Watch the World Chess Festival

by Frederic Friedel
5/5/2026 – So many top chess tournaments taking place, all at the same time. How can you keep abreast? We will tell you how ChessBase provides you with all the live games. Take for example this exciting FIDE event, with former World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, marking a rare appearance in an open. To follow this or many other tournaments, you just need to go to the ChessBase Live Broadcast page. Try it out.
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The Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 is taking place in Orosei, Sardinia, Italy, from 3–10 May 2026. It takes place in three rating bands, Open A, Open B, Open C, with players competing in classical format, synchronized rounds, and a rich prize fund spanning main prizes and special awards. Organized by EmmediSport ASD under the direction of International Organizer GM Roberto Mogranzini, the festival offers a total prize fund of €50,100. 

Comprehensive information is available on this MyChess Events page.

The event is taking place in Orosei, blending competition with a unique playing environment next to one of Sardinia’s most beautiful beaches.

All games take place at the Club Hotel Marina Beach, a four-star venue offering full-board accommodation, sports facilities, and direct access to a private beach.

Participants will also have the opportunity to visit Cala Goloritzé, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world – combining elite chess with the natural beauty of Sardinia. Photos by FIDE.

Watch the games live

This year's event includes GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, marking a rare appearance for the former World Championship challenger in an open tournament. He is joined by top grandmasters Parham Maghsoodloo, Ivan Šarić, Frederik Svane, Haik Martirosyan and GM Daniel Dardha, winner of the inaugural 2024 edition. The field is further enriched by rising talent IM Faustino Oro, as well as a strong Indian contingent, including Murali Karthikeyan, Leon Mendonca and GM Harika Dronavalli.

You can follow the action in Sardinia on the ChessBase Live Broadcast page:

There you can follow all the most important international chess tournaments, which are streamed live. Selecting the Sardinia World Festival will take you to the live broadcast:

Here you can follow the games live. Click on a game on the right and it will be displayed in the board section on the left. At the same time you will have the full notation, and any computer analysis that is available:

Below the boards are buttons to start an engine analysis (to answer any what-if and why-not questions that might arise); replay buttons (but you can also simply click on the notation); a maximize button and a download button (for the PGN of the game, a GIF or FEN description of the current diagram, etc.). Naturally, you can move the board to analyse how the game could continue.

Note that at some stage, and for important games, full computer analysis, with diagrams and an evaluation graph, will appear. In addition, clicking on "Table" below the broadcast screen will show you the current standings.
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Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.
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