You may say, I'm a dreamer...

The clash over seemingly minor story embodies huge difference in perception - and I'll argue it is mostly not generational. And it is not East vs West. And it is not even about cultural upbringing. Mostly it is about the perception what chess essentially is. I have to admit,

The event was a show. Fans were ecstatic. Players were encouraged to behave accordingly. All true. Now, for better or worse, name me one top player who would do what Hikaru did.

We often talk about the community of chess players. But what is a definition of a chess player? Is it everyone who knows the rules? Or the one who regularly plays? Or the one who has a national/Elo rating? Or the one who seriously studies and takes part in official competitions?

FIDE questionnaire was sent to 150 players couple of days ago, and we already got few dozens of answers. We expect to collect 100+ replies by the next week, and then FIDE will review it all before taking a decision if to change anything, and if yes, how to change it. Meanwhile,

Let me illustrate how the decisions in FIDE are taken. The special task force composed of FIDE QC Members IA Shaun Press, GM Alexander Moiseenko, chairwoman of QC IA Sabrina de san Vicente, plus Global Strategy Commission member IA Alex Holowczak, and yours truly reviewed the

What an amazing address from one of the best ambassadors of his sport. As an avid tennis fan, I'll have not two, but three goals to cheer for in 2026: Alcaraz to remain no.1 Djokovic to win one more slam Gael to win one more title.

Dear all, I did my best sharing all the details and answering questions almost non-stop for the last 24 hours. We are proud that FIDE openly addresses all the issues; exchanging thoughts, ideas and decision-making process like no other sport federation or indeed major

One more important point, that many people seem to musunderstand. 400-points rule protects the players, securing at least 0.8 points for a win vs any rated opponents. It was never intended as a vehicle to collect a string of points and abuse the system - but rather to protect

Just to be clear. The rule is not about Hikaru. He did trigger it, but when we started to dig, it turned out there were at least five players more of 2650+ level who, in 2024-25 regularly played events with a string of very low-rated opponents, abusing 400-points rule. It was

No more farming. If you are a 2650+ player, do prove your skill vs opponents of comparable strength. Why 2650? It is a top-100 level, and these players rarely face low-rated opponents. While, for example, GMs with 2500-2650 mostly play in large opens, and they should not suffer

Divya Deshmukh gets the wild-card for the FIDE World Cup in Goa. After Ju Wenjun and Hou Yifan declined an invite, there was no female representation in the event. However, due to the last-minute dropout of the qualified player, FIDE President got to assign one more wild card -

Another clarification as I keep getting questions: FIDE World Cup includes already all the top players. Few of them declined, but all the top were invited. So, when we publish an info about the wild cards, do not ask where is Arjun, what about Ding, etc. They are in - or they

And here are three more FIDE wild cards for the World Cup: Faustino Oro (Argentina) - an 11 y.o prodigy, who keeps progressing fast, almost reaching a GM-level at such a young age. How will he fare in his first major event? Volodar Murzin - reigning World Rapid Champion, one of

Important clarification: FIDE is not distributing wild cards for Indian players in Goa. There is a quota for AICF as hosts to decide on the local wild cards. Of course, all the highest-rated Indian players are already in, qualifying one way or another, but it is up to AICF to

FIDE will distribute six wild cards for the World Cup in Goa. Here are two first awardees. Mishra and Woodward. Representing the young generation of American players, these two boys impressed us all with a mature play in recently concluded FIDE Grand Swiss. Accidentally, both

In 2024 Google was a title sponsor of the World Championship Match. For 2026, we plan to have similar, or even wider partnership with a company backing the most important event in chess. If you could choose: what company you'd like to see as a Title Sponsor of the Match?

When we started FIDE Grand Swiss in 2019, there were so many "how comes" - and the biggest one was "how come a non-top player can qualify just playing one good event"? It came from everywhere. It is so pleasing and refreshing to see the attitude changed, and people do feel