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These are the major events on the chess calendar for February 2020, with links to their official sites. When live games are available, we'll also add these along with any links to our News page coverage of each tournament.
For the second time, the Saint Louis Chess Club will host the Cairns Cup, an elite level tournament for top female players from around the world. Inspired by its mission to further promote the game of chess to females, the Chess Club aptly chose the name Cairns Cup in honour of co-founder Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield’s maiden name.
The nine-round classical event will not only be one of the largest prize funds for a women's tournament — it also promises to be the strongest female tournament ever held in the world. The top three finishers will receive $45,000, $35,000, and $25,000 respectively.
Valentina Gunina won the inaugural edition in 2019, while Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun tops the field this year:
|
# |
Name |
Rating |
Federation |
|
1 |
Ju Wenjun |
2584 |
China |
|
2 |
Humpy Koneru |
2580 |
India |
|
3 |
Mariya Muzychuk |
2552 |
Ukraine |
|
4 |
Kateryna Lagno |
2552 |
Russia |
|
5 |
Harika Dronavalli |
2518 |
India |
|
6 |
Nana Dzagnidze |
2515 |
Georgia |
|
7 |
Alexandra Kosteniuk |
2504 |
Russia |
|
8 |
Valentina Gunina |
2461 |
Russia |
|
9 |
Irina Krush |
2422 |
United States |
|
10 |
Carissa Yip |
2418 |
United States |
The second edition of the Prague Masters and Challengers round-robin tournaments are set for mid-February. The tournaments, which are modelled after the Tata Steel Chess Masters and Challengers, aim to find a permanent home on the chess calendar, positioned as the second major round-robin event of the year.
The round-robin Masters tournament will definitely take centre stage. Russian grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov will attempt to reclaim his victory in the Masters tournament from 2019, but Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the runner-up of the Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix, will be the top seed by rating.
The field of the Masters includes six 2700+ rated players:
| # | Name | FED | Year of Birth | Rating |
|
1 |
Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
POL |
1998 |
2758 |
|
2 |
Nikita Vitiugov |
RUS |
1987 |
2747 |
|
3 |
Wei Yi |
CHN |
1999 |
2725 |
|
4 |
Harikrishna Pentala |
IND |
1986 |
2724 |
|
5 |
Vidit Santosh Gujarathi |
IND |
1994 |
2721 |
|
6 |
David Navara |
CZE |
1985 |
2707 |
|
7 |
David Antón Guijarro |
ESP |
1995 |
2685 |
|
8 |
Nils Grandelius |
SWE |
1993 |
2683 |
|
9 |
Samuel Shankland |
USA |
1991 |
2683 |
|
10 |
Markus Ragger |
AUT |
1988 |
2670 |
The number one position in the Challengers will be taken up by Nijat Abasov from Azerbaijan:
| # | Name | FED | Year of Birth | Rating |
|
1 |
Nijat Abasov |
AZE |
1995 |
2655 |
|
2 |
Andrey Esipenko |
RUS |
2002 |
2636 |
|
3 |
Mateusz Bartel |
POL |
1985 |
2636 |
|
4 |
Jorden Van Foreest |
NED |
1999 |
2632 |
|
5 |
Kacper Piorun |
POL |
1991 |
2623 |
|
6 |
Jan Krejčí |
CZE |
1992 |
2578 |
|
7 |
Van Nguyen |
CZE |
2001 |
2548 |
|
8 |
Hannes Stefanson |
ISL |
1972 |
2546 |
|
9 |
Tadeáš Kriebel |
CZE |
1995 |
2516 |
|
10 |
Lukáš Černoušek |
CZE |
1983 |
2461 |
The capital city of Styria and Austria's second-largest city after Vienna will host a large festival which includes three nine-round open tournaments and a weekend event. The main 'A group' is reserved to players with a rating above 2000 plus women and players under 18 years old with a rating above 1900.
Currently, fourteen players with a 2500+ rating have registered to participate, with top seeds Bartosz Socko and José Eduardo Martínez actually over 2600. The complete list of registrants includes no fewer than 178 players in the main group.
Last year's edition was won by Armenian GM Hrant Melkumyan.
The Aeroflot Open Chess Festival, which is popular throughout the world, will be held in February 2020 for the 18th time. This time the festival has a guaranteed prize fund amounting to EUR 140,000 (taking into account the prizes for the Blitz Tournament).
The venue of the tournament, as usual, will be the "Cosmos" hotel in Moscow. The festival consists of three open tournaments, each of which is a nine-round Swiss event.
A very strong contingent is already registered to participate, with thirty 2600+ players and fifty grandmasters in the mix. Top seed is world number 23 Vladislav Artemiev, while last year's winner Kaido Kulaots is only the 53rd seed. The top 15 registrants so far:
| No. | Name | FED | Rtg | |
| 1 | GM | Artemiev Vladislav | RUS | 2731 |
| 2 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | ARM | 2689 |
| 3 | GM | Sjugirov Sanan | RUS | 2674 |
| 4 | GM | Kovalev Vladislav | BLR | 2660 |
| 5 | GM | Mamedov Rauf | AZE | 2659 |
| 6 | GM | Sarana Alexey | RUS | 2656 |
| 7 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2654 |
| 8 | GM | Jumabayev Rinat | KAZ | 2646 |
| 9 | GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | RUS | 2645 |
| 10 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | IND | 2638 |
| 11 | GM | Narayanan.S.L | IND | 2637 |
| 12 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | UZB | 2635 |
| 13 | GM | Paravyan David | RUS | 2629 |
| 14 | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2626 |
| 15 | GM | Durarbayli Vasif | AZE | 2625 |
The 27th edition of the three-day annual fun-filled tournament in Ireland will be held at the beautiful Bunratty Castle Hotel, which has been the tournaments home since 2010.
The tournament is divided in four sections, with the Masters reserved for 2000+ rated players. Traditionally, strong British players take the time to go enjoy the relaxed environment of the event while fighting for a first prize of €1,000. One round will be played on Friday the 21st, three on Saturday and two on Sunday.
The 2019 edition was won by Luke McShane, who was followed by Mark Hebden and Nigel Short in the standings table. At the moment, Short is the highest-rated registered player, with Matthew Turner, Elisabeth Paehtz, Simon Williams and Keith Arkell making up the top five.
