FIDE World Senior Team Championships 2026: Registration now open
FIDE and the Albanian Chess Federation invite all FIDE member federations and eligible teams to participate in the World Senior Team Chess Championships taking place in Durres, Albania, from April 18 (arrival) to April 29 (departure), 2026. The championships are open to all players, regardless of rating or title, who have reached or will reach the required age during the calendar year of the competition. National federations shall register their teams in accordance with the official regulations. The event will feature four: age 50+ and age 65+, Open and Women, with separate events for women with a minimum of 10 teams from at least 2 continents. The registration deadline is February 18, 2026. FIDE Senior Teams Championship official website (coming soon): worldseniorteam2026.fide.com Email: worldseniorteam@fide.com Registration form (DOCX) Invitation letter, regulations, and registration details (PDF)
GCL Season 3, Day 2: Mumba and Triveni in the lead
By the end of day two only two teams still had a perfect record. Triveni Continental Kings crushed PBG Alaskan Knights by 15 to 3 in Game Points. The day started with three teams on full Match Points from day one: Triveni, upGrad and Fyers. Trailing them, Alpine, Ganges and PBG were under pressure to respond. Once again the Royal Opera House in Mumbai saw hard fought games, deep time trouble and tense finishes on every board. upGrad Mumba Masters narrowly beat Fyers American Gambits by 9 to 7. Ganges Grandmasters scored their first victory of the season with a 13 to 7 win over Alpine SG Pipers. Fyers stayed on three Match Points. Alpine and PBG are still seeking their first match win. Standings after Day 2 Match 4: Fyers American Gambits vs upGrad Mumba Masters (7:9) The opening match of the day was a clash between two teams who had both started with wins. The Gambits had edged out PBG Alaskan Knights 8–5 in Game Points on Day 1 thanks to Teodora Injac’s lone victory, while the upGrad Mumbai Masters had been the most impressive team of the opening night, crushing the Ganges Grandmasters 17–4 in Game Points. After the traditional coin toss, the Fyers American Gambits chose to play with the White pieces. The match began quietly, with most positions balanced. The first game to finish was on the second Superstar board, where Wesley So and Vladislav Artemiev followed a well-known line in the Italian Game. With the position equal and both aware of the team stakes, they agreed to a draw. Then came the first big blow for the Gambits. On the first Superstar board, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov outplayed Richard Rapport in a complicated middlegame. Rapport is often the player who brings more surprise and creativity, but this time Mamedyarov took over that role, steering the game into a winning endgame and smoothly converting his advantage. upGrad scored an important three Game Points. Hikaru Nakamura immediately looked at the screens to assess the situation. Seeing Rapport’s loss, he knew he had to play for a win. Doing so with Black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is one of the hardest tasks in the league, but the match situation left him no choice. More bad news followed for the Gambits. On the prodigy board, World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin was outplayed by Daneshvar Bardiya. In a Ruy Lopez, Murzin went wrong early and had to defend an inferior position for most of the game. Daneshvar kept everything under control and scored the full point. With two victories and a draw, upGrad were close to securing the match. This increased the pressure on Nakamura, who was pressing Vachier-Lagrave in a tense endgame. Under heavy time pressure, Maxime made a fatal error in an otherwise even position. Nakamura immediately jumped on the opportunity, won an exchange, and the rest was an easy ride. A win with Black brought the Gambits back into the match, with the Game Points score now standing at 7–5 for upGrad. The final word came from the women’s boards. Bibisara Assaubayeva obtained a slightly better position against Humpy Koneru but could not make progress; Koneru defended accurately, and the game ended in a draw. On the other women’s board, Harika Dronavalli pressed Teodora Injac for most of the game, but Injac put up stubborn defense and was rewarded with a half-point. When the last handshake was made, the numbers told a very narrow story. The upGrad Mumbai Masters won the match 9–7 in Game Points and collected another three Match Points. After two days, they remain on a perfect score, building on their dominant start against Ganges. The Fyers American Gambits stayed on three Match Points from two matches. Match 5: Alpine SG Pipers vs Ganges Grandmasters (7:13) Both teams came into match five under pressure. On Day 1, the Alpine SG Pipers had lost narrowly to the defending champions, Triveni Continental Kings, 9–7 in Game Points, while the Ganges Grandmasters had suffered the heaviest defeat of the day, losing 17–4 to the upGrad Mumbai Masters. Both sides desperately needed a strong result. The first breakthrough came on the Superstar board. Alpine’s Anish Giri emerged better from an English Opening against Vincent Keymer, then launched a direct attack on the black king, even offering a knight that was too dangerous for Keymer to capture. Giri reached a winning position, but his clock became his biggest problem. With seconds ticking away and Keymer defending resourcefully, the German grandmaster fought back to