2019 Chess Calendar

Full-sized version of this month's calendar in News

November 29th - December 1st: European Women's Rapid & Blitz (Monaco)

European Chess UnionThe Novotel Hotel in Monaco is hosting the European Rapid and Blitz Championships for women. 

The Rapid Championship was an 11-round Swiss tournament taking place over two days from November 30th to December 1st. The time control is 15 minutes for the entire game plus 10-seconds per move starting from move one.

Final standings (top 10)
Rk.   Name Rtg Pts.
1 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2538 9,0
2 WGM Girya Olga 2365 9,0
3 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2455 8,0
4 GM Batsiashvili Nino 2401 8,0
5 GM Gunina Valentina 2434 8,0
6 IM Kashlinskaya Alina 2350 8,0
7 GM Cramling Pia 2423 8,0
8 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2381 8,0
9 GM Zhukova Natalia 2316 7,5
10 IM Gaponenko Inna 2328 7,5

The Blitz Championship was a 13-round Swiss tournament played on November 29th. The time control was 3 minutes for the entire game plus 2-seconds per move starting from move one.

Final standings (top 10)
Rk.   Name Rtg Pts.
1 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2521 10,0
2 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2452 9,5
3 GM Gunina Valentina 2366 9,5
4 GM Sebag Marie 2467 9,5
5 GM Zhukova Natalia 2239 9,5
6 IM Kashlinskaya Alina 2282 9,5
7 GM Muzychuk Anna 2504 9,0
8 IM Bulmaga Irina 2308 9,0
9 IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2268 9,0
10 WGM Michna Marta 2390 8,5
Links

December 2nd - 9th: Grand Chess Tour Finals (London, UK)

London Chess Classic 2019The finale of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour will once again be fought out as part of the London Chess Classic. The semi-finals will feature the 4 top players from the seven regular season tour events with each match consisting of classical, rapid and blitz games. The players will be competing for an enhanced prize fund totalling USD 350,000 this year with the winner taking home an impressive purse of USD 150,000.

Semi-final matches:

  • Magnus Carlsen vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
  • Ding Liren vs. Levon Aronian
Links

December 3rd - 14th: Women's Grand Prix 2nd leg (Monaco)

FIDEThe second leg of the 2019/2020 FIDE Women's Grand Prix will take place at the Yacht Club de Monaco. It will be the second of four twelve-player single round-robin events which will give out two tickets to play in the 2021 Women's Candidates Tournament.

The winner of the first event of the series, Humpy Koneru, will be participating. World championship challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina will also be playing, but world champion Ju Wenjun will be skipping this tournament.

Links

December 5th - 7th: European Rapid & Blitz (Tallinn, Estonia)

World Senior Chess Championship 2019The Sokos Hotel Viru in Tallinn will host the European Rapid and Blitz Championships.

The Rapid Championship is an 11-round Swiss tournament taking place over two days December 5th-6th. The time control is 15 minutes for the entire game plus 10-seconds per move starting from move one.

The Blitz Championship is a 13-round Swiss tournament played on December 7th. The time control is 3 minutes for the entire game plus 2-seconds per move starting from move one.

Links

December 11th - 23rd: Grand Prix 4th leg (Jerusalem, Israel)

Spanish Chess FederationThe fourth and final leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will be played in Jerusalem, Israel. The 16-player knockout has a €130,000 prize fund, with the series as a whole having an additional prize fund of €280,000 plus two qualifying spots for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ian Nepomniachtchi will be fighting to get a spot in the Candidates. It is theoretically possible for two of them to get the tickets, but it is very unlikely, as Alexander Grischuk almost secured his spot after winning the third leg of the series in Hamburg.

Teimour Radjabov and Levon Aronian withdrew from the Grand Prix in Israel for medical reasons and will be replaced according to the reserve list of Grand Prix participants. 

Links

December 13th - 22nd: Sunway Festival (Sitges, Spain)

Tata Steel India Rapid & Blitz 2019The Hotel Sunway Playa Golf & Spa in Sitges will organize the sixth edition of the International Chess Festival Sunway Sitges, with more than €25,000 in prizes.

The main tournaments — Group A (for players with a 1700+ rating) and Group B (for players with a rating below 2000) — will be 10-round Swiss opens with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with increment of 30 seconds from the first move.

The list of registered players has Parham Maghsoodloo, Vassily Ivanchuk, Anton Korobov, Hrant Melkumyan and Krishnan Sasikiran as the top five seeds. 

