Luke McShane

Played on computer screens at a fast pace, chess is a natural fit for the Esports World Cup. For the second year running, it took its place alongside dozens of major computer games, and Magnus Carlsen, who won last year’s event in Riyadh, was back to defend his title in Paris earlier this month. The Norwegian was undefeated throughout the event, and took home $250,000 by defeating 19-year-old Denis Lazavik, from Belarus, in the final, winning both sets 3-1. Lazavik’s presence in the final (who won $190,000 for second place) was itself a sign of how much the game has changed. He plays very little classical (slow) chess, where he is still ranked outside the world’s top 100, but is one of a growing band of players to make their mark through consistent excellence in online play.

When you’re in contention for tournament victory, the final day of a chess tournament is knotted with tension, knowing that even a brief lapse of concentration can squander a week or two of effort. The nerves splinter your sleep, and then the game usually begins early, because the organisers need time to pack up afterwards. Over the years, I’ve met with Triumph and Disaster, but one of the more painful memories was the final round of the British Championships in 2002, where, as an 18-year-old, I blew a promising position against the Indian grandmaster R.B. Ramesh, who therefore won the event outright. Last Sunday, 24 years after that debacle, I faced another pivotal final round at the British Championships, held on the campus of Warwick University.

On 24 July 2026, Arkady Dvorkovich announced that he was voluntarily suspending his duties as president of Fide, the international federation. Dvorkovich is a former deputy prime minister of Russia, so when he was named in the EU’s 21st sanctions package, there was little room for manoeuvre. Rather than let the sanctions paralyse the federation’s operations, he stepped back ‘with immediate effect’, handing over to deputy president Viswanathan Anand, the five-time world champion. This is not the first time Fide has found itself in this position.

Gukesh Dommaraju, the 20-year-old world champion from India, is in crisis. Since winning the title by defeating Ding Liren in 2024, he has suffered a catastrophic slump in form. His latest setback, at the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters tournament, saw him finish in clear last place, just as he did at the elite Norway Chess event in June. Gukesh will defend his title in a match which is provisionally scheduled to begin in November. He has plummeted to 30th place on the live rating list, barely above the symbolic 2700 level. His Uzbek challenger Javokhir Sindarov currently sits at fourth place, making him a clear favourite.

Eleven-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan is one of the world’s brightest talents in her age group. A recent jump in her international rating saw her secure the Fide Master title – an important milestone – and in April she became England’s top-rated female player (of any age). She is beginning to collect scalps from grandmaster opposition, including the former women’s world champion Mariya Muzychuk, whom she defeated in a classical game at the European Club Cup in October 2025.    Last week, she got off to a flying start at the Dole Open in Aix-en-Provence. Facing a strong French grandmaster in the first round, Sivanandan was under pressure, but turned the tables thanks to a sharp tactical eye.

The inaugural Daniel Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz took place early in July in Charlotte, North Carolina. Organised by the Charlotte Chess Center Foundation, where Naroditsky had served as resident grandmaster, the event honoured the popular streamer and commentator, known to fans as ‘Danya’, who died in October aged 29. Rapid and blitz were fitting formats, as Naroditsky was one of the world’s top blitz specialists, particularly in online play. A stellar field included Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So, as well as the Candidates winner Javokhir Sindarov. Sindarov took first place in both disciplines, and paid tribute to Naroditsky, describing him as the ‘kindest person in chess’.

Alireza Firouzja jokingly described the final day of the Super Rapid and Blitz, held in Croatia earlier this month, as the ‘worst of his life’ – and yet somehow he won the tournament anyway. The rapid event was held over the first three days, which left Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa in joint first place, and an impressive game from the latter is shown below. Firouzja followed that up with a crushing 8/9 score on the first day of blitz chess, building up a lead which looked unassailable. But his feeble start of 2/7 on the final day put the tournament win in jeopardy. He scraped into the tiebreaks thanks to a dramatic turnaround in the penultimate round against Gukesh (below), and went on to win a tense ‘armageddon’ game against Abdusattorov which decided the event.

If there were a ‘best name’ prize at the World Team Championships, held in Hong Kong in June, then ‘Dragon Chilling’ would surely have won it. It managed to be both mythic and absurd at the same time: honouring the team of Chinese stars, especially former world champion Ding Liren who played on top board, and serving up a delicate millefeuille of memes. One layer goes back to 2023, when chess fans noticed Ding sitting alone in a side room during his World Championship match against Ian Nepomniachtchi, serene to the point of indifference as the battle unfolded. ‘Ding was chilling during game one,’ Chess.com captioned it, and the comments filled up with fans parroting the phrase ‘Ding chilling’.

Britain’s first grandmaster, the late Tony Miles, once said about a game he won: ‘I did absolutely f*** all and it proved to be enough!’ It was a long endgame squeeze, in which his opponent made a series of modest weakening moves which eventually cost him the game. Experienced players know that passive ‘waiting’ in the endgame takes reserves of patience which few possess. Indeed, I have even seen defending players sabotage their own position out of sheer boredom. In the very late endgame placing the opponent in ‘zugzwang’ – a situation where all moves worsen their position – may be the only technique to win the game. Composers of problems (particularly mate in two problems) often play with the same idea.

Chess has much unspoken etiquette, besides what is formally required by the rules. The standard protocol for offering your opponent a draw is straightforward: make your move, offer the draw, and only then press the clock. But if you offer a draw before you make a move, the opponent can ask you to move before deciding on their response. And it’s considered rude to offer a draw when your position is clearly worse (unless, say, your opponent is far lower rated, or has much less time). Repeatedly offering draws counts as a distraction. If your peace offer is declined, you tacitly forfeit the right to repeat it, unless your opponent has returned the offer since then. Another no-no is to offer a draw while your opponent is thinking.