The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess

Episoder

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  The Opening, Oct 10: So, Liang and Xiong lead in Saint Louis 10.10.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Wesley So, Awonder Liang and Jeffery Xiong won the three decisive games of round one at the U.S. Championship in Saint Louis, So beating Sam Shankland in 80 moves on his 33rd birthday, Liang beating Hans Niemann and Xiong beating Sam Sevian; Fabiano Caruana drew with Levon Aronian. Four of the six games in round one of the U.S. Women's Championship were decisive: debutant WIM Rachael Li beat GM Irina Krush after Krush dropped her queen in a clearly better position, and IM Anna Zatonskih, FM Thalia Cervantes Landeiro and 13-year-old FM Megan Paragua also won; top seeds IM Carissa Yip and IM Alice Lee drew. The Chess Bundesliga opened Friday with David Navara beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on Solingen's top board, though OSG Baden-Baden, without its first five listed players including Vincent Keymer, still edged the match; champion SC Viernheim beat promoted Erkenschwick 7:1, and American GM Kirk Ghazarian drew GM Maxim Rodshtein. Christian Gloeckler has his second GM norm in hand at Fagernes after eight rounds, ChessBase's German site reports: a draw with Vitaly Sivuk leaves him on a 2697 performance against opponents averaging 2446 once Krishnan Sasikiran, his round-nine opponent, is counted, and the norm stands whatever happens in that game provided it is played. FIDE has set the game schedule for the Gukesh–Sindarov world championship match in Geneva: game one on November 24 at the Fondation Martin Bodmer in Cologny, 14 classical games through December 11 with rapid and blitz tiebreaks on December 12 if the score is 7-7, and a 3:00 PM CET start for each game. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 9: Caruana and Yip defend titles in Saint Louis 09.10.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: The U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship begin today at the Saint Louis Chess Club with every member of both Olympiad teams in the fields: Fabiano Caruana, aiming for a fifth title in a row, and Carissa Yip, seeking a fourth in a row, head 12-player round robins that run through round 11 on October 21. The FIDE World Amateur Championship, set for November 4-13 in Klang, Malaysia, is closed to Israelis under Malaysia's entry ban, The Jerusalem Post reports, and an Israeli campaigner is pressing FIDE to relocate it, citing the federation's 2019 commitment not to hold events in countries that refuse entry to any member federation's players. Andrey Esipenko beat Vadim Zvjaginsev in 34 moves to extend his lead at the Russian Superfinal to 5.5/7, with Evgeniy Najer, who beat defending champion Arseniy Nesterov, sharing second with David Paravyan on 4; among the women, Leya Garifullina beat Margarita Potapova to reach 6/7, half a point ahead of Anastasia Bodnaruk. Levon Aronian and Andy Woodward will play the 2026 London Chess Classic Masters alongside Nihal Sarin and defending champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov; RookReview says eight of the ten places are filled for the November 24 to December 7 round robin at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith. Christian Gloeckler beat IM Lukas Dotzer in round seven at Fagernes to lead the GM group outright on 6/7 at a performance ChessBase's German site puts at 2750, saying his second GM norm can hardly be denied him now; both Americans lost, Neeraj Harish to Arushi Severin Helen D Silva and Miransh Purven Vyas to FM Jaidambareesh N R. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 8: Ukraine’s federation seeks treason case against Podolyak 08.10.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Ukraine's chess federation has asked the country's security service to open a treason case against Mykhailo Podolyak, the presidential adviser who became a FIDE vice president alongside former Russian sports minister Pavel Kolobkov, LIGA.net reports; Podolyak calls the position absurd. Kazakhstan's president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received Timur Turlov in Astana and set priorities for the national federation the new FIDE president still chairs, while Knews lays out Turlov's four-year, €30 million plan for FIDE and DKNews details the conflict-of-interest rules under which he will abstain on Freedom sponsorship deals and Kazakh hosting bids. Christian Gloeckler held top seed Elham Amar to a draw with Black in round six at Fagernes and leads the GM group alone on 5/6 at a 2709 performance; he meets IM Lukas Dotzer, an Austrian born in 2010 with two GM norms, today. Of the two Americans, Miransh Purven Vyas beat Angada H