equality. Given the match situation and his time trouble, Giri accepted a draw by threefold repetition. On the Icon board, Viswanathan Anand faced Fabiano Caruana. Both had lost their Icon games on Day 1 and were looking to respond. In a level position, Anand played a natural-looking move that turned out to be a serious mistake. Caruana seized the chance, took over the initiative, and never let go. Soon, Black’s position was beyond repair, and Anand had to resign, giving Alpine their first win of the match. The mood in the Mumbai Opera House shifted, with many in the crowd stunned to see Anand facing a second straight loss. Ganges retaliated on the prodigy board. Raunak Sadhwani, who had blundered a piece and lost quickly on Day 1, produced a clean performance against Leon Luke Mendonca. Playing with Black, he equalised first, then gradually outplayed his opponent and converted his advantage. It was an important four-point win and a personal redemption for Sadhwani. Almost simultaneously, on the women’s board, Polina Shuvalova was conducting a powerful attack against Hou Yifan. The world’s top-rated woman player and former Women’s World Champion could not fend it off and capitulated, facing imminent checkmate. Ganges added another four Game Points. Alpine struck back through Nino Batsiashvili. Fresh from her win on Day 1 against Alexandra Kosteniuk, she defeated Stavroula Tsolakidou in a Benko Gambit. This kept the Pipers within reach and confirmed Batsiashvili as one of their early-season leaders. With the score
Top 10 women players fighting for the crown in Doha
Women’s chess, like the Open, has its own cycles, storylines and stars. Doha will bring many of them together under one roof. Over the past few years, FIDE has pushed women’s chess up the agenda. The International Chess Federation declared 2022 the Year of the Woman in Chess and backed it with programs for girls, coaches and officials, as well as gender quotas in some official roles. The Commission for Women’s Chess now openly speaks of a “surge in the interest of women in chess” and sets its mission to make the game “beloved and accessible” to women worldwide. Still, there is a prevailing view in the wider chess community that more needs to be done to get women and girls playing chess. Women constitute only around 11 percent of FIDE members, according to a 2024 research paper on gender and chess. Yet the direction is clear: More national federations are fielding women’s teams. Ahead of the 45th Olympiad in Budapest, nine countries prepared female teams for the first time, helped by a dedicated FIDE project. Also for the first time in the Chess Olympiad, players who have small children were given support to bring over their children and a guardian, so they would not have to be separated during the long event. Prize funds are rising as well. The World Rapid and Blitz in Doha has a total purse of one million euros, with three hundred thousand reserved for the women’s events, split between rapid and blitz. The Women’s Grand Prix series has seen its overall prise fund jump from eighty thousand to one hundred twenty thousand euros, and the top prizes per tournament also increased. Some top events, such as Norway Chess, now run women’s super-tournaments with the same prize money as the open. Off the board, more women are visible as content creators and public figures. Rankings of “female chess influencers” already list several dozen active streamers and social media personalities. Players such as Anna Cramling or the Botez sisters show that a chess career today is not just about competition, but also about commentary and full-time streaming in front of global audiences. A 2024 survey of elite women players found that 65 percent believe a woman will one day win the overall world title, many expecting it within the next decade. In this wider shift, the women arriving in Doha for the World Rapid and Blitz form the top edge of the pyramid. The ten highest-rated players in the women’s field combine world title experience, blitz genius, and a mix of established champions and younger stars. These are the leaders of women’s fast chess in Doha. Ju Wenjun – the benchmark Photo: Anna Shtourman Top seed Ju Wenjun, with a rapid rating of 2530 on the entry list, comes to Doha as the player everyone else measures themselves against. In April she defended her Women’s World Championship title for the fifth time, beating Tan Zhongyi 6.5–2.5 in a match played in Shanghai and Chongqing. Earlier, she had already dominated the World Rapid and Blitz in New York. Ju won the 2024 Women’s World Blitz Championship, beating Lei Tingjie in an overtime final, and shared second to seventh place in the Women’s Rapid. She is not just a classical specialist. Ju is a complete all-around champion who handles every time control with calm and precision. In Doha, she is the natural favourite, but also the main target. Tan Zhongyi – fighter in every format Photo: Michal Walusza Tan Zhongyi, second seed on 2507 and a former Women’s World Champion, has been locked in a rivalry with Ju for almost a decade. She earned her second world championship match by winning the 2024 Women’s Candidates Tournament with nine points from 14 games, finishing one and a half points ahead of the field. While she could not stop Ju in the 2025 title match, Tan scored the first win before the champion pulled away. In tournaments, Tan stays near the top in both classical and rapid. At the 2025 Women’s World Cup, she again reached the latter stages but was eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual