6/2/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva extended her lead at Norway Chess Women with a classical win over Zhu Jiner, her second three-pointer of the event. Divya Deshmukh missed a chance to keep pace in classical play against Humpy Koneru but won the Armageddon decider, while Anna Muzychuk defeated Ju Wenjun in the tiebreak to move into sole third place. Assubayeva is set to face second-placed Deshmukh in round eight. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/2/2026 – The 25th edition of the European Women's Chess Championship is taking place from 25 May to 5 June in the Georgian city of Batumi. The tournament is played over 11 rounds using the Swiss system. More than 150 players from 32 European federations have registered to participate. Ten players have an Elo rating above 2400. | Follow the games live starting at 13.00 CEST (7.00 ET, 16.30 IST) | Photo: European Chess Union

6/2/2026 – On the top board in round seven of the 2026 European Women's Championship in Batumi, 2023 European Champion Meri Arabidze (pictured left) defeated 15-year-old Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, bringing the Ukrainian youngster's winning streak to an end. With the victory, Arabidze caught up with Hnatyshyn in the standings. The third co-leader is Sabrina Vega Gutierrez, who defeated Ulviyya Fataliyeva. | Photos: European Chess Union

6/2/2026 – There has been some movement at the top of the world rankings. Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana both lost rating points at the Candidates Tournament. As Nakamura's losses were more significant, both players dropped below the 2800 mark. In May, however, Caruana gained four rating points and caught up with Nakamura. As a result, Caruana is now listed in second place, with Nakamura in third. Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, is currently competing in Norway, where one of his goals is to avoid losing rating points. He remains the clear world number one. Players ranked fourth through seventh are Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer and Anish Giri. Hou Yifan remains the world's top-ranked female player, while World Champion Gukesh is the highest-rated player in the U20 category. Anna Shukhman is the new number one among the girls.

6/2/2026 – Counterplay counts: Queen and knight can often drum up a dangerous attack: White to move and draw.

6/2/2026 – Welcome to The Initiative – a show dedicated to the relentless battle for momentum in chess! In every game, players fight to seize control, dictate the pace and keep their opponent on the back foot. But what does it really mean to have the initiative? How do the world's best players maintain pressure and transform small advantages into crushing attacks?

6/2/2026 – Wesley So is still the sole leader at Norway Chess, despite losing the Armageddon decider to Gukesh Dommaraju after saving a draw in the classical game. He now leads by 2½ points, as Alireza Firouzja, his closest pursuer, suffered a second consecutive classical loss, this time against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Magnus Carlsen, meanwhile, gained ground by drawing with Vincent Keymer in classical play and holding the Armageddon game with the black pieces. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/1/2026 – The International Chess Federation has introduced the FIDE Excellence Awards, a biennial programme recognising achievements across the global chess community during each Olympiad cycle. The first ceremony will be held in Samarkand in September 2026, during the Chess Olympiad. Nominations are open across regular and discretionary categories, covering players, federations, events, creators and social-impact projects, with shortlists to be selected in July before the winners are announced at the ceremony.

6/1/2026 – Grandmaster Amin Bassem takes on the Swindler on GM level and quickly guides the game into a strategically rich King's Indian structure. Throughout the game, Amin demonstrates deep positional understanding, carefully evaluating dynamic imbalances and resisting tempting material gains when they would strengthen Fritz's active pieces. After a tense middlegame battle full of subtle decisions, both sides agree to a draw, and the post game analysis reveals just how finely balanced the struggle had been.

6/1/2026 – Magnus Carlsen has started Norway Chess with 0.5 out of 3 and his two losses seem to be a direct result of the unusual time control: increment only starts after move 40. Reasonably well played games are ruined by terrible blunders in time trouble. It's questionable how this makes chess more fun and it's strange to see that all important tournaments are using a different time control. Anyway, the game between Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen was a big adventure with many interesting moments.Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.

6/1/2026 – Ju Wenjun scored only the third classical win of the Norway Chess Women tournament, defeating Divya Deshmukh in a tense Ruy Lopez to move back into contention. Bibisara Assaubayeva regained the lead after drawing quickly against Humpy Koneru and then winning the Armageddon decider, while Zhu Jiner also collected 1½ points by beating Anna Muzychuk in the tiebreak. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza

6/1/2026 – Wesley So took the lead at Norway Chess after beating Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in round six, while Alireza Firouzja lost his long-held first place following a defeat against Magnus Carlsen. Vincent Keymer scored his first win of the event by defeating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. All three classical games were won by the player with the white pieces in battles involving technical precision more than brilliant tactical shots. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza