r/Chess

Weekly Discussion & Tournament Thread Index - August 17, 2026 [Mod Applications Welcome]

2026-08-17T04:01:08+00:00

r/chess Weekly Discussion Thread

You are welcome to ask here all kinds of chess-related questions that don't warrant their own post. You can also discuss or ask questions about upcoming tournaments that don't have their own thread yet.

Moderation

OPEN CALL for new moderators! Interested in: creating event posts, hosting AMAs, making sure only the finest queen sacrifice puzzles make the front page? Apply Now!

Event Threads

Interested in making threads for tournaments, but don't know where to start? Our Event Template page is a great way to get the basic layout.

An alternative would be to start a subthread directly in the weekly thread.

Announcements

REWORK OF r/chess RULES

UPDATED Oct 30th 2025 - Mod Announcement: New temporary measures to help manage the sub

Recent AMAs

Active Tournament Threads

DATES	EVENT
Aug 10-20	2026 Sinquefield Cup & Cairns Cup

Other Active Tournaments Web Links

DATES	EVENT
Aug 15-23	Rubinstein Chess Festival 2026
Aug 15-23	Kanizsa Open 2026
Aug 15-24	Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival 2026

Upcoming Tournament Schedule

DATES	EVENT	NOTABLE PLAYERS
Aug 22-27	Grand Chess Tour 2026 Finals	-
Sept 2-13	Global Chess League 2026	Carlsen, Anand, Sindarov, Firouzja
Sept 16-27	FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026	Caruana, Sindarov, Keymer, Erigaisi, Giri

Recently Completed Tournaments

DATES	EVENT	WINNER
Aug 11-15	2026 Esports World Cup	Magnus Carlsen
Aug 2-6	2026 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz	Praggnanandhaa R
July 16-22	2026 Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters	Alireza Firouzja
July 3-5	2026 Naroditsky Memorial Rapid and Blitz	Javokhir Sindarov
July 1-5	2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia	Alireza Firouzja
June 24-27	2026 Bullet Chess Championship	Nihal Sarin
June 17-21	2026 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships	Dragon Chilling
June 7-15	2026 UzChess Cup	Mukhiddin Madaminov
May 25 - June 5	2026 Norway Chess	Praggnanandhaa R & Bibisara Assaubayeva
May 14-23	2026 Super Chess Classic Romania	Vincent Keymer
May 5-9	2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Poland	Hans Niemann
May 1-7	2026 TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament	Magnus Carlsen
Mar 29 - Apr 15	2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament	Javokhir Sindarov & Vaishali Rameshbabu
Mar 2-12	2026 American Cup	Wesley So & Alice Lee
Feb 25 - Mar 6	2026 Prague Masters	Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Feb 13-15	2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship	Magnus Carlsen
Jan 16 - Feb 1	2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters	Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Jan 7-11	2026 Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz	Rapid: Nihal Sarin & Kateryna Lagno; Blitz: Wesley So & Carissa Yip

Some links where to find a list of current (or just completed) tournaments

Other Notable Threads

Coach a Player - Recent Threads

Community Content

Here we'd love to highlight community content to show our appreciation for the energy spent. Content like Game analysis, info-graphics, etc., and we'd love to hear from you what kind of content you'd like to see as well.

Want to post your game to r/chess? - for people who want to solicit feedback on their games

Advice to people asking for advice - for people who want to ask about how to improve

submitted by /u/events_team
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Event: 2026 Sinquefield Cup & Cairns Cup

2026-08-10T17:23:37+00:00

Sinquefield Cup

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess

The 2026 Sinquefield Cup will take place from August 10 to 20 at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, United States. The final classical leg of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour features ten players competing in a nine-round classical round-robin. The tournament offers a $475,000 prize fund, with $350,000 distributed based on standings and $125,000 awarded as win bonuses. It is also the final opportunity to earn Grand Chess Tour points before the 2026 GCT Grand Finals.

