2021 Chess Calendar
The 2020 Chess Calendar was laid to waste by the coronavirus epidemic, though the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour and other online events rose from the ashes. 2021 is guaranteed to see the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour played out in monthly events until the Grand Final in September, but if the virus permits it’s a year that could also see the Candidates Tournament completed, a World Championship match, two World Cups, two Grand Swisses, the Grand Chess Tour and much more.
We’ve tried to gather together all the events that are currently known about for 2021. It goes without saying, of course, that all the over-the-board events are subject to change or cancellation depending on how the virus situation around the world develops.
Current and upcoming tournaments:
January 2021
January 16 – 31 | Tata Steel Masters | Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
This year’s 83rd edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament has been cut to just the main event due to COVID-19, but if everything goes as planned that will still mean a 14-player round-robin featuring Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from the world’s Top 5 and a host of young talents that include 17-year-old Alireza Firouzja.
Links: official website, chess24
January 18 - 29 [POSTPONED - provisionally to Late February] | FIDE Women’s Grand Prix | Gibraltar
The 4th and final stage of the 2019-2020 FIDE Grand Prix is taking place in the Caleta Hotel venue that would normally host the Gibraltar Masters, impossible this year due to travel restrictions. After the 12-player event ends we’ll know the two players who qualify to the next FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, which is pencilled in for the first quarter of the year.
Links: official website
January 23 - 31 [POSTPONED] | Moscow Open | Moscow, Russia
A big, traditional open with a myriad of separate events.
Links: official website
February 2021
February 6 - 14 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 3 | chess24
The 3rd stage of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and the second Regular event, with 16 players and a $100,000 prize fund.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
March 2021
March 13 - 21 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 4 | chess24
The 4th stage of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and the second Major, with 12 players and a $200,000 prize fund.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
March 27 - 28 | Chess Bundesliga Rounds 9-10 | Germany
The 2019/2020 German Chess League was suspended after 8 rounds due to the coronavirus. The provisional plan is to complete the rounds in 2021 over three weekends.
Links: official website, chess24
April 2021
Spring 2021 | Candidates Tournament Rounds 8-14 | Yekaterinburg, Russia
The Candidates Tournament that will decide Magnus Carlsen’s next World Championship challenger was started in March 2020 despite a pandemic beginning to take hold around the world. The worst fears of Teimour Radjabov and others proved justified when the event had to be stopped halfway, with Teimour’s late replacement Maxime Vachier-Lagrave joining Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead. The saga of trying to resume the event has dragged on ever since, with the outcome still uncertain.
Links: official website, chess24
April 1 - 5 | GRENKE Chess Open | Karlsruhe, Germany
The massive GRENKE Chess Open was the kind of event that was never going to be possible to hold in 2020. The prospects for 2021 are unclear, but if it is held it’ll again take place over the Easter weekend - Easter Sunday is April 4th. The hope is to accompany it with the GRENKE Chess Classic super-tournament, which from 2017-2019 was won by Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen.
Links: official website
April 7 - 21 | European Individual Championship | Reykjavik, Iceland
The Reykjavik Open had to be cancelled in 2020 while in 2021 the plan is for the main event of the Festival to serve as the European Championship, potentially boosting the prestige of a tournament that has largely been viewed as a qualifier for the World Cup.
Links: official website
April 10 - 18 | 20th Bangkok Chess Club Open | Thailand
The Bangkok Chess Club Open was postponed and then cancelled as global air traffic shut down in 2020. 2-time Champion Jan Gustafsson will be among those hoping things go better in 2021.
Links: official website
April 24 - May 2 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 5 | chess24
The 5th stage of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and the 3rd Regular event, with 16 players and a $100,000 prize fund.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
April 24 - 25 | Chess Bundesliga Rounds 11-12 | Germany
The 2nd of three weekends on which the 2019-2020 German Chess League is planned to be completed, with matches taking places in different cities around Germany.
Links: official website
May 2021
May 14 - 16 | Chess Bundesliga Rounds 13-15 | Berlin, Germany
The planned climax for the 2019-2020 German Chess League would see all the teams once again converging on Berlin for the three final rounds.
Links: official website
May 23 - 31 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 6 | chess24
The 6th stage of the Champions Chess Tour and the third and final Major, with 12 players and a $200,000 prize fund.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
May 31 – June 13 | European Women’s Chess Championship | Mamaia, Romania
This 11-round open determines the 2021 European Women’s Champion and also qualification spots for the Women’s World Cup.
Links: official website
June 2021
June 4 – 15 | Superbet Chess Classic | Bucharest, Romania
The 1st event on the 2021 Grand Chess Tour, which plans to follow the cancelled plan for 2020 of having five events and no Grand Final. The tournament in Bucharest is a 12-player classical event featuring all the main tour players, with a $325,000 prize fund.
Links: Grand Chess Tour
June 17 – 22 | Paris Rapid & Blitz | Paris, France
The 2nd leg of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. The 5-day rapid and blitz tournament will have a $150,000 prize fund.
