Chess · Worth knowing

The 2026 Cairns Cup, one of the world's strongest women's super-tournaments, will return to Saint Louis August 8–21 with 10 of the world's top female chess players competing for a $250,000 prize fund. The tournament features a ten-player round-robin format and will run alongside the Sinquefield Cup. The field includes three former Women's World Champions: reigning Cairns Cup Champion Carissa Yip, 2026 World Women's Champion Challenger Vaishali Rameshbabu, Alexandra Kosteniuk (2026 World Chess Hall of Fame inductee), and three-time Women's World Blitz Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva, along with other elite players including Humpy Koneru (2535 rating), Tan Zhongyi (2535), and Anna Muzychuk (2522). The tournament will be livestreamed on the STLCC's YouTube and Twitch channels with commentary from WGM Almira Skripchenko and IM Nazi Paikidze.

The Biel Chess Festival 2026 is scheduled for July 10-24, featuring multiple tournaments including the Masters & Generations Challenge triathlon (classical, rapid, and blitz formats). The Masters section includes six top players: Liem Le Quang (Vietnam, ranked 18th, three-time Biel winner), Levon Aronian (USA, ranked 22nd, former world number two), Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Turkey, 15 years old, ranked 28th and second in U20), Matthias Bluebaum (Germany, ranked 36th, two-time European Champion), Aydin Suleymanli (Azerbaijan, 21, recently bronze at European Championship), and Jose Eduardo Martinez (Mexico, ranked 69th). The Generations Challenge includes top female players Alexandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland, former World Champion), Vaishali Rameshbabu (India, 2026 Women's Candidates winner), Carissa Yip (USA), plus young talents Xiao Tong (China, U20 ranked 17th), Vaclav Finek (Czech Republic, U20 ranked 20th), and Marco Materia (France, U20 ranked 48th). The festival also includes an open Masters Tournament with classical time controls running July 13-23.