Javokhir Sindarov overturns a 2½-point deficit to win Clutch Chess a month before his world title match, three players share the lead at halfway in Almaty, and Istanbul picks up December's World Rapid and Blitz.
| View the full story on Neodrop → |
Coverage window: after 10:45 Sofia time on October 28 through 10:45 on October 31, 2026.
Javokhir Sindarov won Clutch Chess in Saint Louis, overturning a 2½-point deficit on the last day. Three players share the lead at the halfway point in Almaty, one of them a 16-year-old rated 2474. FIDE also gave December's World Rapid and Blitz Championships a host, and London named its Masters field.
Sindarov wins Clutch Chess from 2½ points back
Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown ran October 27 to 29 at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Caruana, Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa and Sindarov played three double round-robins at 10 minutes plus five seconds, 18 games each. 1
A win was worth one point and $1,000 on day one, two points and $2,000 on day two, three points and $3,000 on day three. A draw was worth half a point on day one, a full point after that, and the money set aside for drawn games went into a jackpot for the winner. 2
Praggnanandhaa began the last day 2½ points clear. He had gone from last to first on day two with four wins in six games, two of them against Nakamura and one against Caruana. 3
"I was just lucky," Praggnanandhaa said of the first of those wins over Nakamura, "and obviously that kind of carried through the day." 3
Nakamura put his own day two down to one game. "I was completely winning and lost my mind," he said. 3
Sindarov opened day three by drawing and then beating Praggnanandhaa in their mini-match, four points against one. That moved him half a point ahead. 2
Praggnanandhaa answered with two wins over Nakamura, six points from the two games, while Sindarov took four from Caruana. With two games left, Praggnanandhaa led by 1½. 2
Then came the game. Sindarov, with black against Nakamura, sacrificed a bishop out of a King's Indian Defence and later gave up two exchanges. He won. 2
Javokhir Sindarov, facing the camera, during the King's Indian win over Hikaru Nakamura that he called one of the best games of his life. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club, via ChessBase.
"One of the best King's Indian games I've ever played in my life," Sindarov said afterwards. "Any move was winning, but I was thinking, if I started playing beautifully, let's finish playing beautifully." 1
In the parallel game, Praggnanandhaa nursed an extra pawn against Caruana for much of 100 moves and had to settle for a draw. Sindarov led by half a point. 2
Praggnanandhaa then needed to beat Caruana with black to take the title. He built a Stonewall, found chances, and played 33...Rg7??, which ran into 34.Ng4! and cost him his queen. 1
Sindarov drew the last game against Nakamura from a Berlin Defence and finished on 20½ points, 1½ clear. 1
Standings after the three days, with each day's column scored under that day's rules. 2
| Player | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javokhir Sindarov | 3½ | 5 | 12 | 20½ |
| Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 2 | 9 | 8 | 19 |
| Fabiano Caruana | 2½ | 6 | 8 | 16½ |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
Sindarov earned $168,000 including bonuses from a $425,000 prize fund. 1
Nakamura blamed the five-second increment. "95 percent of every game, for most games, I played fabulous chess, but then I could not keep it together in the time scrambles," he said. 1
"Knowing how close I was to winning it, it's a little disappointing," Praggnanandhaa said of second place. 1
Caruana and Praggnanandhaa fly from Saint Louis to Budapest for the Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot. Sindarov goes to Geneva, where the first game of his world title match against Gukesh Dommaraju is on November 24. 1
In Almaty, three share the lead at halfway
The KazChess Masters runs October 26 to November 3 in Almaty: ten players, nine rounds, 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30, with a 30-second increment from move one and no draw offers before move 30. 4
Five Kazakhs face five grandmasters from abroad, all of them rated above 2600. Mahammad Muradli of Azerbaijan is the top seed at 2662. 5
Edgar Mamedov, 16, is level with Daniil Dubov and Denis Lazavik on 3½ after five rounds. Mamedov won his first two games and has drawn the last three, against Muradli, Dubov and Lazavik. 6
Mamedov is the lowest-rated grandmaster in the field, at 2474. 5
Dubov took his third win in round five, beating Denis Makhnev with black. Lazavik beat Shamsiddin Vokhidov in round four and drew Mamedov a day later. 6
Vokhidov and Makhnev sit half a point back on 3. Vokhidov beat Mark Smirnov with white on Friday. 6
Muradli lost his first two games, then took two points from three, beating Alua Nurman in round five. 6
Smirnov, 14, is on 2½. He beat Sauat Nurgaliyev in round four and lost to Vokhidov in round five. 6
Standings after round five. Players level on score are ordered by rating. 6
| Player | Fed | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Dubov | FID | 2654 | 3½ |
| Denis Lazavik | BLR | 2636 | 3½ |
| Edgar Mamedov | KAZ | 2474 | 3½ |
| Shamsiddin Vokhidov | UZB | 2649 | 3 |
| Denis Makhnev | KAZ | 2581 | 3 |
| Mark Smirnov | KAZ | 2451 | 2½ |
| Mahammad Muradli | AZE | 2662 | 2 |
| Aram Hakobyan | ARM | 2638 | 2 |
| Sauat Nurgaliyev | KAZ | 2526 | 1½ |
| Alua Nurman | KAZ | 2460 | ½ |
Edgar Mamedov, 16 and the lowest-rated grandmaster in the field, has drawn his last three games and leads the KazChess Masters on 3½. Photo via ChessBase.
Round six is today at 12:00 Sofia time. Mamedov plays Vokhidov, Dubov plays Nurman, and Lazavik meets Makhnev. 6
Istanbul takes the World Rapid and Blitz
FIDE announced on October 29 that Istanbul will host the 2026 World Rapid and Blitz Championships, from December 25, when players arrive, to December 30. 7
Four titles are at stake: open and women's rapid, open and women's blitz. Freedom Holding Corp., a FIDE partner since 2023, is the title sponsor. 7
Magnus Carlsen won both open titles in 2025. Aleksandra Goryachkina defends the women's rapid title and Bibisara Assaubayeva the women's blitz. 7
The venue, the regulations and registration details are still to come. 7
Istanbul hosted the 40th Chess Olympiad in 2012, and Türkiye staged the World Youth Rapid and Blitz championships at the end of 2025. 7
"We are delighted to bring the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships to Istanbul," FIDE president Timur Turlov said. 7
London's Masters field arrives, with Abdusattorov defending
The 16th XTX Markets London Chess Classic announced its ten-player Masters field on October 29. The tournament runs November 24 to December 7, with a £100,000 prize fund and £50,000 for first. 8
Nodirbek Abdusattorov, 22, returns as defending champion. He won the 2025 Classic with a round to spare, on 7½/9. A second straight title would be the first since Magnus Carlsen in 2010. 8
| Player | Country | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov | UZB | 2780 |
| Levon Aronian | USA | 2725 |
| Nihal Sarin | IND | 2709 |
| Gawain Maroroa Jones | ENG | 2630 |
| Vasyl Ivanchuk | UKR | 2628 |
| Andy Woodward | USA | 2619 |
| Luke McShane | ENG | 2607 |
| Ihor Samunenkov | UKR | 2607 |
| Michael Adams | ENG | 2597 |
| Shreyas Royal | ENG | 2533 |
Ratings as published in the tournament's own player announcement. 8
Vasyl Ivanchuk, 57, plays the Classic for the first time. Michael Adams has appeared at every edition since 2009 and won in 2023. 8
Four Englishmen are in the field, among them Shreyas Royal, 17, the newly crowned British champion. 8
Ihor Samunenkov, also 17, arrives from the Olympiad in Samarkand with an individual gold for Ukraine. 8
Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, plays the nine-round FIDE-rated Swiss. The festival opens with a blindfold tournament at the Tower of London and runs at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith. 8
The Masters begins on November 24, the day of the first classical game in Geneva. 2
FIDE fills the posts under its new structure
FIDE published a new organisational structure on October 26. On October 29 it named the advisers and representatives who will staff the President's Office under Adil Kozhikhov. 9
Emil Sutovsky becomes chief executive adviser, handling strategic partners and special assignments. Victor Bologan takes global development and Dana Reizniece social development. 9
Mohamed Al-Mudahka covers international relations, Akaki Iashvili special projects, Willy Iclicki chess participation. Zhu Chen will head a FIDE office in Shenzhen. 9
The administration followed on October 30 under Secretary General Alina Dvoretskaya. Marat Umutpayev takes legal, Nadezhda Kravchuk external relations and communications, Anton Zhuravlev events. 10
Grandmaster Pavel Tregubov, a former European champion, takes sport: competition regulations and work with FIDE's sporting bodies. 10
FIDE said further appointments would follow. Delegates meet at the online Extraordinary General Assembly on December 27, with the agenda due by November 27. 11
Also this window
- Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren, 1938–2026. The four-time Mongolian champion died on October 26 at 88. He won board-four gold at the 1960 Olympiad in Leipzig, played ten Olympiads, and reached the 1967 Interzonal in Sousse, where he lost the game against Bobby Fischer that is still reprinted. 12
- Sarana wins 10/11, then Arjun twice. Alexey Sarana took the first of October 29's three 3 0 Thursday tournaments with 10/11. Arjun Erigaisi won the second on tiebreak over Jan-Krzysztof Duda, both on 9, and the third by 1½ from Parham Maghsoodloo. It was the second time this year Arjun has won two of the three in one day. 13
- Movahed's second in three weeks. Sina Movahed won Freestyle Friday on October 30 with 9½, from 1.5/3, on an eight-game run that included Nodirbek Yakubboev in round 10. Yakubboev finished second on 9, Faustino Oro third on 8½. 14
- Rozman in Munich. Levy Rozman played chess with Harry Kane and Michael Olise at Bayern Munich, two days after Kane won the Ballon d'Or. 15
What to watch next
| Date (Europe/Sofia) | Event and location | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| October 31 – November 3 | KazChess Masters, Almaty | Rounds six to nine, with Mamedov against Vokhidov today at 12:00. 6 |
| October 31 | Bullet Brawl, online | 18:00 Sofia; Nakamura goes for an eighth straight week after a 23-game streak. 16 |
| November 7 | The 100-0 Project, online | Daniil Dubov plays 100 games of 1+0 against Josh Smith, an amateur rated in the 1800s; Dubov is guaranteed $10,000 and doubles it only with a 100-0 sweep. 17 |
| November 10–20 | Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot, Budapest | Twenty-four players, Carlsen among them; Caruana and Praggnanandhaa arrive from Saint Louis. 1 |
| November 22 – December 13 | Salesforce FIDE World Championship match, Cologny, Geneva | Gukesh Dommaraju defends against Sindarov; the first classical game is November 24. 18 |
| November 24 – December 7 | XTX Markets London Chess Classic, London | The Masters with Abdusattorov, Aronian and Ivanchuk; £100,000, £50,000 to the winner. 8 |
| December 25–30 | World Rapid and Blitz Championships, Istanbul | Four titles; venue and regulations still to be published. 7 |
| December 27 | FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly, online | 15:30 Sofia time; the agenda and papers are due by November 27. 11 |
References
1Chess.com: Sindarov Plays Game Of Tournament, Wins Final Event Before World Championship
2ChessBase: Sindarov takes Clutch Chess title ahead of World Championship match
3Chess.com: Praggnanandhaa Jumps From Last To 1st With Hat Trick
4ChessBase: KazChess Masters Almaty 2026 — Live!
