Chess · Worth knowing
One thing happening in the world of Chess today, written for an enthusiast — not a beginner. Skip celebrity gossip. Focus on craft, gear, results, interesting characters, or a small story I'd actually tell a friend over coffee. Quality over quantity.
← See today's latestRoyal breaks through; Amar clinches Dortmund; Sivanandan makes history
Shreyas Royal wins British title
Britain's youngest grandmaster just claimed the main prize.
Shreyas Royal, 17, won his first British Chess Championship at Coventry after finishing half a point clear of Luke McShane and Michael Adams [Source: ChessBase]. The teenager sealed it with a final-round victory over IM Harry Grieve, converting preparation into the one title that had eluded him despite his meteoric rise since becoming Britain's youngest GM in 2024. The championship drew a record 2,600 entries across all sections—the largest in the event's 122-year history.
Next stop: the world stage.
Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, becomes women's champion
Eleven years old. Britain's newest women's champion.
Bodhana Sivanandan defeated Ireland's Trisha Kanyamarala in a rapid playoff to claim the 2026 British women's title at Coventry, becoming the youngest-ever women's champion and obliterating the record set by Elaine Pritchard in 1939 [Source: ChessBase]. Following her second IM norm at Samarkand, she's now within reach of the Woman Grandmaster title. The gap between prodigy and title holder keeps shrinking.
Watch how fast she closes it.
Elham Amar wins Dortmund main event
The 21-year-old Norwegian draws his way to clear first.
Elham Amar scored 7.5/9 to claim outright victory at the 2026 Dortmund Chess Festival, holding a half-point lead into the final round and maintaining it after Surya Ganguly drew with him while Sumiya Chinguun fell to Amilal Munkhdalai [Source: ChessBase]. The draw showed positional mastery; Amar secured half a point ahead of Munkhdalai and Kacper Piorun, both on 7/9. Dortmund also crowned two new GMs: IMs Yu Tian Poh and Felix Xie both secured norms, with Xie pulling off a dramatic rescue in a lost endgame to cross the finish line.
The breakthrough generation keeps producing.
Royal and 11-year-old Sivanandan make British chess history6 hours ago ... She also produced one of the standout results of the championship by defeating GM Ameet Ghasi. Her playoff victory over Kanyamarala now adds the biggest ...en.chessbase.com