2025 QC Meeting

 The 2025 FIDE Congress is happening right now. The various commission are meeting online, but the meetings have been recorded. If you wish to see me talk for far too long, then the QC meeting is at https://youtu.be/M_azwPqcS1U You can find the other meetings via https://congress.fide.com/commission-meetings-2025/

2025 FID World Cup - Sindarov!

 Javokhir Sindarov is the winner of the 2025 FIDE World Cup. He defeated Wei Yi in the 2nd playoff game to win the match 2.5-1.5 After 3 fairly even games (2 standard and one 15m+10s) the 4th game exploded into tactics with both players running short of time. Yi actually held an advantage, but having to move with 1 second on the clock (which he did a few times) eventually led to a mistake, and a win for the 19 year old.

At 19 Sindarov is th youngest World Cup winner ever, and is part of the surging Uzbekistan chess culture. With state support, and plenty of opportunities after their 2022 Olympiad win, the Uzbek players are becoming a force to be reckoned with. 

Yi has the consolation of qualifying for the Candidates tournament, as does Esipenko, who won the third place playoff yesterday. 

2025 Vikings Weekender - Win for Stopa

 GM Jacek Stopa has won the 2025 Vikings Weekender, finishing on 5/6. After starting with a round 1 HPB, he scored 3 wins, before drawing with 2nd seed FM Fred Litchfeld in round 5. He then faced Masaki Horikawa in the final round, needing a win to overtake Horikawa. He managed to do this in style (winning in 27 moves) to reach 5 points. He could have been joined by CM Hui Li on 5, if Li had decided to push for a win against Litchfield in a significantly better position. However Li decided that a guaranteed 2nd prize (shared) was better than risking going home empty handed, and so took the draw. These results left seeds 2,3 and 4 (Litchfield, Li and Horikawa) tied for 2nd on 4.5/6

The Under 1600 event finished in a tie between Nicholas Lee and Trent Parker on 5.5/6. Their Round 4 game ended in a draw, and they went 5-0 in their remaining games. Third place on 5/6 was taken by the quickly improving Kyle Zhang (861 ACF!) , whose only loss came at the hands of Lee.

The event attracted a capacity field of 73 players and offered a prize pool of over $3000. Tim Pearce did a great job as Chief Arbiter, handling the various tasks of tournament management, dispute solver, and DGT board  wrangler with great skill. The event organisers, Tuggeranong Chess Club, once again put on a great tournament, and look to welcome back all the players in 2026.

Results: https://www.vegaresults.com/vr/4577

Games (Top 4 boards): https://view.livechesscloud.com/#8412fb38-3d81-4a63-904d-f42b9a1a52cf

2025 Vikings Weekender - Day 2

 The 2025 Vikings Weekender (hosted by the Tuggeranong Chess Club, Canberra) has proved very popular, selling out a few days before the start. I missed the start of the event (still in transit from Goa) but turned up for Day 2. Top seed GM Jacek Stopa also did the same, taking  a half point bye for the Friday round, but then went 3/3 in today's round. He was joined on 3.5/4 by FM Fred Litchfield, Masaki Horikawa and Thomas Eleutherios. Horikawa and Litchfield drew their round 4 game (an interesting pawn ending), while Eleutherios and Stopa won their last 2 games of the day. With 2 rounds to play tomorrow, the top 4 players look to be playing a semi-final, and final, with the player who wins both of their games tomorrow taking home the $1000 1st prize.

The Under 1600 tournament attracted a larger field of 41 players, with the 1st place battle taking place between a mix of improving juniors and a few  experienced adults. As with the Open, there is a 4 way tie for 1st, between Nicholas Lee, Trent Parker, Padma Gyalpo and Vaibhav Sharma. Again, tomorrows rounds 5 & 6 will determine the destination of the $500 1st prize round 

2025 World Cup - Day 19

 After yesterdays quartet of draws, today's Rapid playoffs saw plenty of action. There were 3 matches to be decided, and the first game of the playoffs saw 2 decisive results. Even better (for spectators) the rematches saw 3 decisive games. Unfortunately for home fans, won of thise wins was by Wei over Arjun, knocking Arjun out of the tournament. In the other 2 games, the first game losers (Shankland and Sindarov) bounced back to extend their respective matches. 

