Norway Chess - Live!

6/1/2026 – The 14th edition of the Norway Chess super-tournament is taking place from 25 May to 5 June at Deichman Bjorvika in Oslo. An open event and a women's event are being played concurrently with an identical number of players, the same format and an equivalent prize fund. Leader Wesley So plays black against Gukesh Dommaraju in round seven, while defending champion Magnus Carlsen faces Vincent Keymer, also with black. | Follow the games live starting at 17.00 CEST (11.00 ET, 20.30 IST) | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
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FIDE launches Excellence Awards

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.

GM Bassem Amin vs. Swindler (The Fox, Level = GM)

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.
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European Women's Championship - Live!

6/1/2026 – 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
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Game of the Week #723: Praggnanandhaa vs Carlsen

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.

Norway Chess Women: Assaubayeva regains the lead, as Ju beats Deshmukh

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
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Norway Chess: Carlsen beats Firouzja, So grabs the lead

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
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Chess, senet and the Egyptian idea of order

5/31/2026 – Chess can be read alongside Egyptian ideas of order, judgement and self-discipline. Beginning with senet and its symbolic links to the afterlife, the text follows the later arrival of shatranj in Islamic Egypt and considers how the chessboard became a useful metaphor for ethics, strategy and human limits. These connections are treated cautiously, avoiding claims of direct continuity where evidence is uncertain. | Image: Painting in tomb of Egyptian queen Nefertari (1295–1255 BCE)
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Batumi: Hnatyshyn cannot stop winning

5/31/2026 – Anastasiia Hnatyshyn crossed the halfway point of the European Women's Championship in Batumi with a perfect 6/6 score after defeating Oliwia Kiolbasa on Saturday. The 15-year-old Ukrainian WFM now leads by a full point over Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Meri Arabidze and Sabrina Vega, while a 13-player group on 4½/6 remains within range with five rounds still to play. Sunday is a rest day in the Georgian capital. | Photo: European Chess Union
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ChessBase´26 – Tips for beginners, part 17: Choosing your board design

5/31/2026 – After all the analysis tips from the past few weeks, this time it’s simply about aesthetics! But that’s not unimportant — after all, you spend a lot of time with ChessBase´26, so the look should be appealing and match your personal taste. Discover how to customize “your board” exactly the way you like it.

Norway Chess Women: Deshmukh takes the lead

5/31/2026 – Divya Deshmukh scored a win with black in her classical game against Zhu Jiner in round five of the Norway Chess Women tournament. Deshmukh overtook former sole leader Bibisara Assaubayeva in the standings. Assaubayeva herself drew against Anna Muzychuk and lost in Armageddon. Deshmukh leads the field with 8½ points, followed by Assaubayeva on 8 points. In the duel between Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru, the Indian GM won the Armageddon game. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
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Norway Chess: So takes down Carlsen, Gukesh grabs first classical win

5/31/2026 – Wesley So and Gukesh Dommaraju won their classical games with the black pieces in round five of Norway Chess, beating Magnus Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu respectively. Alireza Firouzja kept the sole lead after drawing his classical game against Vincent Keymer and then winning the Armageddon decider. So is now his closest pursuer, while Gukesh moved up to third place. | Photo: Norway Chess / Tor Nilssen
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1900 beats IM with 2400 - The Underdog

5/30/2026 – In this episode of The Underdog, Robert presents a game from the 25th European Women's Chess Championship 2026 in Batumi, Georgia. As he has done in several previous episodes, the featured game is not from the opening round but from round four. The talented Armenian player Polina Kobak faced IM Stavroula Tsolakidou of Greece, one of the tournament favourites, and met the King's Indian Defence with impressive play. Interestingly, both players had opportunities to force a draw, but neither was willing to settle for half a point.

A Game That Outlasted the Day (6)

5/30/2026 – What do a teenage endgame played almost blindfolded (in every sense) in 1977 and a 239-move grandmaster game from the Czech Extraliga in 2016 have in common? In Part 6 of this series, Valery Golubenko combines personal memory, endgame tablebases, and hard logic to show how easily won positions can turn into marathon absurdities – and why some “record” games may owe their length not to difficulty, but to something far more human.
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Batumi: 15-year-old WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn leads with perfect 5/5

5/30/2026 – Anastasiia Hnatyshyn took the sole lead at the European Women's Championship in Batumi after defeating Elmira Mirzoeva to reach 5/5. The 15-year-old Ukrainian WFM, seeded 76th in the 165-player field, has now scored four consecutive upset wins. Oliwia Kiolbasa from Poland and Gulenay Aydin from Türkiye stand half a point behind, while an 11-player group on 4/5 includes Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Anna Ushenina and Meri Arabidze. | Photo: European Chess Union
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FIDE World University Team Chess Championship 2026: Eight teams reach over-the-board final

5/29/2026 – Eight teams have qualified online for the final stage of the 2026 FIDE World University Team Championship, which will be held in Almaty from 4 to 9 August. They will be joined by eight wildcard entries in a 16-team over-the-board final. The event will feature a group stage followed by knockouts, with the winners earning the FIDE World University Team Champion title and a €25,000 first prize.
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New: CBM Extra #231

5/29/2026 – The new CBM Extra 231 features three repertoire ideas for 1.e4 players in video format: Nico Zwirs examines side lines in the Petroff that were tested at the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Robert Ris presents a concept against the popular 3...c5 in the Caro-Kann Advance Variation. And in the “Special”, Fiona Sieber presents a surprise weapon against the Najdorf in a short video series. Plus the “Lucky Bag” with 40 analyses by Surya Ganguly, Erwin l’Ami, Nikita Vitugov and many more. Tip: With a subscription, you pay just €9.17 per issue for CBM Extra (instead of €14.90 for a single issue)!

Norway Chess Women: Leader Assaubayeva defeats Ju in Armageddon

5/29/2026 – Bibisara Assaubayeva has a 1½-point lead at Norway Chess Women going into the rest day after drawing her classical game against Ju Wenjun and then winning the Armageddon decider. All three classical games in round four were drawn, with Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner also prevailing in the tiebreaks. Assaubayeva's first-round win remains the tournament's only decisive classical result so far. | Photo: Norway Chess / Michal Walusza
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Batumi: Mirzoeva and Hnatyshyn lead

5/29/2026 – Elmira Mirzoeva (pictured left) of England tops the standings after four rounds of the 2026 European Women’s Championship in Batumi. She shares first place with 15-year-old Ukrainian Anastasia Hnatyshyn. Seeded 53rd and 76th respectively, the two surprise leaders are half a point ahead of the next four players. Another half point behind them is a large chasing group of 29 players. | Photo: European Chess Union
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