ChessBase

• Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz - Live!

  The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is taking place on 2-6 August at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The 10-player event sees three days of rapid chess (single round-robin) followed by two days of blitz (double round-robin). A stellar lineup features, among others, World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. Follow the games live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST) | Photo: Lennart Ootes

• 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)

• Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: Pragg leads after first day of action

  Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu took the outright lead after the first three rapid rounds of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, scoring 5 points from a possible 6. The Indian grandmaster defeated Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana after opening with a draw, while Javokhir Sindarov and Wesley So finished 1 point behind. Five games were decisive on day one, with Jorden van Foreest suffering two defeats. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

• Help us build the next ChessBase

  We're planning the next chapters of ChessBase and we want input from the people who actually use it, before we decide what to build first. Help us by taking part in a survey that asks how you work day to day: your setup and hardware, how you use engines and databases, and which parts of the interface help or get in your way. Filling out the survey takes around three minutes. If you fill it out we will send you a thank-you voucher gift.

• Dortmund: Bluebaum and Svane get off to a winning start

  Of the five players rated above 2600 at the main event of the Dortmund Chess Festival, only three began the tournament with a win on Saturday. Matthias Bluebaum (2689, last year's winner) defeated Alfred Parvanyan (2200), Rasmus Svane (2618) beat Robert Prieb (2196) and Andrew Hong (2604) overcame Junyi Zhang (2191). Dmitrij Kollars (2627) and David Navara (2619), meanwhile, were both held to draws despite being rating favourites. | Photo: Official website

• Top seeds win in British Championship opening round

  The top seeds made a solid start to the British Chess Championship in Coventry, with Luke McShane, defending champion Michael Adams and four other top contenders winning their opening games. Most results on the leading boards followed the ratings, although 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan was held to a draw by George Zhao after recovering from a pawn deficit in a queen-and-minor-piece ending. | Photo: Yury Krylov

• FIDE ratings - August 2026

  Magnus Carlsen remains the undisputed world number one in chess. Hou Yifan is still the highest-rated woman player. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju has lost several rating points and has also relinquished his position as the world's top junior - it is now 15-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus who stands as the top-ranked player in the under-20 category!

• 26 years ago: Carlsen's first steps in tournament chess

  Magnus Carlsen learnt to play chess at the age of five, although his tournament career began a little later, in late 1999 or early 2000. In the summer of 2000, exactly 26 years ago, Carlsen faced another nine-year-old at the Peer Gynt Open in Gausdal, who would later become at least an international master.

• Review: Are older Fritz Trainers still worth it?

  Alongside its latest releases, ChessBase's Summer Specials also include a selection of older Fritz Trainers, such as titles from Daniel King's long-running PowerPlay series and Karsten Müller's endgame courses. This raises an interesting question: can Fritz Trainers that are up to 20 years old still be used on modern computers, and how well have they stood the test of time? Jochen Schwarz, a club player from Bremen, revisited a number of these classic titles and also reveals his personal favourites among these old gems.

• Turlov–Anand campaign pledges to move chess forward

  Fintech entrepreneur and chess sponsor Timur Turlov has announced his candidacy for President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), standing together with five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand as his candidate for Deputy President. Press release.