In the 2nd set of playoffs, Esipenko beat Shankland 2-0 to go through to the semi finals. He seemed to handle the pressure a lot better, looking more relaxed than his opponent at all times. In the other match Alcantara's magic run came to an end, with Sindarov winning 1.5-0.5 in the 10m+10s section.

The end of this round also sees the end of my work at the tournament. As tomorrow is also a rest day, I won't even have games to watch as a spectator before I depart, but at least it means I get home the catch the semi finals online.

2025 World Cup - Day 18

 Day 18 saw won of the quickest games of the entire World Cup, when Alcantara and Sindarov reached a 'draw by repetition' position in about 20 minutes. Apparently the whole line has been played plenty of times before, although Sindarov did pause a few times, probably to make sure he remembered the whole line correctly.

Esipenko and Shankland also drew in under 2 hours, and so that was my days work finished. But I did hang around to see the finish of Arjun and Wei (another draw), but left before the long rook ending between Donchenko and Yakubboev, which was the 4th draw of the day. However, with Yakkubboev winning yesterday, he goes through to the semis, with the other 3 matches heading for playoffs.

Tomorrow will also be my last day working at the event, as the semis and finals will be handled by the CA and DCA. Then back to beautiful Canberra to enjoy the start of another glorious summer.  

2025 World Cup - Day 17

 The first games of the 6th round of the 2025 FIDE World Cup saw the earliest finish yet. The matchup between two highest remaining seeds (Arjun and Yi) was over within an hour, with the handshake being offered once move 30 was reached by Black. The other 2 draws had some fight in them, but once a level ending was reached, neither side was interested in working for more.

The only decisive game was between Yakubboev and Donchenko. Although Donchenko has probably been the most entertaining player  of the event, such strategy does carry a degree of risk, as he found out today. However, given he has faced elimination before, tomorrows game will be entertaining, no matter the result.

BTW I now have only 2 days left to go, as after round 6 my work here is done. I get back to Australia at the end of the week (late Friday), just in time to catch the Vikings Weekender in Canberra 

2025 World Cup - Day 16

 With the 2025 FIDE World Cup shrinking with every round, the Round 5 playoffs were fairly straightforward. 8 players returned for the first set of 15m+10s games, and two of the matches did not go beyond that. Sam Shankland knocked out Dubov 2-0 , while Esipenko advanced with a 1.5-0.5 win over Grebnev. In that match their were two contrasting games, with Esipenko winning the first game with some very nice attacking play, while in the second, grinding out a draw that went for over 145 moves.

Jose Martinez Alcantara was the next to qualify for round 6 beating Harikrishna 1.5-0.5 in the 10m+10s playoff games (NB there is a suggestion that 10m+5s could be used for the next World Cup at this point). The first game saw Harikrishna try and set up a mating net, but this backfired when his own  ended up being trapped. In the 2nd, Alcantara once again found a tactic, which left him in a completely winning position, but needing only a draw, chose to finish the game with a repetition.

Donchenko v Le was the real roller coaster, with both sides taking and missing their chances. Twice Donchenko led the match, only for Le to save himself with a 'must' win. But in the 5m+3s section, a drawn first game made the 2nd game a 'sudden death' style of contest, which Donchenko won with a nice kingside attack. 

There are now 8 players left, and I am expecting a quiet start to Round 6. Wei Yi v Arjun is the top game for this round, as they are the highest seeds left in the event, and the winner of this match may well go on to win the whole thing.