Participants

#	Title	Name	FED	Rating
1	GM	Fabiano Caruana	🇺🇸 USA	2792
2	GM	Javokhir Sindarov	🇺🇿 UZB	2777
3	GM	Vincent Keymer	🇩🇪 GER	2767
4	GM	Wesley So	🇺🇸 USA	2765
5	GM	Anish Giri	🇳🇱 NED	2764
6	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	🇮🇳 IND	2750
7	GM	Jorden van Foreest	🇳🇱 NED	2728
8	GM	Levon Aronian	🇺🇸 USA	2721
9	GM	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	🇫🇷 FRA	2713
10	GM	Sam Sevian	🇺🇸 USA	2701

Cairns Cup

Official Website

Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess

The 2026 Cairns Cup, the sixth edition of the tournament, will take place alongside the Sinquefield Cup. The event features ten of the world's top female players competing for a $250,000 prize fund.

Participants

#	Title	Name	FED	Rating
1	GM	Bibisara Assaubayeva	🇰🇿 KAZ	2538
2	GM	Anna Muzychuk	🇺🇦 UKR	2529
3	GM	Humpy Koneru	🇮🇳 IND	2524
4	GM	Tan Zhongyi	🇨🇳 CHN	2520
5	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	🇨🇭 SUI	2504
6	GM	Divya Deshmukh	🇮🇳 IND	2490
7	GM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	🇮🇳 IND	2489
8	IM	Carissa Yip	🇺🇸 USA	2459
9	IM	Stavroula Tsolakidou	🇬🇷 GRE	2433
10	IM	Alice Lee	🇺🇸 USA	2430

Format/Time Control

10 player single round-robin. 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss.
Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one.

Schedule

Date	Local Time	UTC Time	Round
Aug 10-14	12:00	17:00	Rounds 1-5
Aug 15	-	-	Rest Day
Aug 16-19	12:00	17:00	Rounds 6-9
Aug 20	12:00	17:00	Playoffs (if needed)

Live Broadcast

Saint Louis Chess Club Broadcast: YouTube | Twitch. Commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Maurice Ashley, & Cristian Chirila, and IMs Nazi Paikidze & Almira Skripchenko.

submitted by /u/events_team
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Album cover illegal move

2026-08-17T16:55:57+00:00

I’ve recently noticed that on this album cover by lil tjay literally the first move is impossible how are you this bad at larping that you don’t even know how the pieces move lol

submitted by /u/NoKnowledge6924
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Sindarov takes down Keymer to keep his GCT Final qualification hopes alive

2026-08-17T21:15:22+00:00

https://www.chess.com/events/2026-gct-sinquefield-cup/07/Keymer\_Vincent-Sindarov\_Javokhir

submitted by /u/Affectionate_Hat3329
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Is Russian Chess Declining?

2026-08-17T16:03:14+00:00

In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov gave a blunt take on why Russia no longer dominates chess.

He says the core issue is the disappearance of the Soviet chess school, a system that once produced generations of elite players through structured training, top coaching, and strong institutional backing. Today, nothing has replaced it.

Karpov also pointed at the state, noting the lack of a serious development program and limited initiative from the Ministry of Sports. In his view, rebuilding success wouldn’t be difficult, if there was real political will.

The results show it: Russian players are now barely present in the world top 10, something once unthinkable.

According to Karpov, this decline isn’t random. It’s the consequence of a lost system, while other nations continue to invest and rise.

What is your thoughts?

submitted by /u/EndgameaiChess
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Wesley So draws Anish Giri in round 7 of the Sinquefield Cup, both players going into an immediate draw. When an immovable object meets another immovable object.

2026-08-17T17:49:33+00:00

submitted by /u/Ill_Emphasis3927
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Was mad that I blundered and got my weirdest Win

2026-08-17T20:19:05+00:00

Tipp: Black has to sack their Queen one way or another

submitted by /u/Jetztwiaklich
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Standings after Day 7 of Sinquefield Cup:

2026-08-17T21:41:35+00:00

submitted by /u/TokemonX4
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Spain 2010 FIFA World Cup winner Gerard Pique joins chess investment boom

2026-08-17T13:31:09+00:00

submitted by /u/Firm-Promotion-1284
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Gm Alex Colovic on X

2026-08-17T16:38:09+00:00

I accidentaly ran into a very insightful interview by the player who said this.

