Chess is a sport that dates back to the 14th century. When the world’s first light bulb wasn’t even invented, chess captured the minds of people who took the sport with utmost seriousness. The sport became prominent for a long time and grandmasters have been revered across generations. Since then multiple training centres, chess coaching circles and schools have been formed to train and mould the next generation of grandmasters who compete in grand, fierce and glorious tournaments. As the sport enters a new decade — lets’ take a look at the Top 10 chess tournaments that ever happened in history.
The 1936 Nottingham Chess Tournament
In 1959 author J.Hannak wrote in the biography of Emanuel Lasker, if there is a “greatest chess tournament ever” it is the 1936 Nottingham Chess Tournament. Played in a 15-player, round-robin format at the University of Nottingham that is known for honing chess players with its immersive chess coaching training, the tournament has been recalled by many grandmasters as one of the best tournaments ever to be played. The tournament hosted world-class and future winners and players of the time namely — José Raúl Capablanca, Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, Lasker, Botvinnik and Salo Flohr amongst others. The event was notable for being Laskers’ last major tournament and Botvinniks’ first success outside USSR.
The 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, 2016
The reasons for the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, 2016 being as one the greatest chess tournaments to ever take place are endless. First, over 1500 players, grandmasters, candidates competed for a coveted prize. Players participated for this two-week tournament from all over the world and countries were awarded rather than individual players. The United States secured the gold medal tournament since 1976 and China won their fifth gold medal. Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine was awarded the best male player with a formidable score of 8 1⁄2 out of 9 points and Valentina Gunina of Russia was awarded the best women’s players with a score of 8 out of 10 points.
The 1895 Hastings Chess Tournaments
Held in Hastings, England in 1895 as a round-robin format, this tournament was arguably one of the strongest tournaments in the history of chess tournaments. All grandmasters and top players of the tournament were competing in this tournament. Regarded as a “super-tournament” in chess archives and chess coaching circles — It was a fiercely competitive battle. The winner of this super tournament was a young American, relatively unknown in Europe, his name Harry Nelson Pillsbury who won with a strong 16½ out of 21 points tipping Mikhail Chigorin with 16 points and the then world champion Emanuel Lasker with 15½ points.
The 2001 European Individual Championship in Ohrid
The quaint city of Ohrid held a fierce tournament near the beautiful lake in Macedonia in 2001. A note-worthy tournament in the history of chess tournaments — This European Championship saw over 160 grandmasters competing and for a revered first prize of $41k. It was held a Swiss system tournament which was separate for men and women as, with a knock-out format. The coveted prize was secured by Emil Sutovsky from Israel and the second and third spots were secured by Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine and Zurab Azmaiparashvili of Georgia.
The 2000 Linares International Chess Tournament
This Spanish International Chess Tournament is an annual meet organised every year in the month of February. The tournament borrows its name from the city of Linares in Andalusia, Spain. Often described as the Wimbledon of chess — the Linares International Chess Tournament is a calendar marked event all around the world, for young grandmasters to learn from and for numerous chess coaching and training institutes to keep a keen watch. The 2000 tournament was of particular significance because it is considered as one of the strongest tournaments ever. Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexey Shirov, Peter Leko were amongst the contenders with Kramnik and Kasparov declared as joint winners.
The 44th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting in 2016
Considered as one of the most elite chess tournaments. It is held every summer in Dortmund, Germany, this invite-only event has seen the world’s greatest grandmasters pitted against each other annually. Played in a round-robin or double round-robin format, the series has had its fair share of conversations amongst chess coaching circles — especially the 44th Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting that took place in July 2016. It saw famous players like Vladimir Kramnik, Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave take centre stage. The format was such that, every player received 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 additional moves and 15 minutes for the rest. The winner was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who secured his first Dortmund Sparkassen Chess title.
The 76th Tata Steel Tournament in 2015
Formerly known as the Corus Chess Tournament and later rebranded as the Tata Steel Tournament, this chess championship has been an aspirational for young grandmasters and when it comes to chess coaching, people always look forward to learning from the grandmasters who participate in this tournament. Held every year in a small town called Wijk aan Zee situated in the northern province of Netherlands, the tournament has also been named as Hoogovens because of its strong affiliation to the series being numbered sequentially from its Hoogovens beginnings and later in 2011 rebranded as Tata Steel Tournament. The major grandmasters who have graced the tournament and fought gracefully include world-famous personalities like — Bent Larsen, Paul Keres, Mikhail Botvinnik, Viktor Korchnoi, Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, etc. Infact, Anand and Carlsen are the only two players to have won five titles each in the long history of this tournament. While Anand holds the record for most consecutive games without a loss, the 76th edition saw Magnus Carlsen lifting the title after a while.
The 1882 Vienna Chess Tournament
Played almost 150 years ago, the 1882 Vienna Chess Tournament was nothing short of grandmaster masterclass. Considered as one of the longest and strongest chess tournaments in history, this tour had nine of the top ten players of the time. According to unofficial chess metrics, the tournament was a double round-robin held from May to June. The tournament was a battleground and a hot debate topic amongst chess coaching circles as the uncrowned champion was Wilhelm Steinitz, the best player of his time and everyone wanted to prove themselves against him. However, Steinitz dominated the tournament and went on to play the finals where he faced Szymon Winawer but eventually had to share the first prize as a result of winning the playoff game. In this tournament, Steinitz ended his longest winning streak of 25 games by drawing with Mackenzie
The 2015 London Chess Classic Tournament
One of the most unforgettable chess tournaments in recent memory was the 2015 London Chess Classic. It was a landmark game in chess coaching circles as it showed the power of perseverance and that was personified by the winner of the tournament Magnus Carlsen from Norway. The tournament joined hands with Norway Chess and the Sinquefield Cup to form the Grand Chess Tour and world-class players participated in it, including Micheal Adams who was selected into the tournament as a wildcard entry. The final game of the London Classic had all that you can expect — mind-blowing tension, extravaganza chess entertainment, brilliant moves, world-class tactics, outrageous strokes of luck – and perseverance of Magnus Carlsen to snatch the first place in the inaugural Grand Chess Tournament.
The 1938 AVRO Chess Tournament
Held in the Netherlands, the AVRO Chess tournament was sponsored by AVRO, the Dutch Broadcasting Company. The tournament was conducted in a double round-robin manner. Top players from the world took part in it and a total of eight players competed for the coveted title. Amongst the contenders were World Champion Alexander Alekhine, former world champions José Raúl Capablanca and Max Euwe, yet to be crowned champion Mikhail Botvinnik and challenger Paul Keres, Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky and Salo Flohr. The tournament was fiercely played and eventually, the tournament proved to be a rigorous battle between old competitors Capablanca and Alekhine. However, they did not progress as well as one might have expected. In the final round, Keres and Fine finished in joint first place with Keres being declared the winner by virtue of his tiebreaker 1½-½ score.