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WR Women's Chess Tour 2026: Vaishali Rameshbabu Wins Asia Leg Rapid

06/06/2026 -

Vaishali Rameshbabu is in a red-hot form, after winning the Candidates 2026 and qualifying for the World Championship match against Ju Wenjun. Vaishali played her 1st event in Tokyo. It was the opening leg of the WR Women's Chess Tour, which is a global knockout circuit featuring five legs across four continents in 2026, with a total prize fund of $200,000. Vaishali showed her consistency and won the Rapid event. En route, she defeated IM Irene Sukandar, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, and IM Alua Nurman in the finals. Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Checkmate to Cancer: A Journey of Resilience, Hope, and New Beginnings Through Chess

06/06/2026 -

Imagine a passion that stays with you through every chapter of life. A passion that is there when you are a child discovering the world, when you are searching for direction, when life suddenly becomes uncertain, and when you are trying to find your way back again. For Bhavesh Vyas, that passion is chess. It became a source of comfort, connection, and hope through some of the most challenging moments of his life, including a battle with cancer at the age of 22. Read on to discover how chess helped Bhavesh navigate life's toughest challenges and find joy again.

R Praggnanandhaa Makes History as First Indian to Win Norway Chess 2026

05/06/2026 -

R Praggnanandhaa created history after winning the Norway Chess 2026. In the final round, Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer with the white pieces to win the title. Pragg scored 4 consecutive classical wins to finish the tournament. Norway Chess 2026 was one of the strongest tournaments of the year. According to the numbers, it was even stronger than the candidates. It was one of the biggest achievements of Pragg's career as he became the 1st Indian to win Norway Chess. Photo: Michal Walusza / Norway Chess

IM Aradhya Garg Wins Shri Dhanpat Rai Sachdeva Memorial 2026; Reflects on GM Dreams and Helping Others

05/06/2026 -

IM Aradhya Garg scored an unbeaten 8/9 points to win the Shri Dhanpat Rai Sachdeva Memorial Open FIDE Classical Chess Tournament 2026. Aradhya remained unbeaten throughout the event and defeated Rosh Jain, who is a talented youngster from Delhi itself. Seven players scored 7.5/9 points to finish in 2nd to 8th places, respectively. Tiebreak scores helped IM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy and IM Neelash Saha to secure 2nd and 3rd place. The tournament was organised by the Rai Sahab Council for Sports and Education from 17th to 21st May 2026. Check out an interesting interview with Aradhya in this report.

The story behind Pune's newest chess academy

05/06/2026 -

National Instructor Satyam Warude recently inaugurated SW Chess Academy in Wagholi, Pune. The academy offers both online and offline training programmes. Satyam has been coaching chess since 2016 and has trained more than 500 students over the years. In this interview, he shares his coaching journey, training philosophy, and approach to working with students. He also discusses the academy's unique ranking system and student engagement initiatives. Read the full interview below. Image: AI-generated

Norway Chess 2026: Pragg Defeats World Champion Gukesh, Bibisara Assaubayeva Wins Title

05/06/2026 -

R Praggnanandhaa defeated World Champion D Gukesh in the penultimate round of Norway Chess 2026. Praggnanandhaa is in a red-hot form as he scored his 3rd consecutive classical victory. In the 7th round, he defeated Alireza Firouzja, in the 8th round, he toppled World No.1 Magnus Carlsen, and now he has defeated the World Champion. With these 3 wins, Praggnanandhaa is just half a point behind Wesley So going into the last round. In the last round, Praggnanandhaa will play against Vincent Keymer with White pieces. Photo: Michal Walusza / Norway Chess

Sammed Jaykumar Shete wins 2nd Pune International Speed Festival Rapid 2026, Akshay Borgaonkar shines in blitz

04/06/2026 -

Sammed Jaykumar Shete scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 points to win the 2nd Pune International Speed Festival Rapid Rating Chess Tournament 2026, organised by 8x8 Chess Academy. Iyer Arvind, Kashish Manoj Jain, Viresh Sharnarthi, and Srijit Paul scored 8/9 points to secure 2nd to 5th places according to tiebreak scores. The tournament was organised by FI Shashikant Maktedar along with the dedicated 8x8 Chess Academy team. The total prize fund of the Rapid event was ₹2,50,000, with top 3 prizes of 31000, ₹25,000, and ₹15,000 along with trophies. Photo: FI Shashikant Maktedar

FIDE Rating list June 2026: Arjun holds on as India's only top-10 player in Open category

