The 2021 chess calendar was again disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of this many chess OTB tournaments were stopped, but major events that took place included the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, won by Jorden van Foreest.
The Candidates Tournament 2020–21, disrupted by the pandemic, concluded on 27 April 2021. It was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi.
In November, Nepomniachtchi subsequently faced defending champion Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship title in Dubai, UAE during Expo 2020. Carlsen won the match 7–3 to retain the title with three games to spare and become a five-time world champion.
The International Chess Federation, FIDE, admitted four new member federations: Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Niger, and Belize.
2021 tournaments This is a list of significant 2021 chess tournaments:
Supertournaments Tournament System Dates Players (2700+) Winner Runner-up Third Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021 Round robin 15–31 Jan 14 (8) Jorden van Foreest Anish Giri Andrey EsipenkoChampions Chess Tour Opera Euro Rapid 2021Hybrid6–14 Feb16 (14) Wesley So Magnus Carlsen Teimour RadjabovChampions Chess Tour Magnus Carlsen InvitationalHybrid13–21 Mar16 (12) Anish Giri Ian Nepomniachtchi Magnus Carlsen2020–2021 Candidates TournamentDouble round robin17–25 Mar 2020and 19–27 Apr8 (7) Ian Nepomniachtchi Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Anish GiriChampions Chess Tour New In Chess ClassicHybrid24 Apr – 2 May16 (12) Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura Shakhriyar MamedyarovChess World Cup 2021Single-elimination tournament12 Jul – 6 Aug206 (25) Jan-Krzysztof Duda Sergey Karjakin Magnus CarlsenWomen's Chess World Cup 2021Single-elimination tournament12 Jul – 3 Aug103 (-) Alexandra Kosteniuk Aleksandra Goryachkina Tan ZhongyiSinquefield CupRound robin17–27 Aug12 (12) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Fabiano Caruana Leinier Domínguez Wesley So -World Chess Championship 2021Best-of-14 match, with tie breaks24 Nov – 16 Dec2 Magnus Carlsen Ian Nepomniachtchi -
FIDE Events Tournament City System Dates Players Winner Runner-up Third FIDE Grand Swiss Riga Swiss 27 Oct – 7 Nov 154 Alireza Firouzja Fabiano Caruana Grigoriy Oparin World Rapid Chess Championship Warsaw Swiss 26–28 Dec 204 Nodirbek Abdusattorov Ian Nepomniachtchi Magnus Carlsen World Blitz Chess Championship Warsaw Swiss 29–30 Dec 206 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Jan-Krzysztof Duda Alireza Firouzja Women's World Rapid Chess Championship Warsaw Swiss 26–28 Dec 102 Alexandra Kosteniuk Bibisara Assaubayeva Valentina Gunina Women's World Blitz Chess Championship Warsaw Swiss 29–30 Dec 105 Bibisara Assaubayeva Alexandra Kosteniuk Valentina Gunina
Team events Tournament City System Dates Teams Winner Runner-up Third Women's World Team Chess Championship Sitges Round robin 26 Sep – 3 Oct 10 Russia India Georgia European Team Chess Championship Čatež ob Savi Round robin 11–22 Nov 40 Ukraine France Poland Women's European Team Chess Championship Čatež ob Savi Round robin 11–22 Nov 32 Russia Georgia Azerbaijan
Rapid & Biltz Tournaments Tournament City System Dates Players Winner Runner-up Third Superbet Rapid & Blitz Bucharest Round robin 3–15 Jun 10 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Alexander Grischuk Wesley So Levon Aronian - Paris Rapid & Blitz Paris Round robin 20–24 Jun 10 Wesley So Ian Nepomniachtchi Alireza Firouzja Croatia Rapid & Blitz Zagreb Round robin 7–11 Jul 10 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Viswanathan Anand Anish Giri Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz St. Louis Round robin 11–16 Aug 10 Hikaru Nakamura Fabiano Caruana Richard Rapport Shamkir Chess Shamkir Round robin 17–24 Dec 10 (10) Fabiano Caruana Richard Rapport Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Deaths 14 January – Yrjö Rantanen 15 January – Gildardo García 18 January – Lubomir Kavalek 13 March – Nikola Spiridonov 1 June – Román Hernández Onna 1 July – Yury Dokhoian 28 July – István Csom 18 August – Evgeny Sveshnikov 11 October – Boris Pineda 14 November – Marek Vokáč 19 December – Boško Abramović 31 December – Gábor Kállai
References