Brace yourselves for an exciting year on the chessboard (and online). For the first time in a decade, a new Undisputed Chess Champion will be crowned. This match comes amid many other high-profile events, some of which will be included in the 2024 Candidates cycle. Is the player you’ve been rooting for playing?
January
85th Tata Steel 2023 | January 13th - 29th
This annual elite tournament is held in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. The field was divided into two sections - Masters and Challengers. The tournament will feature Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren and Fabiano Caruana, among many of the world elite and a strong, intergenerational field.
2023 Prague Open | January 6th - 13th
The tournament will be held in Prague as a 9-round Swiss and will feature more than 100 participants, including several GMs.
2023 Charlotte Open | January 14th - 16th
This tournament will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina as a 6-round Swiss. The total prize pool is $15,000. Complementary speed-chess events and scholastic tournaments will accompany the main event.
Floripa Chess Open 2023 | January 23rd - 29th
This tournament will be held in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, as a 10-round Swiss.
FIDE Olympiad for People with Disabilities 2023 | January 29th - February 5th
This tournament will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, as a 6-round Swiss team tournament.
February
Munich FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2023 (2/4) | February 1st - 14th
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix is a direct qualification path to the Women Candidates tournament. It will be held in Munich as a 12-player Round Robin. This is the second part of the four-legged FIDE WGP.
2023 Sligo Spring Tournament | February 3rd - 5th
The 2023 Sligo Spring tournament will be held in Enniscrone, Ireland as a 5-round Swiss. The total prize pool is €2,600.
Cambridge International Open | February 15th - 19th
The Cambridge International Open will be held in Cambridge, England, as a 9 rounds Swiss.
2023 WR Chess Masters | February 16th - 25th
The WR Chess Masters will be held from the 15th to the 26th of February in Düsseldorf, Germany, as a 10-player Round-Robin. The total prize pool is €130,000
Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open | February 17th - 19th
This tournament will be held in Burgdorf, Switzerland as a 5-round Swiss.
Basel Carnival Festival | February 24th - 26th
The Basel Carnival Festival will be held in Basel, Switzerland as a 5-round Swiss. The tournament will feature more than 220 players in two sections: Experts and Amateurs.
2023 Liberec Open | February 24th - March 3rd
This event will be held in Liberec, Czech Republic as a 9-round Swiss. It is part of the Czech Tour, a series of annual chess tournaments.
March
European Individual Chess Championship | March 2nd - 14th
The European Individual Chess Championship 2023 will take place from the 3rd to the 13th of March in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia as an 11-round Swiss. The event, which has a prize pool of €100,000, is a direct qualification path for the FIDE World Cup.
San Bernardino Open | March 2nd - 4th
This event will be held in Mesocco, Switzerland as a 5-round Swiss.
2023 Pilsen Open | March 4th - 11th
This tournament will take place in Plzen, Czech Republic. It is part of the Czech Tour, a series of annual chess events. The Pilsen Open will have a few sections, held in Round Robin and Swiss formats.
2023 Chessemy Open | March 4th - 12th
The 2023 Chessemy Open will take place in Budapest, Hungary as a 9-round Swiss. The total prize pool is 6,500€. Although there is no rating requirement to join, section B of the tournament will be open for players under 1900 Elo.
3rd Primavera Festival | March 15th - 19th
This event will take place in Bassano del Grappa, Italy as a 9-round Swiss. The total prize pool is 5,050€.
Hit Open 2023 | March 16th - 23rd
This event will be held in Nova Gorica, Slovenia as a 9-round Swiss.
American Cup | March 16th - 26th
The second edition of this double-elimination tournament will be held in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States. The event will feature Caruana, Nakamura and So among other Super-GMs who will be competing in Classical and Rapid time controls. The total prize pool is $300,000.
LA Spring Splash - 1000 GMs | March 17th - 19th
This tournament is a 9-round Swiss, and will be held in Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
European Women Chess Championship | March 17th - 30th
The 23rd edition of the Europen Women Chess Championship will take place in Petrovac, Montenegro, as an 11-round Swiss. The prize fund has a total amount of 60,000€.
Official Website | Information
Serpiano Rapid | March 25th
This 7-round Swiss tournament will be held in Serpiano, Switzerland. The time control is 15 minutes with no increment.
New Delhi FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2023 (3/4) | March 25th - 5th
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix is a direct qualification path to the Women Candidates tournament. It will be held in New Delhi as a 12-player Round Robin. This is the third part of the four-legged FIDE WGP.
FIDE Women’s Candidates Finals | March 27th - April 6th
The FIDE Women’s Candidates is held an 8-player knockout tournament, where the participants are vying to face Women’s World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun. The winner of Pool A, Lei Tingjie will play a 6-game elimination match against the winner of Pool B, Tan Zhongyi.
Serpiano Open | March 31st - April 2nd
Part of the Swiss Chess Tour, this classical event will be held in Serpiano, Switzerland as a 5-round Swiss.
April
FIDE World Championship Match | April 7th - 30th
The 2023 World Championship Match will determine the new undisputed world champion following Magnus Carlsen’s decision to relinquish his title. Challengers Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren will face each other, after clinching the winner and runner-up spots in the 2022 Candidates Tournament.
2023 Fagernes Chess International | April 2nd - 9th
The tournament will be held in Fagernes, Norway as a 9-round Swiss. It might be used as a norm-tournament for various titles.
Official Website | GM section | Open section
7th La Nucia International Open | April 5th - 10th
This event will be held in La Nucia, Spain as a 9-round Swiss.
Massin Chess Club Open | April 6th - 10th
This tournament will be held in Massin, Philippines as a 9-round Swiss. This event is held several times a year.
