7/4/2018 – During the next Chess Olympiad, a new president will be elected at the FIDE Congress. That much became clear after Kirsan Ilyumzhinov officially withdrew his candidacy last weekend. The three options, now officially confirmed by FIDE, are Georgios Makropoulos, Nigel Short and Arkady Dvorkovich. Let us bring you — even the FIDE political neophyte — up to date. Break out the popcorn folks, it's going to be an interesting three months!

6/25/2018 – IM Malcolm Pein, now a candidate for FIDE Deputy President, took time out from a full schedule for a chat with Macauley Peteron in Leuven at the end of the "Your Next Move Rapid and Blitz" tournament. Malcolm discussed the Grand Chess Tour, the FIDE / Agon proposed "broadcast policy," the upcoming World Championship in London, and his thoughts on the election including having his old friend Nigel Short as a political sparring partner. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/19/2018 – Nigel Short is in a four-way race for President of FIDE, to be decided in an election in Batumi at the Chess Olympiad on October 3rd. Until a few days ago, it was a three-way race with one of those being the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. But now the Russian Chess Federation is poised to nominate someone else: Russian economist and politician Arkady Dvorkovich. Macauley Peterson spoke to Nigel for an hour in Leuven, during the first stop of Grand Chess Tour, to get his current thoughts on the race. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

6/4/2018 – Georgios Makropoulos circulated an email announcing his team for the upcoming FIDE Presidential elections on Monday afternoon. There were no real surprises, as nearly the entire slate has run alongside him in prior elections, and the only new name, English Delegate IM Malcolm Pein, was widely expected to be in the running for Deputy President. | Photos: 'FIDE Forward'

5/10/2018 – Nigel Short wants to become FIDE President. In 2010 and in 2014 Short supported the campaigns of Karpov and Kasparov. It's been a while since three candidates ran for president in the FIDE elections, but now Ilyumzhinov, Makropoulos, and Short are all in the running. CONRAD SCHORMANN recounts a bit of history and shares his opinion of what is bound to be an interesting period in international chess politics. | Photo: British Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic

5/2/2018 – What's going to be the next twist in the race for FIDE President? The election is set for October and, for now, we have only two candidates — the controversial incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and his long-time deputy, Georgios Makropoulos, who has now turned against him. MALCOLM PEIN weighs in on the situation following the recent FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Minsk, Belarus. After this article from CHESS Magazine went to press, rumours began circulating of a new potential third candidate soon throwing his hat into the ring. For that, we'll have to wait and see, but it's looking like things could get interesting, with the future of World Chess on the line. | Photo: FIDE

4/9/2018 – Last weekend the Belarus Chess Federation hosted the FIDE President meeting for the first quarter of 2018. The backdrop is the application of Belarus as host of the 2022 Chess Olympiad. In a blow to Kirsan Ilymzhinon, the Presidential Board called for his immediate resignation as president. After the meeting, Georgios Makropoulos announced his candidacy as FIDE president. | Photo: FIDE

2/22/2018 – The FIDE president, locked in a power struggle with former allies, pushed back on the recent letter from FIDE's treasurer Adrian Siegel in a public statement Wednesday, calling it "fake news". In this editorial, we take a brief look at Ilyumzhinov's response and what it portends. | Image: Ilyumzhinov's official Twitter account

2/14/2018 – Bad press for FIDE as Dr. Adrian M. Siegel, the organisation's treasurer, has informed all officials and members of the World Chess Federation via an open letter that the FIDE account has been closed by the Swiss UBS bank, due to the more than two year old sanctions of the US Treasury against FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. | Photo (of Dr. Siegel): GFHund (Sarah Hund) CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2/6/2018 – On Saturday, February 3, the Russian Chess Federation held presidential elections. The current president Andrey Filatov started the day facing several challengers, notably Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the current FIDE president, who is expected to stand for reelection to the body in September at the Chess Olympiad in Batumi. Ilyumzhinov received support from an unlikely source in former ECU president Silvio Danailov, but ultimately Ilyumzhinov withdrew his bid before the actually voting was held, and Filatov was easily returned to office, along with his team. | Photo: ruchess.ru

12/26/2017 – The World Rapid Championship attracted significant international media attention as it began on Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but the focus was mostly centred around the absence of Women's World Rapid and Blitz Champion Anna Muzychuk, and all players from Israel, who were denied visas to travel to the country. | Photo: riyadh2017.fide.com

12/21/2017 – Weiwen Leung shares an op-ed on reimagining votes in FIDE elections, based on the chess activity of each country or federation — as, for instance, measured by the number of rated games played — rather than the present "one federation, one vote" policy. A brilliant suggestion or "pie in the sky"? | Photo: Kirsan Ilyumzhinov with Vladimir Putin en.kremlin.ru

12/14/2017 – Geurt Gijssen is one of the most renowned chess arbiters and during his active time witnessed many dramatic and historical moments of chess history. In an interview Vlastimil Hort asked the veteran arbiter about his career, his passion for chess, and his take on incidents and scandals in recent chess history. | Photo: Gerhard Hund

12/9/2017 – The Royal Morocco Chess Federation has been in discord since members of its governing body raised the alarm over impropriety on the part of its leadership, including the disappearance of the equivalent of $200,000 US Dollars. DIANA MIHAJLOVA reports on a host of allegations which have beset the federation's president Mustapha Amazzal. Part one of a two-part chronicle. | Photo: Members of the Moroccan team at the chess Olympiad in Baku (from right to left): Khalid Becham, FA Amina Bamous, IA Akkour Abdel Fattah, Hind Bahji, Mehdi Ait, Hmidou, Ferdaous Idrissi, Adil Choukri, Firdaouss Myar Idrissi (seated), the Moroccan Women’s Champion | Mouhcine Bennadi's Facebook page

11/29/2017 – Magnus Carlsen will defend his World Championship title in a 12-game match to be held in London from November 9th to 28th, 2018, World Chess confirmed today. He will play the winner of the Candidates tournament to be held in Berlin in March.

11/17/2017 – The final stage of the FIDE Grand Prix has started in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and at stake are the final two spots in the next Candidates. Both Teimour Radjabov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will fight tooth and nail to pull the rug from under the feet of Mamedyarov and Grischuk. In round one, MVL had a perfect start with a win over Gelfand. Inarkiev and Giri also won their games with stylish victories. Report and analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky | Photo: Agon

11/5/2017 – The election for the presidency of the World Chess Federation is a year away, but there is already intrigue swirling around whether Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the current president, can or will run again. Though Mr. Ilyumzhinov recently lost a no-confidence vote by the executive board, it is not clear that will be enough to dissuade him, and the acting president, Georgios Makropoulos, has ducked repeated questions. Dylan McClain updates on the current situation.

10/27/2017 – In the November issue of CHESS Magazine, International Master and organiser Malcolm Pein shares his views regarding the recent 88th FIDE Congress in Antalya, Turkey, where one of the more unusual decisions coming out of the Executive Board meeting was a non-binding "motion to "request the FIDE President [Kirsan Ilyumzhinov] not to run in the next Presidential elections." | Photo FIDE.com

10/7/2017 – It's tempting to make light of this affair by, for instance, referring to it as "the short(s) report". But when a tournament as prestigious as the FIDE World Cup is making international headlines for what amounts to dress code enforcement, it should be no laughing matter. We take a comprehensive look at the facts in evidence and Kovalyov's response to the previously published report. | Photo: Chess.com / Maria Emelianova (used with permission)

10/5/2017 – Agon today announced the venue for the 2018 Candidate Tournament in Berlin. The players will compete in the "Kühlhaus Berlin" next March 10th to 28th. According to Agon Limited, tickets are now available. | Photo: Artists representation of the playing space / AgonLimited.com

7/24/2017 – Today, FIDE announced the list of participants for the World Cup 2017, which will be played from September 2nd to 28th in the city of Tbilisi. One name on the list was particularly surprising — Magnus Carlsen. Two years ago the World Champion revealed that he is a fan of the knock-out-mode. Now he's gunning for one title he does not yet have. | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich, dubai2014wrb.com

7/16/2017 – It was a suitably exciting end to an overall excellent tournament. In the final round, Teimour Radjabov fought a tough-as-nails game against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who needed a win in order to pull the first-place rug from under the Azeri’s feet. Incredibly, both players offered draws at different moments, and both declined, though in the end, they did indeed draw, giving clear first to Radjabov, and second to Nepomniachtchi. Final report with analysis by GM Lenderman.

7/15/2017 – Round eight of the FIDE Grand Prix in Geneva was both fascinating and intense. While leader Teimour Radjabov drew quickly and quietly against Alexander Raizantsev, Alexander Grischuk put up a huge fight against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and in spite of a huge advantage, was unable to close the deal. Ian Nepomniachtchi took advantage and joined Grischuk in second after beating Levon Aronian.

7/14/2017 – Three wins, but what a win one of them was. In round six, Indian Pentala Harikrishna had scored a big win over Levon Aronian, not only dashing the Armenian’s dreams to pieces, but making it a three way tie for first with Grischuk and Radjabov. In round seven, Teimour Radjabov had some inspired opening play, and milked a small advantage for all its worth into a resounding victory to take sole first. Here is the report, video interviews, and analysis by GM Lenderman.