chess

Team World manages a draw in marathon chess showdown against grandmaster Magnus Carlsen

3:51pm May 20, 2025

Carlsen squared off against 143,000 players from around the world — but the chess grandmaster was unable to clinch a victory over Team World.

Queue Listen Now

Boris Spassky, Soviet chess champion who lost to Bobby Fischer, dies at 88

12:51am February 28, 2025

A televised 1972 match between Spassky and Fischer, at the height of the Cold War, became an international sensation and was known as the "Match of the Century."

National

Top chess player Magnus Carlsen is back in competition after quitting over dress code

2:25pm December 30, 2024

Magnus Carlsen, the No. 1 ranked chess player, quit the World Rapid Chess Championship in New York on Friday after refusing to change out of jeans to conform to a strict dress code.

National

Magnus Carlsen quits chess championship after refusing to change out of jeans

2:38pm December 28, 2024

The Norwegian chess grandmaster was fined $200 and given a warning by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to change into acceptable attire or be disqualified.

At 18, India's Gukesh Dommaraju becomes the youngest world chess champion ever

4:19pm December 12, 2024

Dommaraju unseated China's Ding Liren to become the new world chess champion. "Every chess player wants to experience this moment, and very few get the chance," Dommaraju said after the match.

Queue Listen Now

"Obviously, it's very disheartening to be accused of cheating," chess grandmaster Hans Niemann said. Asked about a bizarre idea that vibrating anal beads could signal players about the best moves, he replied, "That is not a serious theory."

Hans Niemann pooh-poohs a chess cheating theory that's based on vibrating beads

1:31pm September 26, 2023

by Bill Chappell

Chess prodigy Hans Niemann is competing in the World Junior Chess Championship — but he's also answering questions about an outlandish cheating theory.

Visitors play chess at The World Chess Club Berlin in Germany on May 9. The German Chess Federation described the new international policies for transgender chess players as discriminatory.

World chess just placed restrictions on both trans women and trans men

1:41pm August 18, 2023

by Juliana Kim

The International Chess Federation will stop allowing transgender women to participate in women's tournaments. The group said changing genders has a "significant impact" on a player's status.