FIDE has recently announced that the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss, initially planned to take place at Isle of Man, will move to Riga. The two events are part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship, with the top players from the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss taking two out of the remaining four spots left for the 2022 Candidates Tournament.

The decision to move the tournament to another Latvian capital is due to strict COVID-19 restrictions that are in place in Isle of Man and the United Kingdom. These restrictions would force too many players to self-isolate before the tournament, which would not be viable.

FIDE, supported by the Scheinberg Family (the event’s sponsors) and the Latvian Chess Federation, successfully kept the tournament’s dates and format unchanged. According to FIDE, Latvia’s current and projected COVID-19 regulations and its readiness to host both events with high organizational quality made it the perfect spot for this year’s editions.

Riga is not only a prominent chess city, being home of legends like former world champion GM Mikhail Tal, GM Alexei Shirov, and Aron Nimzowitsch. It has also recently hosted the Riga Technical University Open, a competition featuring more than 400 players from 35 different countries. According to FIDE, their success with this event is a testament to Riga’s viability as the host for the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss.

Egons Lavendelis, the organizing team’s leader, stated that “[They] are not only ready to handle all the COVID-19 formalities but also put [their] maximum effort to carry out a high-level tournament that will leave good memories to all the players.”

The 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss will run from October 25 through November 8. Both events will be an 11-round Swiss tournament and are part of the 2022 World Chess Championship cycle.