P and Neeraj Harish lost to IM Senthil Maran K. The Chess Bundesliga opens Friday with Fabiano Caruana still on OSG Baden-Baden's list after the departures of Levon Aronian, Anish Giri and Alireza Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen atop FC St. Pauli's roster and Vasyl Ivanchuk on board one for promoted Remagen Sinzig, on a calendar cut from seven weekends to five; the German federation has signed Ströer as media partner for its 150th anniversary year. Roman Shogdzhiev, born in 2015 and rated 2445, beat GM Ivan Cheparinov in round four of the Serbian Super League, where GM Tin Jingyao beat GM Murali Karthikeyan a day after Karthikeyan's win over Alexandr Predke; in Romania, WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor drew her second game of the women's Super League. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 7: Three Afghan Olympiad players held in Kabul 07.10.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: FIDE is pursuing "very discreet diplomatic actions" for the three Afghan Olympiad players held under house arrest in Kabul, a source close to president Timur Turlov tells EL PAÍS, and Spain's sports minister has written to Turlov and the IOC about the case. Hikaru Nakamura lifted his chess.com blitz record to 3503 while streaming Titled Tuesday from Greece, then lost the final round to Vladislav Artemiev, who won the event on 9.5/11; Awonder Liang was among 17 players on 4/4 and, with Sina Movahed, ended the perfect starts of Wesley So and Artemiev in round five. Christian Gloeckler, the German born in November 2011, beat GM Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal in round five at Fagernes to lead the GM group alone on 4.5/5, and both Americans in the field scored in Tuesday's double round, Neeraj Harish beating Angada H P after drawing Rishabh Kumar. Registration opens October 10 for the 2027 FIDE World Senior Team Championships in Magdeburg, Germany, March 31 to April 11, with no limit on the number of teams a federation may enter; the deadline is January 31, 2027. Thomas Bartell, No. 93 on the US Chess overall list, won the 2nd Autumn Open in Exton, PA, on 5 points, one of 31 newly rated US events led in size by a 155-player Championship at Bryant Park in New York, and IM Elliott Winslow, No. 95 on the Age 50+ list, beat Jimmy Heiserman at the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 6: Hikaru Nakamura sets a blitz rating record 06.10.2026 3min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Hikaru Nakamura's chess.com blitz rating has reached 3500, a record for the platform, RookReview reports; the previous mark of 3488 was his own, set last week. Christopher Woojin Yoo, No. 3 on the US Chess Under 21 list, won the 43rd Annual Reno Western States Open on 5.5 points, the largest of 64 newly rated US events, and Clara Mcgrew, No. 40 on the US Chess women's list, won the 2026 Michigan Womens Championship. Wesley So and Hans Niemann have confirmed for the Jerusalem Masters, a rapid event on November 23-26 whose $101,000 first prize is the largest ever offered at a chess tournament in Israel, Ynetnews reports. TWIC #1665 arrives with final tables that put Praveen Balakrishnan first in both Challenge events at the Pall Mall Masters, Wesley So first in the September 29 Titled Tuesday on 9.5/11, and FM Avi Harrison Kaplan first in the Chicago Fall IM group on 7/9. FIDE has opened nominations for every non-elected post on its commissions and committees, with applications due October 20; national federations may propose candidates, and individuals may apply directly if their federation will back an appointment. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 5: Wesley So backs Pacquiao’s new federation 05.10.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Wesley So has given his "full support" to the National United Chess Federation of the Philippines, the new body chaired by Manny Pacquiao, in a statement released by NUCFP officials to Manila media. Court records date Russia's suit against FIDE president Timur Turlov to September 24, two days before his election, World Chess reports, and the General Assembly that followed rejected bids to readmit the Chess Federation of Russia. Brewington Hardaway shared first in the 458-player Packer October tournament in Brooklyn, the largest of 62 newly rated US events, and Andrew Jiang shared first at the Charlotte Fall Open. Avi Kaplan won the IM-norm group of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational with 7 points from 9, unbeaten, and Steven Zierk and Bogdan Bilovil shared first in the GM-norm group on 5.5 as both ten-player round robins played their final round. Jules Moussard beat Gawain Maroroa Jones, Benjamin Bok and Luke McShane on day two of the Army and Navy Club Pall Mall Masters, Praveen Balakrishnan beat GM Stuart Conquest in the Challengers Blitz, and Anna Zatonskih won again in the Frauenbundesliga. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 4: Awonder Liang wins the Seirawan Chess Championship again 04.10.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Awonder Liang won all 12 of his games to take the 2026 Seirawan Chess Championship for a second time, and Hikaru Nakamura's fourth straight Bullet Brawl set a record for wins in a single year. Aditeya Das, born 2011, beat GM Steven Zierk in round six of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational 2026, and two more Americans beat titled opponents in the IM-norm group. US Chess membership stood at 115,979 through September, up 2142 on August and 3144 on a year earlier, with youth memberships accounting for most of the annual gain. Manny Pacquiao has been installed as chairman of the newly formed National United Chess Federation of the Philippines, and Wesley So has offered the group his support, The Manila Times reports. Praveen Balakrishnan beat GMs Ameet Ghasi and Shreyas Royal at the 2026 Army and Navy Club Pall Mall Masters, where Sergei Tiviakov lost three Super Blitz games in a day, and Anna Zatonskih opened her Frauenbundesliga season with a win as Elisabeth Pähtz led Baden-Baden past Hamburger SK. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 3: Ethan Guo and Aditeya Das win in Chicago 03.10.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Ethan Guo and Aditeya Das each beat an IM in round four of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational, Aiden Linyuan Li, born 2016, beat GM Brian Escalante Ramirez in the IM-norm group, and Das then lost to Artemii Khanbutaev in round five. Matthias Bluebaum won the first Freestyle Friday of the new season on 9/11, half a point ahead of Oleksandr Bortnyk, Pranav Venkatesh and SL Narayanan; Hans Niemann was in the chasing group until a round-nine loss, and Rose Atwell took the women's prize. The Russian prosecutors' suit against Timur Turlov seeks confiscation of his assets on suspicion of financing Ukrainian structures opposing the Russian military, RookReview reports from Kommersant; a hearing is scheduled for October 15. ChessKid has addressed an open letter to New York City Mayor Mamdani arguing that a screen-time policy should distinguish chess apps from passive content and chatbots, citing its survey of 1,064 US parents. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 2: Artemii Khanbutaev beats Sam Schmakel in Chicago 02.10.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Artemii Khanbutaev, born 2012, beat IM Sam Schmakel in round three of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational 2026 after drawing GM Aleksey Sorokin, and is unbeaten through three rounds of the GM-norm group. The October FIDE list counts 34,065 US players, six more than in September, and moves Carissa Yip to 2484 and 13th among women and Alice Lee to 2467 and 17th, both still short of the 2500 the GM title requires. FIDE's General Assembly approved an official rating system for Chess960, to be implemented no later than June 1, 2027, and put Qatar first in line to host the 2030 Olympiad, as Russian prosecutors sued the new president and his company and Wadim Rosenstein took the election to CAS. US Chess named four recipients of the 2026-2027 Herbert B. Jacklyn Program, which supports members aged 18 to 21, rated between 1500 and 2000, with a sustained history of rated play. Freestyle Friday returns today on Chess.com with six Weissenhaus 2027 seats still open, and Hans Niemann is among the players expected at the opening event. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Oct 1: Aditeya Das beats Sam Schmakel in Chicago 01.10.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Aditeya Das, born 2011, beat IM Sam Schmakel in the opening round of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational 2026, a US-soil norm event with American players in both its GM and IM groups. The October FIDE list puts Alice Lee at the top of the world junior girls' ranking, ahead of Anastasiia Hnatyshyn. It also cuts Fabiano Caruana's lead over Geneva challenger Javokhir Sindarov to two points. Garry Kasparov, who lives in New York, says US and Lithuanian security services warned him that his life was in danger. His statement followed El Mundo's report that he was a target of the Russian-linked network US prosecutors charged on September 15. An American Chess Magazine interview with Timur Turlov, now on ChessBase's English site, dates Freedom Holding's purchase of ChessBase to April, with about €5 million committed. It is the first ChessBase-hosted account of a deal other outlets had placed anywhere from April to June. Revised US Chess correspondence chess rules take effect today and apply at once to ongoing and new events. Delegates at the 2026 U.S. Open approved the rewrite of Chapter 9 of the rulebook. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 30: Wesley So wins Titled Tuesday 30.09.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Wesley So won Tuesday's Titled Tuesday on 9.5/11, his first of 2026, after opening 7/7 and drawing his last three games while the boards around him also drew. Three of the four Afghanistan-based players who traveled to the Samarkand Olympiad were detained at the Hairatan border crossing on their return Monday and are under house arrest in Kabul, EL PAÍS reports. Chess is banned under the Taliban government. Texas Tech beat three-time champion Missouri 9-7 in the opening round of the Collegiate Chess League's fall season, while defending champion UTD edged SRM 8.5-7.5 in a rematch of last spring's final and Saint Louis University routed UTRGV 15-1. Uzbekistan's new reward grid pays $200,000 for Olympiad gold, $100,000 for silver and $50,000 for bronze, plus $5,000 for the grandmaster title; Europe Échecs sets it against Hikaru Nakamura's account of a $4,000 US bonus for Baku 2016, unchanged ten years on. Timur Turlov used his first tournament opening as FIDE president, at the World Schools Team Championship's European stage in Tsaghkadzor, to announce $1,000,000 a year for chess in education from the new FIDE Development Fund. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 29: Carissa Yip takes Olympiad board one silver 29.09.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: US Chess's closing Olympiad report adds Carissa Yip's board-one silver to Alice Lee's board-two gold and Levon Aronian's board-four bronze. It also says Yip's 2601 performance missed a GM norm only because she met two grandmasters, one fewer than the three a norm requires. Ukraine's chess federation says it will defend its rights in court if its objections to Mykhailo Podolyak's appointment as a FIDE vice president are ignored. Timur Turlov, meanwhile, makes Armenia his first official visit as FIDE president today. chess.com reports the 24-player Total Chess pilot field complete, with 18 players rated 2700 or higher. The organizers now end the Budapest event on November 20, four days before Gukesh and Javokhir Sindarov open their Geneva match. Mikhail Antipov, No. 17 on the US Chess overall list, won the 89-player 2026 Frank K Berry FIDE in Oklahoma City on 5 points, one of 46 newly rated US events across 21 states. TWIC #1664 logs 9114 games from 18 events. Its Prague table had FM Kannan Vaidyanathan leading the 6th Gambit GM Closed on 2.5 at press time, and he drew GM Pavel Simacek in round four. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 28: Team USA beats Turkiye and finishes fourth 28.09.2026 6min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA beat Turkiye 3-1 in the last round of the 46th Chess Olympiad and finished fourth. The top seeds tied with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Hungary on 17 match points, a point behind the silver and bronze medalists. The US women beat Romania 3-1 and tied for third on 17 match points with the highest game-point total of the five-team group, but bronze went to India on tiebreak. Alice Lee took individual gold on board two. Uzbekistan won the Open gold on home soil, beating Ukraine 2½-1½ on Mukhiddin Madaminov's win over Roman Dehtiarov to finish two match points clear on 20. China took its seventh women's title, with Kazakhstan silver and India bronze. FIDE named its 2026–2030 Council. American Michael Khodarkovsky is one of four elected vice presidents, and Timur Turlov's five nominees include Mykhailo Podolyak, whom Ukraine's chess federation has asked the Security Service of Ukraine to investigate for possible treason. Gukesh lost his final game to Gleb Dudin, and board-four gold with it. Javokhir Sindarov, his Geneva challenger, was named the Olympiad's Best Male Player less than two months before their match. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 27: Team USA beats Greece at the Olympiad 27.09.