Elite chess explained, move by move

The road, from January to December

Every elite tournament we cover in 2026 — what is already in the archive, what is on the board live, and what is coming next. Each event is annotated move by move with coach-voice commentary grounded in the engine.

Events
10
Live now
0
Upcoming
7

§ 00 · The 2026 calendar at a glance

FINISHEDLIVEUPCOMING

No live events right now.

§ 01 · Next on the calendar · 26 May — 6 Jun 2026

The headline event of summer

Featured · Tier S · Stavanger, NO

Norway Chess
2026

Elite classical with Armageddon tiebreaks — one of the season's signature round-robin stops.

Format
Classical round-robin + Armageddon tiebreak · 10 players

§ 02 · Also on the calendar

More events to watch for

4 — 15 Jul 2026TIER A
42d until first move

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz

Zagreb, HR

Summer rapid and blitz festival in Zagreb — not part of the World Rapid & Blitz Championships.

Rapid and blitz
10 — 17 Aug 2026TIER A
79d until first move

Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz

St. Louis, US

US summer rapid and blitz festival on the Grand Chess Tour calendar.

Rapid and blitz
21 Aug — 1 Sept 2026TIER S
90d until first move

Sinquefield Cup

St. Louis, US

Grand Chess Tour classical stop in Saint Louis — the summer's marquee American event.

Classical round-robin
30 Oct — 27 Nov 2026TIER S
160d until first move

FIDE World Cup

Goa, IN

Knockout classical with a massive field — three Candidates spots on the line.

Knockout
15 Nov — 5 Dec 2026TIER S
176d until first move

World Championship Match

TBD

The title match after Candidates — dates and venue to be confirmed.

Classical match
18 — 25 Nov 2026TIER A
179d until first move

Grand Chess Tour Finals

London, UK

Season finale for the Grand Chess Tour — field set by Sinquefield and prior legs.

Knockout

§ 03 · 2026 archive · annotated in full

The story so far

DatesEventLocation · formatWinnerScoreDecisiveWhat we wrote
28 Mar — 16 Apr 2026FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026Open section · Tier SPaphos, CY
Classical double round-robin · 8 players
Sindarov's clean win earned the challenger spot. The full Open section is annotated move by move — replay the path to the title game by game.
8 — 14 Apr 2026Freestyle Chess Grand Slam TourParis 2026 · Tier AParis, FR
Chess960 knockout
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam leg in Paris — part of the season's Chess960 tour.
17 — 28 Jan 2026Tata Steel Chess Tournament2026 Masters · Tier SWijk aan Zee, NL
Classical round-robin · 14 players
The traditional January masters event at Wijk aan Zee opens the elite season.