Major chess events that took place in 2019 include the Tata Steel, Shamkir Chess, Grenke Chess Classic and Norway Chess, all won by World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
Events 12 December – The United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution designating 20 July as "World Chess Day", marking the date of the establishment of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Paris on 20 July 1924.
2019 tournaments Supertournaments Tournament City System Dates Players (2700+) Winner Runner-up Third Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee Round robin 12–27 Jan 14 (12) Magnus Carlsen Anish Giri Ian Nepomniachtchi Tata Steel Challengers Wijk aan Zee Round robin 12–27 Jan 14 (0) Vladislav Kovalev Andrey Esipenko Benjamin Gledura Prague Chess Festival Prague Round robin 6–15 Mar 10 (8) Nikita Vitiugov Vidit Gujrathi Radosław Wojtaszek Shamkir Chess Shamkir Round robin 31 Mar – 9 Apr 10 (10) Magnus Carlsen Ding Liren Sergey Karjakin Shenzhen Masters Shenzhen Round robin 17–Apr 6 (6) Anish Giri Pentala Harikrishna Ding Liren Grenke Chess Classic Baden-Baden Round robin 20–29 Apr 10 (6) Magnus Carlsen Fabiano Caruana Arkadij Naiditsch Norway Chess Stavanger Round robin 4–15 Jun 10 (10) Magnus Carlsen Levon Aronian Yu Yangyi Poykovsky Chess Tournament Poykovsky Round robin 6–15 Jun 10 (3) Vladislav Artemiev Dmitry Jakovenko Ivan Šarić Netanya International Chess Festival Netanya Round robin 23 Jun – 2 Jul 10 (3) Boris Gelfand Leinier Domínguez Pavel Eljanov Croatia Grand Chess Tour Zagreb Round robin 26 Jun – 8 Jul 12 (12) Magnus Carlsen Wesley So Levon Aronian Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting Dortmund Round robin 13–21 Jul 8 (5) Leinier Domínguez Ian Nepomniachtchi Radosław Wojtaszek Biel Chess Festival Biel Round robin 21–30 Jul 8 (2) Vidit Gujrathi Sam Shankland Peter Leko Sinquefield Cup St. Louis Round robin 17–29 Aug 12 (12) Ding Liren Magnus Carlsen Viswanathan Anand London Chess Classic London Knockout 2–8 Dec 4 (4) Ding Liren Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Magnus Carlsen
Open events Tournament City System Dates Players Winner Runner-up Third Gibraltar Chess Festival Swiss 21–31 Jan 252 Vladislav Artemiev Karthikeyan Murali Nikita Vitiugov Aeroflot Open Moscow Swiss 18–28 Feb 101 Kaido Külaots Haik Martirosyan Krishnan Sasikiran European Individual Chess Championship Skopje Swiss 18–29 Mar 361 Vladislav Artemiev Nils Grandelius Kacper PiorunReykjavik Open Reykjavík Swiss 8–16 Apr 238 Constantin Lupulescu Alireza Firouzja Nils Grandelius GRENKE Chess Open Karlsruhe Swiss 18–22 Apr 904 Daniel Fridman Anton Korobov Andreas Heimann World Open Philadelphia Swiss 2–7 Jul 227 Lê Quang Liêm Jeffery Xiong Hrant Melkumyan Riga Technical University Open Riga Swiss 5–11 Aug 275 Igor Kovalenko Šarūnas Šulskis Arman Mikaelyan
FIDE Events Tournament City System Dates Players Winner Runner-up Third FIDE Grand Prix Moscow Moscow Knockout 16–30 May 16 Ian Nepomniachtchi Alexander Grischuk Radosław Wojtaszek Hikaru Nakamura FIDE Grand Prix Riga Riga Knockout 12–24 Jul 16 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Alexander Grischuk Wesley So FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg Hamburg Knockout 5–17 Nov 16 Alexander Grischuk Jan-Krzysztof Duda Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Daniil Dubov FIDE Grand Prix Jerusalem Jerusalem Knockout 11–23 Dec 16 Ian Nepomniachtchi Wei Yi David Navara Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FIDE World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk Knockout 9 Sep – 4 Oct 128 Teimour Radjabov Ding Liren Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FIDE Grand Swiss Swiss 10–21 Oct 154 Wang Hao Fabiano Caruana Kirill Alekseenko FIDE Fischer Random Chess Championship Bærum Knockout 27 Oct – 2 Nov 4 Wesley So Magnus Carlsen Ian Nepomniachtchi World Rapid Chess Championship Moscow Swiss 26–28 Dec 204 Magnus Carlsen Alireza Firouzja Hikaru Nakamura World Blitz Chess Championship Moscow Swiss 29–30 Dec 206 Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura Vladimir Kramnik
Team events Tournament City System Dates Teams Winner Runner-up Third World Team Chess Championship Astana Round robin 5–14 Mar 10 Russia England China Women's World Team Chess Championship Astana Round robin 5–14 Mar 10 China Russia Georgia European Team Chess Championship Batumi Round robin 23 Oct – 3 Nov 40 Russia Ukraine England Women's European Team Chess Championship Batumi Round robin 23 Oct – 3 Nov 32 Russia Georgia Azerbaijan
Rapid & Blitz Tournaments Tournament City System Dates Players Winner Runner-up Third Norway Chess Blitz Tournament Stavanger Round robin 3 Jun 10 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Levon Aronian Magnus Carlsen Lindores Abbey Chess Stars Newburgh Round robin 25–26 May 4 Magnus Carlsen Ding Liren Sergey Karjakin Abidjan Rapid & Blitz Abidjan Round robin 8–12 May 10 Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Paris Rapid & Blitz Paris Round robin 27 Jul – 1 Aug 10 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Viswanathan Anand Ian NepomniachtchiLevitov Chess Week Blitz Amsterdam Round robin 3 Aug 8 Vladimir Kramnik Viswanathan Anand Alexander GrischukLevitov Chess Week Rapid Amsterdam Round robin 4–6 Aug 8 Ian Nepomniachtchi Alexander Grischuk Anish Giri Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz St. Louis Round robin 10–Aug 10 Levon Aronian Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Ding Liren Superbet Rapid & Blitz Bucharest Round robin 6–10 Nov 10 Levon Aronian Sergey Karjakin Viswanathan Anand Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz Kolkata Round robin 8–12 May 10 Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura Anish Giri
Deaths Tamar Khmiadashvili, a Georgian Woman Grandmaster with multiple wins in the Georgian Women's Championship and Women's World Senior Championship. 7 January – Khosro Harandi, first Iranian International Master and three-time winner of the Iranian Chess Championship, dies at age 87. 31 March – Eva Moser, Austria's first Woman Grandmaster and in 2006 became the first woman to win the absolute Austrian Chess Championship, dies at age 36. 6 July – Ragnar Hoen, Norwegian FIDE Master who won the Norwegian Chess Championship in 1963, 1978, and 1981, dies at age 78. 11 August – Shelby Lyman, American chess player and teacher, dies at age 82. 26 August – Pal Benko, Hungarian-American Grandmaster, author and composer of endgame studies, dies at age 91. 5 September – Nenad Šulava, Croatian Grandmaster, dies at age 56. 11 September – Zbigniew Szymczak, Polish International Master and Polish chess champion in 1983, dies at age 67. 9 September – Yoel Aloni, Israeli chess player and problemist, dies at age 90. 23 September – Harri Hurme, Finnish FIDE Master and International Solving Master, dies at age 74. 30 December – Beatriz Alfonso Nogue, Spanish Woman FIDE Master, dies at age 51.
References