The 2021

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

calendar was again disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, but major events that took place included the

Tata Steel Chess Tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Steel ...

, won by

Jorden van Foreest Jhr. Jorden van Foreest (born 30 April 1999) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He was Dutch Chess Champion in 2016, and won the Tata Steel Masters in 2021. Van Foreest is the No. 2 ranked Dutch player behind Anish Giri. Chess career Introduced ...

. The

Candidates Tournament 2020–21 A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be election, elected to an official, office — in this case a Preselection, candida ...

, disrupted by the pandemic, concluded on 27 April 2021. It was won by

Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...

. In November, Nepomniachtchi subsequently faced defending champion

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

for the

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...

title in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

during

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 ( ar, إكسبو 2020) was a World Expo hosted by Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 ...

. 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 The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

, admitted four new member federations:

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

St. Vincent and Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBelize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

2021 tournaments

This is a list of significant 2021

chess tournament A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition amo ...

Supertournaments

FIDE Events

Team events

Rapid & Biltz Tournaments

Deaths

* 14 January – Yrjö Rantanen * 15 January –

Gildardo García Gildardo García (9 March 1954 – 15 January 2021) was a Colombian chess grandmaster. Biography García became Colombia's second Grandmaster in 1992. His highest rating was 2540 (in July 1994) and he was ranked 14th in Colombia at the time of ...

* 18 January –

Lubomir Kavalek Lubomir (Lubosh) Kavalek ( cz, Lubomír Kaválek, August 9, 1943 – January 18, 2021) was a Czech-American chess player. He was awarded both the International Master and International Grandmaster titles by FIDE in 1965.Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 19 ...

* 13 March – Nikola Spiridonov * 1 June –

Román Hernández Onna Román Hernández Onna (23 November 1949 – 1 June 2021) was a Cuban Grandmaster (GM) (1978), Cuban Chess Championship winner (1982). Biography From the 1970s to the 1990s, Román Hernández Onna was one of Cuba's leading chess players. He ...

* 1 July –

Yury Dokhoian Yury Rafaelovich Dokhoian (russian: Юрий Рафаэлович Дохоян; 26 October 1964 – 1 July 2021) was a Russian Grandmaster of chess (1988) of Armenian origin. Career Dokhoian played several times in the first league of the US ...

* 28 July –

István Csom István Csom (2 June 1940 – 28 July 2021) was a Hungarian chess player who held the FIDE titles of Grandmaster and International Arbiter. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1967 and the Grandmaster title in 1973. He was Hunga ...

* 18 August –

Evgeny Sveshnikov Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov ( rus, Евгений Эллинович Све́шников; lv, Jevgēņijs Svešņikovs; 11 February 1950 – 18 August 2021) was a Russian chess player and writer. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FID ...

* 11 October –

Boris Pineda Boris Pineda (28 November 1958 – 11 October 2021) was a El Salvador, Salvadoran engineer and chess player who is considered the most successful player in the history of El Salvador. The National Institute of Sports of El Salvador named him "Che ...

* 14 November – Marek Vokáč * 19 December –

Boško Abramović Boško Abramović (Бошко Абрамовић; 14 February 1951 – 19 December 2021) was a Serbian chess grandmaster and selector of the national team. Career Abramović was awarded the FIDE International Master title in 1980 and the gra ...

* 31 December –

Gábor Kállai Gábor Kállai (21 February 1959 – 31 December 2021) was a Hungarian chess Grandmaster. Life and career In team championships he has won several gold medals; in Hungary with ''MTK-VM'' and with ''Miskolci SSC'', in Switzerland with the team o ...

References

21st century in chess Chess by year 2021 sport-related lists {{sport-year-stub