2026 in chess
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Major chess events in 2026 include the annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Prague Chess Festival, Norway Chess and Grand Chess Tour.
The Candidates Tournament and the Women's Candidates Tournament were held at Paphos, Cyprus to determine the challengers for the reigning world champions Gukesh Dommaraju and Ju Wenjun. The winners, Javokhir Sindarov and Vaishali Rameshbabu, advanced to the World Chess Championship 2026 and the Women's World Chess Championship 2027 respectively.
The 46th Chess Olympiad featuring open and women's sections will be held in September at Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The pilot version of Total Chess World Championship Tour will kick off in November at Budapest, Hungary.
Timeline
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Magnus Carlsen |
2840 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 |  Hikaru Nakamura |
2810 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Fabiano Caruana |
2795 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 |  Vincent Keymer |
2776 | 0 |
| 5 | 5 |  Arjun Erigaisi |
2775 | 0 |
| 6 | 7 |  Anish Giri |
2760 | 9 |
| 7 | 6 |  Alireza Firouzja |
2759 | -1 |
| 8 | 8 | R Praggnanandhaa |
2758 | -3 |
| 9 | 9 | Gukesh Dommaraju |
2754 | 0 |
| 10 | 10 |  Wei Yi |
2754 | 0 |
January
- Jan 5 – Xu Xiangyu won the 53rd Rilton Cup with 8/9.[2]
- Jan 5 – National Chess Federations of Ukraine, England, Norway, Estonia and Germany filed an appeal to (CAS), challenging the resolutions adopted by the FIDE General Assembly concerning the participation Russian and Belarusian national teams in international chess competitions.[3]
- Jan 7 – FIDE made a cooperation agreement with Freestyle Chess and announced the first official Freestyle Chess World Championship which will be held at Weissenhaus in Germany from 13 to 15 February alongside a Women's exhibition match.[4]
- Jan 9 – Nihal Sarin won the Tata Steel India Rapid tournament with 6½/9. Kateryna Lagno won the women's section with one round to spare.[5][6]
- Jan 11 – Wesley So won the Tata Steel India Blitz tournament with 12/18. Carissa Yip won the women's section after defeating Vantika Agrawal in a tiebreak match.[7][8]
- Jan 15 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the online Freestyle chess play-in event to qualify for the Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026.[9]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2840 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2810 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Fabiano Caruana |
2795 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Vincent Keymer |
2776 | 0 |
| 5 | 5 | Arjun Erigaisi |
2775 | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | Anish Giri |
2760 | 0 |
| 7 | 7 | Alireza Firouzja |
2759 | 0 |
| 8 | 8 | R Praggnanandhaa |
2758 | 0 |
| 9 | 9 | Gukesh Dommaraju |
2754 | 0 |
| 10 | 10 | Wei Yi |
2754 | 0 |
February
- Feb 1 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the Tata Steel Masters with 9/13. The Challengers section was won by American grandmaster Andy Woodward with 10/13 who qualified for the Masters section in 2027.[11]
- Feb 8 – Magnus Carlsen won the 2025 Speed Chess Championship[a] with 15-12 against Alireza Firouzja. Denis Lazavik finished third after defeating Hikaru Nakamura with 13½-12½ in the consolation match and qualified for Esports World Cup.[12][13]
- Feb 15 – Magnus Carlsen won the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship after defeating Fabiano Caruana in the final, securing his maiden Chess960 title and twenty-first world title of his career.[14][15][16]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2840 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2810 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Fabiano Caruana |
2795 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Vincent Keymer |
2776 | 0 |
| 5 | 12 |  Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2771 | +20 |
| 6 | 7 | Alireza Firouzja |
2759 | 0 |
| 7 | 10 | Wei Yi |
2754 | 0 |
| 8 | 6 | Anish Giri |
2753 | -7 |
| 9 | 11 | Wesley So |
2753 | 0 |
| 10 | 9 | Gukesh Dommaraju |
2748 | -6 |
March
- Mar 1 – Mikhail Antipov won the Saint Louis Masters with 7½/9, ahead of Fabiano Caruana and Lorenzo Lodici.[18]
- Mar 5 – Ian Nepomniachtchi won the Aeroflot Open with 7½/9, ahead of David Paravyan and Rudik Makarian.[19]
- Mar 6 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the Prague Masters for the second time. IM Václav Finěk won the Challengers going undefeated and also achieved his final GM Norm.[20]
- Mar 23 – Koneru Humpy withdrew from the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, citing safety concerns in Cyprus due to the ongoing Iran war. She was replaced by Anna Muzychuk who was the next highest finisher in the Women's Events Leaderboard.[21]
- Mar 26 – Haik Martirosyan won the Tashkent Open on tiebreaks, ahead of Artem Uskov.[22]
- Mar 28 – Candidates Tournament 2026 and Women's Candidates Tournament 2026 kicks off to determine World Championship and Women's World Championship Challengers respectively.
