#2026

Saint Louis's marquee Grand Chess Tour classical event — the strongest annual non-championship tournament in the world for over a decade.

The inaugural memorial event for Daniel Naroditsky — held at Charlotte Chess Center, the institution he most closely identified with as a teacher and streamer.

The Charlotte Chess Center's flagship Swiss — the strongest US classical open after the US Championship itself, drawing 200+ rated entries each autumn.

The Khanty-Mansiysk round-robin named after the 12th world champion — a category-17 event in the Russian Far North that has run almost annually since 2002.

The triennial FIDE chess Olympiad for players with disabilities — held in 2026 in Samarkand in the week before the main 46th Chess Olympiad.

The biennial team championship — 190+ federations, four-board open and women's teams, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The single largest event in the chess year.

Germany's longest-running super-tournament, founded in 1973 — a fortnight at the Westfalenhallen each summer, won by Kramnik a record ten times.

Switzerland's annual chess festival on the lakeshore — the Grand Masters Triathlon (classical + rapid + blitz combined scoring), Masters Open Swiss, and a fortnight of side events.

Polanica-Zdrój's annual GM round-robin — Poland's longest-running international chess festival, honouring the Galician-born grandmaster who shaped the openings theory of the early twentieth century.

Moscow's traditional spring open — one of the strongest annual opens in chess for two decades, with a famously deep grandmaster field.

Africa's annual continental championship — the qualifying route for African Federation players into the FIDE World Cup.

The Americas' annual continental championship — open Swiss covering North, Central, and South America, with FIDE World Cup qualification on the line.

Asia's annual continental championship — the qualifier for Asian players into the FIDE World Cup, a strong open Swiss across South and East Asia.

The continental open and women's championships of the Asian Chess Federation — Ulaanbaatar host city in 2026, with FIDE World Cup qualifications awarded to top finishers.

The Asian Chess Federation's biennial team event — open, women's, and youth team competitions running in parallel, hosted in 2026 in the UAE.

Azerbaijan's annual international open in the capital — strongest open in the Caucasus, attracting fields of 250+ players including a substantial GM contingent.

The women's super-tournament of the Saint Louis Chess Club — ten players, round-robin, founded in 2019 as the women's counterpart to the Sinquefield Cup.

Cuba's annual classical event in memory of José Raúl Capablanca — the 59th running of one of the longest-continuous tournaments in chess.

Morocco's invitational rapid event with a historical-position twist — each game starts from a famous position from chess history rather than the standard opening setup.

Chess.com's flagship annual online tour — multiple legs of rapid and blitz tournaments across the year, culminating in a Tour Finals.

China's annual national championship — the round-robin from which Ding Liren, Wei Yi, and Yu Yangyi emerged.

Annual chess championship of the Commonwealth federations — held in 2026 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka, with sections by age and rating band.

The continental clubs' championship — six-board open and four-board women's competitions in parallel, with the strongest European club rosters of the year on display.

The European continental Chess 960 championship — a relatively new format that the ECU has run since 2024, hosted in 2026 in Thessaloniki.

The annual 400-player Swiss open that crowns Europe's individual champion and qualifies the top finishers for the FIDE World Cup.

The annual European Rapid and Blitz championships — held back-to-back in late December, in 2026 at the Lisbon Congress Centre.

The biennial four-board team championship for Europe — open and women's sections, 30+ federations, classical time control.

The 27th European Individual Women's Championship — eleven rounds of Swiss in Batumi, with World Cup qualification spots distributed to the top finishers.

The European Women's Rapid and Blitz championships — held in Monaco in early January, an established January-window event in the European women's calendar.

The European version of the World Youth — U8 through U18 categories, organised by the European Chess Union.

The eight-player double round-robin that decided the challenger for the 2027 World Chess Championship — held in Madrid, April 2026.

The official FIDE-sanctioned Freestyle Chess World Championship — Chess 960 starting positions, top-eight elimination format, and Magnus Carlsen retaining the inaugural title at Weissenhaus.

The women's eight-player Candidates running in parallel with the open Candidates at Paphos — eight games each, double round-robin, with Vaishali Rameshbabu winning to face the reigning world champion in the 2026 Women's Championship match.

FIDE's annual blitz championship — 21-round Swiss at 3+2, the most dramatic chess event of the year by sheer per-second decision count.

FIDE's annual end-of-year championship at rapid time control — 15-round Swiss, 200+ players, the strongest annual non-classical event in chess.

The annual world championships for 50+ and 65+ age categories, in open and women's sections — the largest gathering of senior-elite grandmasters each year.

A new annual FIDE event combining a team rapid championship with a parallel team blitz, hosted in 2026 in Hong Kong as the inaugural edition.

Germany's annual national championship — eleven-round Swiss in a single weekend each summer, with parallel open and women's sections.

Gibraltar's annual elite open — one of the strongest open tournaments in the world, with a famously generous prize fund and a global field.

The franchise-based team league — six city-named teams of six players each, played as a double round-robin of rapid matches with a playoff final.

The annual season-closer of the Grand Chess Tour — top four from the season's five legs, single-elimination matches, $1.2M prize pool, Saint Louis as host city for the eleventh straight year.

Karlsruhe's annual Easter Swiss — Germany's largest open by entries (1,400+) and one of the strongest in Europe, run alongside the Grenke Freestyle Open since 2025.

India's national championship — the round-robin that has launched the careers of every major Indian grandmaster since Anand. The 60+ edition.

The women's super-tournament running alongside Norway Chess in Oslo — six players, double round-robin, Armageddon decides every drawn classical.

Late-winter round-robin at the Don Giovanni Hotel — the strongest classical event held in Central Europe each year, and in 2026 the second tournament Nodirbek Abdusattorov won inside two months.

Chennai's annual round-robin — India's premier classical event, founded after the 2022 Olympiad win and now in its third year as a category-19 invitational.

Iceland's annual Spring Swiss open — a 250+ player field with strong grandmaster representation, named after the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match held in the same city.

Russia's national championship final — 12-player round-robin held in autumn, the highest-profile annual chess event held in Russia.

Late-February Swiss at the Saint Louis Chess Club — the city's annual proving ground for second-tier US grandmasters, won in 2026 by Mikhail Antipov.

The traditional Sinquefield Cup warm-up — combined rapid and blitz Grand Chess Tour leg held the week before the Sinquefield Cup.

Orosei's annual May Swiss on the Sardinian east coast — a holiday-context international open that has grown rapidly since its 2022 founding.

Warsaw's opening leg of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour — nine rounds of rapid plus 18 of blitz, with Hans Niemann winning the combined event in his first GCT season.

Bucharest's annual classical leg of the Grand Chess Tour — ten elite grandmasters, nine rounds, late May. The opening event of the GCT calendar year.

Zagreb's annual Grand Chess Tour leg — the rapid-and-blitz combined event that has become the GCT's most-watched stop.

Kolkata's annual super-tournament — rapid and blitz over six days, hosted by the West Bengal Chess Association under the Tata Steel banner.

Malmö's spring round-robin — the smallest of the Nordic super-tournaments and, in 2026, the one Magnus Carlsen won outright as warm-up for Norway Chess.

Saint Louis's annual round-robin to determine the national champions of the United States — open and women's sections, 12 players each.

Tashkent's annual round-robin — the Uzbek federation's flagship event, now in its third year and featuring the country's three world-elite players (Sindarov, Abdusattorov, Yakubboev) at home.

FIDE's annual championship for players under 20 — the U20 tournament that has launched the careers of Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, Carlsen, and Gukesh.

FIDE's annual championships in age categories U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18 — the largest single-event youth tournament in chess.

Stavanger's annual super-tournament — Armageddon tiebreakers, classical at heart, the only event where every draw is a fight.

The Wijk aan Zee classic — round‑robin, fortnight long, fourteen players, the chess world's annual New Year ritual.