r/chess 2d ago

Weekly Discussion Weekly Discussion & Tournament Thread Index - July 20, 2026 [Mod Applications Welcome]

6 Upvotes

r/chess Weekly Discussion Thread

You are welcome to ask here all kinds of chess-related questions that don't warrant their own post. You can also discuss or ask questions about upcoming tournaments that don't have their own thread yet.

 

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Recent AMAs

Active Tournament Threads

DATES EVENT
July 16-23 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters

 

Other Active Tournaments Web Links

DATES EVENT
July 11-24 Biel Chess Festival 2026

 

Upcoming Tournament Schedule

DATES EVENT NOTABLE PLAYERS
Aug 2-6 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026 Caruana, Sindarov, Keymer, So, Pragg
Aug 10-20 Sinquefield Cup 2026 Caruana, Sindarov, Giri, So, Pragg
Aug 11-15 Esports World Cup 2026 Carlsen, Nakamura, Abdusattorov, Erigaisi
Sept 2-13 Global Chess League 2026 Carlsen, Anand, Sindarov, Firouzja

 

Recently Completed Tournaments

DATES EVENT WINNER
July 3-5 2026 Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz Javokhir Sindarov
July 1-5 2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia Alireza Firouzja
June 24-27 2026 Bullet Chess Championship Nihal Sarin
June 17-21 2026 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships Dragon Chilling
June 7-15 2026 UzChess Cup Mukhiddin Madaminov
May 25 - June 5 2026 Norway Chess Praggnanandhaa R & Bibisara Assaubayeva
May 14-23 2026 Super Chess Classic Romania Vincent Keymer
May 5-9 2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Poland Hans Niemann
May 1-7 2026 TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament Magnus Carlsen
Mar 29 - Apr 15 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament Javokhir Sindarov & Vaishali Rameshbabu
Mar 2-12 2026 American Cup Wesley So & Alice Lee
Feb 25 - Mar 6 2026 Prague Masters Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Feb 13-15 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship Magnus Carlsen
Jan 16 - Feb 1 2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Jan 7-11 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz Rapid: Nihal Sarin & Kateryna Lagno; Blitz: Wesley So & Carissa Yip

Some links where to find a list of current (or just completed) tournaments

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r/chess 6d ago

Tournament Event: 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters

29 Upvotes

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess | Pairings (Chess-Results)

The Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters 2026 will take place from July 16 to 22 in Chennai, India. The tournament features eight of the world's strongest grandmasters competing in a classical round-robin format. The event offers a prize fund of ₹75,00,000 (approximately $79,500).

Participants

# Title Name FED Rating
1 GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov 🇺🇿 UZB 2766
2 GM Arjun Erigaisi 🇮🇳 IND 2757
3 GM Alireza Firouzja 🇫🇷 FRA 2749
4 GM Hans Niemann 🇺🇸 USA 2730
5 GM Gukesh D 🇮🇳 IND 2717
6 GM Nihal Sarin 🇮🇳 IND 2717
7 GM Dmitry Andreikin FIDE 2710
8 GM Pranesh M 🇮🇳 IND 2666

Format/Time Controls

  • The event is a eight-player single round robin tournament with a time control of 90 minutes for the entire game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one.

Schedule

Date Time (Local) Time (UTC) Round
Jul 16-21 15:00 09:30 Round 1-6
Jul 22 14:00 08:30 Round 7

Live Coverage


r/chess 4h ago

News/Events Ian Nepomniachtchi loses to 2483 GM in Round 5 of the Dole Open

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199 Upvotes

r/chess 13h ago

News/Events After Chennai Grandmasters 2026 Gukesh Dommaraju is now 31st player in the world with a rating of 2703 making him officially the lowest rated World Champion in history.

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653 Upvotes

r/chess 13h ago

Miscellaneous 12 years apart still the same no.1 and no.2

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545 Upvotes

October 2014 was the first time Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana held no.1 and no.2 simultaneously and it remained the same 12 years later.


r/chess 5h ago

Video Content Alireza Firouzja on his ultimate goal in chess : “ I want to play my best in all the four formats. Be competitive in every tournament I participate.”