Guess the player.

"I don’t think there is one thing that I do better than everyone. Let’s say if you compare me to Carlsen. I think Carlsen does almost everything better than me, apart from just a few things. I am a little more tactically sharp than Carlsen. I fall less for tricks by opponents than Carlsen. I am more in sync with the computer than Carlsen, because I work much more with the computer myself. Carlsen relies more on his seconds. The synchronization between me and my computer preparation is a little better. It means that I can go to certain positions which Carlsen usually avoids. I am worse than Carlsen at everything else.

That being said, compared to most players at the top, I have a better positional understanding than them, which is still inferior to Carlsen, but is better than a lot of other players."

submitted by /u/LeadEnvironmental331
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Looking for someone to play in San Francisco (Hayes Valley)

2026-08-17T19:01:23+00:00

I’m at the little park at the intersection of Hayes and Octavia set up with my board. Gonna be here for a little while so if you’re in the area and feel like a game, come find me.

submitted by /u/HandIe_Bars
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We know Fool's mate loses in 2 moves and Scholar's mate loses in 4 moves. Is there a distinct way to lose in 3 moves that isn't just some variation on Fool's mate?

2026-08-17T06:23:13+00:00

Any knowers?

submitted by /u/honeysyrup_
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What can be said about this Sicilian structure from both perspectives? What should each side aim for/avoid?

2026-08-17T22:31:25+00:00

Sorry if this position alone is WAY too vague; I hope it can give some ideas as to what some real positions with this might look like. I often get this structure in Sicilians as white if I try to go for some Vienna-style setup, often with a bishop on a2, but I have a hard time managing it. Should white be pushing e5 to attack a knight on f6 or keeping the tension? Should either side ever trade the central pawns? I also threw in a basic position with this structure in case it helps. Thanks in advance for the tips.

submitted by /u/UltraBrawler786
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White to play and win (By Kalashnikov)

2026-08-17T13:24:35+00:00

submitted by /u/Either-Case-5930
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Should black take the white queen?

2026-08-17T01:02:41+00:00

submitted by /u/AvocadoDesperado84
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Who is Lembke407? He drew Magnus in an 18 game blitz match (+7 -7 =4) on June 29th

2026-08-16T18:44:42+00:00

Game history showing their match: https://www.chess.com/games/archive/magnuscarlsen?gameOwner=other\\\_game&opponent=Lembke407

submitted by /u/WhoLovesTheSun_
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What's my plan in isometric c pawn-less positions?

2026-08-18T00:54:14+00:00

https://preview.redd.it/gb2j3o7871kh1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=c3775760801cce8ce2b596d004ac64cdc2db1f91

I often find myself in symmetrical pawn structures. I generally understand that you should play towards where your pawns are pointing but what if both your pawns and their pawns point towards the queenside/kingside? Should I be worried in this position about white playing b5? How do I go about fighting for the c-file?

full game link: https://lichess.org/i4COCa7M#29

submitted by /u/Aa11001100
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What are the qualification scenario for the GCT finals?

2026-08-17T16:00:50+00:00

With only three rounds remaining in the Sinquefield cup, which players are best placed to qualify for the GCT grand final?

Fabi, Wesley and Pragg are almost certain I think. Last place looks like a toss up between Vincent and Sindarov.

I remember someone said MVL had to win the event to have any chance. What do you guys think?

submitted by /u/HonestWay111
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Total chess world championship hype and the favourites

2026-08-17T10:34:58+00:00

I think Sindarov and Vishaly are also participating but they are not in the picture

I'm really hyped up for this tour its basically gct but more exciting and with better reward two tickets to the candidates

With this championship we get 2 candidates spots and tbh anyone who wins this will more be seen as the best player in the world beside magnus than world championship that doesn't have any prestige thanks to Gukeshs and Dings downfall after getting the title

Who do you think are the favourites ?

