The Week in Chess

1. European Senior Team Championship 2026 - Games and results

   The European Senior Team Championship 2026 took place Thu 27th August to Fri 4th September 2026. In the +50 event final Standings: 1st England 1, 17pts. 2nd Italy, 16pts. 3rd-4th Netherlands were just ahead of Slovakia on tie-break after they both scored 13pts. In the +65 final 1st Slovenia who overtook England on tie-break after winning their final round 4-0 against SG Riehen Switzerland, both teams scored 16pts and they were a point clear of Italy.

2. Season Four of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League - Start

   The 2026 Tech Mahindra Global Chess League runs Sat 5th-13th Sept in Bengaluru, India. It uses a rapid time control of 20 minutes plus 2 seconds a move. Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja and Viswanathan Anand star. League: 6 teams 10 matches, the top two finishers play for the title, the next two for 3rd-4th.

3. Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2026 - Games and results

   The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League takes place in Bengaluru, India 5th-13th September 2026. 6 Teams play over 10 rounds in rapid (10m+2spm) chess. Each match has its own session, there will be four a day for most of the league stage, 3 for the final couple of days. The top two finishers play for the title, the next two for 3rd and 4th on the final day, Firouzja, Sindarov, Carlsen and MVL are amongst the players.

4. TCh-ESP 1st Div 2026 - Games and results

   The Spanish CECLUB 1st Div took place Thu 27th August to Wed 2nd September 2026. Club Ajedrez Solvay headed by Vasyl Ivanchuk won the title.

   Final Standings: 1st Club Ajedrez Solvay, 14.0 points. 2nd Andreu Paterna, 9.0. 3rd Platja Daro Club Escacs, 8.0. 4th Ciudad Naranco, 7.0. 5th-7th Granada Sidn-civica-nazaries-trevenque, Club Ajedrez Sestao and Gros Xake Taldea, 6.0. 8th Ca Fundacion La Caja, 0.0. 8 teams.

5. Green Hills Resort Masters 2026 - Games and results

   The Green Hills Resort Masters took place 30th-31st August in the Bostanlyk district which is 75km from Tashkent. The event was one day of rapid and one of blitz, the rapid games counted double.

   Nodirbek Yakubboev was something of a surprise winner, in the rapid he scored 6/7, which converted to 12 points, 3 points clear of the field going into the second day of blitz. In spite of finishing only 6th of 8 in the blitz he just hung on to win by half a point from Nodirbek Abdusattorov who beat him in their individual blitz game. Vladislav Artemiev finished in third place and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus finished in fourth; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a terrible couple of days finishing last in the rapid and 7th in the blitz.

6. Sofia Cup 2026 - Games and results

   The Sofia Cup, also known as the Balkan Rapid and Blitz Championships took place 29th to 30th August 2026. Players: Alireza Firouzja Rauf Mamedov, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli, Vojtech Plat, Leon Livaic, Sanan Sjugirov, Ediz Gurel, Ivan Cheparinov etc.

   Rauf Mamedov won the rapid event on tie-break from Alireza Firouzja and Dimitris Alexakis after all finished on 7.5/9. Firouzja was the clear winner of the blitz with 9.5/11 half a point clear of Ediz Gurel and Mamedov .

7. Grand Chess Tour Finals 2026 - Games and results

   The Grand Chess Tour Finals took place in Saint Louis 22nd to 27th August 2026. This was the final event of the tour and a total prize fund of $450,000, was distributed as follows: $200,000 for first place, $125,000 for second, $75,000 for third, and $50,000 for fourth. The top four players with the best results during the tour were in finishing order: No. 1 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Seed No. 2 Wesley So, Seed No. 3 Fabiano Caruana, and Seed No. 4 Vincent Keymer.

   In the semi-finals Praggnanandhaa beat Vincent Keymer comfortably, winning one of the two classical games and then both rapid games, Keymer won the blitz section but it didn't matter. Fabiano Caruana overcame Wesley So in a close match until the blitz. In the final Caruana led Praggnanandhaa after the Classical games but lost both of the rapid games. The match was tied a couple of games into the blitz but then Praggnanandhaa ran away with it. Very similarly in the 3rd - 4th playoff the match was tied early on in the final blitz but Wesley So won the blitz section 8-0 against Vincent Keymer and that was that, Keymer might be invited back, the other three qualified for next year's tour with these results.

8. 6th Cairns Cup 2026 - Games and Results

   The 6th Cairns Cup 2026 took place Mon 10th to Fri 21st August 2026. Tan Zhongyi won with 6½/9 half a point clear of Alice Lee on 6. She earned her first GM norm in the 2026 Cairns Cup at the age of 16.