5ChessBase: KazChess Masters — Mamedov and Makhnev set the pace
6Chess-Results: KazChess Masters Almaty 2026, pairings and results
7FIDE: Istanbul to host FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2026
8ChessBase: Stellar line-up for 2026 XTX London Chess Classic
9FIDE: FIDE announces new appointments to the President's Office
10FIDE: FIDE introduces the first members of its administrative team
11FIDE: Invitation — FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly 2026
12ChessBase: Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren (1938-2026)
13Chess.com: Sarana Wins Early, Arjun Wins Twice In 3 0 Thursday
14Chess.com: 'Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad' In Movahed's Freestyle Friday Victory
15Chess.com: GothamChess Plays Chess With Ballon d'Or Winner Harry Kane, Michael Olise
16Chess.com: Bullet Brawl, October 24\
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28.10.26
Chess digest, Oct. 24–28: Nakamura takes the Clutch lead, Almaty's top seed falls to zero, FIDE publishes a new structure | Chess World Digest
Chess digest, Oct. 24–28: Nakamura takes the Clutch lead, Almaty's top seed falls to zero, FIDE publishes a new structure
Hikaru Nakamura leads the Clutch Chess showdown after day one, a 2474-rated Kazakh tops the table in Almaty while the top seed sits on zero, and FIDE's president has published a new structure for the federation.
| View the full story on Neodrop → |
Coverage window: after 10:45 Sofia time on October 24 through 10:45 on October 28, 2026.
Hikaru Nakamura leads Clutch Chess in Saint Louis after the first of its three days, half a point ahead of Javokhir Sindarov. In Almaty, a grandmaster rated 2474 leads a ten-player round robin in which both top seeds have lost both of their games. FIDE's new president has also published an organizational chart for the federation, and booked an Extraordinary General Assembly for December 27.
Nakamura takes day one, with the points doubling from tonight
Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown is in its second edition at the Saint Louis Chess Club, October 27 to 29. Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Javokhir Sindarov play three double round-robins at 10 minutes plus a five-second increment, 18 games each. 1
The scoring system, devised by Maurice Ashley, makes each game worth more than the one before. A win is worth one point and $1,000 on day one, two points and $2,000 on day two, three points and $3,000 on day three. A draw is worth half a point on day one and a full point afterwards. 2
The prize fund is $425,000, and the money set aside for drawn games goes into a jackpot for the winner. Day one produced five decisive games and seven draws, so $7,000 has gone into that pot. 1
Nakamura scored two wins and four draws for 4/6. He beat Caruana with white in their second game. Caruana chose the sounder 5...Qe7 in a line from So–Caruana at the U.S. Championship, and 44...Nf7? left a knight hanging. 1
In their first game Nakamura had a winning rook endgame and let Caruana escape with perpetual check. He then beat Praggnanandhaa with white, out of an opening Pragg had already been in trouble with. 2
Sindarov is second on 3½, with one win and five draws. The win came against Praggnanandhaa, who gave up a pawn with 47.g4?? while down to 11 seconds. 1
In the last game of the day Sindarov had a winning position against Nakamura and played 63.Bd4? instead of 63.c6!, with about 20 seconds left. The game ran to 117 moves and was drawn. 2
Caruana is third on 2½ and Praggnanandhaa last on 2. Caruana won one game from a lost position after 32.Qf3?? allowed 32...c2, and lost the return game in a same-colour bishop ending. 2
"I was kind of saving all the losing positions and losing all the dead-drawn positions!" Caruana said afterwards. 1
Standings after day one, with wins worth one point and draws half a point. 2
| Player | Points | W-D-L |
|---|---|---|
| Hikaru Nakamura | 4 | 2-4-0 |
| Javokhir Sindarov | 3½ | 1-5-0 |
| Fabiano Caruana | 2½ | 1-3-2 |
| Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 2 | 1-2-3 |
Day two starts tonight at 19:00 Sofia time, with every win now worth two points. For Sindarov it is the last tournament before he plays Gukesh Dommaraju for the world title in Cologny from November 22. 1
Two boards in one room on day one at the Saint Louis Chess Club: Caruana and Nakamura at the near table, the second match of the round behind them, and each pairing shown on the screen under the board. Photo: Crystal Fuller, via ChessBase.
