Solvers’ ratings as of October 1st 2024 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
Only 3 tournaments of the 3rd quarter 2024 are included: 6th Ukrainian Cup 2024, Open Solving Tournament of WCCC 2024, 47th World Chess Solving Championship 2024.
Ranking of the top 10 solvers: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2818.95, 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) 2585.61, 8. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2577.85, 9. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2577.04, 10. Ilija Serafimović (SRB) 2560.25.
Nikos Sidiropoulos and Ilija Serafimović among the top 10 solvers for the first time!
Largest five gains: women junior Anna Ličková (CZE) +123.52, junior Chinguun Sumiya (MGL) +91.88, junior Alexandru Mihalcescu (ROU) +83.16, Modris Rāviņš (LAT) +73.54, Lev Glanzspiegel (ISR) +64.06
Category: Other
Youth solving championships – the FIDE & WFCC joint project
The celebration of the FIDE Centenary 1924-2024 will include a new and promising project in cooperation with the WFCC. During November the two biggest FIDE events for cadets (U8, U10, U12) and juniors (U14, U16, U18) will include World Solving Championships for girls and boys, forming the biggest ever youth solving event.
Juniors will be solving problems and endgames on November 4th, during the free day of the World Youth Chess Championships in Florianópolis, the capital of southern Brazil’s Santa Catarina state. Cadets will have their solving championships on November 21st, the rest day of the World Cadet Chess Championships in Montesilvano, the city in the Abruzzo region of Italy.
While celebrating this historical breakthrough in promotion of chess composition among new generations, it’s time to recall the prehistory that allowed one more step to be made. More than 30 years ago different countries started applying the model of national solving championships in the context of youth chess championships. On European level it was applied in 2002, with the first event organized in Serbia, in the context of European Youth Blitz and Rapid Championship, and in the age categories U10, U14, and U18. The more or less same format has been accepted by majority of the future hosts of the same European chess competitions, but some of the countries were not ready to organize it. In other words, all those competitions kept depending on the activity of the local chess composers and their relations with the national chess federations.
→read more…All these preparatory actions, controlled and coordinated by WFCC, make a difference to the FIDE competitions of the Georgian team, who has handed in the organization to WFCC and helped so much in this transition. Another reason to mark the coming world championships with number 1 is the technical difference. It is the first time to have world solving championships in all six age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18.
Marjan Kovačević, WFCC president
Solvers’ ratings July 1st 2024
Solvers’ ratings as of July 1st 2024 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
13 tournaments of the 2nd quarter 2024 are included: Open Solving Tournament Lithuania 2024, 45th Lithuanian Championship 2024, 43rd Azerbaijan Chess Solving Championship 2024, 32nd Chess Solving Championship of Slovakia 2024, Open Solving Tournament of ECSC 2024, 17th European Chess Solving Championship 2024, 50th Latvian Chess Solving Championship 2024, 45th French Chess Solving Championship 2024, Open Solving Championship of Serbia 2024, 46th German Solving Championship 2024, 32nd Czech Chess Solving Championship 2024, 9th Israel Open Solving Championship 2024, 9th Israel Open Solving Championship 2024 Category 2.
Ranking of the top ten solvers: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2818.95, 2. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2698.54, 3. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2678.52, 4. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2653.87, 5. John Nunn (GBR) 2638.24, 6. Bojan Vučković (SRB) 2585.61, 7. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2582.58, 8. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2577.85, 9. Marko Filipović (CRO) 2555.24 ahead of 10. Danila Moiseev (FID) 2555.00.
Largest five gains: junior Alexandru Mihalcescu (ROU) +158.62, Dmitrijus Chocenka (LTU) +110.56, Panagiotis Konidaris (GRE) +84.11, Jakob Leck (GER) +75.90, Jakub Marciniszyn (POL) +73.38
Solvers’ ratings April 1st 2024
Solvers’ ratings as of April 1st 2024 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
8 tournaments of the 1st quarter 2024 are included: 20th International Solving Contest 2024 Cat 1, 20th International Solving Contest 2024 Cat 2, Winton British Chess Solving Championship 2024, 45th Finnish Chess Solving Championship 2024, 47th International Polish Championship 2024, 29th Dutch Open Chess Solving Championship 2024, 32nd Branko Atanackovic Memorial 2024, 20th Attica Region Chess Solving Tournament 2024.
