Chess News

1. Super Chess Classic Romania - Live!
   The second event of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour is the Super Chess Classic Romania, which is taking place on 14-23 May in Bucharest. Nine regular tour players, all elite GMs with 2700+ ratings, are joined by wildcard Bogdan-Daniel Deac. Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov and Anish Giri are the top seeds. | Follow the action live with expert commentary starting at 15.00 CEST (9.00 ET, 18.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes
2. Amateur beats world champion: Wolfram Hartmann beats Anatoly Karpov in Hannover (1983)
   In 1983, 21 years after Wolfgang Uhlmann's victory over Mikhail Botvinnik at the 1962 Chess Olympiad in Varna, a German player once again managed to defeat a reigning world champion. In the first round of the International Mephisto Chess Tournament in Hanover, Wolfram Hartmann, then a 27-year-old law student from Bamberg, achieved one of the most astonishing underdog victories in German chess history against Anatoly Karpov (pictured). | Photo: V. Savostianov, Novosti Press (via Douglas Griffin)
3. Super Chess Classic Romania: All draws, Pragg escapes against Firouzja
   All five games ended drawn in the first round of the Super Chess Classic Romania, though several players had chances to grab full points. Alireza Firouzja missed the clearest opportunity against defending champion Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (pictured), while Fabiano Caruana failed to make the most of an extra pawn against Jorden van Foreest. Wesley So v. Vincent Keymer was a double-edged, remarkable battle. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
4. The Times explores chess revival at Simpson's in the Strand
   Simpson's in the Strand has reopened with a nod to its origins as a chess venue, a detail explored by Harry Wallop in The Times. Wallop's article uses the London restaurant's history to examine a wider revival of over-the-board chess, from social clubs and café events to rising sales of physical chess sets, and considers why the game's face-to-face appeal has endured in a screen-heavy age. | Photo: Matt Brown via Wikimedia Commons
5. Wadim Rosenstein and his intensive plan to promote chess
   Wadim Rosenstein came into prominence when he organised the first edition of WR Chess in 2023. He then came up with the idea of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Teams - an event that has become a mainstay in the chess calendar. In recent times, if you follow Rosenstein on his X account, the number of activities that he is doing for chess has grown exponentially! In this interview, we ask him about these events, his vision for chess and whether he is planning to become the FIDE President. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
6. Super Rapid & Blitz Poland - Live!
   Kicking off the 2026 Grand Chess Tour is the Super Rapid & Blitz Poland, the first of three speed chess events, which is taking place on 5-9 May in Warsaw. Ahead of the final day of action, Hans Niemann is the sole leader, with Wesley So standing close behind, at a mere half-point distance. | Follow the action live with expert commentary starting at 12.00 CEST (6.00 ET, 15.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes
7. TePe Sigeman - Live!
   The TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament is taking place on 1–7 May in Malmö, Sweden. World number one Magnus Carlsen heads the field, as he faces ambitious opposition that includes Tata Steel Masters winner Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi and rising star Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who recently became the youngest player to ever cross the 2700 rating mark. The event is an eight-player single round-robin. Follow the games live starting at 15.00 CEST (9.00 ET, 18.30 IST) | Photo: Peter Doggers / Official website
8. Problem Challenge April
   Were you able to handle the four rook endgame studies we showed you recently? They were a little bit harder to solve than they looked. We now bring you all the intricacies and subtleties in short videos by IM Gauri Shankar, who works as a chess trainer in Chicago. And of course we give you full analysis in a ChessBase replayer, where you can switch on an engine to help resolve any residual questions.
9. Regulations for FIDE Rapid and Blitz
   Preparations are fully underway for the FIDE World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026 in Hong Kong from 16 to 22 June. In previous editions, the tournament has featured numerous top players competing alongside amateurs and rising talents, producing a dynamic atmosphere rarely seen in traditional elite events. Magnus Carlsen is expected to participate in Hong Kong, adding further star power to the competition.
10. Candidates Round 14 - Live!
    The Candidates Tournaments form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess. No fewer than six players (out of eight) enter the final round with mathematical chances of winning the Women's Candidates Tournament. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.30 CEST (8.30 ET, 18.00 IST) | Photo: Michal Walusza
11. A Game That Outlasted the Day (4)
    It should be clearly emphasized that the longest chess game of all time can only arise by chance. Any prior agreement between the opponents before the game—such as, "Let’s play the longest game in history today!" – or any such understanding reached during the game, automatically turns them into cheaters, with all the ensuing consequences. Estonian chess expert and trainer, Valery Golubenko, tells us about the struggle to regulate very long theoretical endings.
