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The Preliminary results of the 12^th FIDE World Cup in Composing 2025 are published and can be found above the Announcement, in the Preliminary Results section.

Results in all sections, PDF | PGN for Endgame studies

The deadline for claims: 7^th October, 2025

Director of the tournament: Torsten Linß (worldcupcomposing2025@gmail.com)

Solvers’ ratings as of July 1^st 2025 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
13 tournaments of the 2^nd quarter 2025 are included: 46^th Lithuanian Championship 2025, 44thAzerbaijan Solving Championship 2025, 1^st Solving Championship of Akhaia Region, 47^th German Solving Championship 2025, Open Solving Tournament of ECSC 2025, 18^th European Chess Solving Championship 2025, Open Solving Championship of Serbia 2025, 10^th Israel Open Solving Championship 2025, 10^th Israel Open Solving Championship 2025 – Cat. 2, 51^st Latvian Chess Solving Championship 2025, 33^rd Chess Solving Championship of Slovakia 2025, 46^th French Chess Solving Championship 2025, 33^rd Czech Chess Solving Championship 2025.
Ranking of the top 10 solvers: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2835.28, 2. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2724.17, 3. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2693.51, 4. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2657.99, 5. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2653.87, 6. John Nunn (GBR) 2639.31, 7. Bojan Vučković (SRB) 2595.94, 8. Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) 2565.68, 9. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2560.30, 10. Danila Moiseev (FID) 2555.00.
Largest 5 gains: junior female Anastasiya Chekina (FID) +188.49, Evgenios Ioannidis (GRE) +153.08, junior Anton Nasyrov (FID) +138.84, Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE) +110.24, Anna Shukhman , (FID) +88.18.

Solvers’ ratings as of April 1^st 2025 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
11 tournaments of the 1^st quarter 2025 are included: 48^th International Polish Championship 2025, 21^st International Solving Contest 2025 Cat 1, 21^st International Solving Contest 2025 Cat 2, Winton British Chess Solving Championship 2025, Winton British Chess Solving Championship 2025 Minor, 46^th Finnish Chess Solving Championship 2025, Romanian Solving Championship 2025, 30^th Dutch Open Chess Solving Championship 2025, 33^rd Branko Atanackovic Memorial 2025, 39^th Ukrainian Championship 2025, 23^rd Greek Chess Solving Championship 2025.
Ranking of the top 10 solvers: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2835.28, 2. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2759.81, 3. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2680.47, 4. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2653.87, 5. John Nunn (GBR) 2639.31, 6. Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) 2592.12, 7. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2589.02, 8. Bojan Vučković (SRB) 2581.32, 9. Ilija Serafimović (SRB) 2569.87, 10. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2560.30.
Largest five gains: junior female Nika Riabenko (UKR) +66.24, junior Szymon Boryna (POL) +61.65, Robert Włodarczyk (POL) +56.27, Piotr Kejna (POL) +54.36, Kacper Piorun, (POL) +42.53

Composers from all around the world are welcome to take part in the 

12^th FIDE World Cup in Composing 2025!

The sections are:

1. Twomovers (Marco Guida)
2. Threemovers (Frank Reinhold)
3. Moremovers (Kjell Widlert)
4. Endgame studies (Michal Hlinka)
5. Helpmates (Dmitri Turevski)
6. Selfmates (Ivan Soroka)
7. Heterodox problems (Vlaicu Crisan)
8. Fairies (Thomas Maeder)
9. Retros and proof games (Richard Dunn)

The closing date for submitting the entries is: 31 May 2025
The Director of the tournament is Torsten Linß (worldcupcomposing2025@gmail.com)

Barry Peter Barnes (1937-2025) was a tireless promoter of the best in chess composition art for 70 years, since his first published problem in 1954. With his contemporaries Michael Lipton and John Rice, in the late 1950s and early 1960s he revolutionised the British two-mover, moving from the single phase fashion to modern multiphase contents. Their joint book “The Two-Move Chess Problem: Tradition and Development” (1966) was a glorious monument to their revolution, and a brilliant gift for future generations.

Barry’s open mind and readiness for novelties never changed, up to the last problems he composed, and his final award, completed quite recently for The Hopper. Whatever the state of his health or private obligations, he was always there to help chess composers and promote the growth of chess composition.

The late 1960s were full of rewards and new engagements for Barry. In 1966 he was invited by the FIDE PCCC President Comins Mansfield to act as the PCCC Secretary. He was later to fulfil a promise to Mansfield to publish his complete output. Barry became a long-lasting British Delegate, PCCC Vice-President, and an Honorary Member. In 1967, only 30 years old, he earned the titles of lnternational Master of the FIDE for Chess Composition and lnternational Judge of the FIDE for Chess Composition.

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In 2007, the WFCC accepted the idea of the famous Ukrainian Grandmaster of Chess Composition Valentin Rudenko (1938-2016) to name January 4^th as the International Day of Chess Composition.

Happy day to all chess composers, solvers, judges, editors, organizers and volunteers!

Solvers’ ratings as of January 1^st 2025 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.

8 tournaments of the 4^th quarter 2024 are included: 33^rd Kedainiai Cup 2024, Open of Hamlet Amiryan Memorial Tournament, Hamlet Amiryan Memorial Tournament 2024, 39^th Open Swiss Solving Championship 2024, 6^th Pavle Orlov Memorial 2024, Solving Championship of Romania 2024, 29^th Belgian Championship 2024, 9^th Greek Chess Solving Cup 2024.

Ranking of the top 10 solvers: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2835.28, 2. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2717.28, 3. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2700.12, 4. John Nunn (GBR) 2654.46, 5. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2653.87, 6. Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) 2590.25, 7. Bojan Vučković (SRB) 2581.04, 8. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2568.75, 9. Ilija Serafinović (SRB) 2563.07, 10. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2560.30.
Largest five gains: Roland Baier (SUI) +25.92, junior Anton Nasyrov (FID) +19.76, Evgenios Ioannidis (GRE) +18.81, David Saioc (ROU) +17.81, Thomas Maeder (SUI) +17.47

Happy New Year 2025!

“One Endgame Study in a Thousand”:
From a collection celebrating each year of FIDE to the composing tourney for beginners and more

The collaboration between FIDE and the World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) reached new heights in 2024, marked by several joint projects. Following the FIDE & WFCC World Cadet & Youth Chess Solving Championships in Italy and Brazil this November, a unique collection of 101 outstanding endgame studies was published to celebrate the art of chess over each year of the FIDE Centenary (1924–2024).

The project was spearheaded by Gady Costeff, an acclaimed endgame study composer and advocate for chess artistry. Inspired by a suggestion from FIDE Executive Director Victor Bologan, Costeff undertook the formidable task of picking out a single remarkable chess study for each year of FIDE’s history. Selecting one composer per year, without repetition, highlighted FIDE’s motto, “Gens Una Sumus” (We Are One Family). The result, One Endgame Study in a Thousand, draws from the annual production of roughly a thousand high-quality endgame studies on average.

In the words of the editor: “The 101 studies in this book are extraordinary, each in their own way. Incredible mate, stunning sacrifice, astonishing foresight, shocking capture avoidance, mind-boggling depth, humorous maneuvers, and many more delightful surprises await you. Taken together, these studies show the development of the endgame study over the period 1924–2024.

The studies are presented with up to six sequential diagrams. Each highlight gets its own diagram, so the reader can follow the action from start to finish, much like they would follow a chess game. The commentary includes insights on the studies, their history, and the composers whose work is presented.”

The full article, published on the FIDE website: https://fide.com/news/3367