2019 in chess

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.^[1]

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	Gibraltar	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 Piorun
Reykjavik 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	Isle of Man	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 Nepomniachtchi
Levitov Chess Week Blitz	Amsterdam	Round robin	3 Aug	8	Vladimir Kramnik	Viswanathan Anand	Alexander Grischuk
Levitov 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	Kolkatta	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.^{[citation needed]}
• 7 January – Khosro Harandi, first Iranian International Master and three-time winner of the Iranian Chess Championship, dies at age 87.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.^{[citation needed]}
• 6 July – Ragnar Hoen, Norwegian FIDE Master who won the Norwegian Chess Championship in 1963, 1978, and 1981, dies at age 78.^{[citation needed]}
• 11 August – Shelby Lyman, American chess player and teacher, dies at age 82.^{[citation needed]}
• 26 August – Pal Benko, Hungarian-American Grandmaster, author and composer of endgame studies, dies at age 91.^[2]
• 5 September – Nenad Šulava, Croatian Grandmaster, dies at age 56.^[3][4]
• 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

1. UN adopts July 20 as World Chess Day, FIDE, 13 December 2019, retrieved 2 May 2020
2. McClain, Dylan Loeb (26 August 2019). "Pal Benko, who stepped aside for Bobby Fischer, dies at 91". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
3. International Chess Federation [@FIDE_Chess] (8 September 2019). "Croatian GM Nenad Sulava passed away on September 5" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
4. International Chess Federation (6 September 2019), Nenad Sulava dies at 56, retrieved 26 January 2020