 

2025 World Cup - Day 15

 After yesterdays somewhat drawn out (and mostly drawn) games, today saw some real classics. The big buzz was around Aronian and Arjun, with Aronian blundering in a slightly worse position, to lose the game on the spot. The win for Arjun Erigaisi was clearly a popular one, as I could hear the cheers from outside the playing hall as the victor emerged from the players exit.

Also going through to round 6 were Sindarov (with a draw against Svane) , Nodirbek (beating Sargissian) and Wei Yi (a nice win over Sevian). Sevian either sacrificed or blundered a pawn in the opening, but managed to reach an equal position by move 25. However, he chose the wrong square for the rook, and Wei's endgame technique proved impossible to overcome.

Speaking of endgame technique, Donchenko has the mortifying experience of drawing a rook ending after being 3 pawns up. Post game analysis showed the neither player played the position well, but it was still a heart breaker for Donchenko, and a real escape for Le.

Tomorrow has 4 playoffs on the menu, with an all Russian pairing (Esipenko and Grebnev) leading to the possibility of an all Russian Quarter final (if Dubov goes through as well)

2025 World Cup - Day 14

 Dear diary, it has been 14 days since I arrived. In that time I have seen many strong and distinguished chess players fall by the wayside. For some it was a futile struggle against fate, while for others they held out for as long as possible before succumbing to the inevitable. There remains only a few of us (16 players and 4 arbiters), and I am not sure how long we can go on. 

If I don't make it back at least I can say I saw the best of a generation, doing there utmost to succeed (or draw 7 out of the 8 games today)

Shaun

Goa 

2025 World Cup - Day 13

 After the mainly peaceful round 4 standard games, the round 4 playoff day was a lot more exciting. There were 11 matches still to be decided, but 8 of them did not progress beyond the first set of games. Big names that went out included Peter Leko to Erigaisi and Pragg to Dubov (in my section) as well as MVL and Rapport.

The 3 remaining matches were all interesting, with Keymer being the next top seed to exit, at the hands of Esipenko ( who won both 10m+10s games) . As I had finished my sector I chipped in to cover the Sevian Lodici match which turned out to be amazingly dramatic. Just as it looked as though won player had all the momentum, a comeback win for the other sent it further into the playoffs. It went the full distance (by which stage we were rotating arbiters in and out!), and was settled by a single Armageddon game.

Tomorrow the tournament is down to 8 games, with the top 2 remaining seeds  in the bottom quarter of the draw. Otherwise it looks like the eventual finalists (and Candidates qualifiers) could really be anyone left in the pairings.

Also starting tomorrow is the finals of the World Corporate Championships. This will be played in the morning (10am start I believe), in the same playing hall as the World Cup. One players I spoke to today was IM Ari Dale, representing Deloitte. His team has 2 IM's playing for them, and I suspect a number of other teams are equally as strong.

 

 

2025 World Cup - Day 12

 The peaceful nature of yesterdays round continued into Day 12. After 14 drawn gamess yesterday, there were a few mpre decisive games yesterday and 5 matches were decided. There weer a a couple of interesting draws (check out Aronian's game as an example, and a few interesting wins (mainly in the ending). But this still left 11 tied matches, meaning tomorrows playoff day will be a busy one.

Of course this is to be expected as players are taking a more cautious approach as they approach larger and larger paydays. As an anology from another activity, it is like being 'on the bubble' in Poker, were too large a risk gets you knocked out before the prize money begins (although a clever player can play aggressively, knowing their opponent is risk averse)  

2025 World Cup - Day 11

 Round 4 started with a significant number of drawn games. Some lasted little over an hour (Leko v Erigaisi) while some went well into the 5th hour. While all the games I was supervising ended peacefully, there were 2 games that ended in wins. One was by Lev Aronian, who played a sneaky trick in the opening. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 he played 3.a3! The automatic reaction of 3. ... d5 creates a reverse Scotch but after 4.exd Nxd5 5.Qh5! causes issues as the normal move (with colours reversed) of Nb4 is ruled out due to a3! So Lev pocketed a pawn and went on the win the game. Again it is a little surprising that it worked as it has been well known since the 60's or 70's, and was mentioned by the late Hugh E Meyers in one of his quirky opening books. 