04/06/2026 -

In the June 2026 FIDE rating list, Arjun Erigaisi remains the only Indian in the world top 10, while thirteen Indians feature in the Open top 100. In the women's section, eight Indians are ranked among the world's top 100 players. Shubhi Gupta's rise to World No. 32 following her strong showing at the Munich Chess Festival is among the highlights for Indian chess. India continues to hold the No. 2 position in the Open, Women's, and Mixed federation standings. Photo: Peter Doggers

The man who brought Chess, Business and Government together in Poland - Lukasz Turlej

04/06/2026 -

In the heart of Warsaw, following the conclusion of a star-studded super tournament Super Rapid and Blitz 2026 which is part of the Grand Chess Tour, we sat down with Lukasz Turlej, the Secretary General of FIDE and a pivotal figure in the Polish chess. From organizing major championships on short notice to building a bridge between the sport and the world of business and government, Lukasz has been at the forefront of a booming chess culture in Poland. We speak to him about varied subjects in this interview and try to understand his vision for chess.

COB Revival Final Set: Joel vs Prakhar

03/06/2026 -

The COB Revival semifinals produced two dominant 2-0 results with contrasting styles. In Semifinal 1, Joel Dsouza defeated Vivek Desai through strong central play, tactical precision, and a composed endgame conversion, eventually securing a hard-fought draw in Game 2 to reach the final. In Semifinal 2, Prakhar Gupta completed a clean sweep over Samay Raina, consistently neutralizing aggressive pawn storms and converting superior endgame positions in both games to book his place in the final. The event concluded with a lighthearted third-place match, where Samay defeated Vivek in a tactical Sicilian battle and claimed the symbolic ₹500 prize in a fittingly entertaining finish. Photos: IA/NI Vivek Sohani

COB Revival - Prakhar, Joel, Vivek & Samay Qualifies to Semifinals

03/06/2026 -

The Comedians On Board (COB) Revival has moved into the knockout stage after a dramatic shift in momentum. Day 1 leaders Prakhar and Joel faced a tough second day, while Super PogChamps winner Samay Raina rose to the occasion as always to turn the tables. Samay not only defeated Trace in the final round of the round-robin stage but also clinched their Armageddon tiebreaker with the Black pieces. Meanwhile, Vivek Desai remained unbeaten on Day 2, comfortably securing his spot in the semifinals. Photos : IA/NI Vivek Sohani

Double Trouble for Magnus! Praggnanandhaa Defeats World No.1 Twice at Norway Chess 2026

03/06/2026 -

R Praggnanandhaa defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the second consecutive time at Norway Chess 2026. Praggnanandhaa won against Magnus in the 4th round with white pieces, and he defeated Magnus with the black pieces in the 8th round. It was an intense battle where Praggnanandhaa kept Magnus under pressure and finally under time pressure, Magnus made a crucial mistake and lost the game. With 2 rounds to go, Wesley is still leading the field while Pragg is in 3rd place. Photo: Michal Walusza / Norway Chess

Boris Savchenko Wins KIIT International Chess 2026; Aronyak Ghosh Finishes 3rd

03/06/2026 -

GM Boris Savchenko scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 points to win the 17th KIIT International Chess Festival 2026 (Category 'A' 1900 & Above). Aleksandrov Aleksej, Aronyak Ghosh, Mayank Chakraborty, and Nguyen Duc Hoa scored 8/10 points to finish in 2nd to 5th places according to the tiebreak scores. KIIT festival had India's largest ever prize fund of 1.31 Crores across all 3 categories. In category A, the prize fund was ₹51,00,000 with the top 3 prizes of ₹7,50,000, ₹6,00,000, and ₹4,00,000 along with trophies. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

50 years in chess - Bharat Singh Chauhan

03/06/2026 -

If you visit a tournament where Bharat Singh Chauhan is an organizer or part of the core team, more often than not, you will see him playing blitz against young talents, fellow organizers or just about anyone he finds. This stems from his deep love for the game. From a competitive state champion to the Chairman of the FIDE Advisory Board, the journey of Bharat Singh Chauhan has been quite an important one for Indian chess. Read the article to know more.

From Anand-Carlsen 2013 to BT Chess Mastery: The Hariharan S Pillai Story

03/06/2026 -

If you were around the Indian chess scene back in 2013, you remember it as the year the landscape shifted forever. Chennai was hosting the iconic Anand-Carlsen World Championship Match. It was a chaotic, historic time. Behind the scenes, making sure journalists got their credentials and the Carlsen camp had seamless logistics, was a young man named Hariharan S Pillai. Read the story of Hariharan.

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