Latest World Chess News

The 10th Sinquefield Cup takes place Tuesday 21st Nov to Sun 3rd Dec 2023 in Saint Louis. Players: Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Richard Rapport, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian. After 1 round Jan-Krzysztof Duda withdrew from the event due to ill health, no specifics have been given. All rather unfortunate as this is the second year running this has happened with Carlsen being the one to withdraw last year.

The 86th Tata Steel chess tournament takes place Saturday 13th to Sun 28th Jan 2024 in Wijk aan Zee. Players: Masters: Ding Liren, Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Parham Maghsoodloo, Wei Yi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Santosh Gujrathi Vidit, Jorden Van Foreest, Alexander Donchenko, Max Warmerdam and Wenjun Ju. Challengers: Anton Korobov, Hans Moke Niemann, Mustafa Yilmaz, A.R. Saleh Salem, Jaime Santos Latasa, Erwin L'Ami, Leon Luke Mendonca, Daniel Dardha, Marc Andria Maurizzi, Liam Vrolijk, Harika Dronavalli, Stefan Beukema, Deshmukh Divya and Eline Roebers. World Champion Ding Liren who has hardly played after winning the title due to ill health will be looking to start afresh and begin a legacy as champion. 7 of the 14 Masters are top 10 players but Magnus Carlsen is missing for only the second time in 20 years. The organisers say Carlsen has a busy schedule in February, I only have Prague as an event he could plausibly play but there's no indication that's it, so maybe something new, maybe something online. Other players missing are the leading Americans and MVL. Nevertheless it looks the usual right balance of different styles, ages and strengths of players to produce the usual great tournament.

The 24th European Team Chess Championship took place in Budva, Montenegro 11th to 21st November 2023. The biennial event has 38 teams, Azerbaijan, Romania, Germany, England and Armenia are the top seed. Leading players including Magnus Carlsen, Richard Rapport, Teimour Radjabov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vincent Keymer, Nikita Vitiugov (now playing for England), Haik M. Martirosyan, Bogdan-Daniel Deac,, Jorden Van Foreest and David Navrara. 32 Nations headed by Georgia, Azerbaijan and Germany competed in the women's event alongside. 10th seeded Serbia beat England in Round 8 and then Greece in the final Round to take the title ahead of Germany by a single board on board count. Armenia beat England in the final round to take bronze. Top seeds Azerbaijan finished 18th. In the women's event Bulgaria took gold a point clear of Azerbaijan with France in 3rd place. Top seeds Georgia finished 10th.

The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz took place 14th to 19th November 2023. "Fabiano Caruana became the 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz champion after a dramatic final day of blitz, which came down to a winner-take-all last round game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Caruana ended with 21/36 points, Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 20.5, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Le Quang Liem tied for third place with 20." "Earning 13 GCT points for the tournament victory, Caruana is now extremely close to clinching the overall 2023 Grand Chess Tour." Ray Robson was the surprise winner of the rapid with 5.5/9. Caruana, Le Quang Liem and Ian Nepomniachtchi scored 11/18 in the blitz.

The FIDE Grand Swiss took place in Douglas, Isle of Man, Wed 25th Oct to Wed 8th Nov 2023. 11 rounds and 2 Candidates places at stake. There is an extremely strong field. This event should tell us where Classical chess is in 2023. 20 players rated over 2700, all but a few rated over 2600. Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, D Gukesh, Richard Rapport, Levon Aronian, R Praggnanandhaa, MVL, Jan-Krzysztof Duda etc etc. There is a women's event alongside Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Mariya Muzychuk etc. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi won the Open alone on 8.5/11 after a win in the final round against Alexandr Predke. Hikaru Nakamura took second place on tie-break after a draw with black against Arjun Erigaisi and these two players qualify for the Candidates. Vaishali Rameshbabu won the women's section after a comfortable draw with the black pieces in the final round.

The 31st World Senior Chess Championship took place in Cittaa del Mare a holiday village in the town of Terrasini in Sicily. There were 3 sections, over 50, over 65 and women's. Top seed Michael Adams won the over 50 section by the narrowest of tie-break margins over Suat Atalik after both finished on 8.5/11. John Nunn won the over 65s on tie-break from Lubomir Ftacnik after both scored 8.5/11. In the final round Fracnik beat the leader Daniel Campora who had earlier beaten Nunn. Monica Calzetta Ruiz won the women's event, alone on 8.5/11.

The Qatar Masters Open took place 11th to 20th October 2023. Players: Carlsen, Nakamura, Giri, Gukesh, Abdusattorov, Erigaisi, Maghsoodloo, Jorden Van Foreest, Nihal Sarin etc. Nodirbek Yakubboev beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2-0 in a blitz tie-break after both scored 7/9. Narayanan, Sindarov, Nakamura, Erigaisi, Maghsoodloo and Gukesh finished on 6.5/9, Anish Giri and World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen were in a group on 6/9.

The 76th Russian Championships took place 1st to 12th October 2023. Vladislav Artemiev won with 8.5/11 undefeated, two points clear of the field. Baira Kovanova was the surprised winner of the women's event with 8/11 a point clear of the field. She had not even qualified for the final stage, in spite of trying, since 2013.

The US Chess Championships take place in Saint Louis 5th to 18th October. Players: Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominquez, Sam Shankland, Sam Sevian, Hans Niemann, Ray Robson, Dariusz Swiercz, Jeffery Xiong, Abhimanyu Mishra, Andrew Tang, Women's: Irina Krush, Carissa Yip, Alice Lee, Anna Zatonskih, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, Nazi Paikidze, Jennifer Yu, Atousa Pourkashiyan, Ashritha Eswaran, Tatev Abrahamyan, Thalia Cervantes, Ruiyang Yan.

The 38th European Club Cup takes place in Durres, Albania 30th September to 8th October 2023. Magnus Carlsen turns out for his club Offerspill and other strong players such as Anand, Rapport, Mamedyarov and MVL also play.