2019 in chess explained

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
		Round robin	12–27 Jan	14 (12)			Ian Nepomniachtchi
		Round robin	12–27 Jan	14 (0)			Benjamin Gledura
		Round robin	6–15 Mar	10 (8)			Radosław Wojtaszek
		Round robin	31 Mar – 9 Apr	10 (10)			Sergey Karjakin
		Round robin	17–Apr	6 (6)			Ding Liren
		Round robin	20–29 Apr	10 (6)			Arkadij Naiditsch
		Round robin	4–15 Jun	10 (10)			Yu Yangyi
		Round robin	6–15 Jun	10 (3)			Ivan Šarić
		Round robin	23 Jun – 2 Jul	10 (3)			Pavel Eljanov
		Round robin	26 Jun – 8 Jul	12 (12)			Levon Aronian
		Round robin	13–21 Jul	8 (5)			Radosław Wojtaszek
		Round robin	21–30 Jul	8 (2)			Peter Leko
	St. Louis	Round robin	17–29 Aug	12 (12)			Viswanathan Anand
	London	Knockout	2–8 Dec	4 (4)			Magnus Carlsen

Open events

Tournament	City	System	Dates	Players	Winner	Runner-up	Third
		Swiss	21–31 Jan	252			Nikita Vitiugov
	Moscow	Swiss	18–28 Feb	101			Krishnan Sasikiran
		Swiss	18–29 Mar	361			Kacper Piorun
		Swiss	8–16 Apr	238			Nils Grandelius
		Swiss	18–22 Apr	904			Andreas Heimann
		Swiss	2–7 Jul	227			Hrant Melkumyan
		Swiss	5–11 Aug	275

FIDE Events

Tournament	City	System	Dates	Players	Winner	Runner-up	Third
	Moscow	Knockout	16–30 May	16			Radosław Wojtaszek Hikaru Nakamura
		Knockout	12–24 Jul	16			Alexander Grischuk Wesley So
		Knockout	5–17 Nov	16			Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Daniil Dubov
		Knockout	11–23 Dec	16			David Navara Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
		Knockout	9 Sep – 4 Oct	128			Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
		Swiss	10–21 Oct	154			Kirill Alekseenko
		Knockout	27 Oct – 2 Nov	4			Ian Nepomniachtchi
	Moscow	Swiss	26–28 Dec	204			Hikaru Nakamura
	Moscow	Swiss	29–30 Dec	206			Vladimir Kramnik

Team events

Tournament	City	System	Dates	Teams	Winner	Runner-up	Third
		Round robin	5–14 Mar	10	Russia	England	China
		Round robin	5–14 Mar	10	China	Russia	Georgia
		Round robin	23 Oct – 3 Nov	40	Russia		England
		Round robin	23 Oct – 3 Nov	32	Russia		Azerbaijan

Rapid & Blitz Tournaments

Tournament	City	System	Dates	Players	Winner	Runner-up	Third
		Round robin	3 Jun	10			Magnus Carlsen
		Round robin	25–26 May	4			Sergey Karjakin
		Round robin	8–12 May	10			Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
		Round robin	27 Jul – 1 Aug	10			Ian Nepomniachtchi
Levitov Chess Week Blitz		Round robin	3 Aug	8			Alexander Grischuk
Levitov Chess Week Rapid		Round robin	4–6 Aug	8			Anish Giri
		Round robin	10–Aug	10			Ding Liren
		Round robin	6–10 Nov	10			Viswanathan Anand
		Round robin	8–12 May	10			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.^[1]
• 5 September – Nenad Šulava, Croatian Grandmaster, dies at age 56.^[2]
• 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.

Notes and References

1. News: Pal Benko, who stepped aside for Bobby Fischer, dies at 91 . McClain . Dylan Loeb . 26 August 2019 . . 26 January 2020 . 0362-4331 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190828112728/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/sports/pal-benko-dead.html . 28 August 2019.
2. International Chess Federation. FIDE. Croatian GM Nenad Sulava passed away on September 5. FIDE_Chess. 1170727293121105920. 8 September 2019.