Igor Kovalenko News Today

As bombs fell around her, an international network of chess friends rescued rising star Kamila Hryshchenko from Kramatorsk and brought her to the UK. Now she plays for England.

Chess, by and large, is a war game played by nonmartial people who would have trouble identifying the business end of an M16 or explaining the difference between an embrasure and a sally port.

Bridal abduction, known as 'Ala Kachuu', persists as a longstanding practice in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, involving the forcible abduction of women for arranged marriages; Despite efforts to curb it, one in three Kyrgyz women are victimized by this practice

One of spring's highlights is hummingbird migration. As the season moves northward, so do these birds. This map will help you prepare for them in your yard.

The quarterfinals of the World Team Championship were played on Wednesday at the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem. One of the four matches was decided in tiebreaks, with India beating France in blitz to get a spot in the semis. China, Spain and Uzbekistan, on their part, knocked out Poland, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, respectively. | Pictured: Spain’s David Anton and Daniil Yuffa | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Many of Ukraine's players in the weeklong World Team Chess Championship come from the front lines or areas hit hard by Putin's war gambit, and play with their countrymen in mind

The World Team Chess Championship kicked off in Jerusalem on Sunday. With a new ‘slow rapid’ format, the event saw the teams from each of the two pools playing two matches on the first day of action. Pool A saw China and Ukraine winning both their matches, while only Azerbaijan managed the same feat in Pool B. Four out of six squads in each group will move on to the quarterfinals. | Pictured: France’s Laurent Fressinet (currently on 2 out of 2) | Photo: Mark Livshitz

On 24 February 2022, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine and war has been raging in the country ever since, and Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, has been the target of repeated airstrikes. But the Ukrainians still play chess. Mikhail Golubev sends a report about a small but remarkable tournament: the 1st Anfield Cup. | Photo: Lana Chess Photography

Intercepted Russian communications showed Russia's confidence before the war began, The Washington Post reported.

Communications exposing Russia’s preparations to invade Ukraine are part of a larger trove of sensitive materials obtained by Ukrainian and other security services.