Last year's edition was won by Spanish GM Alvar Alonso Rosell.

Links

December 26th - 30th: World Rapid & Blitz (Moscow, Russia)

World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2019Officially called the "King Salman World Rapid & Blitz Championships", the tournament will be held in Moscow. The prize fund is once again huge at USD $1 million. Players with an Elo rating above 2750 (in any of the lists in 2019) will receive free full board accommodation. 

If the regulations remain unchanged from the previous edition, the rapid tournament will be a 15-round Swiss system with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move starting from the first move. The blitz tournament will consist of 21 rounds, also using Swiss pairings and a time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment per move starting from the first move.

Links
  • News stories
  • Live.ChessBase.com
  • Official website

December 28th - January 5th: Caplin Hastings International Congress (Hastings, UK)

Caplin Hastings International Chess Congress 2019The 95th edition of the traditional tournament will take place at the Horntye Park Sports Complex in Hastings. The Congress has attracted a new sponsor: Caplin Systems from London.

The Masters will be a 9-round Swiss open with a rate of play of 40 moves in 100 minutes, followed by all remaining moves in 50 minutes, with the addition of 30 seconds for each move from the start.

The additional sponsorship means that it was possible to attract a greater number of grandmasters. Top seeds so far are David Howell, Romain Edouard, Erik van den Doel and Deep Sengupta.

Links
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News

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Chess calendar: December 2019

12/2/2019 – It will be a jam-packed December in the world of elite chess. The Grand Chess Tour and the Grand Prix series will come to an end with events in London and Jerusalem respectively. European rapid and blitz tournaments will be the prelude to the World Rapid and Blitz Championships that will take place in Moscow. The second leg of the Women's Grand Prix will be played in the luxurious Yacht Club in Monaco. And a couple of strong opens will be organized in Spain and the United Kingdom. Don't miss any of the action! | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

Chess calendar: November 2019

11/1/2019 – November will kick off with the third leg of the Grand Prix in Hamburg, the penultimate stage of the FIDE series that awards two spots for the 2020 Candidates Tournament. This month will also feature the last two rapid and blitz events of the Grand Chess Tour, which will decide who will join Magnus Carlsen in the London finale. In the midst of all that elite action, the European Club Cup will take place in Montenegro. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

Chess calendar: October 2019

10/1/2019 – October will be yet another action-packed month in the chess world. The main attractions at the elite level will be the Grand Swiss Tournament — a new qualification event for the Candidates — and the European Team Championships. In the meantime, the World Youth and World Junior Championships will take place in India. Also, Hou Yifan will be playing in Cap d'Agde and Magnus Carlsen will face three other players at the newly minted Fischer Random World Championship. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

Chess calendar: September 2019

9/2/2019 – A key tournament in the yearly calendar will keep chess fans entertained during most of September, as the FIDE World Cup kicks off on the 9th in Khanty-Mansiysk. Before that, Garry Kasparov will face Fabiano Caruana in a Chess960 match-up, while the first leg of the Women's Grand Prix will start in Moscow almost concurrently with the stellar event of the month. You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

Chess calendar: August 2019

8/11/2019 – Three strong opens in Abu Dhabi, Netherlands and Latvia kicked off the month, but the main attraction in August will be coming from Saint Louis, where a Rapid & Blitz tournament and the Sinquefield Cup will take place one after another. Strong national championships in Russia and France are also on the menu. You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

Chess calendar: July 2019

7/4/2019 – Classical, rapid and blitz, oh my. There's a ton of top chess this month from China and across Europe to the USA. Find your favourite players and follow along all month in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage as well. A handy reference, updated every few days!

Chess calendar: June 2019

6/3/2019 – The Candidates tournament for the Women's World Championship technically began in May, but it's primarily a June affair. Meanwhile, World Champion Magnus Carlsen is in action in Stavanger for the seventh time, and World Chess is trying a new format in Moscow that also involves Armageddon. You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage as well.

Chess calendar: May 2019

5/3/2019 – The month of May is only slightly quieter than April with wide-range of events from the Grand Chess Tour's first African foray to the new FIDE Grand Prix, and the Candidates tournament for the Women's World Championship. You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage as well. First up is the Russian Team Championship, which is already underway in Sochi

Chess calendar: April 2019

3/31/2019 – There are many now-traditional events on the monthly calendar of global professional chess in April. You'll find all of these tournaments and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage as well. First up is Shamkir, which starts March 31st (so technically it's only mostly in April.
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