The Week in Chess

6th Cairns Cup 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sun Aug 23 10:37:00 2026

The 6th Cairns Cup 2026 took place Mon 10th to Fri 21st August 2026. Tan Zhongyi won with 6½/9 half a point clear of Alice Lee on 6. She earned her first GM norm in the 2026 Cairns Cup at the age of 16.

Grand Chess Tour Finals 2026 - Games and results

Mark Crowther — Sun Aug 23 10:37:00 2026

The Grand Chess Tour Finals take place in Saint Louis 22nd to 27th August 2026. This is the final event of the tour and there is a total prize fund of $450,000, distributed as follows: $200,000 for first place, $125,000 for second, $75,000 for third, and $50,000 for fourth. The top four players with the best results during the tour are in finishing order: No. 1 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Seed No. 2 Wesley So, Seed No. 3 Fabiano Caruana, and Seed No. 4 Vincent Keymer.

The format is complex, two classical games (and a tie-break match for two points if tied), rapid and blitz with different weighting for the sections. I've got an experimental program to do the broadcasting trying to make sense of the format. Play 12pm local time, 6pm BST.

13th Sinquefield Cup 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Thu Aug 20 06:44:00 2026

The 13th Sinquefield Cup took place 10th to 20th August 2026. Players: Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer, Wesley So, Anish Giri, Praggnanandhaa R, Jorden Van Foreest, Maxime Vachier-lagrave, Levon Aronian and Samuel Sevian.

Wesley So took first place from Praggnanandhaa after winning a tie-break match. The players scored 5.5/9 to share first place and then drew two 10 minutes plus 5 seconds a move rapid game, a final Armageddon game was required, Wesley had the black pieces and draw odds, the game finished at King vs King and thus so had the draw he needed.

Carlsen wins the Chess event in the Esports World Cup - Final

Mark Crowther — Sat Aug 15 18:42:00 2026

Magnus Carlsen convincingly won the lucrative chess final of the Esports World Cup which is being held in Paris, France. The event as a whole has 25 tournaments held over 24 different games and takes place July 6th to August 23rd, a period of 48 days. The claimed total prize fund for the entire event is US$75 million, the total for the chess was $1.5m with $250,000 for the winner, $190,000 for second, $145,000 for third place, and $115,000 fourth place. It might truly be said that the only really serious thing about the chess tournament in the Esports World Cup is the prize money.

The players also sign up to be part of teams such as Team Liquid, Team Vitality, Karmine Corp, Ninjas in Pyjamas, who are legends in their own right. Games played alongside the chess include Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Counter-Strike 2, EA Sports FC 26, PUBG and Fortnite.

Esports World Cup 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sat Aug 15 16:53:00 2026

The Esports World Cup chess section took place in Paris Tue 11th Aug to Sat 15th Aug 2026. This Double Elimination KO event featured Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakmura, Alireza Firouzja and Denis Lazavik among many famous names and faces. I have a new table format to show the results (although the introduction of sets in the final I couldn't handle) and all the games are also available. Carlsen was an easy winner of the final winning both sets comfortably and he didn't lose a game. Hikaru Nakamura finished in 3rd place winning his match against Firouzja which was plagued by technical issues and a loss in game 4 led to Firouzja just quitting.

112th British Chess Championships 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sun Aug 9 19:46:00 2026

The 112th British Chess Championships took place at the University of Warwick 1st to 9th August 2026. Luke McShane, Michael Adams, Shreyas Royal, Harry Grieve etc. Most interesting is the number of young players with Bodhana Sivanandan being one of those. The event delivered on its promise with 17-year-old Shreyas Royal earning his first title and Bodhana Sivanandan winning a tie-break match against Trisha Kanyamarala to win her first title at a record breaking 11-years-old, the women competed in the main championship and Bodhana's only loss was to the winner. It was only a few years ago that the British was a depressing run down affair making me wonder where all the juniors were, well they were just getting started at that point apparently.

WR Chess Rapid & Blitz Miami 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Tue Jul 28 10:14:00 2026

The WR Chess Rapid & Blitz Miami was a two day rapid and then blitz match between the USA and Uzbekistan ahead of the Olympiad. Team: Ukbekistan: Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Mukhiddin Madaminov, USA: Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, Leinier Dominguez Perez. Each round was a team match with 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw. The USA narrowly won both days.

Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Wed Jul 22 14:55:00 2026

The Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters took place Thu 16th Jul to Wed 22nd Jul 2026. Alireza Firouzja took clear first place with 4½/7 half a point clear of Dmitry Andreikin and Arjun Erigaisi, The poor form of World Champion Gukesh continues as he finished dead last on 2/7 and is in danger of falling below 2700. Gukesh continues to play wildly ambitious chess, it's still possible to believe he'll turn this around.

Sergei Tiviakov wins his fourth Netherlands Chess Championship - Final

Mark Crowther — Sat Jul 11 19:01:00 2026

Sergei Tiviakov was the surprise winner of the 2026 Netherlands Chess Championships held at the Renaissance Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Hotel. Whilst the event was missing the strongest two players, Anish Giri and Jordan van Foreest, it was a pretty respectable field and Tiviakov was the eighth seed.

Tiviakov beat IM Eelke De Boer in the first round. In the second he lost the first game to Erwin L'Ami but recovered in a must win game two before winning the blitz (5m+2spm) tie-breaks 1.5-0.5. He beat Eric Van den Doel 1.5-0.5 in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was another surprise, 9th seed 24-year-old Liam Vrolijk. The two classical games were drawn before Tiviakov won the two blitz games to take the title.

Netherland Championships 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sat Jul 11 17:59:00 2026

The Netherland Championships took place in Amsterdam Sat 4th to Sat 11th Jul 2026. The event was a KO with both an open and women's event. Sergei Tiviakov won his fourth title defeating Liam Vrolijk in the final after a tie-break. Machteld Van Foreest beat Anna-Maja Kazarian 2-0 in the final.

KazChess Masters 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Wed Jul 8 19:38:00 2026

The KazChess Masters took place Tue 30th Jun to Wed 8th Jul 2026 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Alexey Sarana edged out Alexander Donchenko on tie-break after both scored 6/9. Igor Kovalenko finished half a point behind.

GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sun Jul 5 22:55:00 2026

The GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia took place in Zagreb 1st to 5th July 2026. Players: Vincent Keymer, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jorden Van Foreest, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Ivan Saric, Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Gukesh Dommaraju.

Alrizeza Firouzja won an Armageddon Tie-break against Nodirbek Abdusattorov after they tied the combined standings and a two game rapid tie-break match.

FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Wed Jun 24 14:52:00 2026

The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships takes place Wed 17th Jun 2026 Sun 22nd Jun 2026. Three days of rapid followed by three days of blitz in Hong Kong. 48 teams. Players: Magnus Carlsen, Vladislav Artemiev, Arjun Erigaisi, Alireza Firouzja, Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Wei Yi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Javokhir Sindarov, Ding Liren, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Anish Giri, Nihal Sarin, Dmitry, Andreikin, Jan Krzysztof Duda, Alexander Grischuk etc

Surprise victory for Mukhiddin Madaminov in the 3rd UzChess Cup - 9

Mark Crowther — Tue Jun 16 15:17:00 2026

Mukhiddin Madaminov won the 3rd Uzchess Cup in Tashkent, a real surprise as he was the bottom seed and there as a replacement for Javokhir Sindarov. Madaminov won a final blitz tie-break 2-0 against fellow Uzbekistani Shamsiddin Vokhidov who also wasn't one of the favourites.

Madaminov's victory came after a long game against Hans Moke Niemann where he was pressing for a win but was also in danger of losing at one stage. He didn't have more than a few minutes to prepare for the tie-break.

19-year-old Madaminov has played most of his recent chess in Asia which according to Vlad Ghita suffers from rating deflation, potentially making him very underrated. Madaminov has also been working as Sindarov's second since the 2025 World Cup no doubt that's helped him a lot.

The FIDE Olympiad takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 15 to 28, 2026. The founding of the UzChess Cup was part of the "national preparation programme for hosting and competing in the 46th World Chess Olympiad (2026)." That program has already seen the rise of Nodirbek Abdusattorov followed by Javokhir Sindarov who won the Candidates, they both currently have the same rating tied at 2777 and 4th/5th in the world rankings. Uzbekistan will have a very competitive team.

