ChessBase

• Royal and 11-year-old Sivanandan make British chess history

  Shreyas Royal and Bodhana Sivanandan claimed the main titles at the 2026 British Chess Championships in Coventry, bringing the largest edition in the event's history to a record-breaking conclusion. Royal, 17, won his first overall British title after finishing ahead of Luke McShane and Michael Adams, while 11-year-old Sivanandan became Britain's youngest-ever women's champion after defeating Trisha Kanyamarala in a rapid playoff. | Photos: Yury Krylov

• The Cairns Cup returns with elite field featuring players from seven different countries

  One of the world's strongest women's super-tournaments returns to Saint Louis this summer as the 2026 Cairns Cup welcomes ten of the world's top women chess players to compete for a $250,000 prize fund - one of the largest in women's chess. The tournament will take place on 10-19 August at the recently expanded Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC), where it will run alongside the prestigious Sinquefield Cup, creating one of the world's premier showcases of elite chess. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

• British Chess Championship - Live!

  The 112th edition of the British Chess Championship is taking place on 1-9 August at the University of Warwick in Coventry. The main event is a 9-round Swiss open with a classical time control. Topping the starting rank are Luke McShane, Michael Adams and Shreyas Royal. Also noteworthy is the presence of 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, already the highest-rated woman player in this year's edition. | Follow the games live starting at 15.30 CEST (9.30 ET, 19.00 IST)

• ChessBase´26 – Tips for beginners, part 26: Null moves: The art of doing nothing

  It’s often the small tricks that make training clearer and more effective. One such feature in ChessBase´26 is the ability to insert null moves. This can be especially helpful in chess training or analysis. In this short and concise tutorial, you'll learn how to use null moves effectively.

• Saint Louis and Ural State Mining reach finals in Almaty

  Following three days of group-stage competition and Friday's quarterfinals of the inaugural FIDE World University Team Championship, the original field of sixteen universities had been reduced to four: Kazakh National University of Sports (KNUS), Ural State Mining University, Saint Louis University, and The University of Texas at Dallas. On Saturday, the finalists were confirmed: Saint Louis University and Ural State Mining University.

• British Championship: Royal upsets McShane, grabs the sole lead

  Shreyas Royal has taken the sole lead at the British Chess Championship after seven rounds in Coventry. The 17-year-old followed a draw against Svyatoslav Bazakutsa with consecutive wins over Bodhana Sivanandan and top seed Luke McShane to reach 6/7. Bazakutsa is among five players half a point behind. Royal will face nine-time British champion Michael Adams in Saturday's penultimate round. | Photo: Yury Krylov

• Review: Ivan Sokolov – Understanding Middlegame Strategy (Part 14)

  Reversed-colour Benoni, Blumenfeld and Benko structures are the focus of Volume 14 of Ivan Sokolov's Understanding Middlegame Strategy series. Hannes Langrock, an International Master, editor at a fiction publishing house and player for ESV Nickelhütte Aue, reviews the course. | Photos: ChessBase

• World University Team Championship Finals: Four teams advance

  Day four of the FIDE World University Team Championship Finals began away from the chessboard, as participants traded the playing hall for the mountains surrounding Almaty. Before the start of the quarterfinals, players had an opportunity to visit Shymbulak, one of the city’s best-known mountain destinations. After three intense days of group-stage competition, the morning excursion gave the students a chance to experience another side of Almaty and spend time together before returning to the tournament venue for the start of the knockout stage. A few hours later, attention turned firmly back to chess.

• Svitlana's Smart Moves - Control the centre, control the game!

  In this episode, Svitlana explains why controlling the centre remains important throughout every phase of a chess game. Using an instructive encounter between Vassily Ivanchuk and Anatoly Karpov, she shows how central control creates space, restricts the opponent’s pieces and provides clear plans. The game also demonstrates how powerful central pawns and an active king can become in the endgame, ultimately allowing Karpov to take control and win.

• World University Team Championship: Eight teams advance

  The group stage of the inaugural FIDE World University Team Championship Finals came to an exciting conclusion on Thursday in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with the eight quarterfinalists now confirmed after three days of intense competition. With all sixteen participating universities in action for the final time, the last rounds determined which teams would continue their quest for the inaugural title and which would conclude their championship journey.