Belgrade 10.05.2025 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025

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Open Solving Championship of Serbia 2025 | 13th tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 18 | Winner: Bojan Vučković (SRB – Serbian Champion!), ahead of Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) and Miodrag Mladenović (SRB).
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2357.95 | WSC category: 6
Top 5 WSC Standings (unchanged): 1. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 133 points, 2. Kacper Piorun (POL) 72 points, 3. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 55 points, 4. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 53 points, 5. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 47 points.
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal

67.WCCC & 48.WCSC – last call for registration

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The 67th World Congress of Chess Composition (WCCC) and 48th World Chess Solving Championship (WCSC) will be held from Saturday, July 5th (arrival) to Saturday, July 12th, 2025 (departure) at ’Cetate Hotel’ *** in Alba Iulia (Romania), with the WCSC on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 8th and 9th. The WCCC 2025 director is IM Mihnea Costachi.

  • The registration deadline: 15th May 2025
  • The accommodation reservation deadline: 5th May 2025

Please use the registration button on the official website.

Contact: wcsc2025@yahoo.com | INVITATION in PDF | WCCC 2025 official website

12th WCCT: Announcement

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WFCC is glad to announce the 12th World Chess Composition Tournament. The span between the announcements of the 10th WCCT and the 11th WCCT was five years, and the same time passed before this one. This time there were more reasons for delay compared to the original schedule. The hostilities in Ukraine and WFCC sanctions on the teams from Russia and Belarus since 2022 influenced the overall motivation, including the work and position of the WCCT spokesman Georgy Evseev, who meanwhile stepped down from his post. At the beginning of 2025 Ukrainian organizers energetically took over the preparations. In a very short time they managed to engage the judging countries and to activate the members of the WCCT Committee to jointly work at a high tempo on selection of the themes and the final wording. At the end, the selection of the themes turned out to be very inspiring, and even more promising than in some of the previous WCCT editions.

The director of the tournament is Valery Kopyl. The deadline for registration of the countries is July 1st, 2025. The closing date for submission of the entries is July 1st, 2026. Announcement in PDF.

Athens 25.04.2025 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025

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Open Solving Tournament of ECSC 2025 | 12th tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 75 | Winner: Eddy Van Beers (BEL), ahead of Piotr Murdzia (POL) and Kacper Piorun (POL) ex aequo.
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2588.15 | WSC category: 2

Title norms and Titles achieved:

  • GM norm of Maksim Kharitonov (FID)
  • IM norm of Maksim Kharitonov (FID), Audrey Kueh (GBR) and Anton Nasyrov (FID)
  • FM norm of Maksim Kharitonov (FID), Audrey Kueh (GBR), Anton Nasyrov (FID) and Anna Shukhman (FID)
  • Woman GM norm of Audrey Kueh (GBR)
  • Women IM norm and FM norm of Audrey Kueh (GBR) and Anna Shukhman (FID)
  • Women FM titles of Audrey Kueh (GBR) and Anna Shukhman (FID)

Top 5 WSC Standings: 1. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 133 points (+41), 2. Kacper Piorun (POL) 72 points (+36), 3. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 55 points (+36), 4. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 53 points (+1), 5. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 47 points (unchanged).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal

18. ECSC Athens

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13 teams and 77 individuals (3 unofficial without rating calculations) from 17 countries participated in the 18th European Chess Solving Championship in Athens, that was also the 1st leg of the new competition, the WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix 2025-26.

18. ECSC Final Results

  • The three top teams: Poland, Greece 1, Lithuania
  • The three top individuals: Eddy Van Beers, Piotr Murdzia, Martynas Limontas

Athens was the ECSC venue for the third time in the last ten years. Such an experience has contributed to the exceptionally high level of the organization, lead by Nikos and George Mendrinos. The gorgeous palace of the University of Athens offered memorable conditions for the weekend full of solving events.

My work on selecting the ECSC problems started on 9th October 2024, in a perfect coordination with Axel Steinbrink. In January the complete selection was agreed, but on 19th January one of the selected problems appeared in ISC, and had to be replaced. The final standings prove the optimal balance of difficulty: no problem went unsolved, and nobody reached the maximal 90 points. The average number of points (from zero to 81) was 44.3, and the solver in the middle of the standings (38. Audrey Kueh) gained 42.5 points. These numbers are optimal and I’m very pleased about them.

The ECSC results were counted for the 1st leg of the WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix 2025-26. It asked for a more strict anti-cheating measures than before, including the use of metal-detector in two longest rounds, when going to the toilet was allowed. This was achieved with the help of the WFCC Secretary Mohammad Alhallak. Solvers reacted appropriately and no incidents or series remarks were registered.

I would like to stress cooperation with the “best assistant in the world” Axel Steinbrink, the expert No.1 in all solving matters. Without him I wouldn’t fulfill my role on the desired level. I was assisting him on the Open, when Nikos Mendrinos made an excellent selection, and the WFCC Honorary President Harry Fougiaxis was the best helper we could have, during the both competitions. We all enjoyed the perfect technical help from George Mendrinos.

Borislav Gadjanski, 18th ECSC Director

Opening of the 18th ECSC

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In the impressive main hall of the old building of the Athens University, the 18th European Chess Solving Championship began with a press conference. Covered by Greek media, the conference announced the most important events of the week, including the 1st leg of the new competition, WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix cycle 2025-26. The first one to address the audience was Abdulla Ali Aal Barket, the Grand Prix Director, and the WFCC 1st Vice-President. He was joined by the highest representatives of the hosts, the WFCC Honorary President Harry Fougiaxis and the Greek Chess Federation President Stathis Efstathopoulos, who was also a Vice-Rector of the Athens University.

The conference, run by one of the 18th ECSC organizers George Mendrinos, ended with media questions replied by WFCC President Marjan Kovačević and the WFCC Secretary Mohammad Alhallak.

-> The full video of the press conference

Make sure to book your Athens tours in advance by following the instructions in the ‘Accommodation – Athens‘ section on the official event website!

Dinslaken 12./13.04.2025 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025

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47th German Solving Championship 2025 | 11th tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 20 | Winner: Eddy Van Beers (BEL), ahead of Boris Tummes (GER – German champion!) and Andrey Selivanov (FID).
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2420.42 | WSC category: 5
Top 5 WSC Standings: 1. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 92 points (+27), 2. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 52 points (+13), 3. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 47 points (unchanged), 4. Joost Michielsen (NED) 44 points (unchanged), 5. Roland Ott (SUI) 39 points (unchanged).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal

Sumgait 05./06.04.2025 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025

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44th Azerbaijan Chess Solving Championship 2025 | 10th tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 46 | Winner: Araz Almammadov (AZE – Azerbaijani champion!), ahead of junior Ughur Ilyasli (AZE) and junior female Anastasiya Chekina (FID).
Average rating of top ten solvers: 1988.39 | WSC category: 14
Top 5 WSC Standings (unchanged): 1. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 65 points, 2. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 47 points, 3. Joost Michielsen (NED) 44 points, 4. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 39 points, 5. Roland Ott (SUI) 39 points.
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal