It’s that time again. Every two years, the FIDE Candidates Tournament arrives, ready to nominate another challenger to go into the lion’s den and face off against the reigning World Champion of chess, and every two years, we have to an...
Twenty-year-old GM Javokhir Sindarov is the youngest of eight participants in the upcoming 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, the event that will determine the next challenger to World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju. He qualified in November by winning t...
Just because you're playing in the 2026 Candidates Tournament doesn't mean you can't rank your opponents ahead of time. Seven grandmasters, including four of the candidates, recently gave their takes about the field and the tournament which begins...
In the world of chess, a prodigy is more than just a talented kid. A chess prodigy defies their age and, while still in grade school, often topples seasoned, adult grandmasters. The four GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, and...
GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, and Denis Lazavik made the semifinals of the Speed Chess Championship, and the time has come. Whether you're reading this before or after the big February 6-8 weekend festivities, you can see ...
2025 will go down as a year that showcased chess at its very best, marked by performances at the highest level and record-breaking activity online. As we have moved to 2026, it's time to look at the moments, games, and numbers that defined the pas...
It's time to remember the most remarkable chess games of 2025. Some memorable classical events gave us magnificent games, such as the traditional Tata Steel Chess tournament, the FIDE Grand Swiss, and the FIDE World Cup, to name three of the ...
GM Magnus Carlsen may have given up the world championship years ago, but he is still the best player in the world. He proved it in several ways in 2025, not the least of which was a bank account that continued to swell. A quarter-million here, an...
We live in unprecedented times when AI and the Digital Revolution are reshaping how we live. Recently, Elon Musk even suggested that, in 15 to 20 years, work will be optional and money irrelevant. It is difficult to argue with on...
FIDE recently announced that GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu has accrued enough points to win the 2025 FIDE circuit and earn a spot in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, the final step of the world championship qualification cycle. With Praggnanand...
GM Ivan Sokolov's accomplishments as a player include reaching the 2700 "super grandmaster" club and a peak world ranking in the top 15. With all that, his coaching accomplishments may be even more impressive. His students have included GMs Alirez...
As the second half of 2025 begins, there is a lot going on at Chess.com, as always. But what is new is chess at the Esports World Cup, where $1,500,000 will be up for grabs starting on July 29. This past month also saw exciting events, a new half-...
GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu's dramatic come-from-behind win at the UzChess Cup was his third major tournament victory of the year, along with prior wins at Tata Steel and the Superbet Chess Classic. This win expanded his already strong lead in th...
In the past four-plus weeks, GM Magnus Carlsen won not one but two major tournaments, and also concluded the strongest Titled Tuesday run of the past five months—although we were sure to see him in the Speed Chess Championship either way. Bu...
The first official World Chess Championship occurred in 1886, with the first Women's World Championship following in 1927. The World Rapid Championship and World Blitz Championship are much more recent developments. FIDE held a one-off World Rapid...
Chess only continues to grow, and this year, the game will reach perhaps its largest audience ever when it appears at the 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh from July 31 to August 3, with a prize fund of $1.5 million. Lest you thought esports only m...
The 2024 prize money figures are in, and it was another big year for the world's best chess players. Just in tournament winnings alone, two players won over a million dollars, six made $400,000—more than the President of the United States!&m...
2024 was full of great games. We had it all: surprising opening ideas, unusual tactical themes, unexpected defensive resources, devastating attacks. I had the pleasure of dedicating many hours during the past year to an in-depth analysis of the be...
GM Gukesh Dommaraju recently became the youngest ever undisputed classical chess world champion, at just 18 years old. He joins a long line of amazing chess prodigies dating back more than a century. You may have seen this famous photo of a young ...
Which players stood out in 2024? Who delivered the best performances, played the most games, or gained the most rating points? Which events captured chess fans worldwide, and what moments dominated the headlines and on social media? It's time to r...
The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad runs September 11-22 in Budapest, Hungary. In many ways, this is the biggest chess event of the year with 1,893 players representing a record 381 teams across the Open and Women's sections of the competition! IM Rakesh...
One of my first chess books was Richard Reti's Chess Textbook. The title of the book was a bit misleading, since the book was absolutely useless for total beginners. I assume that it was implied that any Soviet schoolboy knew the rules of chess as...
It's a whopper of an update this month, with some exciting new features and improvements to make your Chess.com experience better than ever. How many visits did the website receive in January, and how many rating points were refunded by the Fair P...
In 2023, GM Magnus Carlsen became the first chess player to eclipse $10,000,000 in lifetime winnings just from major tournaments alone—never mind from sponsorships or royalties or helping to run a business. After winning more than $700,000 i...
In this article, you can find the official rules for all Chess.com events with prize money. Use the table of contents below to jump to a specific event. All prize money events are also subject to the Chess.com Competitive Events Policy and the Fai...
