2021 in chess
The 2021 chess calendar was again disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but major events that have taken place included the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, won by Jorden van Foreest.
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The Candidates Tournament 2020–21, disrupted by the pandemic, concluded on April 27, 2021. It was won by Ian Nepomniachtchi.[1]
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 7½–3½ to retain the title with three games to spare and become a five-time world champion.[2]
The International Chess Federation, FIDE, admitted four new member federations: Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Niger, and Belize.[3]
2021 tournaments
    
This is a list of significant 2021 chess tournaments:
Supertournaments
    
FIDE Events
    
| Tournament | City | System | Dates | Players | Winner | Runner-up | Third | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIDE Grand Swiss |  Riga | Swiss | 27 October–7 November | 154 |  Alireza Firouzja |  Fabiano Caruana |  Grigoriy Oparin | 
| World Rapid Chess Championship |  Warsaw | Swiss | 26–28 December | 204 |  Nodirbek Abdusattorov |  Ian Nepomniachtchi |  Magnus Carlsen | 
| World Blitz Chess Championship |  Warsaw | Swiss | 29–30 December | 206 |  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |  Jan-Krzysztof Duda |  Alireza Firouzja | 
Team events
    
| Tournament | City | System | Dates | Teams | Winner | Runner-up | Third | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's World Team Chess Championship |  Sitges | Round robin | 26 September - 3 October | 10 |  Russia |  India |  Georgia | 
| European Team Chess Championship |  Čatež ob Savi | Round robin | 11 – 22 November | 40 |  Ukraine |  France |  Poland | 
| Women's European Team Chess Championship |  Čatež ob Savi | Round robin | 11 - 22 November | 32 |  Russia |  Georgia |  Azerbaijan | 
Rapid & Biltz Tournaments
    
| Tournament | City | System | Dates | Players | Winner | Runner-up | Third | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superbet Rapid & Blitz |  Bucharest | Round robin | 3-15 June | 10 |  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov |  Alexander Grischuk  Wesley So  Levon Aronian | - | 
| Paris Rapid & Blitz |  Paris | Round robin | 20-24 June | 10 |  Wesley So |  Ian Nepomniachtchi |  Alireza Firouzja | 
| Croatia Rapid & Blitz |  Zagreb | Round robin | 7-11 July | 10 |  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |  Viswanathan Anand |  Anish Giri | 
| Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz |  St. Louis | Round robin | 11-16 August | 10 |  Hikaru Nakamura |  Fabiano Caruana |  Richard Rapport | 
| Sinquefield Cup |  St. Louis | Round robin | 17–27 August | 12 (12) |  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |  Fabiano Caruana  Leinier Domínguez  Wesley So | - | 
| Shamkir Chess |  Shamkir | Round robin | 17-24 December | 10 (10) |  Fabiano Caruana |  Richard Rapport |  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 
Deaths
    
- January 14 — Yrjö Rantanen[5]
- January 15 — Gildardo García[6]
- January 18 — Lubomir Kavalek[7]
- June 1 — Román Hernández Onna[8]
- July 1 — Yury Dokhoian[9]
- July 28 — István Csom[10]
- August 18 — Evgeny Sveshnikov[11]
- October 11 — Boris Pineda[12]
- November 14 — Marek Vokáč[13]
- December 19 — Boško Abramović[14]
- December 31 — Gábor Kállai[15]
References
    
- "Candidates Tournament 2020-2021: A happy and tired winner". Chess News. 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
- "Magnus Carlsen wins 5th World Championship title". chess24.com. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- 92nd FIDE General Assembly: results and decisions, FIDE, 29 December 2021
- "Magnus Carlsen wins 5th World Championship title". chess24.com. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- "Suurmestari Yrjö Rantanen on kuollut". Suomen Shakkiliitto (in Finnish). 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (2021-01-15). "Luto en el ajedrez colombiano: muere el Gran Maestro Gildardo García". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- Langer, Emily. "Lubomir Kavalek, international chess grandmaster, dies at 77". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- "Fallece el Gran Maestro cubano de ajedrez Román Hernández". OnCubaNews (in Spanish). 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- "Yuri Dokhoian passes away".
- I, K. T. (2021-07-28). "Gyász: elhunyt Csom István sakkolimpiai bajnok - NSO". NSO.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- "Ушел из жизни Евгений Эллинович Свешников (1950-2021)". Федерация шахмат России (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- Miguel Zometa (15 October 2021). "Homenaje a Boris Pineda" (in Spanish). Diario Co Latino. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- "Ve věku 62 let zemřel šachový velmistr Marek Vokáč - Sport.cz". www.sport.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2021-12-11.
- "IN MEMORIAM – VELEMAJSTOR BOŠKO ABRAMOVIĆ (1951-2021) - Šahovski savez Srbije" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- "Meghalt Kállai Gábor nemzetközi sakknagymester". telex (in Hungarian). 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
