Chess Base

• Top seeds win in British Championship opening round

  The top seeds made a solid start to the British Chess Championship in Coventry, with Luke McShane, defending champion Michael Adams and four other top contenders winning their opening games. Most results on the leading boards followed the ratings, although 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan was held to a draw by George Zhao after recovering from a pawn deficit in a queen-and-minor-piece ending. | Photo: Yury Krylov

• FIDE ratings - August 2026

  Magnus Carlsen remains the undisputed world number one in chess. Hou Yifan is still the highest-rated woman player. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju has lost several rating points and has also relinquished his position as the world's top junior - it is now 15-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus who stands as the top-ranked player in the under-20 category!

• 26 years ago: Carlsen's first steps in tournament chess

  Magnus Carlsen learnt to play chess at the age of five, although his tournament career began a little later, in late 1999 or early 2000. In the summer of 2000, exactly 26 years ago, Carlsen faced another nine-year-old at the Peer Gynt Open in Gausdal, who would later become at least an international master.