It is 1 February and FIDE has published their new World Ranking List. There have been some changes in the rankings, mainly due to the results of the tournaments in Wijk aan Zee, but Carlsen, Caruana and Nakamura continue to lead the world rankings despite not having played a FIDE rated game in January. Ju Wenjun has moved back into second place behind Hou Yifan in the women's rankings.
While there were a few upsets on individual boards at the open section of the European Club Cup, none of the big teams gave up match points in Monday’s second round, with Magnus Carlsen making his debut for Norway’s Offerspill. In the women’s section, on the other hand, top seeds Monte Carlo drew Centar Asseco See, the seventh seeds from North Macedonia. Stavroula Tsolakidou beat Mariya Muzychuk with black on the top board. | Photo: Gerd Densing
Day 1 of the World Women’s Team Championship saw two rounds played in each pool. Three teams scored back-to-back wins Kazakhstan is the only squad in pool A with 4/4 match points before round 3, while the United States and China are sharing first place with perfect scores in pool B. The pool stage will run until Friday, when four teams per group will move on to the knockout stage. | Photo: Michal Walusza
FIDE and the Georgian Chess Federation are organizing a match between top Ukrainian players Mariya and Anna Muzychuk and local stars Nino Batsiashvili and Meri Arabidze. The games will take place at the Hotel Legend in Batumi, Georgia, on June 5-11. Each of the matches will consist of six classical games. | Photos: International Chess Federation
Pia Cramling, the Grande Dame of Chess is celebrating her 60th Anniversary today. Heartfelt congratulations! Looking back and forward, our author, who was a spectator at the tournament where she made her final GM norm to obtain the Grandmaster title as fifth woman on earth, presents fantastic facts and funny figures from an unparalleled biography. | Photo: Carolina Byrmo via hemtrevligt.se