Javokhir Sindarov has finished the first half of the FIDE Candidates on 6/7 following a draw against Anish Giri. Although Sindarov was better Giri's defence was very accurate and really there didn't seem to be any winning chances. The only decisive game of the day was when Wei Yi took advantage of a gruesome blunder […]
Javokhir Sindarov won yet again to move to 5.5/6 and revive memories of Veselin Topalov's 6.5/7 in the first half of the World Championship tournament in San Luis in 2005 (and as Anand admitted, the only person to draw, he saved a lost position), there in exactly the same format, Topalov cruised to victory by […]
Javokhir Sindarov continues to lead the FIDE Candidates in Cyprus by a point after crushing Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces. Even at this early stage it's already looking like it's going to be a fight between Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana, they're the only two looking in great form. Caruana overpowered the hitherto undefeated Matthias […]
Javokhir Sindarov put a major marker down by beating Fabiano Caruana in Round 4 of the Candidates, the two were sharing the lead. Sindarov was one of the favourites before the event alongside Caruana. Sindarov has started with 3.5/4, whilst there's an extremely long way to go he looks in very fine form. In the […]
The second round of the FIDE Candidates in the Cap St Georges resort, near Pegeia, Cyprus saw all the games finish in a draw in the end. In the open event maybe Javokhir Sindarov got a little something against Matthias Bluebaum and perhaps Praggnanandhaa too could have done a little better against Wei Yi, Anish […]
The FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus started promisingly with wins for Javokhir Sindarov over Andrey Esipenko, Praggnanandhaa over Anish Giri and finally Fabiano Caruana over Hikaru Nakamura. Matthias Bluebaum against Wei Yi was a correct draw. In the women's event Aleksandra Goryachkina missed a simple combination that should have ended the game pretty much immediately […]
The ECF Online Grand Prix Series returns for 2026, beginning on Sunday, 5 April and running through to December. The series features monthly blitz and rapid tournaments open to all...
Please note that the ECF month-end rating process ran successfully last night. This means that this month’s official ratings have now been published, with monthly ratings displaying correctly in the...
Please note that the ECF month-end rating process did not run last night, which means that this month’s official ratings have not yet been published. We are currently working on...
Press Release: Not an April Fool! British chess phenom Bodhana Sivanandan has made history by shooting to the top of the UK chess rankings after a sensational start to 2026,...
The English Chess Federation is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support through a special 24-hour online chess marathon. This fundraiser is in memory of Adam Hunt and Jonathan Hawkins,...
Regarding the Regulation 5 Complaint by Nick Faulks against Stephen Woodhouse, a panel of non-executive directors found no evidence of bias during Stephen’s investigation of an earlier complaint and no...
Two months ago Valery Golubenko played what may well have been one of the longest chess games ever seen, measured by number of moves, under the rather restrictive conditions of modern chess life. At move 88, with queen and b-pawn against queen, Golubenko's opponent held for 37 moves, until he missed an only move, and […]
Lyon Olympique Échecs, founded in 1905, is one of the largest chess clubs in France. From 8–19 April 2026 they are staging the Henri Rinck International Chess Championships. If you are able to attend, you can explore the 600m² club, which is like a chess museum. For those who can't, here are visual impressions of […]
The Candidates Tournaments form the final qualifying stage of the FIDE World Championship cycle. Each tournament features eight of the world's strongest players competing in a double round-robin format over fourteen rounds of classical chess. In the open, sole leader Javohkir Sindarov plays white against Anish Giri in Sunday's seventh round. In the women's tournament, […]
Praful Zaveri is the founder of Indian Chess School, where he has trained more than 5000 students. In 2023 he began writing a book, Shat Shat Vande Chess, on the cultural, historical, and philosophical journey of chess, on the 15,000‑year “odyssey” of the game. Now he has decided to make it into a film. Here […]
Success in world-class chess is built long before the game begins. With the "Federation Package", developed specifically for national federations, players and coaches gain access to the complete professional ChessBase software, the world's largest chess database, and powerful cloud analysis – at a price that provides up to five times more computing power than individual […]
Wilhelm Steinitz had lost his World Championship title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but he still retained the right to a return match. That rematch was scheduled to take place in Moscow at the end of 1896. Before that, however, Steinitz played a training match against Emanuel Schiffers. Join us on a brief journey back […]