- Mar 31 – Amin Tabatabaei won the Reykjavik Open with 8/9.[23]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2840 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2810 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Fabiano Caruana |
2793 | -2 |
| 4 | 5 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2780 | +8 |
| 5 | 4 | Vincent Keymer |
2762 | -14 |
| 6 | 7 | Alireza Firouzja |
2759 | 0 |
| 7 | 9 | Wesley So |
2754 | +1 |
| 8 | 7 | Wei Yi |
2754 | 0 |
| 9 | 8 | Anish Giri |
2753 | 0 |
| 10 | 11 | Arjun Erigaisi |
2751 | +6 |
April
- Apr 6 – Vincent Keymer won the Grenke Freestyle Chess Open on tiebreaks, who had scored 7½/9 and tied for first with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on 7½/9. He qualified for the FIDE Freestyle Chess Championship 2027.[25][26] IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov won the regular Classical Open on tiebreaks, who had tied for first with Dominik Horvath and Zeng Chongsheng on 8/9.[25]
- Apr 12 – Nihal Sarin won the inaugural Menorca Masters with 6/10.[27] Abhimanyu Mishra won the 5th Menorca Open on tiebreaks, scoring 7½/9 with Leon Luke Mendonca and Li Di who placed second and third respectively.[28]
- Apr 14 – Javokhir Sindarov won the Candidates Tournament 2026 with one round to spare, and earned the right to play in World Chess Championship 2026 against the reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.[29][30]
- Apr 15 – Vaishali Rameshbabu won the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026, and earned the right to play in Women's World Chess Championship 2027 against the reigning World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun.[31][32]
- Apr 19 – IM Roman Dehtiarov won the European Individual Chess Championship 2026, scoring 9/11. He became the youngest player to win the European Individual Championship, as well as the first player without a grandmaster title to win it. The tournament victory made him eligible for the title of Grandmaster.[33][34][35]
- Apr 26 – Magnus Carlsen won the Chess.com Open after defeating Jan-Krzysztof Duda in a Grand Final reset, as Duda had advanced from the Losers bracket and won the initial final match.[36]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2840 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2792 | -18 |
| 3 | 3 | Fabiano Caruana |
2788 | -5 |
| 4 | 4 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2780 | 0 |
| 5 | 11 | Javokhir Sindarov |
2776 | +31 |
| 6 | 9 | Anish Giri |
2767 | +14 |
| 7 | 5 | Vincent Keymer |
2759 | -3 |
| 8 | 6 | Alireza Firouzja |
2759 | 0 |
| 9 | 7 | Wesley So |
2754 | 0 |
| 10 | 8 | Wei Yi |
2753 | -1 |
May
- May 6 – There was a tie for first between Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi in the TePe Sigeman & Co chess tournament. Carlsen won the tournament by defeating Erigaisi in a sudden-death game after they had tied the blitz tiebreakers by 1–1.[38]
- May 9 – Hans Niemann won GCT Super Rapid and Blitz Poland with a score of 22½/36. Fabiano Caruana finished second with 22/36, while Wesley So finished third with 21/36.[39]
- May 10 – Frederik Svane won the Sardinia International Chess Festival with 7½/9, ahead of Haik M. Martirosyan and Ian Nepomniachtchi.[40]
- May 10 – Faustino Oro earned his final GM norm at the Sardinia International Chess Festival, and became the second youngest grandmaster in chess history, at the age of 12 years, 6 months and 26 days.[41][42]
- May 23 – Vincent Keymer won the GCT Super Chess Classic Romania with a score of 6/9. Fabiano Caruana finished second with 5½/9, while Javokhir Sindarov and Wesley So tied for third place with 5/9.[43]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2841 | +1 |
| 2 | 3 | Fabiano Caruana |
2792 | +4 |
| 3 | 2 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2792 | 0 |
| 4 | 5 | Javokhir Sindarov |
2777 | +1 |
| 5 | 4 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2777 | -3 |
| 6 | 7 | Vincent Keymer |
2767 | +8 |
| 7 | 6 | Anish Giri |
2764 | -3 |
| 8 | 11 | Arjun Erigaisi |
2761 | +10 |
| 9 | 9 | Wesley So |
2753 | -1 |
| 10 | 10 | Wei Yi |
2753 | 0 |
June
- Jun 4 – Bibisara Assaubayeva won the Norway Chess Women 2026 with a round to spare.[45][46][47]
- Jun 5 – R Praggnanandhaa won the Norway Chess 2026. Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja finished second and third respectively.[48][49][50]