Ranking of the top ten solvers: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2818.95, 2. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2708.04, 3. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2654.08, 4. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2653.87, 5. John Nunn (GBR) 2638.24, 6. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2630.22, 7. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2577.85, 8. Marko Filipović (CRO) 2564.95, 9. Ulrich Voigt (GER) 2555.87, 10. Bojan Vučković (SRB) 2555.86.
Largest five gains: Jakub Marciniszyn (POL) +54.54, Robert Włodarczyk (POL) +52.26, junior Alexandru Mihalcescu (ROU) +46.67, Valery Kopyl (UKR) +36.51, Andrey Selivanov (FID) +31.80
OSCY 2024-1 – Winners
Winners across all age groups of the WFCC Online Solving Challenge for Youth 1st round were:
- Classical: Maksim Kharitonov ahead of Nikita Ushakov, Danila Pavlov and Viktoriya Kharitonova
- Blitz: Danila Pavlov ahead of Maksim Kharitonov, Daniel Dumitrescu and Grigory Filin
all with 100% scores (Maksim & Danila were the quicker). There were 34 solvers in each discipline.
Age group winners were:
Classical | Blitz | Scores | |
9-10 | Luka Tyrtyshnikov | Luka Tyrtyshnikov | 12 & 84 |
11-12 | Viktoriya Kharitonova | Timur Parpiev | 30 & 96 |
13-14 | Maksim Kharitonov | Maksim Kharitonov | 30 & 100 |
15-16 | Nikita Ushakov | Anirudh Daga | 30 & 96 |
17-18 | Nikolay Zhugin | Daniel Dumitrescu | 28.7 & 100 |
19-20 | Maxim Romanov | Ilija Serafimovic | 25 & 97 |
21-23 | Danila Pavlov | Danila Pavlov | 30 & 100 |
More details are published in Competitions >> Solving and at http://www.ihandicap.mobi/oscy/
Highlights of Challenge 1 were the success of the Kharitonov family (which featured three 100% scores) and the most welcome presence of World Champion Danila Pavlov who, in the Blitz round, rattled off 20 correct solutions in 7 minutes. Africa were well represented by solvers from Morocco and Nigeria; with Youssef Kozizi achieving a great score in the Blitz and Lovelyn Agbo so determined to complete the Blitz round that she went to the trouble of downloading a replacement browser in place of her mischievous Chrome version.
Technically, nearly everything went according to plan, with almost all obstacles overcome. The Blitz scoring system worked particularly well. The strength of the strongest was much higher than expected (with many at WCSC level), so problems in future challenges could be made a little tougher.
OSCY Challenge 2 will be held on Sunday 10/3/2024 at 12:30 (your Local time).
Brian Cook, OSCY Director
Happy Chess Composition Day, with the 1st OSCY launch!
Since 2007, our community has been marking January 4th as the International Day of Chess Composition, inspired by an article from 155 years ago, where chess composition was declared a kind of art. Today we are doing it in the contemporary spirit, launching the 1st WFCC Online Solving Challenge for Youth (OSCY).
The 1st OSCY unites efforts of very different generations. You may see here the OSCY video promotion made by the young Anirudh Daga, who also contributed to some elements of design.