In Almaty, a 2474-rated local leads and both top seeds are on zero
The KazChess Masters began on October 26 and runs to November 3 in Almaty: ten players, nine rounds. The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30, with a 30-second increment from move one and no draw offers before move 30. 3
Five grandmasters from abroad face five Kazakhs. Mahammad Muradli of Azerbaijan is the top seed at 2662, ahead of Daniil Dubov on 2654. The field runs down to Mark Smirnov, a 14-year-old two-time world youth champion, on 2451. 3 Alua Nurman, on 2460, is the only woman in the field. 4
Muradli has lost both of his games, to Denis Lazavik in round one and to Shamsiddin Vokhidov in round two. 4
Edgar Mamedov, a Kazakh grandmaster rated 2474, is the only player on 2/2. He beat Sauat Nurgaliyev in round one, then beat Aram Hakobyan with black in round two. 4
Smirnov lost his first game to Dubov and won his second against Nurman. Dubov opened with a win and then drew with Lazavik. 4
Round three is today, and the pairings include Vokhidov–Dubov and Mamedov–Muradli. 4
Standings after round two. Players level on score are ordered by rating. 4
| Player | Fed | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgar Mamedov | KAZ | 2474 | 2 |
| Daniil Dubov | RUS | 2654 | 1½ |
| Shamsiddin Vokhidov | UZB | 2649 | 1½ |
| Denis Lazavik | BLR | 2636 | 1½ |
| Denis Makhnev | KAZ | 2581 | 1½ |
| Mark Smirnov | KAZ | 2451 | 1 |
| Aram Hakobyan | ARM | 2638 | ½ |
| Sauat Nurgaliyev | KAZ | 2526 | ½ |
| Mahammad Muradli | AZE | 2662 | 0 |
| Alua Nurman | KAZ | 2460 | 0 |
Harvey wins the English Rapidplay on an Armageddon game
The English Rapidplay Championship was an 11-round Swiss at 15 minutes plus 10 seconds a move, played October 24 and 25 in Peterborough. It sits inside the English Chess Championships, which run to November 1. 5
Michael Adams, the top seed at 2614, went into the last round sharing the lead with Marcus Harvey and Jonah Willow on 8/10. Harvey beat Gawain Maroroa Jones, and Willow beat 13-year-old Oleg Verbytski. 5
Adams was held to a draw by Livio Cancedda-Dupuis, an untitled player, and finished third on 8½, half a point behind the tie at the top. 5
Harvey and Willow finished level on 9/11, so the title went to a five-game playoff. They split two rapid games, split two blitz games, and Harvey won the Armageddon with white. 5
Woodward's first Titled Tuesday, Nakamura's seventh straight Bullet Brawl
Andy Woodward won Titled Tuesday on October 27 with 9½/11, taking it on the second tiebreak ahead of Arjun Erigaisi, who also scored 9½. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was third on 9½ as well. 6
Woodward lost his first-round game, blundering mate in one while two pawns up. Nineteen players reached 4/4, and the perfect-score bounty of $5,500 went unclaimed again. 6
Nakamura skipped Titled Tuesday for Clutch Chess. Denis Lazavik finished seventh while also playing in Almaty, and Polina Shuvalova took the top women's prize in 46th. 6
On Saturday, Nakamura won Bullet Brawl for the seventh week in a row, scoring 178 points. A 23-game winning streak early in the two-hour arena settled it, against 218 titled players. 7
Oleksandr Bortnyk was second on 146 and Yoseph Taher third on 145. Aleksandr Usov, 16, came fourth on 134 after starting 17.5/18. It was Nakamura's 72nd career Bullet Brawl win and his 23rd of 2026. 7
FIDE publishes a new structure and books a December assembly
Timur Turlov, elected FIDE president on September 26, published a new organizational structure for the federation on October 26. The General Assembly remains the supreme body, and the FIDE Council is given a larger role in setting strategy and overseeing it. 8
Beside the president sit a Governance Secretariat, a President's Office and a new Advisory Board. Adil Kozhikhov heads the President's Office, Alina Dvoretskaya is Secretary General, and Darmen Sadvakasov chairs the Advisory Board. Viswanathan Anand remains deputy president. 8
The proposed structure, published with Turlov's letter of October 26: the General Assembly over the Council, a Governance Secretariat serving the commissions, and ten departments under a Secretary General. Diagram: FIDE.
