Chess · Worth knowing

The Sinquefield Cup is taking place August 10-20, 2026 at the Saint Louis Chess Club as the fifth leg of the Grand Chess Tour. The 10-player single round-robin features a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes to the end with 30-second increments, played daily at 19:00 CEST. The tournament offers a $475,000 prize fund with four spots in the Grand Chess Tour Finals at stake. After the tiebreak games, Fabiano Caruana leads the overall 2026 Grand Chess Tour standings with 25 points, followed by Praggnanandhaa with 24.5 points and Wesley So with 23.5 points. Live commentary is provided by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Maurice Ashley, and Cristian Chirila, along with IMs Nazi Paikidze and Almira Skripchenko.

Magnus Carlsen retained the 2026 Esports World Cup title with a dominant victory over Denis Lazavik, winning both sets 3-1 without losing a single game throughout the Paris event. Carlsen's strategy focused on keeping play tight and exploiting Lazavik's weakness in rook endgames, particularly capitalizing on the 19-year-old's defensive vulnerabilities rather than pursuing risky attacking chess. The tournament featured a 10-minute rapid format and included analysis of key games where Carlsen demonstrated precise endgame technique and tactical precision, notably finishing with a beautiful queen sacrifice in the final game that exemplified his in-form play against younger opposition born after 2000.

The Cairns Cup, one of the world's strongest female super-tournaments, will return in 2026 for its sixth edition at the Saint Louis Chess Club from August 8-21, featuring ten of the best female players competing in a nine-round round-robin format with a $250,000 prize fund, the largest in the event's history. The tournament shares its format with prestigious events like the Sinquefield Cup and will be covered by the STLCC's professional commentary team on YouTube and Twitch channels.