Hello everyone!

Soon, the last round of the 2026 Candidates Tournament will be played. I am not sure about you, but I must admit that this has not been the most exciting chess event I have followed.

While watching it, however, I had some thoughts and started to ask myself, “Which tournaments have I enjoyed the most so far?” I tried to answer this question, and now that my decision is made, I would like to share it with my readers.

Before we move on, let me explain the criteria. I am only counting the competitions that I have followed live. Old tournaments or matches, such as the famous Fischer vs. Spassky or the 1953 Zürich Candidates Tournament, are not eligible.

The reason is simple. While there are many historic events featuring spectacular games, it is impossible for me to say how much I would have enjoyed them if I had been alive at the time. It would be purely speculative, rather than a direct comparison.

Also, focusing solely on the games would be too technical, so in this post, I will talk more about how I felt and the reasons why I enjoyed these tournaments.

With that in mind, let’s begin!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

#5 - The Only Trophy Missing

#4 - A Bit of Variety is Always Welcome

# 3 - The New Generation is Coming

#2 - A Festival of Blunders and Emotions

#1 - The Best Possible Farewell

Conclusion

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#5 - FIDE World Cup 2023

In fifth position is the 2023 FIDE World Cup. The reason for this is simple: at the time, it was the only major individual chess tournament that Magnus Carlsen had not yet won.

As a big fan of the Norwegian and someone who considers him the GOAT of chess, it seemed absurd to me that he did not have a trophy from such a prestigious competition in his gallery. I felt a great sense of injustice, especially considering how close he had come to winning it on many occasions before.

But, as we know, when the time finally came, it was by no means an easy task. Let's find out more about how the event went for him.

Following a bye in the first round and two relatively comfortable victories against Levan Pantsulaia and his fellow countryman Aryan Tari, Carlsen was set to play the German prodigy Vincent Keymer in the fourth round.

He lost the first game playing with the black pieces. In a knockout format like this, a single loss could well spell the end. Now, a victory was mandatory.

In the second game, playing with the white pieces, Carlsen made a huge mistake on move 16. a3 (?) and came very close to defeat, which would have meant elimination. Fortunately for him, Keymer failed to find the correct line, enabling him to fight back and win.

In the tie-break rapid games, Carlsen lived up to his favorite status and managed to progress, though not without giving me a mini heart attack first!

As expected, the next rounds were against tough opponents, including Ivanchuk and Gukesh. However, he got past them all with convincing performances, reaching the final match against the 18-year-old prodigy Praggnanandhaa.

After two draws in the classical games, he once again emerged victorious in the tie-breaks, winning 2.5–1.5 and finally securing the title that was missing in his collection. The game that won him the trophy is shown below.

This tournament may not be the most important on the circuit, and it took place at a time when Carlsen had already given up on the World Championship. Nevertheless, it makes my list because I was very excited during the fourth round and celebrated a lot when it was over.

Of course, I must also mention how entertaining it was to see Nijat Abasov upset the favorites and secure a place in the Candidates Tournament by finishing fourth.

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#4 - Rapid & Blitz Championship 2021

However, although I am a fan of Carlsen, I also recognize that sometimes it is good to see a variety of winners in tournaments. One event in particular often sees him win both categories almost every year, including in 2025. I am talking about the FIDE Rapid & Blitz Championship, which is usually held during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

So, it made me happy to see different winners in the 2021 edition. While fifth place on my list went to a tournament that Carlsen finally won, fourth place goes to one that he finally didn’t win. Contradictory? Maybe, but it is still true.

Read on to find out more about this awesome event.

The rapid tournament comprised 13 rounds and saw a real race between three of the favorites and an underdog. Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Ian Nepomniachtchi were among the strongest and most experienced players in the competition. The fourth one was the young Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who was only 17 years old at the time.

After many nail-biting games, including Abdusattorov's victory against Carlsen in the 10th round (I remember having to stand up to watch it because I could not stay seated), the four players finished tied with 9.5 points out of 13.

However, the rules stated that the two players with the highest Buchholz Cut 1 score — Abdusattorov and Nepomniachtchi — would play a tie-break with blitz time controls to determine the winner.

Below is the game that earned Abdusattorov the title of World Rapid Champion, which made me feel very excited and moved.

And what about the Blitz Tournament? It was equally exciting, if not more so! After 21 fierce rounds, three players were tied for first place with 15 points: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and Alireza Firouzja.

Magnus Carlsen, on the other hand, performed below his level and finished in 12th position, paving the way for some surprises.

The rules were exactly the same as for the rapid event, meaning that Vachier-Lagrave and Duda would play the tie-breaks to decide the champion. Check out the final game below, which saw the seasoned French master take the trophy.

While I was actually rooting for Duda, and it was painful to see him lose, I cannot deny that Vachier-Lagrave was a worthy winner, and I was happy for him. This event was an emotional rollercoaster, which is why I really enjoyed following it.

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#3 - 2024 Candidates Tournament

Kicking off the podium is the crazy Candidates Tournament of 2024. As I wrote in this post about two years ago, I was supporting Vidit Gujrathi, who didn’t end up winning. So why did I enjoy it so much anyway?

Well, I think the reason is obvious to anyone who followed it closely, but if you don’t know what happened, here is a brief summary.

Just like in the Rapid Championship mentioned above, the race for the title was very close between four players. Once again, three experienced ones: Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Ian Nepomniachtchi, as well as an underdog: the 17-year-old Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju.

P.S. My God, even their ages are the same! It is only now that I am noticing these coincidences and realizing how similar these situations were.

The final round was a gift from Caissa to chess lovers around the world. Gukesh was leading with 8.5 points, while the other three were close behind with 8 points each.