But with 14 of the 16 games ending in a draw the odds of a significant number of playoff matches is high. Maybe players with the White pieces will push a bit harder tomorrow, or maybe they'll just halve out and head for tie-breaks.  

2025 FIDE World Cup - Day 9

 Day 9 of the 2025 FIDE World Cup saw the playoff matches for round 3. As there were only 11 matches in total, it was fairly light workday for the arbiters, although one match did go the full distance. My 3 matches were all decided in the first playoff round (2 games at 15m+10s) so I pitched in the help the other arbiters (indeed by this stage there were only 4 matches still going). This meant I got a birds-eye view of Dubov v Meier 3rd playoff game, where Dubov chose to play the Frankenstein-Dracula variation of the Vienna. Dubov looked to be winning (as theory promises) but then the game became messy, and Meir looked ok. But he blundered after a piece sacrifice from Dubov, and quickly lost.

With my arbiting duties out of the way, I left the playing hall, and missed the drama of MVL v Artemiev. They exchanged wins at 5m+5s and then exchanged further wins at 3m+2s. Both players put in fairly low bids for the Black pieces for the Armageddon playoff (under 3 minutes), with Artemiev having the winning bid, but losing the game game.

Apparently the players now believe that with the +2s increment from the start, having Black is a distinct advantage (White mus win,  Black only needs to draw). But curiously, both Armageddon games so far have been won by White. A further suggestion is to organise an 'Armageddon' tournament or tournaments, so real data can be collected to see what the optimal starting time for Black could be

Today is a rest day, which is why this post is very late. Tomorrow sees Round 4 begin, although with the departure of most of the players (only 32 players left), the playing hall has gone from being full of tables and action, to a failry empty space, with the tables all on wide side of the room.

 

2025 World Cup - Day 8

 While i thought yesterdays games were fairly cautious, today saw a number of hard fought an exciting finishes. Before the start of the 2nd day the Arbiters make predictions about the number of expected playoff games, and this time we all overestimated the number. Of the 32 matches only 11 were drawn, with 21 matches finishing decisively. 

I handled matches 2,4,6,8,10 and 12, and all matches finished with a clear winner. In some cases it was one player outplaying his opponent, but in others the pendulum of success swung back and forward.  Michael Admas made the fatal choice on winning a piece instead of keeping the exchange, and was swamped by charging pawns. Short of time Giri blundered against Donchenko and Keymer found a nice queen sacrifice to finish off Pranesh.

But the game of the round was between Wojtaszek and Fedoseev, where Fedoseev chose a line in the Owens Defence which has been known to lose for Black since I was a boy. Wojtaszek was +2 after 5 moves but the way he played the attack was very interesting to follow.

 So onto tie-breaks once again. While faster and faster games might not be the best way to determine the better player, they are very entertaining to watch. So again, set the alarm for 8:30pm (Canberra time) and tune in for the action

2025 World Cup - Day 7

 Last night and this morning saw a steady stream of players heading out of the hotel in Goa, and into taxis heading off to the airport. Such is the cruelty of knock out chess, with the number of participants down to 64 (although I did sit across from Ivanchuk at dinner tonight, even though he is no longer in the draw)

Expectations that it might be a quieter day was dispelled  by the fact that the quick finishes were decisive results, while the longer games were the drawn ones. In my section Erigaisi was the first to finish, beating Vokhidov in clinical fashion. There was some drama in the last game of mine to finish with a 'touch move' ruling required, and an incorrect repetition claim. The game eventually finished in a draw, and both players accepted the rulings that were made.

