101 Cities of our World with regularly repeated (current or past) international chess events of major importance you should know
(from Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam to Zagreb and Zurich)

 

Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Baden-Baden, Baku, Banja Luka, Barcelona, Batumi, Beersheba, Beijing, Belgrade, Berlin, Bled, Biel, Bilbao, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Bucharest, Budapest, Bugojno, Cappelle-la-Grande, Chennai (former Madras), Copenhagen, Dallas, Danzhou, Doha, Dortmund, Dresden, Dubai, Elista, Gausdal, Geneva, Gibraltar (in Catalan Bay or spanish: La Caleta), Groningen, Hastings, Havana, Isle of Man (in Douglas, Port Erin, et al.), Istanbul, Jakarta, Karlovy Vary (or german: Karlsbad), Khanty-Mansiysk, Kiev, Las Palmas, Las Vegas, Leiden, León, Linares, Ljubljana, London, Lone Pine (California), Lucerne, Lugano, Lviv, Madrid, Malmö, Manila, Margate, Mar del Plata, Mariánské Lázně (or german: Marienbad), Mérida (Yucatán, Mex), Monaco (in Monte Carlo), Moscow, Nanjing, New York, Novi Sad, Odessa, Ostende, Palma de Mallorca, Pardubice, Paris, Philadelphia, Plovdiv, Polanica-Zdrój, Prague, Reggio Emilia, Reykjavik, Riga, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Saint Louis (Missouri), Saint Petersburg (former Leningrad, former Petrograd), San Francisco, San Sebastián (or basque: Donostia), São Paulo, Sarajevo, Shamkir, Shenzhen, Skopje, Sochi, Sofia, Stavanger, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tbilisi, Tilburg, Warsaw, Vienna, Wijk aan Zee (a small town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands), Yerevan, Zagreb, Zurich

 

≈ 550+ Cities with a honorable mention
(completing all hosting cities of a Chess Olympiad, WTCC or ETCC, including also each city which held an adult male or female World Chess Championship match or at least a single game in it)

 

Aachen, Abano Terme, Acqui Terme, Adelaide, Adelboden, Ajaccio (Aiacciu), Al Ain, Albena, Albert (Somme), Alicante, Almaty (former Alma-Ata), Altensteig, Altona, Alushta, Andorra (in La Massana), Ankara, Antakya (Hatay), Antalya, Antwerp, Arandjelovac, Arbon, Arco, Arnhem, Aruba, Arvier, Ascona, Ashdod, Aspen, Astana, Astrakhan, Asunción, Athens, Atlantic City, Auckland, Augsburg, Augusta (Georgia), Baarn, Bad Aibling, Bad Elster, Bad Gastein, Bad Harzburg, Bad Homburg, Bad Kissingen, Bad Lauterberg, Bad Liebenstein, Bad Nauheim, Bad Niendorf, Bad Pistyan, Bad Pyrmont, Bad Ragaz, Bad Sliač (part of Sliač), Bad Wörishofen, Baden (Argovia), Baden near Vienna, Baguio City, Bahrain (in Manama), Balagna, Balatonfüred, Baltimore, Bamberg, Bangkok, Banyoles, Bar, Bari, Barmen (merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal), Basel, Bastia, Bath, Bayamo, Bayreuth, Bazna, Belfort, Benasque, Benidorm, Berg en Dal, Berga, Bergamo, Bermuda, Bern, Bhubaneswar, Birmingham, Bishkek (former Frunze), Blackpool, Bladel, Bognor Regis, Bogotá, Bologna, Bonn, Bordeaux, Borjomi, Boston, Bournemouth, Bradford, Brasilia, Bratislava, Bratto, Breda, Breslau / Wroclaw, Brighton, Bristol, Brissago, Brno (Brünn), Brunnen, Budva, Bunratty, Burgdorf, Bursa, Büsum, Čačak, Cairo, Cala Galdana, Calvià, Camagüey, Cambridge, Cambridge Springs (US), Canberra, Cannes, Caorle, Cap d'Agde, Caracas, Carrasco (Paso de Carrasco), Caxias do Sul, Cazorla, Cham (near Zug), Charleroi, Cheltenham, Chengdu, Chicago, Chișinău (Kishinev), Chongqing, Chur, Cienfuegos, Clermont-Ferrand, Cleveland, Coburg, Coimbatore, Cologne, Córdoba, Cork, Costa Brava, Costa del Sol, Coventry, Crete, Curaçao (in Willemstad), Curitiba (Paraná, Bra), Daugavpils, Davos, Debrecen, Decin, Deizisau, Delft, Denpasar, Denver, Dilijan, Donetsk, Dos Hermanas, Drammen, Dublin, Dubna, Dubrovnik, Duisburg, Dundee, Durban, Düsseldorf, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles, California), Echternach, Edmonton, Eersel, Eindhoven, Elenite, Enghien-les-Bains, Enschede, Erfurt, Ermelo, Esbjerg, Essen, Évian, Fagernes, Folkestone, Foros, Fortaleza, Frankfurt, Freiburg im Breisgau, Gammarth (near Tunis), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Ghent, Giessen, Gijon, Gjovik, Glasgow, Gori, Gotha, Gothenburg, Gouda, Graz, Gstaad, Guernsey, Gyor, Gyula, Haarlem, Haifa, Halkidiki (Chalkidiki), Halle (Saale), Hamburg, Hanau, Hangzhou, Haninge, Hannover, Harare, Harlingen, Hatay, Heidelberg, Helsingør, Helsinki, Heraklion (Iraklion), Herceg Novi, Hilversum, Holguín, Hollywood, Hong Kong, Hoogeveen, Horgen, Houston, Hyderabad, Il Ciocco, Innsbruck, Irkutsk, Ischia, Islington, Izmir, Jaén, Jermuk, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Jurata, Jurmala, Jyväskylä, Kapstadt, Kapfenberg, Karlsruhe, Kazan, Kecskemet, Kemeri, Kharkiv, Khartoum, Kiel, Kislovodsk, Kolkata (former Calcutta), Kraków, Krefeld, Krems, Krynica, Kuala Lumpur, Lake Hopatcong (US), Laoag, Lausanne, Le Havre, Leamington Spa, Leeuwarden, Leuven, Lenk, Lenzerheide, Leysin, Leipzig, Liechtenstein (in Mauren, Schaan, Triesen, et al.), Liberec, Liège, Lima, Lisbon, Liverpool, Locarno, Lodz, Lopota, Los Angeles, Lublin, Luhansk, Luhačovice, Lund, Luxembourg City, Lyon, Kiev, Madonna di Campiglio, Mainz, Malaga, Malta (in Valletta, Sliema, et al.), Manavgat, Manchester, Mannheim, Mardin, Maribor, Marseille, Maspalomas, Matanzas, Mazatlán, Medellín, Medias, Memphis, Mendrisio, Merano, Mérida (Esp), Metz, Mexico City, Milan, Minsk, Mondariz, Montecatini Terme, Montevideo (and Carrasco district), Montilla, Montpellier, Mont Pélérin, Montreal, Montreux, Morelia, Mumbai (former Bombay), Münchenstein, Munich, Mürren, Næstved, Nalchik, Netanya, Neuhausen, Neuchâtel, New Delhi, New Orleans, Nice, Niendorf, Nijmegen, Nikšić, Ningbo, Nottingham, Noordwijk, Novgorod / Veliky Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Nuremberg, Oakham, Oberhausen, Ohrid, Oldenburg, Olot, Opatija, Örebro, Orense, Oslo, Ostersund, Ostrava (Mährisch-Ostrau), Oviedo, Oxford, Paignton, Paks, Palau (Porto Mannu, Sardinia), Pamplona, Pamporovo, Pärnu, Pasadena, Pécs, Petrópolis, Pfäffikon, Pforzheim, Pinamar, Pitsunda, Poděbrady, Podgorica (former Titograd), Poikovsky, Poreč / Parenzo, Porto Carras, Portorož, Porz (city district of Cologne), Potsdam, Poznan, Puerto Madryn, Pula, Pune, Ptuj, Quebec, Quilmes, Quito, Raach, Rabat, Radebeul, Ramsgate, Recife, Regensburg, Reus, Riehen (near Basel), Rijeka, Rio Hondo, Rishon LeZion, Riyadh, Rogaška Slatina, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Rosario, Rostov-on-Don, Rotterdam, Rovinj, Royan, Saint John (Can), Saint Vincent (Aosta Valley, Ita), Salamanca, Saltsjöbaden, Salzburg, Samara, San Antonio (US), San Benedetto del Tronto (Ita), San Bernardino (Sui), San Juan (Puerto Rico), San Lorenzo del Escorial (Esp), San Luis, Argentina (in Potrero de los Funes), San Remo (Ita), San Salvador, Sanghi Nagar, Santa Fé (Arg), Santa Monica (US), Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo (Dom Rep), Saratov, Satka, Scarborough, Scheveningen, Szczawno-Zdrój, Seattle, Seville, Semmering, Shanghai, Sharjah, Shenyang (former Mukden), 's-Hertogenbosch, Sibenik, Siegen, Singapore, Sitges, Skara, Skelleftea, Skien, Solin, Solingen, Solsona, Sombor, Sopot, Sousse, Southsea, Spa, Spijkenisse, Split, Starý Smokovec, Stein am Rhein, Stepanakert, Stip, Stuttgart, Subotica, Sukhumi, Surabaya, Surakarta (Solo), Suzdal, Świnoujście (Swinemünde), Sveti Stefan, Sydney, Syracuse, Szeged, Szczawno-Zdroj, Szentgotthárd, Szirák, Taizhou, Tarragona, Tarvisio, Tashkent, Taxco (sometimes Taxco de Alarcón, or Mende-Taxco), Teesside, Tegernsee, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Telavi, Teplice-Šanov, Ter Apel, Terme Čatež, Terrassa, The Hague, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Tiraspol, Tokyo, Toluca, Tomsk, Toronto, Torremolinos, Travemünde, Trencianske Teplice, Trenton Falls (New York State), Triberg, Trieste, Třinec, Tripoli, Trnava, Tromsø, Tsaghkadzor, Tula, Tunbridge Wells, Tunis, Tunja, Turin, Tuzla, Ubeda, Ujpest, Ulan Bator, Uppsala, Ushuaia, Utrecht, Užice (renamed Titovo Užice in the former Yugoslavia), Valencia, Valjevo, Val Maubuée (Torcy), Valle d'Aosta, Vancouver, Varadero, Varese, Varna, Växjö, Vejstrup, Velden, Venice, Ventnor City, Viborg, Villafranca de los Barros, Villarrobledo, Villingen, Vilnius (Wilna), Viña del Mar, Vinkovci, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Vladivostok, Vlissingen, Volgograd, Voronezh, Vratsa, Vrbas, Vrnjačka Banja, Vrsac, Wageningen, Waddinxveen, Washington, Wellington, Wenzhou, Wiesbaden, Winnipeg, Winterthur, Wrexham, Yaroslav, Ybbs, Yekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk), Yogyakarta, Yopal, Zaandam, Zaanstreek, Zafra, Zalaegerszeg, Zalakaros, Zandvoort, Zegrze, Zeist, Zevenaar, Zlín, Zug, Zwolle

