Chess World Championship

News

CHESS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS

On Sunday, Gukesh confirmed that he will be playing at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand this year. (Credit: Michal Walusza/ Norway Chess)

Gukesh says playing World Championship at home would be ‘lot of fun’

May 25, 2026 9:12 am

Playing a World Championship at home has made former world champions like Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand baulk in the past. Unlike other sports, many elite grandmasters do not believe that there’s anything like home advantage in a World Championship

Vaishali is the second Indian woman to earn a spot at the prestigious World Championship, following in the heels of Koneru Humpy — who challenged Hou Yifan for the women’s crown at Albania’s Tirana 15 years ago in 2011. (Photo Credit: Michal Walusza/FIDE)

Gukesh: ‘Always amazed at the character Vaishali akka shows at events’

May 01, 2026 8:18 am

At a felicitation event, Gukesh said: "I was following Vaishali akka's game (in the last round of the Candidates). I screamed when she won."

Gukesh is the reigning world champion, having become the youngest to win the title after beating Ding Liren in 2024. Sindarov, meanwhile, comes into the match after dominating the Candidates this year. (File Photo)

Gukesh vs Sindarov Chess World Championship match: Prize fund of USD 2.5 million, budget of USD 8.5 million as FIDE opens hosting bids

April 30, 2026 8:23 pm

FIDE said in its statement that the match is provisionally scheduled between November 23 and December 17, 2026.

chess World Cup, chess world champion, Chess World Championship Pentala Harikrishna, Pentala Harikrishna win, Pentala Harikrishna, editorial, Indian express, opinion news, current affairs

At chess World Cup, P Harikrishna’s defiant run shows Indian chess has depth

November 15, 2025 7:26 am

What has stood out in the veteran’s run to the fifth round has been his aggressive, devil-may-care brand of chess

Hikaru Nakamura reacts while talking about the draw with Arjun Erigaisi in the quarter-finals. (Screengrab via Freestyle Chess YouTube)

‘Total fluff... nothing new... will just confuse fans’: Hikaru Nakamura’s ‘brutally honest’ review of Total Chess World Championship

October 16, 2025 6:49 pm

Nakamura was particularly unhappy with the fast classic format, which organisers and FIDE have said will count as classical games in terms of ratings. Nakamura said: "What exactly is going on here? We're now going to count 45-minute chess as classical chess."

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich (left) and CEO of Norway Chess Kjell Madland sign the agreement for the Total Chess World Championship Tour. (PHOTO: Norway Chess)

Grandmaster of all trades: Chess gets 4th World Championship to decide World Combined Champion

October 16, 2025 6:51 pm

The new Total Chess World Championship Tour, which will come into effect from 2027, will feature four events each year across various cities: three events with 24 players while the finale will have four players qualified from the three previous events

FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025: Divya Deshmukh’s win is a turning point in Indian women’s chess

July 29, 2025 3:19 pm

China’s era of chess dominance meets resistance as India’s rising stars take center stage

(LEFT) Gukesh plays at the Bucharest event of the Grand Chess Tour; (RIGHT) Cristian Chirila talks to Garry Kasparov. (PHOTOs: Lennart Ootes via Grand Chess Tour)

Garry Kasparov: 'I beat strongest player to become world champion, Gukesh in different situation with Magnus Carlsen there'

May 18, 2025 10:13 am

Talking about Gukesh's vanquished rival at the world championship, Kasparov said: "Gukesh was a favorite because Ding Liren was the pale shadow of what Ding was before COVID. COVID ruined him. After COVID, Ding was just a different player."