As it is late in the evening here, I will leave you with a link to the games played so far https://worldcup2025.fide.com/live/ and recommend that you play through at least a few of them. They are quite instructive in all phases (opening middlegame and endings) and are well worth studying 

2025 World Cup - Day 6

 The 2nd set of playoffs (for matched in round 2 that finished 1-1) was even more dramatic than the first set. A number of top seeds were eliminated including Hans Niemann and Nihil Sarin. With 27 matches to be decided, it was clear than a number of matches would go well into the playoffs. Michael Adams took 8 playoff games to dispatch Ivan Cheperinov, although his play in the final two 3m+2s games was immaculate. 

The Mamedov v Svane game went one game further, resulting in the first 'Bid' Armageddon game in World Cup History. In this format Whites starts with 4m+2s but both players bid a lower starting time for Black. The player with the lowest bid takes the Black pieces but has draw odds. Mamedov bid 3 mins (which was the lowest), so he started with 3m+2s, while Svane had to win the game to advance to the next round. In the end Svane did win, eliminating Mamdov.

Australia's last representative Temur Kuybokarov took 3rd seed Praggnanandhaa   all the way to 5m+3s before losing the final two games. He was on the verge of causing a big upset, being up 1-0 in the 2nd playoff match but a fight back from Prag ended Temur's tournament.

Tomorrow is the first game of Round 3. The tournament is down to 64 players with a lot of matchups being quite close in rating. I expect more drawn games than in the previous rounds, but with the Sofia rule in operation (no draw offers before move 31) they won't be easy draws  

 

 

2025 World Cup - Day 5

 The 2nd day of round 2 saw some exciting action, and some stunning upset eliminations. The 2 biggest names to go we Wesley So (5th seed) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (12th seed). Included in the list of semi-upsets (lower seeded players drawing with higher seeded players) was Temur Kuybokarov, who drew his 2nd game with Praggnanandhaa. This qill see them off to the playoffs tomorrow, with Kuybokarov hoping to bring his fast chess form that he demonstrated in round 1.

While the games in my section were mostly solid and hard fought, I only ended up with a single drawn match. I had a couple of 2-0 decisions where players tried to hard to bounce back from yesterdays loss, and a lot of 1.5-0.5 results. The two games of interest were Xiong's win over Yuffa, and Esipenko's win over Abasov. In that game, Abasov played about 20 moves of prep in the Two Knights (at lightning pace), before realising he didn't like what he was seeing. After that he was slowly outplayed, before resigning a lost endgame.

There are 27 tiebreak games tomorrow, so if you want a smorgasbord of high level quickplay chess, tuning in is a must! 

2025 World Cup - Day 4

 The 2nd round of the World Cup saw the top 50 seeds enter the draw (having the top seed play the bottom seed in round 1 was changed after the 2019 World Cup, for some reason). This had the odd effect of players who had won their games on the top boards in round 1, suddenly end up on boards 51 and below for round 2.

This also resulted in larger crowds than on the first few days, with Gukesh being the obvious attraction. However he was held to a draw by a determined Nogerbek, and will have to survive with the black pieces tomorrow to not be eliminated. A number of other top seeds also had to work hard for a draw, with Kuybokarov drawing with Pragg on board 3, along with Giri and So also drawing on boards 4+5. Further down Bobby Cheng drew with Peter Leko, making it a solid day for the Australian contingent.

Today I was supervising the middle boards, and saw a lot of interesting chess. The highlight was a nice attack by Esipenko, dismantling Abasov in 26 moves. Playing 'guess the move' I spotted the basic sacrificial idea, but Espipenko played it in a more precise manner (the difference between GM calculation and the rest of us). If you want to play through the game (and all others) you can do so at https://worldcup2025.fide.com/live/

While the tournament has not seen any major upsets so far, this all may change tomorrow.  Set your alarm to 8:30 pm (Canberra time) and tune in for another evenings of live chess action.

