Chess in the Last 24 Hours: A New World Cup, a Party in Belgrade, and a Perfect 9/9

Some days in chess are quiet. Yesterday was not one of them.

In the space of a single day, the game's biggest organisation changed one of its biggest tournaments, 550 players sat down together in Belgrade, and a young woman in Antwerp finished a national championship without dropping a single half point.

Here is what happened, in simple words.

FIDE is changing the World Cup

The FIDE Council has approved a new format for the 2027 World Cup and the 2027 Women's World Cup.

Until now, the World Cup was a pure knockout. You lose, you go home. It was exciting — but it was also long. The 2025 event lasted 27 days.

From 2027, the event will look different:

The first stage will be a Swiss tournament, played at 45 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. Everybody plays nine rounds over five days. Nobody is knocked out early. Then the top 16 players go into the classic knockout: round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, final.

Why does this matter? In the old format, a player could travel across the world, lose two games, and fly home. Now every player gets nine games. That is a much kinder start for players from smaller chess countries — and FIDE has also added more qualifying places for every continent.

"The new format has been designed to preserve the unique identity of the FIDE World Cup while adapting it to the evolving needs of modern chess," said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.

550 players, 38 countries, one hotel in Belgrade

Also yesterday, the Serbia Open 2026 officially began at the Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade.

Around 550 players from 38 national federations are taking part. Organisers say it is the largest chess tournament in Europe this year. Grandmasters sit a few tables away from children playing their first international event. That is the beautiful thing about open tournaments — the same rules, the same clock, for everyone.

Play continues until July 22.

A perfect score in Belgium

And in Antwerp, the Belgian Championships came to an end.

Hanne Goossens won the women's title with a perfect 9/9. Nine games, nine wins. It is her fifth national title.

The open section was more dramatic. Top seed GM Daniel Dardha was beaten in round three by IM Elias Ruzhansky, a player rated 164 points below him. Ruzhansky led for a while. But slowly, quietly, Dardha climbed back. Both men went into the last round tied on 5.5/8. Ruzhansky drew. Dardha won. That was the difference — his fourth Belgian title.

The lesson of the day

Three stories, one idea.

Chess is trying to open its doors wider. A World Cup where nobody is sent home after two bad days. A tournament in Belgrade where a beginner and a grandmaster breathe the same air. A championship where the lower-rated player can still beat the favourite.

You do not have to be famous to be part of this game. You only have to sit down and play.

See you tomorrow.