To make things more exciting, they were all scheduled to play each other: Nakamura vs. Gukesh and Caruana vs. Nepomniachtchi.

The Indian prodigy's mission was clear: try to hold on for at least a draw with the black pieces to ensure he would reach the tie-breaks. As you can see below, he succeeded:

This draw made the other game even more decisive. The winner would have the chance to play Gukesh in a series of rapid games and win the tournament. Even better, a draw was of no benefit to either of them, so you can imagine how badly both wanted to win.

Nepomniachtchi took quite a few risks in the opening, despite playing Black, and found himself in a much worse position. At one point, it seemed obvious that Caruana would win.

However, the Russian showed incredible fighting spirit and was aided by his opponent's mistakes, resulting in an unbelievable forced draw that left both players very dissatisfied. See below:

Whilst it was heartbreaking to see them both so devastated, there is no denying that this event was thrilling right until the very end. Moreover, it was great fun to watch a player of the new generation win and, months later, become world champion.

So, do I only enjoy tournaments where promising young stars come out on top? Calm down, dear reader. It is not always like that. Let’s move on to the next one.

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#2 - World Chess Championship 2023

Of course, this article could not leave out a World Championship match, and second place on my list goes to the 2023 edition. This was the first one after Magnus Carlsen relinquished the crown, and it was played between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

The first thing that made it special was that, unlike most matches where one side defends the title and the other challenges for it, this one was played between two players who could become first-time champions. Therefore, the pressure was fairly equal for both of them.

But that’s not all: the games themselves were full of twists and excitement, too. Read on to find out why it was so enjoyable.

Firstly, these high-level matches tend to have many draws, but here, we saw one side winning five of the first seven games.

Both players seemed nervous and were unable to play at their best. For fans of well-played chess, it may not have been a masterpiece. However, for those who enjoy the excitement of the sport, it was great fun.

The most interesting moment of the first half was probably game 7, when Ding Liren froze and was unable to make a move, losing on time.

After some quiet draws, with just three games remaining, Nepomniachtchi was one point ahead. Round 12 then proved to be a turning point for the Chinese Dragon. This was all thanks to a serious mistake by his opponent on move 34. f5 (??), which left the match wide open once again.

See the game below, along with the Russian's reaction, which reveals just how significant that blunder was:

I confess that watching this scene live was perhaps the most painful moment I have experienced as a chess fan. Although I was supporting Ding, it was clear that Nepomniachtchi didn’t deserve to lose a game like that.

In any case, the title would now be decided by tie-breaks.

After three draws in the rapid games, the decisive moment finally came in Round 4, when Ding Liren outplayed Ian with the black pieces and secured the trophy. You can watch the final game below:

While this match might not have been the best in terms of quality, it was full of crazy blunders and epic moments, so it certainly has a special place in my memory!

But now comes the best part of this post. Which tournament takes first place in my heart?

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#1 - FIDE Olympiad 2018

You read that correctly. My favorite chess tournament ever was the 2018 Chess Olympiad, which took place in Batumi, Georgia. The winners were the Chinese team, followed by the USA and Russia.

As you know, I don't have any particular links to any of these countries, so I am pretty sure what you are thinking right now.

“But Vanessa, that makes no sense! This was just a normal Olympiad, like all the others. Why is it so special to you?” But don't worry, that is exactly what I am going to explain.

For those who don’t know, I temporarily moved to Brazil at the beginning of 2017 to work on a two-year project. During this time, I worked at Pampulha Airport in Belo Horizonte. It was there that I met friends who rekindled my passion for chess.

So, what makes this Olympiad so important to me? Well, the event took place in October 2018, just two months before I was due to return to New Zealand. This meant that my friends and I knew we were close to saying goodbye.

Watching the games together, especially those of the Brazilian and Kiwi teams, was something truly unique. Not only because we were all rooting for our players, but also because I felt like this was one of the last special occasions I could enjoy with those people.

So, I made a point of watching almost every round that I could with them, paying close attention as if each game were the most important one and cheering or agonizing alongside them through the victories and defeats.

This was not because chess itself was so important, or because Brazil or New Zealand had any chance of winning the title. We all knew they wouldn't, but we still wanted to enjoy the moment. Below is a remarkable game:

The fact that the event involved chess, a game that brought us all together, made the whole experience even more meaningful. It was certainly more special than if it had been the Football World Cup.

Ultimately, neither country performed particularly well, but who cares? All I wanted was to be there with my friends, watching the matches, and making memories. That’s why this event tops my list and is unlikely to be knocked off the top spot for quite some time.

Sometimes, the best tournaments are not the strongest. They are the ones we share with others.

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CONCLUSION

Thank you very much for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed learning more about my favorite tournaments and what makes them so special to me. I think it is interesting that my reasons for choosing each of them are quite different, yet they are all very memorable in their own way.

I hope that the upcoming chess events will be as significant to me as the ones mentioned here. After all, we always expect lists like this to change, don't we?

Please also let me know in the comments section which tournaments you enjoyed watching the most and what they mean to you. I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings.

And do you know what else I find very memorable?  The BlogChamps Contests! As you know, we organized the April Fool's edition at the beginning of the month. Congratulations to the three medalists:

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Gold: @JugadaBrillante with How to troll your chess player friend

Silver: @MrRiskau99 with The 15-Month 2000 Experiment - Case File #1

Bronze: @fischersh2pawn with Don't Be A Fool, Mate

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I would be very happy if you could check out their amazing work!

That's all for today, dear readers. We will meet again in 15 days for another special post. Until then, take care and see you soon!