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA beat Greece 3-1 in round ten of the 46th Chess Olympiad, with wins from Levon Aronian and Awonder Liang, and enters the final round sixth on 15 match points against Turkiye, with Fabiano Caruana back to face Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. The US women swept Israel 4-0, with wins from Carissa Yip, Alice Lee, Irina Krush and Tatev Abrahamyan, and rose to sixth on 15 match points; Krush had already drawn her final-round game against Romania when FIDE's tables were fetched. Timur Turlov was elected FIDE president in Samarkand, beating Wadim Rosenstein 110-85 in a runoff after Jan Henric Buettner went out in the first round, confirming the r/chess report carried here Saturday. American Michael Khodarkovsky won one of the four elected vice-presidencies with 93 votes. Uzbekistan crushed Armenia 3½-½ and takes a one-point lead over India into the final round, where it meets Ukraine, 3-1 winners over China after Igor Kovalenko beat Ding Liren. China's women lead Kazakhstan by one match point after a 2-2 draw with India. FIDE's first Excellence Awards named Levon Aronian Best Comeback and ranked the Sinquefield Cup and Cairns Cup second and third among round-robin tournaments, behind Norway Chess. ChessBase India won the inaugural Daniel Naroditsky Best Creator Award. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 26: Uzbekistan beat Team USA in Samarkand 26.09.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Uzbekistan beat Team USA 2½-1½ in round nine of the 46th Chess Olympiad — Wesley So's win over Javokhir Sindarov was outweighed by losses for Fabiano Caruana and Hans Niemann — and the Americans drop to 11th on 13 match points with two rounds left, facing Greece on table six today with Caruana resting. The US women beat Canada 3-1 — Carissa Yip and Irina Krush won, Alice Lee and Tatev Abrahamyan drew — and are also 11th on 13 match points, four behind leaders China, with Israel next on table eight. Gukesh Dommaraju turned a lost position against Alexander Donchenko into a win crowned by 51...Nf4!!, giving India a 2½-1½ victory over Germany; Uzbekistan leads the Open on 16 match points with India, Uzbekistan 2 and Armenia on 15, and today's top tables are Armenia–Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan 2–India. FIDE's presidential ballot is under way in Samarkand: Timur Turlov put a personal guarantee behind a $28 million four-year development fund in his speech to the General Assembly, and an r/chess thread this morning reports Jan Henric Buettner eliminated in the first round with a runoff between Turlov and Wadim Rosenstein — a result no outlet in today's wire yet carries. Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, completed her third WGM norm on England's top board in Samarkand and becomes the youngest women's grandmaster in history, per chess.com, RookReview and Europe Echecs. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 25: Team USA beats Serbia at the Chess Olympiad 25.09.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA beat Serbia 3½-½ in round eight of the 46th Chess Olympiad — Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang all won — and sits sixth on 13 match points, one match point behind co-leaders Uzbekistan and Germany, with the hosts waiting on table one Friday. The US women lost 1½-2½ to 16th-seeded Armenia and dropped to 18th on 11 match points — four points behind sole leader China in chess.com's reckoning — with Canada next on table nine. Germany ended Uzbekistan's run of seven straight match wins, beating the hosts 2½-1½ to share the Open lead on 14 match points with three rounds left — the Svane brothers won again on boards three and four, and Germany has now beaten all three Uzbek teams. On the eve of Saturday's FIDE presidential ballot, Wadim Rosenstein skipped FIDE's own candidates' Q&A in Samarkand, the 48-vote African Chess Confederation endorsed Timur Turlov, and DW reported that Rosenstein's Moscow company WR RUS grew its profit from about €300,000 to €1.7 million between 2022 and 2025. José Antonio Carrillo was re-elected president of FIDE Americas by 29 votes to 12 at continental elections held in Samarkand on Thursday, alongside a new Executive Board. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 24: Team USA draws Armenia at the Olympiad 24.09.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA drew 2-2 with Armenia in round seven of the 46th Chess Olympiad — Awonder Liang won on board four, Wesley So lost a rook ending on board two — and sits 13th on 11 match points ahead of Thursday's match with Serbia on table four. The US women beat Switzerland 3-1 — Carissa Yip over Alexandra Kosteniuk on board one, Tatev Abrahamyan over Ghazal Hakimifard on board three — and stand eighth on 11 match points, two behind co-leaders China and Kazakhstan, with Armenia next on table five. Uzbekistan beat China 3-1 for a seventh straight match win — chess.com says only India's 2024 team has matched a 14/14 start under the current scoring — and leads by two match points with Germany next on board one. The Total Chess World Championship Tour has completed its 24-player field for the Budapest pilot, and the six late additions include Americans Levon Aronian, Abhimanyu Mishra and Andrew Hong alongside Liem Le, Jorden van Foreest and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Ahead of Saturday's FIDE presidential ballot in Samarkand, Jan Henric Buettner told EL PAÍS he will not withdraw, claims 41% of the votes and has proposed that favorite Timur Turlov join his ticket as number two to beat Wadim Rosenstein, while Ukraine's federation accused Turlov and Mykhailo Podolyak of an attempted hostile takeover. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 23: Team USA meets Armenia as the Olympiad resumes 23.09.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA meets Armenia on table two when the Olympiad resumes Wednesday, with Levon Aronian not lined up against his former federation; the US women, without Alice Lee on FIDE's card, face Switzerland with Carissa Yip against Alexandra Kosteniuk on board one. Uzbekistan, the only team to win all six matches, plays China on table one at 3 p.m. Samarkand time, while India — whose title defense Rediff frames against FIDE's "winner's curse" — faces England. Alireza Firouzja won Titled Tuesday on 10/11 with ten wins — his second title this year and 22nd overall, a total only Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen exceed — on a rest day when Fabiano Caruana reached 8/8 and finished 11th. Ahead of Saturday's FIDE presidential vote, EL PAÍS reports Timur Turlov has announced a defamation suit in a Michigan court against David Llada — the photographer, former FIDE employee and independent vice-presidential candidate who claimed Turlov kept his Russian nationality — while a Samarkand prediction market moved the Turlov–Anand ticket from 40 to 82 percent in a single hour. 35 US events were newly rated across 18 states at a median of 17 players, led by the 49-player Buffalo Grove Swiss 6 in Long Grove, Illinois, won on 4 by Gaofei Wang, No. 16 on the US Chess Girls Under 16 list; Missouri's state championship brought 70 players to Rolla's Kaleidoscope Discovery Center, where Julian Proleiko took a fourth title. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 22: Team USA splits its Olympiad matches 22.09.2026 5min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA split its round-six Olympiad matches on the eve of the rest day: the Open team beat Norway 2½-1½ on Hans Niemann's board-three win, while the women lost 1-3 to defending champions India. Uzbekistan beat India 2½-1½ and leads the Olympiad alone on 12 match points after Nihal Sarin — better on the board, with about half an hour on his clock against Nodirbek Yakubboev's three or four minutes — played 37...Nf5?? and lost his queen to 38.Ne6+ Rxe6 39.gxh4+, a shot chess.com calls "likely the move of the tournament so far". Both Israeli teams forfeited their round-six matches after the Netherlands and Bulgaria declined to move the games off Yom Kippur, and the Israel Chess Federation says FIDE had committed in writing in January to a later Monday start. US Chess has opened its 2026-2027 Title I School Outreach Program: affiliates running chess at Title I-designated schools can apply for donor-funded support of 16 student memberships and eight board-and-piece sets per school, with applications closing once capacity is reached. TWIC #1663 arrived overnight with 22 events, led by the Olympiad's first week; its US-side note is Fabiano Caruana's win over Christopher Woojin Yoo in the first of chess.com's 3-0 Thursday arenas on September 17. The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.
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  The Opening, Sept 21: Germany hands the United States its first defeat 21.09.2026 4min

  Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: The United States lost 1½–2½ to Germany in round five of the 46th Chess Olympiad, its first defeat of the event, and dropped to 11th on 8 match points and 13.5 game points; Awonder Liang returns on board four for Monday's match with Norway. The US women drew 2-2 with hosts Uzbekistan and stand fifth on 9 match points with 17 game points, level with China for the most game points in the top ten; Alice Lee won a fifth straight game. Uzbekistan, India and Germany share the Open lead on 10 match points, and the hosts meet the defending champions on board one in Monday's round, the last before the rest day. FIDE has named Freedom Holding Corp. general partner of the Salesforce FIDE World Championship Match, the Gukesh–Sindarov match that opens November 22 in Geneva and runs to December 12 over 14 classical games. Eighty-five US events were newly rated across 23 states at a median of 21 players, led by Kumbaya #166 in Skokie, Illinois (162 players, Michael D. Aizenberg on 2.5), the 34th David Zofchak Memorial in Virginia Beach (113) and PCL Round 1 in Pittsburgh (111). The Opening is written from the day's evidence and checked by the same fact rules as the newsletter; the voice is synthetic. Powered by AI, guided by human expertise.