Linares International Chess Tournament

The Linares International Chess Tournament, usually called simply Linares, was one of elite chess's major events for decades. It began in Linares, Andalusia, in 1978 as a relatively modest tournament. Under organizer Luis Rentero, it grew into an invitational that regularly brought together many of the strongest players in the world.

Linares became famous for the strength of its fields and for a competitive culture that discouraged quick draws, meaning games agreed drawn after very little play. Its exact format changed over time, and many editions used a round robin, where every participant played every other participant. From 2006 through 2008, the event was split between Morelia, Mexico, and Linares.

The classic series ran through 2010. Its name still appears constantly when studying games by players such as Garry Kasparov and when discussing the era of elite invitational tournaments. In that sense, it is a historical counterpart to today's Tata Steel Chess Tournament, although Linares is no longer an annual event of that kind.