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The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess

First Look Chess

Daily chess news in about five minutes: the results, the players and the decisions that matter to American chess, every morning. The Opening is the audio edition of First Look Chess, a daily newsletter for players, organizers, coaches and serious fans. Each episode covers the top five stories of the day — the Olympiad and the world championship cycle, the US Championships and US Chess national events, norms and rating milestones, federation news and the business of chess — drawn from the

leisure games

All Episodes

3:57

The Opening, Oct 6: Hikaru Nakamura sets a blitz...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/10/06

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Hikaru Nakamura's chess.com blitz rating has reached 3500, a record for the platform, RookReview reports; the previous mark of 3488 was his own, set last week. Christopher Woojin Yoo, No. 3 on the US Chess Under 21 list, won the 43rd Annual Reno Western States Open on 5.5 points, the largest of 64 newly rated US events, and Clara Mcgrew, No. 40

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4:58

The Opening, Oct 5: Wesley So backs Pacquiao’s new...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/10/05

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Wesley So has given his "full support" to the National United Chess Federation of the Philippines, the new body chaired by Manny Pacquiao, in a statement released by NUCFP officials to Manila media. Court records date Russia's suit against FIDE president Timur Turlov to September 24, two days before his election, World Chess reports, and the

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5:49

The Opening, Oct 4: Awonder Liang wins the Seirawan...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/10/04

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Awonder Liang won all 12 of his games to take the 2026 Seirawan Chess Championship for a second time, and Hikaru Nakamura's fourth straight Bullet Brawl set a record for wins in a single year. Aditeya Das, born 2011, beat GM Steven Zierk in round six of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational 2026, and two more Americans beat titled opponents

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4:43

The Opening, Oct 3: Ethan Guo and Aditeya Das win in...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/10/03

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Ethan Guo and Aditeya Das each beat an IM in round four of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational, Aiden Linyuan Li, born 2016, beat GM Brian Escalante Ramirez in the IM-norm group, and Das then lost to Artemii Khanbutaev in round five. Matthias Bluebaum won the first Freestyle Friday of the new season on 9/11, half a point ahead of Oleksandr

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5:12

The Opening, Oct 2: Artemii Khanbutaev beats Sam...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/10/02

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Artemii Khanbutaev, born 2012, beat IM Sam Schmakel in round three of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational 2026 after drawing GM Aleksey Sorokin, and is unbeaten through three rounds of the GM-norm group. The October FIDE list counts 34,065 US players, six more than in September, and moves Carissa Yip to 2484 and 13th among women and Alice

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4:24

The Opening, Oct 1: Aditeya Das beats Sam Schmakel in...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/10/01

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Aditeya Das, born 2011, beat IM Sam Schmakel in the opening round of the Chicago Fall GM/IM Norm Invitational 2026, a US-soil norm event with American players in both its GM and IM groups. The October FIDE list puts Alice Lee at the top of the world junior girls' ranking, ahead of Anastasiia Hnatyshyn. It also cuts Fabiano Caruana's lead over

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5:08

The Opening, Sept 30: Wesley So wins Titled Tuesday

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/30

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Wesley So won Tuesday's Titled Tuesday on 9.5/11, his first of 2026, after opening 7/7 and drawing his last three games while the boards around him also drew. Three of the four Afghanistan-based players who traveled to the Samarkand Olympiad were detained at the Hairatan border crossing on their return Monday and are under house arrest in Kabul,

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5:13

The Opening, Sept 29: Carissa Yip takes Olympiad...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/29

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: US Chess's closing Olympiad report adds Carissa Yip's board-one silver to Alice Lee's board-two gold and Levon Aronian's board-four bronze. It also says Yip's 2601 performance missed a GM norm only because she met two grandmasters, one fewer than the three a norm requires. Ukraine's chess federation says it will defend its rights in court if its

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6:28

The Opening, Sept 28: Team USA beats Turkiye and...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/28

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA beat Turkiye 3-1 in the last round of the 46th Chess Olympiad and finished fourth. The top seeds tied with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Hungary on 17 match points, a point behind the silver and bronze medalists. The US women beat Romania 3-1 and tied for third on 17 match points with the highest game-point total of the five-team group, but

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4:52

The Opening, Sept 27: Team USA beats Greece at the...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/27

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA beat Greece 3-1 in round ten of the 46th Chess Olympiad, with wins from Levon Aronian and Awonder Liang, and enters the final round sixth on 15 match points against Turkiye, with Fabiano Caruana back to face Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. The US women swept Israel 4-0, with wins from Carissa Yip, Alice Lee, Irina Krush and Tatev Abrahamyan, and