- Jun 14 – Mahammad Muradli won the UzChess Cup Challengers with a round to spare, and qualified for the Masters in 2027.[51]
- Jun 15 – There was a tie for first place between Mukhiddin Madaminov and Shamsiddin Vokhidov at the UzChess Cup Masters. Madaminov won the tournament after blitz playoffs.[52]
- Jun 19 – Dragon Chilling, led by Ding Liren, won the World Rapid Team Chess Championship after edging out defending champions Team MGD1, led by Arjun Erigaisi, and Hexamind Chess Team, led by Alireza Firouzja on tiebreaks.[53][54][55]
- Jun 21 – Dragon Chilling, led by Ding Liren, won the World Blitz Team Chess Championship after defeating Endgame.AI, led by Hans Niemann in the finals.[56][57][58]
- Jun 27 – Nihal Sarin won the Bullet Chess Championship hosted by Chess.com after defeating Alireza Firouzja in the grand final by winning the bracket-reset match and championship match, as Nihal had advanced from the Losers' bracket.[59]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2823 | -18 |
| 2 | 2 | Fabiano Caruana |
2792 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2792 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Javokhir Sindarov |
2777 | 0 |
| 5 | 6 | Vincent Keymer |
2767 | 0 |
| 6 | 5 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2766 | -11 |
| 7 | 9 | Wesley So |
2765 | +12 |
| 8 | 7 | Anish Giri |
2764 | 0 |
| 9 | 8 | Arjun Erigaisi |
2757 | -4 |
| 10 | 10 | Wei Yi |
2753 | 0 |
July
- Jul 3 – FIDE imposed a two-year ban on former world champion Vladimir Kramnik from all FIDE-rated competitions over his campaign of cheating allegations against David Navara and late Daniel Naroditsky, following a decision made by the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. The second year of the ban was suspended for a three-year probationary period.[61][62]
- Jul 3 – There was a tie for first place between Javokhir Sindarov and Aravindh Chithambaram at the inaugural Naroditsky Memorial Rapid on 6/7. Sindarov won the tournament after blitz playoffs.[63][64][65]
- Jul 5 – There was a tie for first between Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the GCT super Rapid and Blitz Croatia on 23½/36. Firouzja won the Rapid playoff to win the tournament. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and R Praggnanandhaa tied for third place with 21½/36.[66]
- Jul 5 – Javokhir Sindarov won the Naroditsky Memorial Blitz by scoring 7½/9 in the Blitz Final, going undefeated.[67][68][69][65]
- Jul 22 – Alireza Firouzja won the Chennai Grand Masters with 4½/7. Dmitry Andreikin and Arjun Erigaisi tied on 4/7 but finished second and third respectively on tiebreaks.[70][71][72]
- Jul 23 – Levon Aronian won the Biel Masters with 29½/52. IM Václav Finěk won the Biel Generation Challenge with 31/49.[73][74] The traditional open tournament was won by IM Christian Gloeckler with a round to spare, scoring 8/10.[75]
- Jul 28 – FIDE announced that the World Chess Championship 2026 between the World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and the Challenger Javokhir Sindarov would take place in Geneva, Switzerland from November 25 to December 15.[76]
- Jul 28 – Team USA defeated Team Uzbekistan 14–10 in the WR Chess Miami Rapid & Blitz match held in Miami, Florida, United States.[77][78][79]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2823 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Fabiano Caruana |
2792 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2792 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Javokhir Sindarov |
2777 | 0 |
| 5 | 5 | Vincent Keymer |
2767 | 0 |
| 6 | 7 | Wesley So |
2765 | 0 |
| 7 | 8 | Anish Giri |
2764 | 0 |
| 8 | 6 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2762 | -4 |
| 9 | 9 | Arjun Erigaisi |
2759 | +2 |
| 10 | 12 | Alireza Firouzja |
2757 | +8 |
August
- Aug 6 – R Praggnanandhaa won Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz with a round to spare, scoring 23½/36. Javokhir Sindarov finished second with 22/36, while Wesley So finished third with 20½/36.[81]
- Aug 8 – Alice Lee won the Women's Speed Chess Championship 2026 after defeating Hou Yifan 11½-9½ in the final, and became the youngest ever Women's Speed Chess Champion at age 16.[82]
- Aug 15 – Magnus Carlsen of Team Liquid retained his title at the 2026 Esports World Cup by defeating Denis Lazavik of AG.AL in the Grand final with four rounds to spare.[83][84]
- Aug 19 – Former Women's World Champion, Tan Zhongyi won the Cairns Cup with 6½/9, and became the first player to win it twice. Alice Lee finished second with 6/9, and achieved her maiden GM Norm.[85]
- Aug 19 – There was a tie for first between Wesley So and R Praggnanandhaa in the GCT Sinquefield Cup on 5½/9. So won the Rapid playoff to win the tournament. Vincent Keymer and Javokhir Sindarov tied for third place with 5/9.[86]
- Aug 27 – R Praggnanandhaa won his maiden Grand Chess Tour title by defeating Vincent Keymer in the semifinal and Fabiano Caruana in the final of GCT Finals in Saint Louis. Wesley So won the third-place match against Vincent Keymer to secure automatic qualification for the Grand Chess Tour 2027, along with Praggnanandhaa and Caruana.[87]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen |
2823 | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | Hikaru Nakamura |
2792 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | Fabiano Caruana |
2789 | -3 |
| 4 | 4 | Javokhir Sindarov |
2778 | +1 |
| 5 | 6 | Wesley So |
2774 | +9 |
| 6 | 5 | Vincent Keymer |
2764 | -3 |
| 7 | 8 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
2762 | 0 |
| 8 | 12 | R Praggnanandhaa |
2761 | +11 |
| 9 | 9 | Arjun Erigaisi |
2759 | 0 |
| 10 | 7 | Anish Giri |
2757 | -7 |
September
- Sep 13 – Team Ganges Grandmasters, led by Ian Nepomniachtchi won the Global Chess League 2026 after defeating the defending champions Team Alpine APL Pipers, led by Magnus Carlsen in the finals.[89][90][91][92][93][94][95]
Events
World Championship
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju will defend his title against Javokhir Sindarov at the World Chess Championship, which will be held in Geneva from 24 November to 12 December. It will be played to a best of 14 games, with tiebreaks if required.[76]
Major tournaments
Opens
Rapid and Blitz events
Women's events
| Tournament | City | System | Dates | Players (2500+) | Winner | Runner-up | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tata Steel India Rapid | Kolkata |
Round robin | 7 – 9 Jan | 10 (2) |  Kateryna Lagno |
Aleksandra Goryachkina |
Divya Deshmukh |
| Tata Steel India Blitz | Double round robin | 10 – 11 Jan | 10 (2) | Carissa Yip |
Vantika Agrawal |
 Stavroula Tsolakidou | |
| Candidates Tournament |  Paphos |
Double round robin | 28 Mar – 16 Apr | 8 (6) | Vaishali Rameshbabu |
 Bibisara Assaubayeva |
Zhu Jiner |
| Norway Chess | Oslo |
Double round robin | 25 May – 5 Jun | 6 (6) | Bibisara Assaubayeva |
Zhu Jiner |
 Anna Muzychuk |
| WR Chess Tour – Asia Leg |  Tokyo |
Single elimination | 6 – 7 Jun | 8 (1) | Vaishali Rameshbabu |
Kateryna Lagno |
 Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| Cairns Cup | St. Louis |
Round robin | 8 – 21 Aug | 10 (5) | Tan Zhongyi |
Alice Lee |
Bibisara Assaubayeva Carissa Yip |
| WR Chess Tour – Africa Leg |  Maputo |
Single elimination | 21 – 23 Aug | 8 (1) |  Mai Narva |
Zhu Jiner |
 Shrook Wafa |
| WR Chess Tour – Europe Leg | Saint-Tropez |
Single elimination | 25 – 27 Aug | 8 (3) | Bibisara Assaubayeva |
Anna Muzychuk |
Mariya Muzychuk |
| Chess Olympiad | Samarkand |
Swiss | 16 – 27 Sep | Teams | |||
| WR Chess Tour – Grand Final | Stuttgart |
Single elimination | 22 – 23 Nov | 8 | |||
| World Rapid Championship | TBD | Swiss | December | TBD | |||
| World Blitz Championship | Multi-stage |
National events
Deaths
- 6 February – Bruno Parma, Slovene-Yugoslav grandmaster[96]
- 18 February – Jan Timman, Dutch grandmaster and author[97][98]
- 8 March – Slavoljub Marjanović, Serbian grandmaster[99]
- 21 May – Jan Adamski, Polish chess player[100]
- 24 May – Ján Plachetka, Slovak grandmaster[101]
- 28 June – Tamás Horváth, Hungarian International Master[102]
- 6 July – Iivo Nei, Estonian grandmaster[103][104]
- 18 August – Vereslav Eingorn, Ukrainian grandmaster, coach and author[105]
- 15 September - Georgios Makropoulos, Greek International Master, former FIDE Vice President[106]
Notes
- The semifinals and finals were held in 2026.
- This tournament is part of the Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026, which uses Chess.com and not a standard board.
- The rapid portion of the tournament is a single round robin, while the blitz portion is a double round robin.
- Part of the 2026 Esports World Cup tournament series held in Paris. This tournament is part of the Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026, which uses Chess.com and not a standard board.