Chess Topics

GM Evgeny Romanov (MKD) has won the Montenegro & Mediterranean Open 2026 in Budva on tiebreaks, following a four-way tie at 7/9 points. IM Olga Badelka (AUT) finished 4th overall as the tournament's top female player in the 163-player Open A field. In Open B, Milojko Kandic (MNE) took clear first place with a strong 8/9 score. #Chess #BudvaChess #MontenegroOpen #MediterraneanChess chesstopics.com/gm-evgeny-roma…

Why not add new, more extended- rapid tournaments instead of tinkering with existing standard time control events? Aim seems to be to reduce chess to an instinctive emotional reaction measuring activity . How can deep ideas be found, analysed, evaluated, implemented if not given any time to think? Reforms (regressive) for the sake of appearing to do something new is not a reform.

The inaugural Open Internacional de Xadrez Fuxan os Ventos 2026 is officially underway in Lugo, Spain! ♟️🇪🇸 101 players are competing in the 9-round classical event for a €6,750 prize fund (€1,500 for 1st). The festival also features a night blitz event, a futsal tournament, and local cultural tours. #Xadrez #Fuxal2026 #LugoChess #ChessTournament chesstopics.com/open-internaci…

The XXVI Internacional Open Sant Martí begins today in Barcelona! ♟️ • Group A: 116 players from 32 countries, including 8 GMs and 8 IMs. • Top seed: GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen 🇳🇴, arriving fresh off his dominant victory in Scotland. • Group B: 229 participants. All rounds start daily at 16:30 local time with live top-board coverage. #Ajedrez #OpenSantMarti #BarcelonaChess #ChessTournament chesstopics.com/sant-marti-int…

See you there Gawain! ChessFest takes over Trafalgar Square today - come and join the fun 🤩- all welcome, something for everyone. Bring a hat because it’s going to be sunny! @Chess_Fest @schoolschess @xtxmarkets #chess

The English Chess Federation (ECF) has officially announced the England teams for the 2026 Chess Olympiad, taking place this September in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿♟️🇺🇿 The women's squad features 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan. #Chess #ChessOlympiad #Samarkand2026 #EnglishChess chesstopics.com/england-teams-…

Norway's Johan-Sebastian Christiansen @GMJSChr dominated the 2026 Scottish Championship International Open in Hamilton, finishing clear 1st with a massive 8.5/9 points! 🏆🇳🇴 IM Andrew Greet (SCO) took sole 2nd place with 7.5/9 to claim the official Scottish National Champion title. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 In the Under-1800 FIDE section, India's Pulkanti Lokesh Kumar (1778) took 1st place with 7.5 points. 🇮🇳 #Chess #ScottishChess #JohanSebastianChristiansen chesstopics.com/gm-christianse…

#chess #FIDE_elections Shocking reports by German chess media about Timur Turlov's newly acquired company: "Hamburger Sparkasse has terminated ChessBase's business account. According to information obtained by this website, the termination will take effect on October 1, 2026. The bank's decision came shortly after the sale of the Hamburg-based chess software company to Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov - a man whose financial empire is under scrutiny from financial regulators, banks, and the media worldwide. When contacted by this website, Hamburger Sparkasse declined to comment on the specific case. A spokesperson for the bank, referring to the ChessBase situation, stated a general principle: if a business relationship falls under current sanctions against countries such as Russia, Belarus, or Iran, this could lead to the bank being prohibited from continuing certain relationships." If the above decision of Hamburger Sparkasse Bank is indeed true, FIDE and Dvorkovich owe an immediate clarification and full disclosure of all their financial relations with Timur Turlov. All and any of the contracts between FIDE and Turlov's companies (Freedom, Chessbase, events, etc) should come to the immediate knowledge of FIDE's owners - its member federations - for full evaluation and risk assessment. @ECUonline @Chessdom @ChessTopics @ChessCom @TarjeiJS @Chess__News @TelegraphChess @PHChess @Chess24com @TheWorldChess