And here is the Press Release text by our senior member Brian Cook, the heart and soul of the whole project:
As the WFCC announce their new bi-monthly Online Solving Challenge for Youth (OSCY), never has there been a better time for young chess players from 5 to 21 years old to test their skills at chess problem solving. It isn’t unusual to find that those who have taken the plunge converting their modest FIDE ratings into much higher solver ratings, earning norms and titles in the process. Free of the need for detailed knowledge of openings and strategy, their exceptional tactical skills have flourished with astonishing results. Rather than solving/composing a fast evolving web of typical threats & traps set by/for their opponents, solvers are generally confronted with a few won positions (often composed by GMs of Chess Composition) of greater complexity and/or featuring an unusual concept. Greatest of the many success stories in this regard are GMs of Solving:
Danila Pavlov – 21 year-old 3 x World Champion and No.1 (rated 2820 for solving, 2361 by FIDE), Ural Khasanov – 17 year-old World No.5 (solving at around 1000 rating points higher than he plays), not to mention 14 year old Anna Shukhman, World No.1 for women.
Full OSCY details are provided at the tournament website along with much of what needs to be known by beginners PLUS World Champion coaching and, except for <€10 for coaching, it’s all FREE. See the WFCC Announcement.
As Online and @Home solving has become more popular (at both grass-roots and elite levels), a smooth pathway is emerging from informal to the many rated/physical tournaments at which titles are earned. So, please give OSCY a try and avoid missing out on what may be your personal chess paradise.
NOTES:
- Unusual pieces such as ‘nightriders’, ‘grasshoppers’, etc are not indulged in OSCY. They remain strictly for the ‘fairies’
- For anyone pressed for time – the home of our QuickStart Guide
Solvers’ ratings January 1st 2024
Solvers’ ratings as of January 1st 2024 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
8 tournaments of the 4th quarter 2023 are included: 21st Greek Chess Solving Championship 2023, 32nd Kedainiai Cup 2023, 38th Open Swiss Solving Championship 2023, 4th Branko Babic Memorial 2023, 28th Belgian Solving Championship 2023, 32nd Henk Hagedoorn Memorial 2023, Solving Championship of Romania 2023, 8th Greek Chess Solving Cup 2023.
Ranking of the top ten solvers (unchanged): 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 2820.30, 2. Georgy Evseev (FID) 2747.29, 3. Kacper Piorun (POL) 2715.44, 4. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 2678.75, 5. Ural Khasanov (FID) 2649.49, 6. John Nunn (GBR) 2629.68, 7. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 2616.38, 8. Aleksey Popov (FID) 2575.00, 9. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 2574.54, 10. Marko Filipović (CRO) 2564.95.
Largest five gains: junior Alexandru Mihalcescu, ROU (+29.23), Wouter van Rijn, NED (+21.86), junior Ioannis Kollias, GRE (+13.70), Martynas Limontas, LTU (+12.42), Jakub Marciniszyn, POL (+12.34).
Happy New Year 2024!
The winners of the WFCC Christmas Gallery Contest 2023
Group A
M. Witztum & E. Navon
1. Place CGC 2023/A (133 points)
Živan Šušulić
2. Place CGC 2023-A (125 points)
Andrey Frolkin
3. Place CGC 2023-A (113 points)
Group B
Udo Degener
1. Place CGC 2023-B (114 points)
Jorma Paavilainen
2. Place CGC 2023-B (104.5 points)
Alexey Gasparyan
3. Place CGC 2023-B (103.5 points)
Group C
Zlatko Mihajloski
1. Place CGC 2023-C (124 points)
Janos Koczian
2. Place CGC 2023-C (121 points)
Henry Tanner
3. Place CGC 2023-C (116 points)
Happy New Year 2024 to all friends of chess composition!
There will be many challenges for chess composers, and some of those you may find in the online WFCC Composing Calendar, established at the beginning of this month. It is still in the process of completing, and you can contribute to it by sending links to the announcements and awards to the given address.
The last tournament of 2023 was the friendly WFCC Christmas Gallery Contest, announced on 09.12. In less than 2 weeks it attracted 34 authors from 17 countries, with 43 compositions. They were all published in our Christmas post, and the solutions with comments followed there on 27.12.