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107 Upvotes

r/chess 10h ago

News/Events Dmitry Andreikin defeats Nodirbek Abdusattorov

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172 Upvotes

r/chess 2h ago

Miscellaneous Players of the Moment

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36 Upvotes

the Chennai Masters tournament was great, even though it felt so short. At the beginning of the tournament, I wasn’t giving Andreikin a lot of chances, but he was so steady throughout. Forgot that he was a Candidate after all. All the best to Gukesh. Hope he finds what he needs to get on track. I wonder if he even wants to be World Champion anymore? He would probably be more than willing to pass the title. Next big thing to watch is the USA vs Uzbekistan match. Who do yall think will win? Next time, I want it to be France vs USA. I think Alireza and Maxime could take down Hikaru and Fabi.


r/chess 13h ago

News/Events Gukesh Makes a Quick Draw Against Hans Niemann in the Final Round of the Chennai Grand Masters 2026.

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216 Upvotes

r/chess 15h ago

News/Events Finally got a picture with Arjun Erigaisi, this has been 3 years in the making

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249 Upvotes

I have been going to see the Chennai GMs for the last 3 years. Every single time, I have hoped to get a picture with Arjun Erigaisi, my all-time favorite chess player. This year in the strangest of fashions I got a picture with him while he was waiting for the elevator.

Got a picture with Pranesh as well, fresh off his win yesterday against the World Champ.

Speaking of the World Champ, had a brief opportunity to speak a few words with him as well as he was headed to the elevator but alas couldn't get a picture with him. But next year perhaps.


r/chess 6h ago

Miscellaneous Will Arjun Erigaisi be invincible at board "3" for India in olympiads?

40 Upvotes

I think he'll be. What do you think?


r/chess 10h ago

News/Events Congrats to Alireza Firouzja for winning Chennai Grand Masters 2026 after a hard-fought draw against Arjun. Here's an animated bar-chart race of his tournament victory

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74 Upvotes

r/chess 14h ago

Chess Question I need to learn chess until Saturday - any tips?

106 Upvotes

I work at a old people's home, and there is this lovely old man who sits the whole day in front of his costum made chessboard, waiting for an opponent - but no one want or knows how to play. I talked to him and said that I know the game a bit. His eyes lit up instantly, and he asked if I want to play with him. I told him I'll be at work on Saturday, and if there are no emergencies, I play with him.

The problem is, I know basically nothing. I know how each piece is a allowed to move, and that I need to take out the king. That's it. So now I need a crash course in basic chess to make the game enjoyable for him.

He was qualified for our national chess team 30-40 years ago, so I think he knows how to play :D

Can someone recommend me some videos or tips/tricks so I don't look like a complete fool? Thanks.

Edit: thanks for all the replies. I will do some bot games and just ask him if he wants to teach me how to play. I think you all are right, he will be more happy about company than actual playing the game.


r/chess 9h ago

Miscellaneous MVL won Titled Tuesday

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39 Upvotes

r/chess 1d ago

Social Media GM Vasif Durarbayli's take on Gukesh's fall due to psychological reasons

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1.6k Upvotes

r/chess 15h ago

Miscellaneous How to get my wife into chess without crushing her interest?

92 Upvotes

Hey all

My wife has shown some interest in getting into chess, with her main idea being that we play together on a physical board. Playing online or on an app is not appealing to her - nor is playing with strangers.

Firstly, this is amazing and extremely exciting to me, as I love the idea of sharing one of my hobbies with her; but secondly, I have no idea how to facilitate the interest of a complete beginner.

If I play normally, I will win every game, which probably won't be very fun for her. If i intentionally blunder to give her wins, that likely isn't much better.

