21. ISC Results

“We had 46 tournaments in 28 countries and 745 solvers (15 unofficial solvers in cat-3) – 184 solvers in cat-1, 254 solvers in cat-2 and 292 solvers in cat-3. This year’s participation reflects the growing interest and enthusiasm for the sport, and it is heartening to see such a diverse and passionate community of solvers from all around the world. Thank you to all local controllers for their excellent work and good cooperation and congratulations to the winners.
Special thanks to Borislav Gadjanski for his daily updates of the results on the MatPlus-website , as well as to others who supported and helped me during this event.”

Arvydas Mockus, Central Controller of ISC 2025

Note: The Central Controller did not accept four results of the Category 1. However these results have been accepted by the Solving Committee.

Appeals and protests can be sent until February 24, 2025 to the Central Controller (arvydas.mockus@gmail.com) and to the Solving Commitee (wfcc-solving-committee@googlegroups.com). The final presentation of the 21th ISC results will be published later.


Happy Valentine’s Day

Dylan Schenker

Chess Problems and Studies Discord
February 14, 2023

#6              9+1
White to play and mate in 6 moves!

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

→Solution (show/hide):

18th ECSC: Invitation / Website

The Official Website of the 18th European Chess Solving Championship is launched!

The ECSC 2025 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 | ECSC 2025 Official Website | Contact: 2025ecsc@gmail.com


Barry Peter Barnes (01-VIII-1937 14-I-2025)

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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Wrocław 11./12.1.2025 – World Solving Cup 2024/2025

48th International Polish Championship 2025 | 3rd tournament of World Solving Cup 2024/2025:
Participants: 35 | Winner: Kacper Piorun (POL – Polish Champion) ahead of junior Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) and Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE).
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2517.21 | WSC category: 3
Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) with first GM norm!
Top 5 WSC Standings: 1. Kacper Piorun (POL) 36 points (+36), 2. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 35 points (+31), 3. Roland Baier (SUI) 31 points (unchanged), 4. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 31 points (+23), 5. Marek Kolčák (SVK) 29 points (+6).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup & Norms @ Solving Portal


Invitation to Alba Iulia: 67. WCCC & 48. WCSC

Romanian Chess Federation and ’Mihnea Costachi Chess Academy’ Association have the honor to invite all delegates of the World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC), national teams and individual solvers, chess composers and all those interested in problem chess, to attend the 67th World Congress
of Chess Composition (WCCC) and 48th World Chess Solving Championship (WCSC)
. Romanian Chess Federation will also celebrate its centennial in 2025.
The congress 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.

Contact: wcsc2025@yahoo.com | INVITATION in PDF 


Happy International Day of Chess Composition!

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.


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


“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.