Links: Grand Chess Tour
June 17 - 26 | Prague Chess Festival | Prague, Czech Republic
The 2nd edition of the Prague Masters, won by Alireza Firouzja, was the last major chess tournament to be completed in 2020 before the virus shut down chess life. A 3rd edition, again with a Masters, Challengers and Open, is planned for 2021, but the dates have been pushed back to June due to the virus situation.
Links: official website
June 26 - July 4 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 7 | chess24
The 7th stage of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and the 4th Regular event, with 16 players and a $100,000 prize fund.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
July 2021
July 5 – 12 | Croatia Rapid & Blitz | Zagreb, Croatia
The 3rd leg of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. The 5-day rapid and blitz tournament will have a $150,000 prize fund.
Links: Grand Chess Tour
July 10 - August 6 | FIDE World Cup | Sochi, Russia
An expanded 206-player World Cup knockout tournament is provisionally planed to start in Sochi on July 10th, with the 50 top seeds starting their campaigns from Round 2. The prize fund has been raised to $1.89 million, with the two finalists both qualifying for the next Candidates Tournament. The final is this time cut from four games to two, the same length as all the other rounds (with rapid and blitz playoffs in case of a tie).
A Women's World Cup is planned to be held at the same time with 103 players, a $676,000 prize fund and three places in the Women's Candidates Tournament at stake.
Links: FIDE
July 13 - 18 | Sparkassen Chess Trophy | Dortmund, Germany
The virus prevented this new look tournament in Dortmund from taking off in 2020, but it’s back for 2021, with a series of opens with a €50,000 prize fund.
Links: official website
July 17 - 28 | Biel Chess Festival | Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
The Biel Chess Festival was one of the first top level tournaments to be held successfully after coronavirus restrictions eased in summer 2020, and it plans to be back for a 54th edition in 2021. In recent years it’s experimented with combining classical, rapid and blitz chess.
Links: official website
July 31 - August 8 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 8 | chess24
The 8th stage of the Champions Chess Tour and the 5th Regular event, with 16 players and a $100,000 prize fund.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
August 2021
August 10 – 15 | St. Louis Rapid & Blitz | Saint Louis, USA
The 4th leg of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. The 5-day rapid and blitz tournament will have a $150,000 prize fund.
Links: Grand Chess Tour
August 17 – 27 | Sinquefield Cup | Saint Louis, USA
The 8th edition of the Sinquefield Cup is the 5th and final stage of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. The 12-player classical event has a $325,000 prize fund and will also finalise who wins the additional $175,000 in prize money for the overall tour standings.
Links: Grand Chess Tour
August 28 – September 5 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Leg 9 | chess24
The 9th stage of the Champions Chess Tour and the 6th Regular event, with 16 players and a $100,000 prize fund. This will be the last chance for players to qualify for the Grand Final.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
September 2021
Sep 25 – October 3 | Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Final | San Francisco, USA
The Grand Final of the 2021 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour will be a $300,000 10-player round-robin featuring the top players on the tour. It's going to be held in the San Francisco headquarters of the tour's name sponsors Meltwater. The players will be handicapped based on their performance over the year.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
October 2021
October 25 – November 8 | FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss | Douglas, Isle of Man
As in 2019 the traditional open tournament on the Isle of Man will become a FIDE Candidates Tournament qualifier, with the $425,000 main event now offering two places in the Candidates as well as a $70,000 top prize. This year it’s accompanied by a $125,000 FIDE chess.com Women’s Grand Swiss, with 50 players and at least one qualifier to a Women’s Candidates Tournament.
Links: official website
November 2021
November 11 - 22 | European Team Chess Championship | Terme Olimia, Slovenia
This biennial European event for national chess teams saw Russia claim double gold when it was last held in Batumi, Georgia in 2019.
Links: official website
November 27 - December 5 | European Chess Club Cup | Ohrid, North Macedonia
An annual team event for chess clubs based in Europe, though players can come from around the world.
Links: official website
November 27 – December 5 | European Women’s Chess Club Cup | Monaco
The women’s event is taking place at the same time as the open tournament, but at a different venue.
Links: official website
November-December | World Chess Championship Match | Dubai, UAE
If the Candidates Tournament is successfully completed in the first half of 2021 the plan is to hold the match between the winner and current World Champion Magnus Carlsen in Dubai as part of Expo 2020, which has now been rescheduled to begin on October 1, 2021. It’s already been announced that the match will feature 14 games rather than 12, with a prize fund of at least €2 million.
Finished events:
January 2021
December 26 – January 3 | Airthings Masters | chess24
The second event on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour is also the first Major, with a $200,000 prize fund. The winner gets $60,000 and a guaranteed place in the Grand Final. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Skilling Open winner Wesley So are among the 12-player field, which will be reduced to 8 players by a 3-day preliminary stage. The remaining players will battle it out in a knockout that takes us into 2021.
Links: Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, Airthings Masters games: Prelims, Knockout | Reports: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9