12/18/2023 – There are still two places available in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. One of these places will go to the player with the highest Elo rating in the January 2024 world rankings who has not yet qualified for the Candidates Tournament. A tournament was therefore organised at short notice in Chennai, India, to give Erigaisi and Gukesh a better chance to qualify. Leinier Dominguez tried his luck at the Sunway Sitges Open, while Alireza Firouzja now suddenly has a chance to gain Elo in a series of matches in France.

12/13/2023 – The FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) has deliberated on Magnus Carlsen's withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup following his defeat to Hans Niemann in September 2022 and has now reached a verdict. Carlsen has been fined 10,000 euros for his unjustified withdrawal. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Center

12/5/2023 – David Hater, FIDE delegate of the US Chess Federation, has written an open letter to FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich on behalf of the USCF, complaining that imprecise FIDE rules for qualifying for the FIDE Circuit Candidates Tournament and for rating have caused confusion among players. FIDE had changed the rules at short notice.

12/4/2023 – For its December list FIDE has not yet rated the tournaments in St. Louis and Zagreb, so Alireza Firouzja's rating loss is still quite moderate. The 30 Elo-points Hans Niemann gained in the Tournament of Peace in Zagreb do not appear in the list either. But Carlsen remains the clear number one.

12/1/2023 – The International Chess Federation released the inaugural Gender Equality in Chess Index (GECI), an innovative instrument designed to measure and compare the level of gender equality in chess federations across the globe. The GECI incorporates three indicators of Participation, Performance, and Progress to offer an all-encompassing view of gender parity in chess. This index introduces a comprehensive scoring system ranging from 0 to 100.

10/28/2023 – The first part of the "Never Ending Saga of Moroccan Chess" described the dubious practices of Moustapha Amazzal, the President of the Moroccan Chess Federation. The second part describes how FIDE renewed its trust in Mr Amazzal and why Lithuanian GM Paulius Pultinevicius and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and other prizewinners of the 4th International Prix Mohammed VI tournament that took place in August 2023 are still waiting for their prize money. | Photo: Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca | Source: Brochure of the 4. International Prix Mohammed VI tournament brochure

10/24/2023 – The World Chess Federation has expanded the Women's Grand Prix series for the upcoming 2024-25 cycle. Instead of 16 players, there will now be 20. The number of tournaments has been increased from four to six, with ten players per tournament. The prize money has also been increased.

9/26/2023 – In 2024, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) will celebrate its centenary. As part of the celebrations throughout the year 2024, FIDE is planning numerous activities, including chess festivals, exhibitions displaying historical archives, documents and chess memorabilia. Organizers and federations are encouraged to plan their regular and special events using the hashtag #FIDE100.

8/21/2023 – In a move that is sure to cause a significant stir, FIDE announced that it would be setting restrictions on transgenders participating in official FIDE Women events, specifying that any such restrictions pertain exclusively to man to women transgenders. These regulations come into effect on August 21. See the statement and share your thoughts.

7/3/2023 – At the beginning of the month, FIDE published its new rating list. Magnus Carlsen, who lost 18 Elo points at Norway Chess in June, remains at the top of the list with 2835 points and is also the only player with an Elo rating above 2800. The Americans Hikaru Nakamura (2787, +12 at Norway Chess) and Fabiano Caruana (2782, +9 at Norway Chess) are in second and third place.

3/29/2023 – Toronto will host the 2024 FIDE Candidates and Women’s Candidates, scheduled for April 3-25, with a prize fund of EUR 750,000. It will be the first time in chess history that both events will be held at the same time and venue, and also the first time that the Candidates Tournament will be held in North America. The event will be sponsored by the Scheinberg family, as part of the long-term collaboration agreement that was announced in 2022.

3/20/2023 – The 2023 FIDE Women's Candidates Final will be disputed in Chongqing (China) from March 27th to April 6th. Chinese Grandmasters Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi will face each other in a six-game classical chess match. The winner will receive 60,000 Euros and the right to challenge the current Women's World Champion, Ju Wenjun, for the title in July.

2/17/2023 – FIDE has joined the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA). SIGA is a non-profit, global, independent organisation with a mission to ensure that sporting organisations are run to the highest standards of integrity in order to protect the values of sport.

2/8/2023 – UAE Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, the International Chess Federation, and the Asian Chess Federation jointly held the Tolerance Games - Asian Chess Women's Contest that took place from February 06-07, 2023, in Abu-Dhabi, UAE. The event was a part of the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Summit in Etihad Towers. | Photo: FIDE

12/16/2022 – The FIDE Council has approved a major reform of the qualification paths to the Candidates Tournament, the event that decides the challenger for the World Championship match. The main innovation is creating a new qualification path through different FIDE-rated tournaments. Tournaments that meet certain criteria will grant points towards the “FIDE Circuit”. | Photo: FIDE

12/6/2022 – After achieving her third Grandmaster norm in the Grand Swiss Tournament in Riga 2021 Germany's number one women player Elisabeth Pähtz (pictured) finally seemed to have secured the title, but when it turned out that her second norm might not have been valid, things got complicated. But in FIDE's decisions of the Council meeting on 25 November Pähtz's title was now confirmed. And Mexico was mentioned indirectly as possible host for the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

11/24/2022 – The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from December 25-31 at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace, the arena that has hosted many international sports competitions as well as live concerts and various shows. You can now register for the event!

11/7/2022 – FIDE is happy to confirm the dates and the venue for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2022. The prestigious event will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest metropolis, set in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains. The championship will be played on its traditional dates, between December 25 (arrival and opening) and December 30 (last playing day and closing). | Photo: advantour.com

10/4/2022 – At the beginning of October the FIDE published its new ranking list. With a rating of 2856 Magnus Carlsen continues to lead the list though he lost 5 points in the Sinquefield Cup. Currently, Carlsen is 44 ratings points away from 2900 but also 45 rating points ahead of Ding Liren, who has a rating of 2811 and is the world's number two. Hou Yifan continues to lead the women's ranking list, five juniors have a rating of 2700 or more, and Zhu Jiner from China is number one on the list of female juniors.

9/30/2022 – After an initial statement that acknowledged the current controversy shaking the chess world, FIDE has now announced the creation of a panel by its Fair Play Commission to investigate the "the World Champion's claims of alleged cheating by Niemann and Niemann's self-statement regarding online cheating."

9/23/2022 – The International Chess Federation has shared a statement regarding the scandal that has taken over the chess over. FIDE wrote: “As the world’s chess governing body, it is our duty to protect the integrity of the game and its image, and in view that the incident keeps escalating, we find it necessary to take a step forward”. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

9/23/2022 – FIDE has announced a new world championship: an Open World Team Championship in which club teams can participate. The partner of the World Championship, which will offer a prize fund of 250,000 euros, is the logistics company WR Group based in Düsseldorf, Germany, where the tournament is "tentatively" scheduled to be played in May 2023.

9/1/2022 – The Chess Olympiad has brought movement into the world rankings. The top junior players in particular gained a lot of rating points while a number of established top players lost rating points. Magnus Carlsen remains the clear number one by a large margin.

7/4/2022 – On 1 July the FIDE published the new world ranking list. Magnus Carlsen and Hou Yifan continue to lead the "Top 100" and "Top 100 Women" by a large margin. Alireza Firouzja, who turned 19 at the beginning of the Candidates, is still the best junior, while Zhu Jiner from China continues to lead the "Girls'" list.