Chess Now Has a Patron Saint. A Company Made It Happen. Is That... Allowed?World Chess petitioned the Catholic Church and won. Now a publicly traded company has given a 1,500-year-old game its first official divine backing. For a billion players worldwide, this is either a gift or the strangest corporate overreach in sports history.December 20, 2025·6 min read
World Chess Weekly: Russia Row Explodes, Oro Edges Closer And Baby Hikaru BornIt's been a hugely important week for chess. We look at the stories that made the headlines.December 18, 2025·3 min read
Chess Federations From England, Norway And Ukraine Stand Up To FIDE Over Return Of Russian TeamsA rebel alliance is forming. Could FIDE be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport? Meanwhile, Russia strips GM Vladimir Fedoseev of his titles.December 18, 2025·6 min read
'Messi Of Chess' Faustino Oro Is On The Brink Of Breaking Youngest Ever Grandmaster RecordThe Argentinian prodigy has secured his second GM norm. He's now in a race against time to get this third, and make history.December 16, 2025·2 min read
Guinea, The Marshall Islands And Kiribati Welcomed Into The FIDE Fold (And Burkino Fasa Welcomed Back)It's not all doom and gloom in the world of chess politics as the FIDE family just bigger.December 16, 2025·3 min read
Chess World Left In Limbo As FIDE's Russia Vote Ends In Chaos And ConfusionWe knew there'd be a bunfight—there always is. But we didn't expect it to end like this.December 14, 2025·9 min read
World Chess Weekly: An Outbreak Of Seasonal Goodwill Between FIDE And Freestyle?The relationship between FIDE and Freestyle Chess appears to be thawing. Meanwhile, FIDE's next big row is just around the corner.December 12, 2025·6 min read
There's One Big Thing On The Agenda At FIDE's General Assembly That Could Spark A Crisis In ChessThe chess world could see a momentous change this weekend as Russia pushes again to be readmitted to team sport next year. How strong is the opposition?December 10, 2025·7 min read
Behind All The Glitz And Glamour, There's A Tug-Of-War Going On For The Biggest Star In ChessFIDE and Freestyle Chess both want him in their events. Meanwhile, the GOAT keeps on GOATing.December 10, 2025·5 min read
New Episode Of The World Chess Show Airs Examining The World Cup And All Its DramaFIDE 2025 World Cup in Goa threw up some big questions—The World Chess Show team investigate.December 9, 2025·2 min read
Mr Dodgy Nearly Took Over FIDE. Eighty-Five Federations Thought That Was a Good Idea.Chess Politics·Sep 29·6 min read
Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, Becomes WGM And Scores Second IM Norm At Chess OlympiadTop players · Chess Olympiad 2026·Sep 27·4 min read
Turlov Backs Russia Suspension—As Former Russian Sports Minister Joins FIDE LeadershipChess Politics·Sep 27·5 min read
Term of the dayChess SkewerThe reverse of a pin: the valuable piece is hit first and the one behind it falls.