Swiss Young Masters | April 8th - 15th
This invitational IM-norm tournament will be held in Basel, Switzerland as a 10-player Round Robin.
Menorca Open 2023 | April 11th - 16th
This tournament will be held in Ciutadella de Menorca, Spain as a 9-round Swiss. This event is held several times a year.
FIDE World School Chess Championship | April 14th - 23rd
The 2023 FIDE World School Chess Championship will be held from the 14th to the 23rd of April as a 9-round Swiss. The tournament will take place in Rhodes, Greece.
Sunway Chess Festival | April 18th - 28th
The Sunway Chess Festival will be held from the 18th to the 28th of April as a 10-round Swiss. The tournament will take place in Formentera, Spain.
2023 ICBA European Team Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired | April 20th - 29th
This event will be held in Genova, Italy as a team event with 9 rounds.
May
2023 TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament | May 4th - 10th
The 2023 TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament will be held from the 4th to the 10th of May in Malmo, Sweden. The strong field will feature Jorden van Foreest, Boris Gelfand and Peter Svidler, as well as stars from the emerging chess generation who will make their debut. The event will be included in the FIDE circuit, making it a qualification path to the 2024 Candidates Tournament.
2023 Superbet Chess Classic Romania | May 5th - 15th
This super-tournament will take place from the 5th to the 15th of May in Bucharest, Romania. The star-studded round-robin will feature World Championship contenders Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, among many of the world’s top players. Participants will be vying for a share of the $350,000 prize pool, as part of the Grand Chess Tour.
International Chess Open | May 13th - 21st
The international chess open will be held in Bregenz, Austria as a 7-round Swiss. The top prize is €800.
American Continental Chess Championship 2023 | May 15th - 23rd
The American Continental Chess Championship 2023 is 11-round Swiss tournament held from 15th of May to the 23rd in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic. The top four (4) players will qualify for the FIDE World Cup. The total prize pool consists of $20,000; the winner gets $5,000.
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix (4/4) | May 15h - 28th
The fourth leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix will take place from the 15th to the 28th of May in Nicosia, Cyprus as a 12-player round-robin. The event is a direct qualification path to the 2024 Women’s Candidates Tournament, in which the 16 Grand Prix participants have been vying to clinch a spot.
6th Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship | May 17th - 25th
This event will be held in Sharjah, UAE as a 9-round Swiss.
Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland (2/5) | May 21st - 25th
This event will be held in Warsaw, Poland as a 10-player Round-robin.
Norway Chess 2023 | May 29th - June 9th
This annual invitational tournament will take place in Stavanger, Norway as a 10-player round-robin. The event will feature five-time winner Magnus Carlsen, alongside Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, among other top players. The tournament will have a decisive spirit, and participants will battle each other out in an Armageddon format after every drawn game.
June
French Team Championship | June 1st - 11th
The French Team Championship will take place from the 1st to the 11th of June in Chartres, France.
FIDE World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Rapid & Blitz Championships | June 5th - 12th
The 2023 World Cadet Rapid & Blitz Championships will take place from the 5th to the 12th of June in Batumi, Georgia.
FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Rapid & Blitz Championships | June 5th - 12th
The 2023 World Youth Rapid & Blitz Championships will take place from the 5th to the 12th of June in Batumi, Georgia.
Massin Chess Club Open | June 10th - 12th
This tournament will be held in Massin, Philippines as a 9-round Swiss. This event is held several times a year.
6th Annual Elite Championship | June 12th - 16th
This event will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
World Rapid Teams Championship 2023 | June 16th - 18th
The event will be held in Düsseldorf, Germany
July
2023 FIDE World Cup | July 29th - August 26th
The FIDE World Cup is a direct qualification route to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Top players from each federation will be clashing against each other in a knockout format, vying to reach the coveted top 3 and clinch a spot in the Candidates.
2023 FIDE Women’s World Cup | July 29th - August 26th
The FIDE Women's World Cup is a direct qualification route to the next Women's Candidates Tournament. Top players from each federation will be clashing against each other in a knockout format
Massin Chess Club Open | July 6th - 10th
This tournament will be held in Massin, Philippines as a 9-round Swiss. This event is held several times a year.
3rd International Chess Festival | July 8th - 15th
The 3rd International Chess Festival will be held in La Plange, France as a 9-round Swiss. The total prize pool is €22,000.
August
Chess in Ustron Masters | August 11th - 20th
The Chess in Ustron Tournament will be held in Ustron, Poland as a 9-round Swiss. 2 Open sections will be held alongside the main Masters section.
39th Faaker See Open 2023 | August 12th - 19th
The Faaker See Open will be held in Latschach, Austria as a 9-round Swiss.
September
19th Asian Games | September 23rd - October 8th
The Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China.
October
2023 FIDE Grand Swiss | October 23rd - November 5th
The FIDE Grand Swiss is a direct qualification path to the Candidates Tournament, both in the open cycle and in the women’s cycle. The event will be held as an 11-round Swiss. The field will include many of the world elite.
2023 2nd Blitz Hvar | October 19th
This Blitz tournament will be held in Hvar, Croatia as an 11-round Swiss.
November
2023 FIDE World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships | November 13th - 25th
The FIDE World Championship for Youth (in three different age categories) will take place in Montesilvano, Italy.
Asia Indoor and Martial Arts Games | November 17th - 26th
This event will be held in Bankok, Thailand.
2023 US Masters | November 22nd - 26th
The 2023 US Masters will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is an annual event held toward the end of the year, alongside other open and invitational events.
2023 North Carolina Open | November 24th - 26th
The 2023 North Carolina Open will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
December
Africa Open Rapid & Blitz | December 7th - 10th
This event is part of the Africa Chess Confederation Awards.