44th Lithuanian Championship 2023 | 8th tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 11 | Winner: Martynas Limontas (LTU – Lithuanian champion) ahead of Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) and Vidmantas Satkus (LTU)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2112.64 | WSC category: 11
Top 5 World Solving Cup: 1. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 67 points (+6), 2. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 61 points (+8), 3. Danila Pavlov (FID) 31 points (unchanged), 4. Marko Filipović (CRO) 27 points (unchanged), 5. Kacper Piorun (POL) 27 points (unchanged).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup @ Solving Portal
Category: WSC
World Solving Cup 2022/2023 – Poltava 29./30.04.2023
37th Ukrainian Championship 2023 | 7th tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 28 | Winner: Vladimir Pogorelov (UKR – Ukrainian champion) ahead of Valery Kopyl (UKR) and Oleksiy Solovchuk (UKR)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2093.49 | WSC category: 12
Top 5 World Solving Cup (unchanged): 1. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 61 points, 2. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 53 points, 3. Danila Pavlov (FID) 31 points, 4. Marko Filipović (CRO) 27 points, 5. Kacper Piorun (POL) 27 points.
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup @ Solving Portal
World Solving Cup 2022/2023 – Belgrade 29./30.04.2023
Open Solving Championship of Serbia 2023 | 6th tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 18 | Winner: Danila Pavlov (FID) ahead of Marko Filipović (CRO) and Bojan Vučković (SRB – Serbian champion!)
Second IM norm of junior Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU);
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2476.56 | WSC category: 4
Top 5 World Solving Cup: 1. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 61 points (+19), 2. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 53 points (unchanged), 3. Danila Pavlov (FID) 31 points (+31), 4. Marko Filipović (CRO) 27 points (+27), 5. Kacper Piorun (POL) 27 points (unchanged).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup @ Solving Portal
Israel Open unites solvers again!
Good news for solvers around the world came from Paz Einat: on June 25, the 8th Open Israel Solving Championship 2023 will happen as a Multiple Locations Solving Tournament.
The very popular summer tourney will shift its form even closer to the ISC model, and include Category 2 into our Rating system. This way, the solvers without a rating, from many countries, will get a chance to gain a Half Rating, and those with a Half Rating can gain a full rating.
More details in the Announcement (PDF) on WSC page of the current season and on the page of Other Rated/remarkable solving tournaments 2023.
World Solving Cup 2022/2023 – Riga 08.04.2023
49th Latvian Chess Solving Championship 2023 | 5th tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 15 | Winner: Martynas Limontas (LTU) ahead of junior Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) and Vidmantas Satkus (LTU);
6th Place women solver Laura Rogule (Latvian champion!)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2149.72 | WSC category: 11
Top 5 World Solving Cup: 1. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 53 points (+8), 2. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 42 points (+6), 3. Kacper Piorun (POL) 27 points (unchanged), 4. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 23 points (unchanged), 5. Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) 23 points (unchanged).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup @ Solving Portal
World Solving Cup 2022/2023 – Sękocin Stary 04./05.03.2023
46th International Polish Championship 2023 | 4th tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 28 | Winner: Kacper Piorun (POL – Polish Champion!) ahead of Piotr Murdzia (POL) and junior Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU – 3rd FM norm and FM title!)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2424.75 | WSC category: 5
Top 5 World Solving Cup: 1. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 45 points (+16), 2. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 36 points (+19), 3. Kacper Piorun (POL) 27 points (+27), 4. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 23 points (+23), 5. Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) 23 points (unchanged).
More details published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup @ Solving Portal
Photo gallery | Norms and Titles PDF @ Solving Portal
World Solving Cup 2022/2023 – Nunspeet 04.03.2023
28th Dutch Open Chess Solving Championship 2023 | 3rd tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 19 | Winner: Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) ahead of Eddy Van Beers (BEL) and Richard Dobiáš (SVK – 2nd FM norm!)
5th Place Peter van den Heuvel (Dutch Champion)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2375.81 | WSC category: 6
Top 5 World Solving Cup: 1. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 29 points (unchanged), 2. Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE) 23 points (+23), 3. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 19 points (+19), 4. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 17 points (unchanged), 5. Richard Dobiáš (SVK) 16 points (+16).