In my opinion

Magnus , Fabi and Alireza are the favourites

Magnus obviously is the favourite in anything and Fabi is similar it's hard not to he one of the favourites in anything he plays in

Alireza thrives in tour formats he is the most complete all round young player and he's won gct twice and he is the best blitz and rapid player after magnus and the thing that I think increases his chances are is that the clasical format is fast which Alireza has been saying for years that he likes the clasical games to be faster

Second tier favourites Arjun Hikaru and Nodirbek

Arjun and Nodirbek similar to Alireza are all round players so they will do in a tour format

And hikaru will do very good in blitz and rapid but maybe less so in clasical but its hard for him to not be one of the favourites

And lastly I think the underdogs are Wesly , pragg and Sindarov , the first event is in November so I don't even think gukesh and sindarov will play but they might play the rest of the tout

And the players who will struggle in my opinion Vincent keymar , he will do good in clasical but in other formats he will get dominated , ju wejun vishaly and Vishy will also struggle being the weaker players here

And I think Artimiev , Anish , Mvl and Wei yi will do fine Artiliev will be a top seed in rapid and blitz but he's not gonna do that well in clasical

And Anish , Mvl and Wei yi will just do fine, wei yi and Anish aren't the favourites in any format while Mvl will do very good in blitz

submitted by /u/Prudent-Bad2724
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Question for blind players about online chess

2026-08-17T13:35:45+00:00

I have a friend who's blind and learning to play chess. He has a tactile board and set, so OTB games aren't a problem. But I play a lot of correspondence games online (mostly on chess.com but I'm also on Lichess) and I was wondering, how well do phone accessibility features work with chess apps like chess.com and Lichess? Does one of them work better than the other? I turned it on on my phone to play around a bit and it doesn't seem to be any different than navigating any other app. But I don't know if that translates to actually being able to play games easily and enjoy it. Ideally I'd like to play some online correspondence games with him in addition to in-person ones, but I don't wanna recommend something that will be too annoying for him to use. Thanks. 😊

submitted by /u/CatBonanza
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Possible BBC interview with Alexander Alekhine, 1938

2026-08-17T10:57:25+00:00

Chess historian Edward Winter investigated the recording. He notes that the complete recording first appeared online in May 2003 in the Chess Café archives. He also found contemporary evidence that Alekhine was in London in January 1938 and appeared on a BBC television programme on 12 January 1938.

submitted by /u/Fit_Pickle2054
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Need help with my anniversary gift (coming up with a puzzle)

2026-08-17T17:02:32+00:00

Hi everyone! First time poster, and I’m not very good at chess, but my boyfriend is a really good player and is obsessed with puzzles on chess dot com

Our anniversary is coming up, and I wanted to make him a paper chess board with custom pieces and things that have something to do with our relationship, and thought it’d be cute to ask him to solve a puzzle.

The problem is, I don’t know how to make a puzzle, which is why I came here!

I wanted to be cheesy and do something along the lines of “find a way to capture the queen”

Sorry if this is not the right place to post this! I’m looking forward to your responses 🤭

submitted by /u/Soft-Mango-5398
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chart of categories of time slots (using lichess)

2026-08-17T16:41:48+00:00

x axis is time bonus, y axis is starting time

red is bullet, yellow is blitz, green is rapid, classical is blue, black means does not exist (again, using lichess)

looked and couldnt find anything like this

submitted by /u/luxxie-xv
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Can you recommend your favourite chess poster?

2026-08-17T17:42:43+00:00

Looking to decorate the living room and Etsy has been completely overtaken by AI slop.

What's your favourite piece of chess art?

Thanks!

submitted by /u/senzare
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2D piece design feedback

2026-08-17T12:59:05+00:00

I'd love to hear thoughts/feedback on a set of 2D pieces I've designed. Wanted to make something fresh for a little hobby project with chess gameplay.

Starting position

Position during a game

submitted by /u/AshThrowNaut
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