2018 Chess Tournaments Results

Find out who won the major chess tournaments in 2018. Click here for the upcoming Chess Tournament Calendar.

Completed 2018 Chess Tournaments:

MAY 2018

May 24: Bundesliga Playoff (Baden-Baden, Germany)

Despite bringing top guns Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vishy Anand, the team of Baden-Baden scored only a narrow 4.5-3.5 victory against Solingen to clinch their 12th Bundesliga title in 13 years. Read the news report here.

The winning team with the cup. | Photo: Guido Giotta/Schachbundesliga.

May 13-21: African Individual Chess Championship (Livingstone, Zambia)

The 2018 African Individual Chess Championship was a walk in the park for Egyptian GM Bassem Amin, the only African player to ever reach a rating of 2700. He won the tournament for the fifth time. Read the news report here.

Bassem Amin retained his African title. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

May 9-19: Capablanca Memorial (Havana, Cuba)

Two weeks after his success at the U.S. Championship, Sam Shankland won another tournament: the Capablanca Memorial in Havana, Cuba. With a score of 7.5/10 and a 2829 performance rating the American grandmaster entered the world's top 30. Read the final news report here.

May 3-18: FIDE Women's World Championship (Shanghai & Chongqing, China)

The FIDE Women's World Championship was a 10-game match between reigning champion Tan Zhongyi and challenger Ju Wenjun, both from China. The first half of the match was held in Shanghai, the second half in Chongqing. Ju won 5.5-4.5 and took over the title. Read the final news report here.

Ju Wenjun. | Photo: Gu Xiaobing/official website.

May 4-8: TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament (Malmö, Sweden)

The 23rd edition of the Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament was a six-player, single round robin played in Malmö, Sweden. Grandmasters Nils Grandelius and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi tied for first place after scoring 3.5/5. Read the final news report here.

Nils Grandelius (left) and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | Photos: Peter Doggers/Chess.com.

APRIL 2018

April 18-29: U.S. Championships (St. Louis, USA)

For the 10th year in a row, the U.S. Championships were held at the chess club in St. Louis and sponsored by its patron, Rex Sinquefield. Sam Shankland won his first title, despite the presence of three top 10 players: Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. In the women's tournament, Nazi Paikidze retained her title after beating Annie Wang in a playoff. Read the final news report here.

GM Sam Shankland celebrates just after winning the 2018 U.S. Championship. | Photo: Mike Klein/Chess.com.

April 19-28: Gashimov Memorial (Shamkir, Azerbaijan)

The fifth Vugar Gashimov Memorial was again held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan. Magnus Carlsen participated for the third time, and won for the third time. He finished on 6/9, half point more than Ding Liren. Read the final news report here.

Carlsen holding the trophy after the closing ceremony. | Photo: Shamkir Chess.

March 31-April 9: Grenke Chess Classic (Karlsruhe & Baden-Baden, Germany) 

This year's Grenke Chess Classic was held in Karlsruhe (rounds 1-3) and Baden-Baden (rounds 4-9). Shortly after winning the Candidates', Fabiano Caruana also took the first prize in this tournament, finishing a point ahead of Magnus Carlsen. Read the final news report here.

Carlsen congratulates Caruana at the end of the closing ceremony. | Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

January-April 2018: PRO Chess League (Chess.com)

The second season of Chess.com's PRO Chess League took place January-March 2018, culminating in a grand final weekend with the semifinals and final being held at the Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco. The Armenia Eagles won this season. Read the final news report here.

Armenia Eagles, PRO Chess League Champions. | Photo: Mike Klein/Chess.com.

MARCH 2018

March 17-28: European Individual Championship (Batumi, Georgia)

The 19th European Individual Chess Championship was held March 17-28 in the Sheraton Hotel in Batumi, Georgia. In this grueling, 11-round Swiss, a total of 302 players from 34 federations participated, among them 135 grandmasters. GM Ivan Saric won the tournament with 8.5 points. Read the final news report here.

Ivan Saric is the new European champion. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

March 10-27: FIDE Candidates' Tournament (Berlin, Germany)

The FIDE Candidates' Tournament was the most important individual tournament of the year. Fabiano Caruana won convincingly with 9/14 and thus earned the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen in a world title match in November. Read the final news report here.

Agon's Ilya Merenzon, Fabiano Caruana, and FIDE's D.V. Sundar. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

March 6-14: Reykjavik Open (Reykjavik, Iceland)

The 33rd edition of the Reykjavik Open took place 6-14 March in the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. A total of 248 players from 34 federations played, including 27 grandmasters. Indian GM Baskaran Adhiban was the only player to finish on 7.5 points. Read the final news report here.

Baskaran Adhiban. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Reykjavik Open.

March 1-6: Tal Memorial (Moscow, Russia)

Viswanathan Anand won the rapid segment of the Tal Memorial in Moscow with 6/9, a full point more than Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Sergey Karjakin and Hikaru Nakamura. The next day, Sergey Karjakin won the blitz tournament. Read the final news report here.

Tal Memorial winners Sergey Karjakin (blitz) and Viswanathan Anand (rapid). | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

FEBRUARY 2018

February 19 - March 2: Aeroflot Open (Moscow, Russia)

The winner of the 2018 Aeroflot Open, and thus the qualifier for this year's super-tournament in Dortmund, was Vladislav Kovalev. The 24-year-old grandmaster from Belarus left players such as Vladimir Fedoseev, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Dmitry Andreikin behind. Read the final news report here.

Vladislav Kovalev wins Aeroflot. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

February 9-13: Carlsen-Nakamura Chess960 Match (Høvikodden, Norway) 

A Fischer Random (Chess960) match between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura was held at Høvikodden outside Oslo, Norway with an impressive prize fund of nearly $200,000. Carlsen won with a 14-10 score. Read the final news report here.

Hikaru Nakamura, Dag Alveng and Jøran Aulin-Jansson, Lisbeth Hammer. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

JANUARY 2018

January 23 - February 1: Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival (Gibraltar)

The £25,000 first prize at the 16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival was won by Levon Aronian, who beat Richard Rapport and then Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the playoff. Read the final news report here.

Pia Cramling, Tradewise CEO James Humphreys, and Levon Aronian at the prize giving. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

January 11-27: Tata Steel Chess Tournament (Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands)

The 80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament was won by Magnus Carlsen, who defeated Anish Giri in a playoff after both had finished on 9/13. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi won the Challengers group. Read the final news report here.

Giri "resigns" to a draw in the second playoff game. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

January 5: Chess960 Championship (Chess.com)

The first Chess.com Chess960 Championship was played on January 5, 2018 and won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The French number one crushed the field with 8.5/9. Read the final news report here.

January 3: Speed Chess Championship Final (Chess.com)

The 2017 Speed Chess Championship final was won by Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian grandmaster beat Hikaru Nakamura 18-9 in the same final as the GM Blitz Battle of 2016. Read the final news report here.

Wanna know about upcoming events? Click here for the upcoming Chess Tournament Calendar.