Chess Base

• Judit Polgár: Queen of Chess – Coming to Netflix in February

  Judit Polgár is a name that still electrifies today. This goes back to her meteoric rise – and that of her sisters – in the 1980s and 1990s. She climbed as high as eighth place in the world rankings – note, the open rankings, not the women’s list – and even defeated Garry Kasparov. Without doubt, this career offers more than enough material for a TV series. The planners at Netflix thought the same, and so Queen of Chess will appear on the streaming platform in February. Not only chess fans are likely to be curious. | Image material: Netflix

• Tata Steel Chess - Live!

  The 88th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is taking place from 17 January to 1 February and once again features the traditional structure of parallel Masters and Challengers tournaments, each consisting of 14 players competing in a single round-robin. After five rounds, Hans Niemann, Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov share the lead in the Masters, with 3½ points each. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 14.00 CET (7.00 ET, 20.30 IST)

• Magnus Carlsen to play at the TePe Sigeman & Co in Malmö

  Magnus had recently seemed somewhat weary of tournaments with classical time controls, but the organisers of the TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament (1–7 May 2026) have now rather surprisingly announced the participation of the world number one. Carlsen last played in Malmö as a 14-year-old. | Photo: Lennart Ootes