This 2019 Chess Calendar is of course a work in progress, since we don’t yet have the dates or details for many events, including those of the Grand Chess Tour. Please let us know in the comments if we’ve left out any major events which have already been announced.

Current and upcoming tournaments:

August 2019

August 20 – September 2 | World Cadet Championship | Weifang, China

The annual World Youth Championships for the Under 8, U10 and U12 age categories.

Links: official website, chess24: U8, U10, U12, G8, G10, G12

September 2019

September 2 – 5 | 2019 Champions Showdown: Chess960 | Saint Louis, USA

Garry Kasparov will once again be back at the chessboard to play in the $200,000 Champions Showdown. His opponent for six 30 minute, 10-second delay rapid games and 14 5+5 blitz games will be world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana. The other three matches are So-Topalov, Dominguez-Svidler and Nakamura-Aronian.

Links: official website, chess24

September 10 – October 4 | FIDE World Cup | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

The biennial World Cup is probably the most anticipated chess event of 2019, with 128 players set to compete for the title and places in the 2020 Candidates Tournament. Will World Champion Magnus Carlsen take part again after getting knocked out by Bu Xiangzhi in 2017?

Links: official website, chess24

September 11 – 22 | 1st FIDE Women’s Grand Prix | Skolkovo, Moscow, Russia

This 12-player round-robin is the 1st of four Women’s Grand Prix events that will determine two places in the 2021 Women’s Candidates Tournament. The series consists of 16 players who compete in 3 of the 4 events. The top prize is 15,000 euros, with another 20,000 euros for the overall winner of the series.

October 2019

October 2 – 12 | World Youth Championship | Mumbai, India

The annual World Youth Championship for the Under 14, U16 and U18 age categories.

Links: official website

October 10 – 21 | FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss | Douglas, Isle of Man

This year the 9-round Swiss on the Isle of Man will be a 160-player event to determine a single place in the 2020 Candidates Tournament to select Magnus Carlsen’s next challenger. It might still be sufficient to finish second, however, since Magnus himself will play.

Links: official website

October 15 – 25 | World Junior Championship | New Delhi, India

The most prestigious prize in junior chess, with players 20 and under competing in 11-round open and women’s tournaments to determine the 2019 World Junior Champions.

Links: official website

October 14 – 21 | Russian Rapid and Blitz Championship | Sochi, Russia

A week in which Russian players battle it out in both individual and team rapid and blitz tournaments. Traditionally Vladislav Artemiev wins almost everything.

Links: official website

October 24 – November 2 | European Team Championship | Batumi, Georgia

A 9-round biennial team event open to all the European Chess Federations. The defending champions are Azerbaijan, in the open category, and Russia, among the women.

Links: official website

October 27 – November 2 | Fischer Random 2019 | Bærum, Norway

After a match between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura was held in 2018 the plan this year is to expand and hold a World Championship style event open to all online before a knockout tournament takes place in Norway. The World Champion will be seeded through to the semi-final stage.

Links: official website

November 2019

November 4 – 18 | FIDE Grand Prix Leg 3 | Hamburg, Germany

The third leg of the new FIDE Grand Prix series. Each leg is a 16-player knockout with a €130,000 prize fund, with an additional €280,000 on offer based on the overall standings after all four events. The main goal is to win one of two qualifying places for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

Links: official website

November 4 – 11 | Superbet Rapid & Blitz | Bucharest, Romania

The sixth leg of the new-look 12-player Grand Chess Tour is a 5-day rapid and blitz tournament. The tour regulars play in three of the five rapid and blitz events and both classical tournaments.

Links: Grand Chess Tour

November 10 – 16 | European Chess Club Cup | Ulcinj, Montenegro

The annual open and women’s European Club Cups are open to qualifying club teams from across Europe. In 2018 Peter Svidler let St. Petersburg-based Mednyi Vsadnik to victory despite losing his first 4 games.

Links: official website

November 12 – 23 | World Senior Championship | Bucharest, Romania

The World Individual Senior Chess Championship is help in open and women’s categories for players aged 50+ and 65+.

Links: official website

November 20 – 27 | Tata Steel India Rapid & Blitz | Kolkata, India

The seventh leg of the new-look 12-player Grand Chess Tour is a 5-day rapid and blitz tournament. The tour regulars play in three of the five rapid and blitz events and both classical tournaments.

Links: Grand Chess Tour

November 21- 23 | Chinese Chess League | China

A 12-team double round-robin league held in six venues over the course of eight months. Most of the players are Chinese but there’s a significant foreign presence during each round.

Links: official website, chess24

December 2019

December 1 – 9 | London Chess Classic | London, UK

The London Chess Classic will host the finals of the Grand Chess Tour. The prize fund for the final four players in the tour has been raised to $350,000, with $150,000 for 1st place and $100,000 for 2nd.  We can also expect major accompanying events such as the British Knockout Championship.

Links: official website

December 3 – 14 | 2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Prix | Monaco

This 12-player round-robin is the 2nd of four Women’s Grand Prix events that will determine two places in the 2021 Women’s Candidates Tournament. The series consists of 16 players who compete in 3 of the 4 events. The top prize is 15,000 euros, with another 20,000 euros for the overall winner of the series.

December 10 – 24 | FIDE Grand Prix Leg 4 | Tel-Aviv, Israel

The fourth leg of the new FIDE Grand Prix series. Each leg is a 16-player knockout with a €130,000 prize fund, with an additional €280,000 on offer based on the overall standings after all four events. The main goal is to win one of two qualifying places for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

Links: official website

December 11 – 15 | European Rapid and Blitz Championship | Tallinn, Estonia

In recent years the European Rapid and Blitz Championship has featured as a warm-up for the World Rapid and Blitz held later in December.

December 13 – 22 | Sunway Chess Open | Sitges, Spain

An ambitious open tournament that has been growing year by year and attracting some top players.

Links: official website