winner IM Divya Deshmukh. Tan’s approach is practical and determined. She defends tough positions for hours and is equally ready to attack if a chance appears. In rapid and blitz, that ability to hold bad positions and keep the game going can be worth as much as sharp preparation. Aleksandra Goryachkina – Grand Prix leader and rapid star Photo: Michal Walusza Aleksandra Goryachkina is another well-known face in women’s chess. Rated 2505, she is one of the strongest women players, a former world championship challenger and often a participant of Open rather than Women’s competition. Her recent performances have been strong. In 2024, she won the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid women’s event in Kolkata, scoring 7/9, staying undefeated and finishing a point and a half ahead of her nearest rival. In the same season, she took first place at the Shymkent leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, then followed it in February 2025 with victory in Monaco, again winning a three-way tie on tiebreak. Wins in Shymkent and Monaco secured her second-place finish in the overall Grand Prix standings (behind Zhu Jiner) and earn a spot in the next Candidates Tournament. Still, at the 2025 Women’s World Cup, she had a rough time and was eliminated early by Meruert Kamalidenova. In fast chess, Goryachkina is known for her excellent positional understanding and endgame technique. A camera-shy player, Goryachkina prefers to let the moves on the chessboard speak for her. Lei Tingjie – silver in New York, always in contention Photo: Anna Shtourman Lei Tingjie, seeded fourth on 2496, has been near the summit of women’s chess since her run to the 2023 world championship match against Ju Wenjun, which she lost by the narrowest of margins, 5.5 – 6.5. Last December, in New York, she reached the final of the 2024 Women’s World Blitz Championship and only lost to
Checkmate Grants: Unlocking Funding Opportunities – Seminar announced by FIDE Infinite Chess
FIDE Infinite Chess is pleased to announce an online seminar, “Checkmate Grants: Unlocking Funding Opportunities” (Friday, December 20, 2025 | 12:00–15:00 CET). This event is designed for social project leaders, chess educators, NGO representatives, and anyone interested in driving social impact through chess. This three-hour session will equip participants with the knowledge and confidence needed to identify, approach, and secure funding for chess-based social initiatives. Speakers will include experienced project leaders who have successfully obtained European and Spanish national grants, as well as representatives from major companies that support social-impact programmes. Attendees will learn how to: Craft compelling proposals Build meaningful partnerships Understand the criteria funders use when selecting projects Real-life case studies of funded initiatives will provide practical insights and inspiration. Key Takeaways: How to identify potential funders for social chess projects Practical tips for preparing strong grant applications What funders look for in impactful proposals Case studies of successful chess-related social projects Registration: https://forms.gle/ez8MrkEUUVK8ex8NA Join us to discover new opportunities and empower your chess initiatives through sustainable funding. About FIDE Infinite ChessThe FIDE Infinite Chess Program is a global initiative that aims to make chess accessible and inclusive for individuals with neurodiverse conditions such as autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, and other developmental challenges. Its philosophy is that chess is more than a game; it’s a universal language of logic, focus, and connection that can be adapted for every learner. Through sensory-friendly environments, adaptive teaching, and compassion-centered mentorship, Infinite Chess nurtures both cognitive and social-emotional skills, helping children build abilities for life beyond the board. With the support of the FIDE Planning and Development Commission (PDC), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Kindness on Board Foundation, the FIDE Infinite Chess project is now active in 28 countries, serving over 270 children with autism and co-occurring conditions. The project operates in stages from January/February to May and from September to November/December, with a break during the summer. During Stage 7 (January/February–May 2025), chess lessons were held in 25 countries. AcknowledgementsWe wish to extend our profound appreciation to the dedicated team behind the groundbreaking FIDE Infinite Chess project. Their vision, hard work, and collaborative spirit have been instrumental in bringing this ambitious initiative to life. Our special gratitude goes to: Dana Reizniece, Project Supervisor and Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, for her strategic oversight and unwavering support, which provided the essential foundation for the project’s success. Anastasia Sorokina, Project Leader and Chair of the FIDE Women’s Commission (WOM), for her dynamic leadership and passionate commitment, which steered the project from concept to reality. Maria Tamkovich, Project Coordinator, for her meticulous coordination and tireless efforts in managing countless operational details. Finally, our gratitude extends to every member of the FIDE Infinite Chess family. The support, cooperation, and shared belief from this entire community have been invaluable. This achievement is a testament to what we can accomplish together. Infinite Chess official website: infinitechess.fide.com/