Open to any and all suggestions!


r/chess 1d ago

Miscellaneous The chess computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is strikingly modern

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1.0k Upvotes

I was watching the movie and had to do a double take at the computer chess screen, it looks incredibly similar to chess.com, or really any other computer chess site. I was quite impressed, with it being an almost 60 year old movie.


r/chess 23m ago

Puzzle/Tactic Crazy Combination!

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Upvotes

A 2885 rated lichess puzzle that features a beautiful M5 for black. I spent a good 3 minutes looking at the wrong things before I realised what the answer was.


r/chess 4h ago

Miscellaneous Aside from Yagiz and Oro, who do you think will be a Top 15 player in the future among these U16 players?

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9 Upvotes

Yagiz and Oro are obvious at this point. The two prodigies.

Roman Shogdshiev is also being hyped since he is now the youngest IM. He is only 11 yrs old, but already got a GM norm and 2400+ Elo.

But what about the rest?

For me, Seenamoveahead will be a very strong 2700+ Elo player.

Finek too, but slightly weaker than Seenamoveahead.

Begmuratov has some potential. But in general, after the top 4. Seems like the Kids are more or less equal in strength.

How about you? What is your opinionM


r/chess 1d ago

Miscellaneous God, I miss Danya.

391 Upvotes

Just watching some chess clips on youtube and stumbling on ones where Danya is commentating. He truly was one of a kind, he was my absolute favorite person to watch and listen to. His passion for chess was just so real and infectious. It makes me want to cry watching these clips and just knowing he is gone and will never come back. I still havent really been able to bring myself to watch his youtube content again just because it makes me so sad but eventually i want to be able to again because it deserves to be cherished and enjoyed forever. He really was the best.


r/chess 10h ago

News/Events Alireza Firouzja wins the 2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters!! Arjun holding on to the bronze medal again

22 Upvotes

r/chess 12h ago

Miscellaneous Gukesh Classical Tournaments as Champion, Ranked by TPR

29 Upvotes
  1. European Club Cup (Tournament #6 as Champion) (Small Sample Size)

Net: +3

Raw: +3=2-0

Team won the event

TPR: 2927

  1. Tata Steel 2025 (Tournament #1 as Champion)

Net: +4

Raw: +5=7-1

Place: Tied 1st of 14

TPR: 2832

  1. Norway Chess 2025 (#3)

Net: 0

Raw: +4=2-4

Place: 3rd\* of 6

\*3rd per Norway chess rules, but by actual classical result, 4th.

TPR: 2791

  1. Tata Steel 2026 (#8)

Net: 0

Raw: +3=7-3

Place: Tied 8-10th of 14

TPR: 2721

  1. Sinquefield Cup (#4)

Net: -1

Raw: +1=6-2

Place: 8th of 10

TPR: 2704

  1. GCT Romania Classic (#2)

Net: -1

Raw: +1=6-2

Place: Tied 6-9th of 10

TPR: 2700

  1. Grand Swiss (#5)

Net: +1

Raw: +4=4-3

Place: 41st of 116

TPR: 2668

  1. Prague Masters (#9)

Net: -2

Raw: +1=5-3

Place: Tied 9-10th of 10

TPR: 2626

  1. Norway Chess 2026 (#10)

Net: -4

Raw: +1=4-5

Place: 6th of 6

TPR: 2620

  1. World Cup (#7) (Small Sample Size)

(Round 1: Bye)

Round 2: 1.5-0.5

Round 3: 0.5-1.5 (Eliminated)

Lost in Round of 64 (Round 3 of 8)

TPR: 2589

  1. Chennai Masters (#11)

Net: -3

Raw: +0=4-3

Place: 8th of 8

TPR: 2570


r/chess 14h ago

Puzzle/Tactic pawn endgame puzzle from Lichess (rated 1895)

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20 Upvotes

r/chess 10h ago

Puzzle - Composition Even Stockfish can't find the win! White to move

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8 Upvotes

One of those rare positions where even the engine can't find the win – even though one exists! White to move.


r/chess 1d ago

News/Events M Pranesh hands Gukesh Dommaraju his 3rd loss in Chennai Grandmasters 2026

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610 Upvotes