1/26/2026 – Play in Wijk aan Zee continued with an important result in the Masters, where Anish Giri defeated leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov, though Abdusattorov remains in first place. Javokhir Sindarov stays close behind after drawing Vinceny Keymer. Meanwhile, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju scored a win with the black pieces over Vladimir Fedoseev to bounce back from a pair of painful losses. In the Challengers, Andy Woodward and Marc'Andria Maurizzi both won to remain co-leaders, with Aydin Suleymanli half a point back. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

1/26/2026 – In my next Fast & Furious show I am having a closer look at the spectacular 27-move victory of Javokhir Sindarov with the Black pieces against Matthias Bluebaum. Against the Krasenkow Variation of the King's Indian (6.h3) the young Uzbek quickly left well-known territory just to avoid a theoretical battle. An excellent practical decision, as Bluebaum clearly didn't feel comfortable in the complicated middlegame and quickly lost track. In this installment I'll explain both sides their thematical plans and explain why one shouldn't automatically trust the engine's evaluation.

1/26/2026 – Recently we sent a friend of our company a copy of our latest database software, asking him what he thought of it. Instead of simply using it in the customary fashon, Iniyan P, a strong and very active grandmaster, spent weeks delving into every corner of the program, searching for all new featurs and enhancements: And he submitted an extensive training review, which we share with our readers.

1/25/2026 – Manuel Petrosyan and Anahit Mkrtchyan won the Armenian National Championships in Yerevan, earning national titles and places in future international team events. The parallel round-robin tournaments were closely fought, with the open section decided in the final round and the women's title emerging from a sustained duel at the top. The event reflected the depth and competitiveness of Armenia's domestic chess scene. | Photos: Armenian Chess Federation

1/25/2026 – The grenke Chess Festival returns to Karlsruhe at Easter 2026, bringing together thousands of players for one of the world's largest chess gatherings. Alongside the traditional classical Open, the festival will stage a Freestyle Chess Open that serves as a qualifier for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. With leading grandmasters expected and substantial prizes at stake, the event combines large-scale participation with direct international sporting significance.

1/25/2026 – Round seven of the Tata Steel Masters saw Nodirbek Abdusattorov extend his lead with a second straight win, defeating top seed Vincent Keymer in a sharp Semi-Slav. Javokhir Sindarov remains in sole second place, while Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus scored a second win in a row and Anish Giri grabbed his first victory of the event. In the Challengers, a quieter day allowed Marc'Andria Maurizzi to catch Andy Woodward in the lead. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lenart Ootes

1/25/2026 – Calculation separates the wheat from the chaff in chess. At the same time, many club players devote too little of their training to the skills involved. In today’s flood of courses and databases, everyone can bring their openings to a solid level and make “sensible” moves. Yet most games are still decided in close combat. Hannes Langrock is an editor at a fiction publishing house and an International Master. He lives in Leipzig and plays for ESV Nickelhütte Aue. He reviews Surya Ganguly's course “Calculation Step by Step Vol. 1”. | Photos: ChessBase

1/24/2026 – The grenke Chess Festival will return to Karlsruhe over Easter 2026, bringing together thousands of players for parallel classical and Freestyle opens. For the first time, the Freestyle event will serve as a qualifier for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, adding direct sporting stakes to the established festival format. Leading figures including Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer are set to feature in one of the largest open gatherings in world chess. | Photo: Stev Bonhage

1/24/2026 – The European Chess Union has announced the creation of the European Chess Super League, a new elite club competition scheduled to debut in 2027. Featuring eight leading clubs and a substantial prize fund, the event aims to bring top-level team chess into a dedicated continental format. Organisers also confirmed plans for a corresponding Women's Super League, underlining a broader effort to expand the profile of club chess in Europe.

1/24/2026 – Round six of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament featured a number of pivotal games in both sections. In the Masters, Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated world champion Gukesh Dommaraju after a sudden one-move blunder, moving ahead of the field, while Vincent Keymer and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus also collected important wins. The Challengers saw Andy Woodward claim a marathon victory over Carissa Yip to take clear first place. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lenart Ootes

1/23/2026 – Judit Polgár is a name that still electrifies today. This goes back to her meteoric rise – and that of her sisters – in the 1980s and 1990s. She climbed as high as eighth place in the world rankings – note, the open rankings, not the women’s list – and even defeated Garry Kasparov. Without doubt, this career offers more than enough material for a TV series. The planners at Netflix thought the same, and so Queen of Chess will appear on the streaming platform in February. Not only chess fans are likely to be curious. | Image material: Netflix

1/23/2026 – Magnus had recently seemed somewhat weary of tournaments with classical time controls, but the organisers of the TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament (1–7 May 2026) have now rather surprisingly announced the participation of the world number one. Carlsen last played in Malmö as a 14-year-old. | Photo: Lennart Ootes