Chess News

1. Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (15 January 1963 – 14 July 2006): A Chess Vagabond Remembered
   Twenty years ago, on 14 July 2006, Aleksander Wojtkiewicz passed away. Born in Soviet Latvia in 1963, he was one of the country's greatest chess talents and trained under Mikhail Tal. He later went into hiding to avoid military service, became involved in gambling and pimping, served a prison sentence, and after his release became a chess nomad. His early death in Baltimore was tragic.
2. Qualification paths for 2028 Candidates: No more rating spot, two places for Total Chess top scorers
   The FIDE Council has approved qualification paths for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2028 and the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2028, following proposals developed by the Global Strategy Commission. The regulations introduce new qualification opportunities while maintaining a balanced pathway through FIDE's premier competitions. Full information in this FIDE press release.
3. Biel Festival - Live!
   The Biel International Chess Festival is taking place on 11-24 July. Following the Chess960 tournament on Saturday and the rapid chess stage on Sunday, the players in the Masters and Generations Challenge Triathlon face off in the first segment of the classical section on 14-18 July. | Follow the games live starting at 14.00 CEST (8.00 ET, 17.30 IST) | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
4. Remembering Jan Timman: New in Chess Magazine – 2026#2
   "Enjoy the best game. Ever." This bold slogan is the motto of New in Chess Magazine, and in its six annual issues, it does much to justify that claim. The second issue of 2026 offers an appealing mix of tournament reports, training articles and insights into the world of chess. At its heart, however, are moving tributes to the Dutch grandmaster and author Jan Timman, who passed away on 18 February 2026. | Photo: Jan Timman 2019 | Photo: Lennart Ootes
5. Svitlana's Smart Moves - The art of exchanges
   Svitlana Demchenko introduces the Ukrainian Variation from the Old Indian Defense and explains why it can lead to surprisingly comfortable positions for Black, especially if White accepts an early queen trade. The featured Soviet-era game between Lev Polugaevsky and Rashid Nezhmetdinov becomes a spectacular attacking lesson, where Black keeps the white king trapped in the center and launches a dangerous pawn and piece storm. The episode ends with a beautiful queen sacrifice, a wild king hunt, and a forced mate that makes the line both instructive and highly entertaining.
6. Biel: Aronian and Finek outright winners in rapid segment
   Levon Aronian and Vaclav Finek took the early lead in the two triathlon events at the Biel Chess Festival by winning their respective rapid sections. Aronian scored 9/10 in the Masters, finishing 3 points clear of Aydin Suleymanli, while Finek topped the Generations Challenge with 8/10, 1 point ahead of Xiao Tong and Marco Materia. The classical sections of both competitions begin on Tuesday. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
7. The 1858-Rated Kid Who Beat a Super-GM - The Underdog
   In this episode of The Underdog, Robert Ris presents a spectacular upset from the Asian Esports Chess Cup, where a young Thai player (Pakornnarong Liukasemsarn) defeats super-GM Andrey Esipenko despite an enormous rating gap. In a sharp Italian Game with opposite-side castling, Black bravely pushes the kingside pawns, opens the g-file and keeps finding dynamic resources while White misses several powerful attacking chances on the queenside. The game turns into a wild attacking masterpiece, ending with decisive tactics around the white king and a memorable victory for the underdog.
8. ChessBase Summer-Special!
   Dear chess friends, from July 13–19, you can get the Champion’s Bundle: ChessBase’26 & FRITZ 21 – Summer Special: Instead of €269.80, get both for just €209.90! This is our summer special, and it runs for seven days. Two flagships, one price, built to work together.
9. ChessBase tips for beginners - Tactical Analysis (9)
   In this episode of ChessBase Tips for Beginners, we look at Tactical Analysis, a feature that automatically adds engine annotations to your games. Instead of going through every move manually, ChessBase can detect mistakes, suggest variations, add comments, create training questions and even provide an overall game summary. This is a useful tool for studying classic games, analyzing your own tournament games and finding the hidden lessons in every position.
10. Ashwin's Checkmate Chronicles
    Did you attend the Checkmate: USA v. India exhibition match in the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas? No? Was it too far away? Well, you can visit the event virtually, get a feel for the atmosphere and the mood of the players, in this gigantic photo report sent to us by Ashwin Subramanian, senior leader at Intel in India, who was equipped with an advanced digital camera. Take a deep breath and plunge into the collection of pictorial impressions he provides.
11. Can you solve these positions from the Chola Chess camp? - Second edition
    Chola Chess is building a dedicated space for India's strong chess players to train and improve. It is led by R. B. Ramesh and Aarthie Ramaswamy, and supported by a committed team. With consistent camps and serious training, it has already impacted over 1300 players across the country. In this article, we take a look at some of the positions studied during a Chola Chess camp. Take your time and see if you can solve them. | Pictured: GM Debashis Das | Photo: Chola Chess
12. ChessBase´26 – Tips for beginners, part 21: Maximum Training Effect with the Power Tool "Replay Training" (Part 1)
    Do you know the powerful training tool in ChessBase´26? It's called "Replay Training"! This great feature lets you actively go through games move by move—sharpening your strategic and tactical understanding in a targeted way. Whether under time pressure or not, the choice is yours. Train in a realistic setting, get instant feedback, and systematically improve your play—whether you're a beginner or an ambitious tournament player. In this tutorial, we'll guide you step by step through how Replay Training works. Let's get started!
13. Surrealists and chess
    The Lyon Olympique Échecs club has just sent out an alert to 17,500 chess players and 2,500 other contacts. The message reads: "Surrealists and Chess – for €40, help us save a 19th-century workshop right in the heart of Lyon!" A support committee has been set up, which comprises writers, poets, painters, photographers, gallery owners, doctors, politicians, lawyers, bankers and more. Now it's time for the chess community to join.
14. A Game That Outlasted the Day (7)
    In the comments on Part 5 of the series, readers pointed out that this was not a “master game” (as stated on the Guinness page), since Arsović had an initial rating of 2200 (which by today’s standards may correspond to a rating of 1400), while Nikolić’s rating was only 15 points higher. Now in Part 7 the author examines the remaining “competitors” to the Gorkov–Golubenko game for the title of the longest game by number of moves.
15. Under the Hammer
    It isn't easy to weave Sotheby’s, Queen Isabella of Spain, Fischer-Spassky 1972, Michael Caine and a vigilante killer into the same article. But that is exactly what John Henderson does, in this piece that appears in the June issue of CHESS magazine. He tells us how the vast collection of chess memorabilia of GM Lothar Schmid, considered to be the largest and most important of its kind in private hands, went under the hammer recently at Sotheby’s in London. You will not believe the prices they received.
16. Upcoming tournaments and events
    Looking for an interesting over-the-board chess tournament to play, attend, or simply watch? There are plenty being staged all over the world, and we will bring you regular overviews of the most interesting of them. We do this in cooperation with MyChess.events, a global platform that helps players discover upcoming events, check dates, venues, formats, prize funds and registration details. In our selection we highlight selected events from around the world that may interest players, coaches, parents and chess fans.
17. 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. Vincent Keymer and Fabiano Caruana enter the final round tied for first place, while Javokhir Sindarov, Wesley So and Jorden van Foreest stand a half point back and still have chances of taking the title. | Follow the action live with expert commentary starting two hours earlier than usual, at 13.00 CEST (7.00 ET, 16.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes
18. 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
19. 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
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. 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
23. 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.
24. 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
25. 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.