2025 World Cup - Day 3

 Day 3 of the 2025 World Cup saw 20 playoff matches, starting with 2 games of 15m+10s. Surprisingly, this resulted in 14 decisive results, leaving only 6 matches needing the 10m+10s round. However 5 of these matches were tied, meaning we had to move on to 5m+3s. With only 5 minute breaks between the finish of the final game and the start of the next one, stamina became important, at least in the final match that I supervised. At the end of this section of playoffs all 5 matches were decided, which thankfully led to an earlier finish than at one stage was expected.

Temur Kuybokarov was one of the players who only needed a single playoff match, beating Jan Subelj 2-0. He joins Bobby Cheng in the 2nd round, where they both face tougher opposition. I was supervising Fuastino Oro against Ante Brkic which started with an exchange of wins (Brkic then Oro), followed by 2 draws (missed chances for both sides). Finally in the 5m+3s the youth of Oro proved to be the difference, putting his opponent away 2-0.

Tomorrows Round 2 sees the top 50 seeds join the field. This means that Kuybokarov is up against 3rd seed Praggnanandhaa while Cheng is playing Peter Leko. Action once again kicks off at 8:30 pm Canberra time. 

2025 World Cup - Day 2

 The 2nd day of the World Cup saw 58 players advance to the 2nd round, 40 players back again tomorrow for playoffs and 50 new players (the 50 top seeds) ready to join them. 

The top boards were particularly unforgiving to the lower ranked players, with the top seeds going 12-0. Further down, where the rating gaps were smaller, there were a lot more tied matches, including in my section where 4 of the 9 played matches ended 1-1 after two standard games (1 match was a 2-0 walkover when one the players did not arrive in Goa). 2 of those tied matches were 'comeback' ties, where the player that lost yesterday, won today. Jobava was on of the unlucky players, falling for a tactic against against Jose Cardos, leaving him down a piece, and a point. 

In the decisive matches that was supervising, Surya Ganguly played a 2nd impressive game to win hos match 2-0,  and giving him a rest tomorrow.

GM Bobby Cheng (AUS) qualified for round 2 with a win over Siddarth Jagadeesh (SGP), while Temur Kuybokarov had his 2nd drawn game, meaning has more to do tomorrow. Oscar Qin (NZL) went out in straight sets against Maxim Rodshtein , but even in defeat he looked happy just to be part of the event.

Tomorrow 's tie breaks starts at 8:30 pm (Canberra time), with 2 games of 15m+10s, followed by 2 games at 10m+10, then 5m+3s and 3m+2s, before a single Armageddon game is played (if needed). If you stay up to watch the tie breaks, and they go the full distance, be prepared for a late night as they finish 2:30 am!

 

2025 World Cup - Day 1

 After a few days in the sky, and a few more on the ground, I've made it through the first day of the 2025 FIDE World Cup. Unlike 2019, I am here as an arbiter, looking after games up until the end of round 6.

Today saw the first 78 matches begin, the the top 50 seeds then joining in from round 2. Although there were a number of draws on the lower boards, I think there were only 2 upsets and even then the ratings of the players were quite close. 

I was responsible for boards 61 to 70, and as it is a knockout event, almost all players were very close together in rating. Almost every game in my section was exciting  and hard fought, although the most interesting was the Jobava v Cardoso pairing on board 66. (All games can be found at https://worldcup2025.fide.com/live/  ) After 12 moves both players had used up almost all of their time, but Jobava found enough threats to make his opponent go wrong, at the wrong moment. Fier's win board 61 was also a nice game to watch, and of course to play through.

Tomorrow sees the 2nd game of round 1. For some players it will be the end of the road, while for others it is either onto round 2, or the nerve wracking experience of playoff matches (2 game mini matches at increasingly faster time controls). With the rounds start at the viewing friendly time of 8:30 pm (Canberra time)  there is plenty of opportunity to tune in and cheer on your favourite player(s)