Half a point behind the leaders were Arjun Erigaisi, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov all of whom had decent enough tournaments. Every player lost at least one game, the most bizarre being Nodirbek Abdusattorov who was having an indifferent tournament until round 8, he'd got a win in Round 2 against Mamedyarov and drawn the rest, his loss came against tail-ender Nikolas Theodorou in a strange way, in a very level position he didn't register his Rook was attacked the previous move, picked up his King, realised at that moment what he'd done and just had to resign.

I know there's a refrain going round along the lines of "who says classical chess is dead?" but "who says classical chess is dead?" this was a really super tournament.

3rd UzChess Cup 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Mon Jun 15 21:52:00 2026

The 3rd UzChess Cup took place in Tashkent Sun 7th Jun to Mon 15th Jun 2026. The Masters: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Moke Niemann, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Santosh Gujrathi Vidit, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Nikolas Theodorou and Mukhiddin Madaminov.

The lowest rated player, 19 year-old Mukhiddin Madaminov won after winning a tie-break blitz match against 8th seed Shamsiddin Vokhidov. They had both scored 5.5/9 half a point clear of Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Arjun Erigaisi. Mahammad Muradli won the Challengers with a dominant 7.5/9 two points clear of second placed Mittal Aditya. The Futures tournament was won by IM Khumoyun Begmuratov (born 2010). Timur Gareyev edged out Shavkatjon Abdukholikov on tie-break in the open after both scored 7.5/9.

Blohberger beats Navara 3.5-2.5 in a match - 3-4

Mark Crowther — Sun Jun 14 14:13:00 2026

Felix Blohberger defeated David Navara in a match in Vienna Mon 8th Jun to Sat 13th Jun 2026. 22 year-old GM Blohberger has a YouTube Channel where he talks about chess. Blohberger had a personal sponsor for the match and it was held at the headquarters of the Austrian Chess Federation, they also provided the arbiter. Every round was commentated live. It was an interesting match, Navara was better in game one, game two was balanced, game three was the decisive one for the match, Navara was a pawn down in a Bishop vs Knight endgame, he probably should have held but his passive defensive idea wasn't the way to do it. Game four was the most exciting of the match with both sides having winning positions at various stages before a draw in a four queens endgame. Games five and six were a little calmer and both finished in draws.

Navara vs Blohberger Match 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sun Jun 14 12:20:00 2026

David Navara played Felix Blohberger in a six game match in Vienna Mon 8th Jun - Sat 13th Jun 2026. Blohberger won game three and the remaining games were drawn.

26th European Women's Championship 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Fri Jun 5 20:17:00 2026

The 26th European Women's Championship took place Mon 25th May to Friday 5th Jun 2026. Anastasiia Hnatyshyn took clear first place with 9/11 half a point clear of Sabrina Vega Gutierrez, Olga Badelka and Nurgyul Salimova.

14th Norway Chess 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Mon May 25 21:14:00 2026

The 14th Norway Chess tournament took place Mon 25th May to Fri 5th Jun 2026. There was the regular tournament and a women's event, this year with the same prize-money. Each event had 6 players and 10 rounds and there was an Armageddon game if there's a draw.

Open: Magnus Carlsen, Vincent Keymer, Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh. Women: Ju Wenjun, Zhu Jiner, Humpy Koneru, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Anna Muzychuk and Deshmukh Divya.

Praggnanandhaa won the event just pipping Wesley So by a point, Praggnanandhaa won his last four games. Magnus Carlsen had his poorest result in my memory, he won three and lost four. Bibisara Assaubayeva had led for much of the women's event and her only defeat in the final round didn't stop her winning. I give both the official final standings and a conventional table.

GCT Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 - Games and Results

Mark Crowther — Sat May 23 17:45:00 2026

The Grand Chess Tour Super Chess Classic Romania took place Thu 14th May to Sat 23rd May 2026. Players: Caruana, Sindarov, Giri, Firouzja, Keymer, Wesley So, Jorden Van Foreest, Praggnanandhaa, MVL and Deac. Vincent Keymer emerged as the clear winner with 6/9 half a point clear of Fabiano Caruana on 5.5, Javokhir Sindarov and Wesley So were half a point further back on 5 points. Alireza Firouzja withdrew after five rounds after badly hurting his ankle, he had tried to carry on for a couple of rounds after round 3.