The latest news from Chess.com. https://www.chess.com/ 2026 Chess.com GM Judit Polgar, the greatest woman chess player in history, was invited to be Hungary's next president, a largely ceremonial position with a maximum term of five years. On Sunday, Hungary's new Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on social medi... https://www.chess.com/news/view/judit-polgar-declines-president-of-hungary Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:14:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/judit-polgar-declines-president-of-hungary Chess will soon be coming to the Junior Olympic Games. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has announced that it will add chess as its latest competition, joining established programs covering dozens of sports. Matt Thomas, the first American chessbo... https://www.chess.com/news/view/chess-joins-junior-olympics-as-aau-adds-chess-program Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:32:31 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/chess-joins-junior-olympics-as-aau-adds-chess-program GM Arjun Erigaisi has beaten World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju to catch GM Alireza Firouzja in the lead with two rounds of the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters to go. Gukesh sprang an opening surprise and gained a winning position, but lost his w... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-5 Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:29:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-5 GM Alireza Firouzja enters the second half of the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters as the sole leader after a largely uneventful draw in round four against GM Hans Niemann. The remaining games were also drawn, with World Champion Gukesh Dommara... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-4 Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:32:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-4 Less than 48 hours after claiming that 3+0 is his "best time control," GM Hikaru Nakamura outclassed an elite field to win his 62nd career Bullet Brawl title. Nakamura stayed within striking distance of the frequently changing leaders before surgi... https://www.chess.com/news/view/hikaru-nakamura-wins-bullet-brawl-july-18-2026 Sat, 18 Jul 2026 21:10:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/hikaru-nakamura-wins-bullet-brawl-july-18-2026 GM Arjun Erigaisi became the first player other than GM Alireza Firouzja to win a game in the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters after carefully defusing an inventive queen sacrifice by GM Hans Niemann. Firouzja leads by half a point after making... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-3 Sat, 18 Jul 2026 11:37:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-3 GM Hikaru Nakamura streamed his way to victory in the first 3 0 Thursday on July 16. On stream, he described the time control as clearly his strongest, explaining that it's faster than the five-minute time control used in Titled Tuesdays and that ... https://www.chess.com/news/view/nakamura-drygalov-terry-3-0-thursday-07-16-2026 Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:35:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/nakamura-drygalov-terry-3-0-thursday-07-16-2026 International Chess Day is July 20, and this year, you can turn it into a fresh start. We invite you to celebrate this special occasion with us—while also restarting your longest streak and even winning a permanent and exclusive flair! Rest... https://www.chess.com/news/view/international-chess-day-2026-rewards Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:00:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/international-chess-day-2026-rewards GM Alireza Firouzja marched on with a nail-biting win over World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju to move to 2/2 and take a one-point lead at the top of the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters standings. Only GM Dmitry Andreikin vs. GM Pranesh M was a qu... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-2-1 Fri, 17 Jul 2026 07:48:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-2-1 GM Bibisara Assaubayeva and WGM Anastasia Avramidou progressed to the Semifinals of the 2026 Women's Speed Chess Championship with contrasting victories over GMs Divya Deshmukh and Kateryna Lagno respectively, in the first set of quarterfinal... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-qf-divya-assaubayeva-lagno-avramidou Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:00:49 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-qf-divya-assaubayeva-lagno-avramidou GM Alireza Firouzja reentered the top 10 after a win against GM Pranesh M saw him grab the sole lead after round one of the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters. All the other games featured near misses: GM Gukesh Dommaraju got into trouble ag... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-1 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:16:32 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-chennai-grand-masters-round-1 The International Chess Federation has adopted new qualification paths for the 2028 FIDE Candidates and Women's Candidates Tournaments that will decide future world championship challengers. The rating spot GM Hikaru Nakamura used to qualify in 20... https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-candidates-qualification-2028-rating-spot-removed Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:55:21 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-candidates-qualification-2028-rating-spot-removed GM Parham Maghsoodloo, who won Titled Tuesday five times in 2025, got his first win of 2026 on July 14. His 10/11 score won outright over GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu's 9.5/11, itself good enough for sole second. GM Hikaru Nakamura took third plac... https://www.chess.com/news/view/maghsoodloo-wins-titled-tuesday-july-14-2026 Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:35:37 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/maghsoodloo-wins-titled-tuesday-july-14-2026 Women's world number-one GM Hou Yifan and WGM Anastasia Avramidou advance to the 2026 Women's Speed Chess Championship Quarterfinals after winning the last Round of 16 matches on Monday. Hou defeated IM Dinara Wagner in a one-sided match, 13.5-2.5... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-hou-wagner-shuvalova-avramidou Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:10:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-hou-wagner-shuvalova-avramidou The International Chess Federation has announced a big shake-up in the format for the 2027 FIDE World Cup and Women's World Cup. Instead of huge 206 and 107-player knockouts, the last stage will now involve only the final 16 players in each event,... https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-world-cup-new-format Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:37:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-world-cup-new-format For the 12th time in 2026, GM Hikaru Nakamura triumphed in the Bullet Brawl arena after he won 50, drew eight, and lost 11 games on Saturday. With a score of 172 points, Nakamura finished 27 points clear of the second-placed GM Arjun Erigaisi, 30 ... https://www.chess.com/news/view/hikaru-nakamura-wins-bullet-brawl-july-11-2026 Sat, 11 Jul 2026 21:12:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/hikaru-nakamura-wins-bullet-brawl-july-11-2026 GM Arjun Erigaisi followed up his Titled Tuesday victory this week by winning the first 3 0 Thursday on July 9. GM Emin Ohanyan completed a come-from-behind victory in the second tournament of the day. At the end of the day, GM Volodar Murzin won ... https://www.chess.com/news/view/arjun-ohanyan-murzin-3-0-thursday-07-10-2026 Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:45:45 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/arjun-ohanyan-murzin-3-0-thursday-07-10-2026 The favorites, GMs Divya Deshmukh and Bibisara Assaubayeva, advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2026 Women's Speed Chess Championship on Friday. Between the two of them, the winners lost only a single game. Divya defeated IM Rose Atwell with an u... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-divya-atwell-assaubayeva-khamdamova Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:31:01 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-divya-atwell-assaubayeva-khamdamova GM Kateryna Lagno and IM Alice Lee advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2026 Women's Speed Chess Championship after winning their Round of 16 matches on Wednesday. Lagno's victory was never in doubt as she scored 10.5-3.5 on the way to eliminating... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-lagno-ambartsumova-kosteniuk-lee Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:31:49 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-lagno-ambartsumova-kosteniuk-lee Local hero GM Jaime Santos has won the 2026 Leon Masters after celebrating his 30th birthday by beating 12-year-old Argentinian GM-elect Faustino Oro 3-1 in the Semifinals, before overcoming Vietnamese defending champion GM Liem Le 3.5-0.5 in... https://www.chess.com/news/view/santos-wins-2026-leon-masters-le-oro Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:50:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/santos-wins-2026-leon-masters-le-oro By taking the July 7 tournament outright on 9.5/11, GM Arjun Erigaisi has broken into the Titled Tuesday winners column in 2026, ahead of seven players who tied on nine points. GM Hikaru Nakamura took second place among that group just ahead of GM... https://www.chess.com/news/view/arjun-wins-titled-tuesday-july-7-2026 Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:39:05 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/arjun-wins-titled-tuesday-july-7-2026 GM Benjamin Bok has qualified for the 2026 Esports World Cup after defeating GM Vidit Gujrathi in the 2026 India Rising Finals in Mumbai on July 4. The match reached the maximum number of possible games, with all three sets going to armageddo... https://www.chess.com/news/view/bok-wins-2026-india-rising-final Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:31:56 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/bok-wins-2026-india-rising-final Top grandmasters, content creators, and fans from around the world came to Charlotte from July 3-5 to honor the legacy of the late GM Daniel Naroditsky. The next world championship challenger, GM Javokhir Sindarov, won both the rapid and blitz tou... https://www.chess.com/news/view/sindarov-wins-2026-naroditsky-memorial-rapid-blitz Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:08:57 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/sindarov-wins-2026-naroditsky-memorial-rapid-blitz Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun and two-time Women's Blitz World Champion Anna Muzychuk advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2026 Women's Speed Chess Championship on Monday. Ju handily defeated IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham 9.5-4.5, while Muzychuk went ... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-ju-le-vaishali-muzychuk Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:55:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-wscc-ro16-ju-le-vaishali-muzychuk GM Alireza Firouzja has won the 2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia after beating GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a nerve-wracking armageddon game. Such a finale looked unlikely when Firouzja started the day with a three-point lead after scoring 8/9 ... https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-super-rapid-blitz-croatia-day-5 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 11:55:00 -0700 https://www.chess.com/news/view/2026-super-rapid-blitz-croatia-day-5