir Ivic, gave the rising star clear first place. Nine players finished a half point behind the winner, with Ivan Saric and Vladimir Fedoseev grabbing second and thid place on tiebreaks. | Photo: Angelika Valkova

3/31/2024 – In this pictorial Quiz for Easter, you need to guess who is in the photograph. Ten chess players in rare and unusual photographs. Some are easy, others are less easy, some include a hint. Check it out! At the bottom you will find the solutions and photo credits. Happy Easter to everyone!

3/15/2024 – Have you ever finished last in a tournament? Well, it happened to Vidit Gujrathi at the Prague Masters 2024. As Vidit himself pointed out, this might be the first time ever that he finished last in his entire chess career. And it happened 20 days before the most important event of his life - the Candidates, this cannot really be a good sign, can it?

2/26/2024 – Chess is often considered a calm and quiet game, where the only sound is the clicking of the pieces. But what if we could hear the heartbeat of the players, and see how their body reacts to the tension and excitement of the game? That is exactly what was done in the Freestyle Chess 2024 event in Weissenhaus, where the heart rate of some of the world’s best chess players were monitored as they faced each other! We start this series with a look back at how it all started. | Photo Lennart Ootes

2/21/2024 – The 1st Dortmund International Chess Days will take place from 10 to 18 August 2024 at the Cultural Centre Alte Schmiede in Dortmund. Frederik Sane and Leon Mendonca have already confirmed their participation in the A-Open. Elisabeth Pähtz and Dinara Wagner will play a match to find out who is the number one in German women's chess. | (From left to right) Dirk Schaufelberger (CEO of Sparkasse Dortmund), Alexander Donchenko, Frederik Svane, Leon Luke Mendonca | Photo: Michelle Lassak

1/14/2024 – The much-anticipated Tata Steel Masters kicked off on Saturday in Wijk aan Zee. A lively first round saw four players scoring full points, all with the black pieces — Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri and Wei Yi are sharing the lead after the first day of action. The Challengers also saw four players grabbing wins right off the bat. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

12/1/2023 – With a final-round win over Richard Rapport, Fabiano Caruana secured tournament victory at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. This was Caruana’s third victory in this event, as he had previously won it in 2014 (when he famously grabbed seven wins in a row) and in 2018. Sole second place went to Leinier Dominguez, who drew Levon Aronian with the black pieces on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

9/30/2023 – The Isle of Man plays host once more to the chess world's crème de la crème, as the 3rd FIDE Grand Swiss and 2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss tournaments are set to launch on 25 October. The return of these prestigious world championship qualifying competitions to the Isle of Man marks a momentous occasion. Over the course of 12 days, from 25 October to 5 November, the island in the Irish Sea will emerge as the epicentre of the chess world, hosting an elite assembly of top-tier players fighting for the prizes, prestige and a spot in the 2024 Candidates.