Elite chess explained, move by move

Elite chess
explained,
Move by Move

For chess fans who follow top level chess, and want to understand what the eval is saying.

  • Key Moments
  • Candidate Moves
  • Forcing Moves
  • Positional Evaluation

All broken down so you can understand.

Scroll to see tournaments

2026 tournament calendar

Covers a hand-curated slate of elite tournaments through 2026

Finished
Abdusattorov

Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Wijk aan Zee, NL · 17 — 28 Jan 2026

Abdusattorov finally converted years of Wijk aan Zee pressure into a Masters title — the January season opener at its sharpest.

Finished
Sindarov

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026

Paphos, CY · 28 Mar — 16 Apr 2026

Sindarov's clean win earned the challenger spot. The full Open section is annotated move by move — replay the path to the title game by game.

Finished
Vaishali

FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament 2026

Paphos, CY · 28 Mar — 16 Apr 2026

Vaishali won outright to challenge Ju Wenjun — the women's title path decided alongside the open Candidates.

Finished
Niemann

Grand Chess Tour

Warsaw, PL · 3 — 10 May 2026

Wildcard Niemann led wire-to-wire in Warsaw — an all-American podium with Caruana and So chasing to the last blitz round.

Live now

Norway Chess

Oslo, NO · 25 May — 5 Jun 2026

Six of the world's best in Oslo for Norway Chess's signature format — classical games with Armageddon tiebreaks on every draw. Carlsen, Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Firouzja, So, and Keymer in a double round-robin where nothing stays level.

Coming soon

Sinquefield Cup 2026

St. Louis, US · 10 — 20 Aug 2026

Grand Chess Tour classical stop in Saint Louis.

Coming soon

Grand Chess Tour Finals

St. Louis, US · 22 — 27 Aug 2026

Season finale for the Grand Chess Tour.

Coming soon

FIDE World Cup 2026

Goa, IN · 30 Oct — 27 Nov 2026

Knockout classical with a massive field.

Coming soon

World Championship Match 2026

TBD · 15 Nov — 5 Dec 2026

The title match after Candidates.

Full season

The rest of the elite chess calendar

FIDE Chess Olympiad, U.S. Championship, Chennai Grand Masters, Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Prague, Biel, and every covered 2026 stop.

See full calendar

FAQ · what people ask

Things worth knowing

01How are annotations generated?

Annotations are generated automatically by a deterministic analysis pipeline that runs on every move.

Key Moments are identified by detecting volatile positions, critical evaluation swings, time trouble, tactical turning points, and other game-state signals.

Candidate Moves are generated by comparing what Stockfish considers best with what strong human players are likely to choose, using Maia and Stockfish together.

Positional Evaluation is computed from concrete board features, such as king safety, pawn structure, piece activity, space, hanging pieces, and defensive needs. For example, king safety looks at pawn shelter, available checks, escape squares, exposed lines, and attacking pressure.

Forcing Moves are selected by examining legal checks, captures, threats, and tactical tries, then filtering them through Stockfish to determine which ones are actually good, playable, or dangerous traps.

02How is this different from Lichess or Chess.com?

They show moves and evals; we add move-by-move commentary and let you explore alternatives on the board — with prose tied to arrows, not numbers alone.

03How fast does coverage go up after a game?

Live classical coverage is coming soon. Finished games are fully annotated at every move — explore any position on the board.

04Which tournaments are covered?

The home page highlights the top 2026 marquee events — free at launch. Candidates 2026 Open is fully annotated and finished; Norway Chess is live now. Sinquefield, World Cup, and the rest of the calendar are coming soon as we wire live and finished coverage. See the full calendar for every event.

05Is there a paid tier?

The launch archive and marquee tournament coverage are free. A paid tier for additional tournaments and library features is planned; pricing is not live yet.

06Will there be a mobile app?

The site is built for reading on phone and desktop in the browser. Native apps are not in v1 scope.

07Can I upload my own games?

Not yet. Move x Move is tournament coverage — not personal PGN or arbitrary positions. Personal game uploads may come as part of the paid tier, depending on demand.

— Last word —

Follow elite tournament chess,
move by move,
with commentary you can trust.

Norway Chess is live now.