Chess · Worth knowing

WR Chess is staging a USA versus Uzbekistan team match in Miami Beach on July 27–28, 2026, featuring ten leading grandmasters competing in rapid and blitz formats using a Scheveningen structure where each player faces every opponent from the other team. Team USA includes Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Levon Aronian with Leinier Dominguez as reserve, while Uzbekistan's roster features World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, and Shamsiddin Vokhidov with Mukhiddin Madaminov as reserve. The tournament runs 12 rounds total—four rapid games at G/15+10 followed by eight blitz rounds at G/3+2—with tiebreaks decided by board points and Armageddon if necessary.

Vladimir Akopian won his second US Senior Championship in three years, defeating Alexander Onischuk 3–1 in a rapid and blitz playoff after both players finished the nine-round round-robin tournament with 6½/9 points. The event was held at the Saint Louis Chess Club, where Akopian maintained first place for most of the competition before Onischuk's strong finish forced the playoff. In the women's event, Anjelina Belakovskaia claimed the inaugural US Senior Women's Championship with an unbeaten 7/8 score, finishing one full point ahead of defending champion Natalia Tsodikova. Belakovskaia defeated Tsodikova in their direct encounter in round seven, reversing their result from the 2024 championship, securing her second US Senior Women's title following her 2023 victory.

The 2026 European Youth Team Chess Championship has officially commenced in Pardubice, Czech Republic, setting a new participation record with 66 teams and 218 players competing across U12 and U18 age categories. The tournament uses a 7-round Swiss system with a time control of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move. Ukraine's U18 team (average rating 2404) is the strongest favorite, followed by Germany 2 in the Girls U18 category (2186), Netherlands in U12 (2045), and Poland in Girls U12 (1912). The championship features reigning European Individual Chess Champion GM Roman Dehtiarov competing for Ukraine on the top board in the U18 section.