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4:57

The Opening, Sept 26: Uzbekistan beat Team USA in...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/26

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Uzbekistan beat Team USA 2½-1½ in round nine of the 46th Chess Olympiad — Wesley So's win over Javokhir Sindarov was outweighed by losses for Fabiano Caruana and Hans Niemann — and the Americans drop to 11th on 13 match points with two rounds left, facing Greece on table six today with Caruana resting. The US women beat Canada 3-1 — Carissa Yip

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5:05

The Opening, Sept 25: Team USA beats Serbia at the...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/25

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA beat Serbia 3½-½ in round eight of the 46th Chess Olympiad — Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang all won — and sits sixth on 13 match points, one match point behind co-leaders Uzbekistan and Germany, with the hosts waiting on table one Friday. The US women lost 1½-2½ to 16th-seeded Armenia and dropped to 18th on 11 match

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5:14

The Opening, Sept 24: Team USA draws Armenia at the...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/24

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA drew 2-2 with Armenia in round seven of the 46th Chess Olympiad — Awonder Liang won on board four, Wesley So lost a rook ending on board two — and sits 13th on 11 match points ahead of Thursday's match with Serbia on table four. The US women beat Switzerland 3-1 — Carissa Yip over Alexandra Kosteniuk on board one, Tatev Abrahamyan over

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5:21

The Opening, Sept 23: Team USA meets Armenia as the...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/23

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA meets Armenia on table two when the Olympiad resumes Wednesday, with Levon Aronian not lined up against his former federation; the US women, without Alice Lee on FIDE's card, face Switzerland with Carissa Yip against Alexandra Kosteniuk on board one. Uzbekistan, the only team to win all six matches, plays China on table one at 3 p.m

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5:13

The Opening, Sept 22: Team USA splits its Olympiad...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/22

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA split its round-six Olympiad matches on the eve of the rest day: the Open team beat Norway 2½-1½ on Hans Niemann's board-three win, while the women lost 1-3 to defending champions India. Uzbekistan beat India 2½-1½ and leads the Olympiad alone on 12 match points after Nihal Sarin — better on the board, with about half an hour on his

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4:48

The Opening, Sept 21: Germany hands the United States...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/21

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: The United States lost 1½–2½ to Germany in round five of the 46th Chess Olympiad, its first defeat of the event, and dropped to 11th on 8 match points and 13.5 game points; Awonder Liang returns on board four for Monday's match with Norway. The US women drew 2-2 with hosts Uzbekistan and stand fifth on 9 match points with 17 game points, level

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5:07

The Opening, Sept 20: Team USA beats Ukraine at the...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/20

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.comIn this episode: Team USA beat Ukraine 3½-½ in round four of the 46th Chess Olympiad and goes to table two against Germany on Sunday, with Levon Aronian winning chess.com's Game of the Day from a position he called "dead lost". The US women lead the Women's Olympiad outright after a 3½-½ win over Spain — 8 match points, 15 game points — and Alice Lee is 4/4 on

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5:38

The Opening, Sept 19: Team USA gets past Denmark in...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/19

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA needed two wins on the middle boards to get past 25th-seeded Denmark 2½–1½ in round three of the 46th Chess Olympiad: Wesley So (FIDE 2774) beat Jesper Thybo (2579) with a queen sacrifice chess.com called "a quick and beautiful win" and an r/chess results thread a "brilliant queen sacrifice," Hans Niemann (2725) beat Mads Andersen

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5:20

The Opening, Sept 18: Team USA edges Mongolia in...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/18

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA edged Mongolia 2½–1½ in round two of the 46th Chess Olympiad: Fabiano Caruana (FIDE 2789) won his first game of the event on board one and Levon Aronian (2725) converted a narrow win, after Awonder Liang (2693) lost on board four to IM Khuyagtsogt Itgelt (2435) and Hans Niemann (2725) drew IM Amilal Munkhdalai (2491). The US women swept

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5:42

The Opening, Sept 17: Team USA opens the Olympiad in...

The Opening: Daily Chess News from First Look Chess ·

2026/09/17

Every story in this episode is in the First Look Chess newsletter, with the links, the games, and the PGNs to download: firstlookchess.com In this episode: Team USA opened the 46th Chess Olympiad with a 3½–½ win over Iraq, Fabiano Caruana rested and Wesley So (FIDE 2774) leading from board one, as Hans Niemann won his Olympiad debut in 23 moves and Levon Aronian was held to a draw by 2163-rated CM Ali Ehsan Aryan — the only other upset of a 2700 player all round, chess.com says. The US women swept

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