Till 29.12 we got 37 awards in Sections: A (14 awards), B (9), and C (14). The suggested system of collective judging worked well thanks to CGC director Kenneth Solja, WFCC webmaster Julia Vysotska and the next 23 judges from 15 countries:
Hauke Reddmann (Section A), Vlaicu Crisan (A&C), Ralf Kraetschmer (C), Andrey Frolkin (B&C), Udo Degener (A), Kenneth Solja (A), Mario Parrinello (B&C), Srećko Radović (B&C), Wilfried Neef (A&C), Mikhail Shalashov (B&C), Aleksandr Feoktistov (A&C), Bela Majoros (B&C), Nikola Petković (A), Janos Csak (C), Živan Šušulić (B), Alexey Gasparyan (A&C), Piotr Gorski (A, B & C), Zlatko Mihajloski (A), Jorma Paavilainen (A&C), Henry Tanner (A&B), Menachem Witztum (C), Brennan Price (A), and Viktoras Paliulionis (A&B).
Altogether, the CGC 2023 engaged 36 contributors (composers + judges) from 19 countries, and inspired 43 Christmas compositions. We hope you will like the winners of all 3 sections published here, as well as many of the remaining entries in the Final placements (PDF).
As Solving Tournaments Calendar shows, there will be a lot of fun and challenge on the table already in January, starting from the 1st WFCC Online Solving Challenge for Youth (14.01). A week later (21.01), the 20th International Solving Contest will unite participants from many countries around the world. February will bring the first 2024 competitions of the World Solving Cup 2023-24, simultaneously in Helsinki and London (17.02). The highlights of the solving year will be 17th ECSC in Hagen (19-21.04) and during 66th WCCC in Jurmala (27.07-03.08), including the 47th WCSC.
Have a fruitful, joyful and peaceful 2024! – Marjan Kovačević, WFCC President
Merry Christmas!
Dear composers, solvers, judges, organizers, volunteers, and all lovers of chess composition, have a Merry Christmas!
For those of you who are not putting aside chess thoughts during winter holidays, we offered a chance to compose, solve, analyze and judge some original helpmates, inspired by different Christmas joys and symbols.
Our friendly Christmas Gallery Contest has attracted not less than 43 entries in less than 2 weeks – hopefully a sign of your good mood!
(27.12.23) Now you can see the solutions in the PDF file.
The next phase will be judging, and you will be the judges, if you want it.
The contest for the most popular compositions will be held in 3 sections, separated according to the length:
We invite everybody to take the roles of judges, by ranking these anonymous entries and marking them. The scales for marking will be from 12 (the best) to 1 inside the Groups A & C, and from 16 (the best) to 1 inside the Group B. The same mark may be given to more than one entry.
All composers who sent their original entries are invited to mark the problems in the group(s) where they didn’t take part!
The marks should be sent by 29th December at latest, to the email address webmaster@wfcc.ch.
As you could see in the WFCC Composing Calendar, this event was announced in Section E, for orthodox helpmates only. The entries D1, D2 & D3 use unorthodox elements and will not take part in the contest, but that will not deprive you from solving and enjoying them here, in the section D.
WFCC Christmas Gallery Contest
Here is a friendly contest for everybody: join the WFCC Xmas Gallery Contest with your original helpmate problems inspired by Christmas!
You may send up to two original helpmates to the Gallery Director Kenneth Solja (kenneth.solja@gmail.com) till 22nd December.
All received problems, with hidden solutions, and without the names of the composers, will be published on 24th December 2023 on the WFCC website. All visitors will have time till 29th December 2023 to send their marks (the system of marking will depend on the number of entries) to the entries that give them the most pleasure and good spirit.
Examples: You may find some examples shaped as Christmas trees in the YACPDB (open database created by Dmitri Turevski). Most of them are marked with the keyword Christmas tree, but some may be found with the keyword Scaccografia, too (together, not more than 20 helpmates). Christmas shapes could be presented in mating positions, too, but they are harder to find.
->Show the solution to example problem