In 2007, the WFCC accepted the idea of the famous Ukrainian Grandmaster of Chess Composition Valentin Rudenko (1938-2016) to name January 4th as the International Day of Chess Composition.
Happy International Day of Chess Composition!
Solvers’ ratings January 1st 2025
Solvers’ ratings as of January 1st 2025 produced by the Solving Tournament Manager are published on the WFCC Solving Portal.
8 tournaments of the 4th quarter 2024 are included: 33rd Kedainiai Cup 2024, Open of Hamlet Amiryan Memorial Tournament, Hamlet Amiryan Memorial Tournament 2024, 39th Open Swiss Solving Championship 2024, 6th Pavle Orlov Memorial 2024, Solving Championship of Romania 2024, 29th Belgian Championship 2024, 9th 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”
“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
WCCI 2022-2024 Entries
WCCI Entries & Statistics provided by the director, Narayan Shankar Ram, are available on the WCCI 2022-2024 Entries page. Up to the end of submission time, 20.01.2024, the up to date entries will be presented as embedded Google sheet updated by Shankar Ram. After the deadline the final table will be made in html form.
See the interesting charts on the Chart tab of the embedded document!
With a gratitude to Shankar Ram for his work and high level of self involvement.
WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix 2025-26
WFCC Presidium has the pleasure of presenting an important project to popularize chess composition and assure better conditions for our most important solving competitions.
Upon a personal initiative of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, our UAE members, WFCC Vice-President Abdulla Ali Aal Barket, and WFCC Secretary Mohammad Alhallak, have realized the project of the WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix cycle 2025-26, the first cycle of what is planned to be a traditional competition.
See the detailed WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix Regulations
The Grand Prix 2025-26 consists of (at least) four qualifying solving competitions, leading to the final competition in Fujairah, at the end of 2026. →read more (show/hide)…
The Grand Prix budget isn’t related to the WFCC budget. The competitions using the Grand Prix budget are obliged to promote the official logo of the Grand Prix in official presentations, such as websites, banners and rolls up:
WFCC Presidium welcomes this generous initiative of the UAE members to assure continuation of our most important competitions and to lift them to a higher level. We trust the WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix 2025-26 will be a great success and the beginning of a long lasting tradition.
Merry Christmas to all lovers of chess composition!
Geel 07.12.2024 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025
29th Belgian Solving Championship 2024 | 2nd tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 10 | Winner: Eddy Van Beers (BEL – Belgian Champion) ahead of Dolf Wissmann (NED) with the same amount of points, but 20 minutes more time used.
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2226.67 | WSC category: 9
Top 5 WSC Standings: 1. Roland Baier (SUI) 31 points (unchanged), 2. Thomas Maeder (SUI) 27 points (unchanged), 3. Marek Kolčák (SVK) 23 points (unchanged), 4. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 23 points (+13), 5. Roland Ott (SUI) 21 points (+2).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal
NEWS! The Israel Open Solving Championship will take place on Sunday, 11 May 2025.
1st World Cadet Chess Solving Championship
The youngest players are more interested in chess composition
Two weeks after the 1st FIDE & WFCC World Youth Chess Solving Championships in Brazil (U14, U16, and U18 years), we were hoping that younger categories of players (U8, U10 and U12), participants of the World Chess Championships in Italy (Montesilvano, November 14-27), will be less pressed with OTB ambitions and more curious to try themselves in solving. In Brazil, the numbers of solvers per group were inversely proportional to their age, and the same tendency was shown in Italy, where each age category had more solvers than all three groups in Florianópolis together!
The 1st World Cadet Chess Solving Championship took place on 21st November, with 228 solvers, including 87 girls. →read more (show/hide)…
We hope the new tradition of joint FIDE & WFCC solving events will be growing in quantity and quality from 2025 on.
Marjan Kovačević, WFCC president
(See a wider FIDE report: https://www.fide.com/news/3326)
Photos: Patricia Claros Aguilar
WCCI 2022-2024: Announcement
The WFCC is inviting composers of all countries to participate in the 2022-24 WCCI. The tourney director is Narayan Shankar Ram (email: wccixx24@gmail.com). The competition will be held according to the General Rules as published on WFCC website. For the convenience of participants, the main rules are included in this Announcement, but the General Rules remain valid for anything not specifically defined herein.
Participants may submit their entries by January 20, 2025
Quick links: WCCI | Announcement (page) | Announcement (PDF)
18th European Chess Solving Championship: Invitation
Invitation to the 18th European Chess Solving Championship
Τhe Greek Chess Composition Committee has the honor to invite the European national teams and individual solvers to participate in the 18th European Chess Solving Championship. The event will be held from Friday, April 25th to Sunday, April 27th in the center of Athens in Greece.
VENUE: The main hall of University of Athens (https://maps.app.goo.gl/qeE2r84YG7ZWpHwS8)
Address: Panepistimiou Street 30, right outside the “Panepistimio” metro station.
PDF Announcement | You can reach us at: 2025ecsc@gmail.com
Official website with participant registration form will soon be available.
Bern 09.11.2024 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025
39th Open Swiss Solving Championship 2024 | 1st tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 24 | Winner: Roland Baier (SUI – Swiss Champion) ahead of Thomas Maeder (SUI) and Marek Kolčák (SVK).
1st FM norm of Igor Yarmonov (UKR) and 1st FM norm and IM norm of Roland Ott (SUI)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2453.70 | WSC category: 4
Top 5 WSC Standings: 1. Roland Baier (SUI) 31 points, 2. Thomas Maeder (SUI) 27 points, 3. Marek Kolčák (SVK) 23 points, 4. Roland Ott (SUI) 19 points, 5. Ulrich Voigt (GER) 16 points.
More details: Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal
photos by Franziska Iseli