12. A Game That Outlasted the Day (3)
    Two months ago Valery Golubenko played what may well have been one of the longest chess games ever seen, measured by number of moves, under the rather restrictive conditions of modern chess life. At move 88, with queen and b-pawn against queen, Golubenko's opponent held for 37 moves, until he missed an only move, and it was theoretically a mate in 47. | Photo during the game by Chess Club Kaksikodad – from the right, GM Aleksandr Volodin and the chief arbiter Askold Nassar
13. The Birth of a Journey
    Praful Zaveri is the founder of Indian Chess School, where he has trained more than 5000 students. In 2023 he began writing a book, Shat Shat Vande Chess, on the cultural, historical, and philosophical journey of chess, on the 15,000‑year “odyssey” of the game. Now he has decided to make it into a film. Here is the first trailer – and Praful's thoughts on the enterprise.
14. Chess Olympiad: Cloud power for your national squad
    Success in world-class chess is built long before the game begins. With the "Federation Package", developed specifically for national federations, players and coaches gain access to the complete professional ChessBase software, the world's largest chess database, and powerful cloud analysis – at a price that provides up to five times more computing power than individual solutions! A long-term investment that will measurably enhance the performance of the entire team.
15. News on the 1896 Schiffers vs Steinitz Match
    Wilhelm Steinitz had lost his World Championship title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but he still retained the right to a return match. That rematch was scheduled to take place in Moscow at the end of 1896. Before that, however, Steinitz played a training match against Emanuel Schiffers. Join us on a brief journey back in time to Rostov-on-Don in 1896.
16. Endgame Challenge Solutions
    Were you able to solve the challenge positions we gave you last week? Were you able to defeat the diagrams, which defended tenatiously? Today we bring you all solutions, with very instructive video explanations by Jared Modica, a chess content creator from Austin, Texas. He shows us how to solve tatical lines of play, and how to handle pawns in endgames.
17. Most attractive chess players
    Who is your favourite chess player – of all time, from the history of chess? Whose games do you enjoy the most? Is it one of the greats from the 19th century, the world champion legends of the twentieth? Or is it a player who is still active? Tell us your choices – and we will compare them with what a chess AI chooses, after evaluating millions of games.
18. ChessBase´26: A Players Guide (5)
    "Many players use ChessBase, it is the most popular chess software by far, writes GM Iniyan Pa. "Yet, not many people are fully aware of all of its features, and fail to utilise most of them. In this guide I have tried to show the features that I think are vital and important so that the user may gain the most out of the ChessBase. I hope it helps them in their development." We are deeply indebted to Iniyan for his remarkable five-part training review.
19. The Chess World in 2026
    The chess world has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. From a game on the fringes of public interest, it has become part of the media mainstream. This year will see several major events and developments that promise to have a profound impact on the future of chess. Milan Dinić, editor of The British Chess Magazine, has described the main driving factors and what we can expect in 2026.
20. ChessBase´26: A Players Guide (4)
    What is the secret of becoming really good at chess? How can you best improve your understanding, your results and your rating? Well, use the cutting edge study and training software. But also spend some time discovering all the advantages it offers! GM Iniyan Pa has uncovered all the secrets of ChessBase´26, and presents his findings in his training/review reports.
21. Tata Steel Chess - Live!
    The 88th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is taking place from 17 January to 1 February and once again features the traditional structure of parallel Masters and Challengers tournaments, each consisting of 14 players competing in a single round-robin. Nodirbek Abdusattorov enters the final round as the sole leader in the Masters, while Andy Woodward and Aydin Suleymanli are tied for first place in the Challengers. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 12.00 CET (6.00 ET, 16.30 IST)
22. CBM 229: The battle for the FIDE World Cup in Goa
    ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Nagesh Havanur takes a look at the current issue, CBM 229. All games from the FIDE World Cup, 27 annotated, 11 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Sam Shankland, Wei Yi, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Gabriel Sargissian among others. The icing on the cake is the Special feature "Giri's Gems", offering the Dutch star's eight best games from the year 2025.
23. Christmas Puzzles 7 – long and short
    Take a look at this relatively simple position. Can you figure out how White can win? And how many moves it will require to overcome Black's most resolute defence? You won't believe it. To relax we bring you the arguably easiest chess study ever composed, and other entertaining puzzles, many from the out-of-the-box legend Karl Fabel.
24. Christmas Puzzles 6 – cover the board!
    In August 2019 I spent a week in France, at the training camp I had organized (together with ChessBase India) for young Indian super talents. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik did the chess training, while I pestered the kids with logic puzzles. Most did not involve chess, but some did. Here are a couple for you.
25. Christmas Puzzles 5 – Rotary problems
    In rotary problems the board is rotated by 180° for a second position with a different solution. It is usually pawns that make a different when you turn the board around. Or the king/queen positions, or castling is involved. Can one devise problems where these factors do not play a role? Yes one can, as our expert for out-of-the-box problems, Werner Keym, proves.