 

 Note: The focus lies on international  chess events, thus some further cities from USSR / Russia, USA, England, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands or former Yugoslavia with mainly national or local contests are not listed. And a special spotlight is on still recurring chess tournaments, that’s why eg. the city of Nottingham (with a legendary tournament in 1936, but no other major chess events) is not prominently recorded, or to name a recent example, Stavanger (area) is listed above Tromsø.

Warning:
This listing is a best-effort, with a subjective component, no offense intended

1924 Paris, 1st Congress

1925 Zurich, Switzerland, 2nd Congress

1926 Budapest

1927 London

1928 The Hague

1929 Venice

1930 Hamburg

1931 Prague

1932 Paris

1933 Folkestone (England)

1934 Zurich, Switzerland, 11th Congress

1935 Warsaw

1936 Lucerne, Switzerland, 13th Congress

1937 Stockholm

1938 Paris

1939 Buenos Aires

1940 - -

1941 - -

1942 - -

1943 - -

1944 - -

1945 - -

1946 Winterthur, Switzerland, 17th Congress

1947 The Hague

1948 Stockholm

1949 Paris

1950 Copenhagen

1951 Venice

1952 Stockholm

1953 Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 24th Congress

1954 Amsterdam

1955 Gothenburg

1956 Moscow

1957 Vienna

1958 Dubrovnik

1959 Luxembourg

1960 Leipzig

1961 Sofia

1962 Stockholm

1963 Basel, Switzerland, 34th Congress

1964 Tel Aviv

1965 Wiesbaden

1966 Havana

1967 Venice

1968 Lugano, Switzerland, 39th Congress

1969 San Juan (Puerto Rico)

1970 Siegen (West Germany)

1971 Vancouver

1972 Skopje

1973 Helsinki

1974 Nice

1975 Bergen-aan-Zee (The Netherlands)

1976 Haifa

1977 Lucerne, Switzerland, 48th Congress

1978 Buenos Aires

1979 San Juan (Puerto Rico)

1980 Valletta

1981 Atlanta, Georgia

1982 Lucerne, Switzerland, 53rd Congress

1983 Manila

1984 Thessaloniki

1985 Graz

1986 Dubai

1987 Seville

1988 Thessaloniki

1989 Mayagüez (Puerto Rico)

1990 Novi Sad

1991 Berlin

1992 Manila

1993 Curitiba, Paraná (Brazil)

1994 Moscow

1995 Paris

1996 Yerevan

1997 Chișinău
(also known formerly as Kishinev)

1998 Elista

1999 Doha

2000 Istanbul

2001 Haldiki

2002 Bled

2003 Haldiki

2004 Calvià

2005 Dresden

2006 Turin

2007 Antalya Province, in the seaside resort of Kemer (Turkey)

2008 Dresden

2009 Haldiki

2010 Khanty-Mansiysk

2011 Krakow

2012 Istanbul

2013 Tallinn

2014 Tromsø

2015 Abu Dhabi

2016 Baku

2017 Antalya Province, in Goynuk (Turkey)

2018 Batumi, 89th Congress

2019 - -

2020 Abu Dhabi, UAE, 90th Congress

2021 online, 91st Congress

2021 Warsaw, 92nd Congress

2022 Chennai, 93rd Congress

 

As of march 2020, FIDE family has 195 national member federations!