More details are published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup @ Solving Portal
World Solving Cup 2022/2023 – Helsinki 18.02.2023
44th Finnish Chess Solving Championship 2023 | 2nd tournament of World Solving Cup 2022/2023:
Participants: 18 | Winner: Dolf Wissmann (NED) ahead of Martynas Limontas (LTU) and ex aequo Jorma Paavilainen (FIN – Finnish Champion!)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2220.50 | WSC category: 9
Top 5 World Solving Cup: 1. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 29 (+10), 2. Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU) 17 points (+4), 3. Arno Zude (GER) 16 points, 4. Dolf Wissmann (NED) 13 points (+13), 5. Vidmantas Satkus (LTU) 12 points (+2).
More details are published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup (WSC)→2022/23.
Happy New Year 2023!
The year behind was crowded with official composing and solving events, thanks to the judges and organizers who worked hard in 2022.
January brought 18th International Solving Contest, another successful edition run by ever passionate Axel Steinbrink.
In March, the Solving Committee has made another step forward, introducing the very informative Solving Portal on our website.
May was the month of 15th European Chess Solving Championship, and Julia Vysotska created and exceptionally friendly atmosphere in Riga to attract solvers to the first ECSC since 2019.
Results of the two longest lasting composing events were completed between August and October. First, Valery Kopyl finalized the 8th World Championship in Composing for Individuals 2019-21, in spite of the most difficult circumstances in his country.
The other hard task was fulfilled by our long standing President Harry Fougiaxis, who took over the duty of the 11th World Chess Composing Tournament director.
During the summer, awards of the 10th FIDE World Cup in Composing were appearing one by one. In October, the director Aleksey Oganesyan ended his job and announced the final results.
World Solving Cup 2021/22, under the firm control of Roland Ott, lasted throughout the year, using the organizing resources of 13 different countries.
The final stage of the WSC was in Fujairah. In November, the United Arab Emirates hosted the 64th World Congress of Chess Composition. The first ever WCCC in Arabian Peninsula was an outstanding event in many ways. Dr. Abdulla Ali Aal Barket assured the memorable conditions for promotion of chess composition, and Mohammad Abdul Ghani was there to execute every single task.
The director of the 45th World Chess Solving Championship was the same as for the 15th ECSC. It was a challenging double task, unmistakably executed by Ivan Denkovski.
Let’s turn to 2023!
The red dates in our calendars will be 29th January (19th ISC), 2nd-4th June (16th ECSC in Bratislava) and 2nd-9th September (65th WCCC in Batumi).
Apart from regular competitions, we will have a joint duty to come closer to a much wider audience. The first steps in this direction were made a week ago, registering the WFCC in different social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram), with some introductory posts for each of them.
To find our stable place there we need more contributors from different countries, to “feed” the media with short but attractive and frequent posts. Some longer posts, for instance from national championships, may appear on the FIDE website, as announced by their Marketing and Communications Officer David Llada.
It’s perhaps time to recall words by our Honorary President Dr. Klaus Wenda, dedicated to the Golden Jubilee of our organization, in 2007:
There is no doubt that the status of the contemplative occupation of chess problems among the young is lower nowadays; that is confirmed by an alarming lack of young problemists in virtually all the member countries. It only makes the task of the commission more important, though: creating new incentives and new ways to arouse interest in chess composition. I know that there is no easy answer, but the important thing, in accordance with Herakleitos’s dictum, is to recognise new trends quickly and react to them appropriately.
Happy, healthy, and peaceful 2023!
Marjan Kovačević
WFCC President
World Solving Cup 2021/2022 – Fujairah 14.11.2022
WCCC Open Solving 2022 | 14th and last tournament of World Solving Cup 2021/2022:
Participants: 94 | Winner: Danila Pavlov (FID) ahead of Eddy Van Beers (BEL) and Ofer Comay (ISR)
2nd GM norm of Aleksey Popov (FID), 1st FM and IM norms of Nikita Ushakov (FID) and Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU)
Average rating of top ten solvers: 2569.59 | WSC category: 2
Final standing Top 5: 1. Danila Pavlov (FID) 96 points (+41), 2. Eddy Van Beers (BEL) 71 points (+36), 3. Martynas Limontas (LTU) 58 points, 4. Nikos Sidiropoulos (LTU) 49 points (+23), 5. Piotr Murdzia (POL) 46 points.
More details are published in Competitions→Solving→World Solving Cup (WSC)→2021/22.