The top chess events from September 2026 to February 2027. Each page carries the dates, the schedule with IST times, the players, the format, and where to watch every round free.
5 to 13 September 2026 · The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru, India
Six franchise teams play 30 rapid matches and a final in the league's first Bengaluru season. Each match is six boards, and a win with Black pays 4 points against 3 for a win with White.
15 to 27 September 2026 · Silk Road International Exhibition Centre, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
A record 400 national teams play 11 rounds of Swiss pairings, four boards per match. India defends both golds from Budapest 2024; rounds start at 3:30 pm IST.
25 November to 15 December 2026 · Geneva, Switzerland
D Gukesh defends the title against Candidates winner Javokhir Sindarov over 14 classical games. The first player to 7.5 points wins; a 7-7 tie goes to rapid and blitz tiebreaks.
Late December 2026 · Host city to be announced by FIDE
Four world titles in five days: three days of rapid at 15 minutes plus 10 seconds, then two days of blitz at 3+2. Magnus Carlsen defends both open crowns; Aleksandra Goryachkina and Bibisara Assaubayeva hold the women's titles.
January 2027, exact dates to be announced · Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
The 89th edition of the January classic, played since 1938: two 14-player round robins over 13 rounds, with the Challengers winner promoted to the next Masters. Nodirbek Abdusattorov defends the title he won in 2026.
The world title runs on a two-year cycle: a Candidates tournament picks the challenger, and the champion defends in a one-on-one match. Javokhir Sindarov won the 2026 Candidates, so he plays Gukesh in Geneva. The Chess Olympiad is the national-team world championship and runs every two years. The World Rapid and Blitz Championships crown separate champions at faster time controls every December.
Around those FIDE events sit the elite invitationals: the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee every January, played since 1938, plus Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup and the franchise-format Global Chess League. FIDE is also trialling a new format: a 24-player Total Chess World Championship pilot, which mixes time controls, runs in Budapest from 10 to 22 November 2026.
This page lists the events we cover in depth. When a live game turns sharp, paste the position into the analysis board and work out the best move before the players do.
The Global Chess League plays in Bengaluru from 5 to 13 September, the Chess Olympiad runs in Samarkand from 15 to 27 September, the World Chess Championship match between Gukesh and Sindarov runs in Geneva from 25 November to 15 December, and the World Rapid and Blitz Championships close the year in late December.
From 25 November to 15 December 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland. D Gukesh defends against Javokhir Sindarov, who won the 2026 Candidates. The match is 14 classical games, and the first player to 7.5 points is world champion.
From 15 to 27 September 2026 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. A record 400 national teams are entered across the open and women's events, and India defends both golds from Budapest 2024. The next edition after Samarkand is in 2028.
By field size, the Chess Olympiad: Samarkand 2026 has 400 teams and 1,971 players. By stakes, the World Chess Championship match, which decides the world title. The strongest annual invitational is the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, played every January since 1938.
FIDE events stream free on FIDE's YouTube channel, and each event's official site shows every board live, move by move. Each event page here lists the exact links and the round times in IST.