The 2026 Cairns Cup returns to Saint Louis from August 8–21, running alongside the Sinquefield Cup! 🇺🇸♟️ Ten of the world's elite players will compete in a 9-round classical round-robin for a $250,000 prize fund. The star-studded lineup features: 🇮🇳 Koneru (2535) 🇨🇳 Tan Zhongyi (2535) 🇺🇦 A. Muzychuk (2522) 🇰🇿 Assaubayeva (2516) 🇮🇳 Divya Deshmukh (2510) 🇨🇭 Kosteniuk (2487) 🇺🇸 Yip (2484) – Defending Champion 🇬🇷 Tsolakidou (2479) 🇮🇳 Vaishali (2470) 🇺🇸 Alice Lee (2415) Live broadcast starts August 10–20 on the @STLChessClub YouTube & Twitch channels, with commentary by WGM Almira Skripchenko and IM Nazi Paikidze. #Chess #CairnsCup #WomensChess #StLouisChess chesstopics.com/2026-cairns-cu…

Won KazChess Masters Almaty 2026🇰🇿 Performance: 2683 with 6/9 points Earned 7,000,000 ₸ (~ €13.000) @FNATIC #alwaysFNATIC

The Spanish Chess Federation @AjedrezEspanola has officially announced its national team lineups for the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. 🇪🇸♟️🇺🇿 European vice-champion Sabrina Vega is set to lead the women's squad. #Chess #ChessOlympiad #Samarkand2026 #Ajedrez @SomosB100 chesstopics.com/spain-set-for-…

#chess #FIDE_elections We all remember the fiasco of the electronic voting procedures in both FIDE General Assemblies of Budapest 2024 and online of December 2025. The campaign of Jan Henric Buettner has submitted a set of proposals to FIDE which will ensure a fair and efficient election procedure in Samarkand. The first proposal concerns the appointment of scrutineers. It will be a good move by FIDE's current administration to accept it (as there is absolutely no reason not to). The full letter of Jan Henric Buettner:

Uzbekistan's @GMJSindarov swept both elite trophies at the inaugural Daniel Naroditsky Memorial in Charlotte! 🏆🇺🇿 • Rapid: Sindarov beat Aravindh Chithambaram 2-0 in a blitz playoff after tying at 6/7. • Blitz: Scored 7.5/9 in the closed final ahead of Wesley So (7/9). An amazing performance by NM Ethan Sheehan (2416), who took 3rd place in the Blitz Final ahead of multiple super-GMs, including a win over Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, IM John Bartholomew @fins0905 dominated the Creator Invitational with a perfect 9-0 score. ♟️🔥 The event raised funds for the Naroditsky Memorial Fund and youth scholarships. chesstopics.com/double-triumph…

13 year old chess talent Jadon Simiyu from Kenya just became the 2nd Kenyan ever to pass 2200 in @FIDE_chess elo when he placed 2nd in the Coast Open Championship Imagine what he can do if he gets a laptop. 500$ is missing, help us to make his dream true! gofund.me/e5bdc621d

¡PARA USTEDES! Después de semejante partido y victoria de Argentina, estábamos obligados de hacer todo lo posible para traerles las declaraciones de Leo, pero sinceramente no tuvimos que hacer mucho, ya que Messi se detuvo inmediatamente y nos dedicó un tiempo considerable para responder nuestras preguntas.

The Open Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Oviedo 2026 takes place from July 20-26 in Asturias, Spain. ♟️🇪🇸 The 9-round classical Swiss event features a €7,230 prize fund (€1,800 for 1st place) at the beautiful Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos. Organized by Club de Ajedrez Ciudad Naranco @narancoajedrez #Chess #OviedoChess #ChessTournament #Asturias chesstopics.com/open-internaci…

GM Haowen Xue is the 2026 World Open Champion! 🏆🇨🇳 17-year-old Xue tied for 1st place alongside GM Prraneeth Vuppala (IND) and IM Evan Park (USA) with 7.5/9 points in a massive 230-player Open section, with each earning $11,666. 💰 Xue then defeated Park in a late-night Armageddon playoff to take home the official trophy and the $500 winner's bonus! ♟️🔥 #Chess #WorldOpen #WorldOpen2026 chesstopics.com/gm-haowen-xue-…

Thank you. This was a great honor.

If you think Magnus Carlsen is the biggest overachiever Norwegian chess player, think again. Edit Machlik is a professional footballer, a freelance musician, a practicing dentist, and was Board 2 for Norway at the '22 Chess Olympiad in India! 🇳🇴🤯 📷: G Berntzen; A Vestby

While Vladimir Putins 🇷🇺 support for Dvorkovich election was the most prominent, he was not the only one: