2021 in chess

Last updated

The 2021 chess calendar was again disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of this many chess OTB tournaments were stopped, but major events that took place included the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, won by Jorden van Foreest.

Contents

The Candidates Tournament 2020–21, disrupted by the pandemic, concluded on 27 April 2021. It was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi. [1]

In November, Nepomniachtchi subsequently faced defending champion Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship title in Dubai, UAE during Expo 2020. Carlsen won the match 712–312 to retain the title with three games to spare and become a five-time world champion. [2]

The International Chess Federation, FIDE, admitted four new member federations: Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Niger, and Belize. [3]

2021 tournaments

This is a list of significant 2021 chess tournaments:

Supertournaments

TournamentSystemDatesPlayers (2700+)WinnerRunner-upThird
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021Round robin15–31 Jan14 (8) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jorden van Foreest Flag of the Netherlands.svg Anish Giri Flag of Russia.svg Andrey Esipenko
Champions Chess Tour Opera Euro Rapid 2021Hybrid6–14 Feb16 (14) Flag of the United States.svg Wesley So Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Teimour Radjabov
Champions Chess Tour Magnus Carlsen InvitationalHybrid13–21 Mar16 (12) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Anish Giri Flag of Russia.svg Ian Nepomniachtchi Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen
2020–2021 Candidates Tournament Double round robin17–25 Mar 2020
and 19–27 Apr
8 (7) Flag of Russia.svg Ian Nepomniachtchi Flag of France.svg Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Flag of the Netherlands.svg Anish Giri
Champions Chess Tour New In Chess Classic Hybrid24 Apr – 2 May16 (12) Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen Flag of the United States.svg Hikaru Nakamura Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Chess World Cup 2021 Single-elimination tournament12 Jul – 6 Aug206 (25) Flag of Poland.svg Jan-Krzysztof Duda Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Karjakin Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen
Women's Chess World Cup 2021 Single-elimination tournament12 Jul – 3 Aug103 (-) Flag of Russia.svg Alexandra Kosteniuk Flag of Russia.svg Aleksandra Goryachkina Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tan Zhongyi
World Chess Championship 2021 Best-of-14 match, with tie breaks24 Nov – 16 Dec2 Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen [2] Flag of Russia.svg Ian Nepomniachtchi -

FIDE Events

TournamentCitySystemDatesPlayersWinnerRunner-upThird
FIDE Grand Swiss Flag of Latvia.svg Riga Swiss27 Oct – 7 Nov154 Flag of France.svg Alireza Firouzja Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana Flag of Russia.svg Grigoriy Oparin
World Rapid Chess Championship Flag of Poland.svg Warsaw Swiss26–28 Dec204 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Nodirbek Abdusattorov Flag of Russia.svg Ian Nepomniachtchi Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen
World Blitz Chess Championship Flag of Poland.svg Warsaw Swiss29–30 Dec206 Flag of France.svg Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Flag of Poland.svg Jan-Krzysztof Duda Flag of France.svg Alireza Firouzja
Womens World Rapid Chess Championship Flag of Poland.svg Warsaw Swiss26–28 Dec102 CFR Russia chess simplified flag infobox.svg Alexandra Kosteniuk Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Bibisara Assaubayeva CFR Russia chess simplified flag infobox.svg Valentina Gunina
Womens World Blitz Chess Championship Flag of Poland.svg Warsaw Swiss29–30 Dec105 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Bibisara Assaubayeva CFR Russia chess simplified flag infobox.svg Alexandra Kosteniuk CFR Russia chess simplified flag infobox.svg Valentina Gunina

Team events

TournamentCitySystemDatesTeamsWinnerRunner-upThird
Women's World Team Chess Championship Flag of Spain.svg Sitges Round robin26 Sep – 3 Oct10Flag of Russia.svg Russia Flag of India.svg India Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia
European Team Chess Championship Flag of Slovenia.svg Čatež ob Savi Round robin11–22 Nov40Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine Flag of France.svg France Flag of Poland.svg Poland
Women's European Team Chess Championship Flag of Slovenia.svg Čatež ob Savi Round robin11–22 Nov32Flag of Russia.svg Russia Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Azerbaijan

Rapid & Biltz Tournaments

TournamentCitySystemDatesPlayersWinnerRunner-upThird
Superbet Rapid & Blitz Flag of Romania.svg Bucharest Round robin3–15 Jun10 Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Flag of Russia.svg Alexander Grischuk
Flag of the United States.svg Wesley So
Flag of Armenia.svg Levon Aronian
-
Paris Rapid & Blitz Flag of France.svg Paris Round robin20–24 Jun10Flag of the United States.svg Wesley So Flag of Russia.svg Ian Nepomniachtchi Flag of France.svg Alireza Firouzja
Croatia Rapid & Blitz Flag of Croatia.svg Zagreb Round robin7–11 Jul10Flag of France.svg Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Flag of India.svg Viswanathan Anand Flag of the Netherlands.svg Anish Giri
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Flag of the United States.svg St. Louis Round robin11–16 Aug10Flag of the United States.svg Hikaru Nakamura Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana Flag of Hungary.svg Richard Rapport
Sinquefield Cup Flag of the United States.svg St. Louis Round robin17–27 Aug12 (12)Flag of France.svg Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana
Flag of the United States.svg Leinier Domínguez
Flag of the United States.svg Wesley So
-
Shamkir Chess Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Shamkir Round robin17–24 Dec10 (10) Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana Flag of Hungary.svg Richard Rapport Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Deaths

References

  1. "Candidates Tournament 2020-2021: A happy and tired winner". Chess News. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Magnus Carlsen wins 5th World Championship title". chess24.com. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  3. 92nd FIDE General Assembly: results and decisions, FIDE, 29 December 2021
  4. "Suurmestari Yrjö Rantanen on kuollut". Suomen Shakkiliitto (in Finnish). 14 January 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  5. Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (15 January 2021). "Luto en el ajedrez colombiano: muere el Gran Maestro Gildardo García". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  6. Langer, Emily. "Lubomir Kavalek, international chess grandmaster, dies at 77". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  7. "Nikola Spiridonov nous a quittés". www.echecs.asso.fr. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. "Fallece el Gran Maestro cubano de ajedrez Román Hernández". OnCubaNews (in Spanish). 1 June 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  9. "Yuri Dokhoian passes away". www.fide.com.
  10. I, K. T. (28 July 2021). "Gyász: elhunyt Csom István sakkolimpiai bajnok - NSO". NSO.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  11. "Ушел из жизни Евгений Эллинович Свешников (1950-2021)". Федерация шахмат России (in Russian). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  12. Miguel Zometa (15 October 2021). "Homenaje a Boris Pineda" (in Spanish). Diario Co Latino . Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  13. "Ve věku 62 let zemřel šachový velmistr Marek Vokáč - Sport.cz". www.sport.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  14. "IN MEMORIAM – VELEMAJSTOR BOŠKO ABRAMOVIĆ (1951-2021) - Šahovski savez Srbije" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  15. "Meghalt Kállai Gábor nemzetközi sakknagymester". telex (in Hungarian). 31 December 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.