New In Chess 2026/1

6 Freestyle

Magnus Carlsen wins his 21st World Championship, his first in Freestyle.

8 NIC’s Café

Drones from Ukraine, a spy from the GDR and Marcel Duchamp.

14 Uzbek success at Tata Steel

Friends and rivals Nodirbek Abdusattorov (21) and Javokhir Sindarov (20) seemed to be heading for an all-Uzbek tiebreaker. But in a final and decisive show of grit and class, ‘Abdu’ forged ahead to claim the trophy.

20 Nodirbek Abdusattorov

An interview with the winner: ‘Wijk aan Zee has always been very special to me’.

30 Tata Steel games

Game analysis by the top players: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Anish Giri, Matthias Bluebaum, Jorden van Foreest, Vladimir Fedoseev and Andy Woodward.

41 Celeb 64

Tom Stoppard, British playwright.

56 Matthias Bluebaum

An interview with the 28-year-old German grandmaster who qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament.

64 Fifth Double Crown for Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen (35) won his sixth rapid World Championship title and his ninth blitz title. How can we explain Carlsen’s domination of the Rapid & Blitz World Championships? The simplest answer may also be the truest: he is frighteningly good at chess.

74 Boris Gelfand’s selection

Boris Gelfand has selected the most interesting games of the last few weeks.

92 Fair & Square

Julian Barnes and John Nunn.

93 The Killer Blow

Puzzles selected by Jacob Aagaard.

96 Hastings

Jon Speelman reflects on chess in the 20th Century. In this issue: A tribute to Hastings 

102 James Altucher

Win, Lose or Draw.

104 The Scoresheet

James Thompson-Paul Morphy, 1857.

106 Yes, opening novelties!

Another new column, on opening theory. Is it still possible to play a novelty? Yes, says opening expert Nikolaos Ntirlis. He will present four fresh, practical ideas in each issue.

112 The Model Game

Playing gambits is good advice for improving players. And the Benko is an excellent example for Black.

116 The worst placed piece

This new column by Renier Castellanos focuses on improvement. The author is a coach at the Killer Chess Academy and has a deep understanding of how club players can improve their chess knowledge.

122 Sadler on Books

High praise for a new book about Captain Mackenzie’s chess adventures.

130 Jan Timman

The collapse of the Soviet Union was a heavy blow to the chess infrastructure of the superpower that dominated our game for many decades.

138 Just Checking

Mauricio Flores Rios, bestselling author.