Turlov framed the change as "the next stage of development", and called the institution he wants to build "New FIDE". 9
FIDE also invited delegates to an Extraordinary General Assembly, held online on December 27 at 14:30 CET, which is 15:30 Sofia time. The agenda and papers are due by November 27. 10
Also this window
- A 2000-rated club player wins the Deizisau Autumn Open. Julius Lücke, playing for the host club SF Deizisau, scored 6/7 in the seven rounds of October 23 to 26, ahead of IM Adrian Gschnitzer on tiebreak. 11
- A fourth-tier German club played the European Club Cup. Bundesliga clubs confirm by early August whether they take their places, and clubs from below may apply for what they leave. That is how SK Weisse Dame Hamburg, from the Landesliga, reached Budva. René Mandelbaum's account of the week found players rated between 1800 and 2000 on the bottom boards of a European championship. 12
- FIDE's chess-in-education conference goes to Almaty. The fourth edition runs November 12–13 at Narxoz University, with Turlov opening it and speakers from South Africa, Syria, Catalonia and Webster University. 13
What to watch next
| Date (Europe/Sofia) | Event and location | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| October 28 | Clutch Chess, day two, Saint Louis | Wins are worth two points from tonight; first games 19:00 Sofia. 1 |
| October 29 | Clutch Chess, day three, Saint Louis | Wins are worth three points, and the $425,000 event ends that evening. 2 |
| October 28 – November 3 | KazChess Masters, Almaty | Rounds three to nine, with Dubov, Vokhidov and Mamedov at the top of the table. 3 |
| October 31 | Bullet Brawl, online | 18:00 Sofia; Nakamura has won seven in a row. 7 |
| November 7 | The 100-0 Project, online | Daniil Dubov plays 100 games of 1+0 against Josh Smith, an amateur in the 1800s; Dubov is guaranteed $10,000 and doubles it only with a 100-0 sweep. 14 |
| November 10–20 | Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot, Budapest | 24 players, Carlsen and Caruana among them, with Fast Classic, rapid and blitz in one event. 15 |
| November 22 – December 13 | Salesforce FIDE World Championship match, Cologny, Geneva | Gukesh Dommaraju defends against Javokhir Sindarov; the first classical game is November 24. 16 |
| December 27 | FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly, online | 15:30 Sofia time; the agenda and documents are due by November 27. 10 |
References
1Chess.com: Nakamura Leads After Wins Vs. Caruana & Praggnanandhaa
2ChessBase: Clutch Chess — Nakamura leads after lively first day of action
3ChessBase: KazChess Masters Almaty 2026 — Live!
4Chess-Results: KazChess Masters Almaty 2026, pairings and results
5ChessBase: Harvey beats Willow in Armageddon, claims English Rapidplay title
6Chess.com: 'W' Is For Woodward Wins Titled Tuesday
7Chess.com: Another Week, Another Win For Bullet Brawl's GOAT Nakamura
8ChessBase: Timur Turlov outlines plans to restructure FIDE
9FIDE: FIDE — The Next Stage of Development
10FIDE: Invitation — FIDE Extraordinary General Assembly 2026
11Chess-Results: 20th Deizisau Autumn Open 2026, final ranking
12ChessBase: European Club Cup — Amateurs rub shoulders with the pros
13FIDE: International conference "Chess in Education" to be held in Almaty
14Chess.com: Dubov Accepts $20,000 100-Game Challenge From 'Bullet Grandpa'\
15ChessBase: Total Chess World Championship Tour announces six more stars for pilot\