TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.
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Mark Crowther - Thursday 9th January 2025
Chess News Stories
Surprise victory for Mukhiddin Madaminov in the 3rd UzChess Cup (9)
Mukhiddin Madaminov won the 3rd Uzchess Cup in Tashkent, a real surprise as he was the bottom seed and there as a replacement for Javokhir Sindarov. Madaminov won a final blitz tie-break 2-0 against fellow Uzbekistani Shamsiddin Vokhidov who also wasn't one of the favourites.
Madaminov's victory came after a long game against Hans Moke Niemann where he was pressing for a win but was also in danger of losing at one stage. He didn't have more than a few minutes to prepare for the tie-break.
19-year-old Madaminov has played most of his recent chess in Asia which according to Vlad Ghita suffers from rating deflation, potentially making him very underrated. Madaminov has also been working as Sindarov's second since the 2025 World Cup no doubt that's helped him a lot.
The FIDE Olympiad takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 15 to 28, 2026. The founding of the UzChess Cup was part of the "national preparation programme for hosting and competing in the 46th World Chess Olympiad (2026)." That program has already seen the rise of Nodirbek Abdusattorov followed by Javokhir Sindarov who won the Candidates, they both currently have the same rating tied at 2777 and 4th/5th in the world rankings. Uzbekistan will have a very competitive team.
Half a point behind the leaders were Arjun Erigaisi, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov all of whom had decent enough tournaments. Every player lost at least one game, the most bizarre being Nodirbek Abdusattorov who was having an indifferent tournament until round 8, he'd got a win in Round 2 against Mamedyarov and drawn the rest, his loss came against tail-ender Nikolas Theodorou in a strange way, in a very level position he didn't register his Rook was attacked the previous move, picked up his King, realised at that moment what he'd done and just had to resign.
I know there's a refrain going round along the lines of "who says classical chess is dead?" but "who says classical chess is dead?" this was a really super tournament.
3rd UzChess Cup 2026 (9)
Mark Crowther (Tue Jun 16 15:17:00 2026)
Madaminov against Vokhidov tie-break. Photo © | https://uzchesscup.uz/en/2026
Navara vs Blohberger Match 2026 (3-4)
Blohberger beats Navara 3.5-2.5 in a match
Mark Crowther | Sun Jun 14 14:13:00 2026
Sardinia World Chess Festival 2026 (9)
Faustino Oro earns his final GM norm in Sardinia
Mark Crowther | Mon May 11 09:51:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (7)
Magnus Carlsen wins the 31st Sigeman & Co tournament after tie-break win over Erigaisi
Mark Crowther | Thu May 7 22:32:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (6)
Erigaisi leads the Sigeman tournament alone with one round to go
Mark Crowther | Wed May 6 23:01:00 2026
GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Poland 2026 (5)
Gukesh beats Sindarov in the GCT Poland Super Rapid
Mark Crowther | Wed May 6 18:20:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (5)
Erigaisi and Erdogmus lead the Sigeman & Co tournament after five rounds
Mark Crowther | Wed May 6 14:10:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (4)
Erdogmus leads the Sigeman tournament with 3/4, Van Foreest beats Carlsen
Mark Crowther | Mon May 4 21:01:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (3)
Five way tie for the lead in the Sigeman & Co tournament after three rounds
Mark Crowther | Sun May 3 21:31:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (2)
Carlsen impresses in beating Grandelius in Sigeman Round 2
Mark Crowther | Sat May 2 21:50:00 2026
31st Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2026 (1)
Abdusattorov and Woodward take an early lead in the Sigeman & Co Chess tournament
Mark Crowther | Fri May 1 20:56:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (14)
Vaishali wins the Women's Candidates Tournament
Mark Crowther | Wed Apr 15 22:43:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (13)
Javokhir Sindarov wins the FIDE Candidates with a round to spare
Mark Crowther | Wed Apr 15 15:44:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (12)
Mark Crowther | Mon Apr 13 00:38:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (11)
Mark Crowther | Sat Apr 11 23:58:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (10)
Sindarov almost home and dry in the FIDE Candidates with four rounds to go
Mark Crowther | Fri Apr 10 00:09:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (9)
Sindarov misses a big opportunity and Giri beats Caruana in Candidates Round 9
Mark Crowther | Wed Apr 8 20:11:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (8)
Sindarov extends his lead to two points in the Candidates even after a draw in Round 8
Mark Crowther | Wed Apr 8 01:45:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (7)
Javokhir Sindarov leads the FIDE Candidates by 1.5 points at the half way stage
Mark Crowther | Sun Apr 5 22:37:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (6)
Sindarov in danger of running away with the Candidates after he moves to 5.5/6
Mark Crowther | Sun Apr 5 02:23:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (5)
Sindarov and Caruana both win in Candidates Round 5
Mark Crowther | Fri Apr 3 23:07:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (3-4)
Sindarov takes an early lead in the Candidates after beating Caruana in Round 4
Mark Crowther | Thu Apr 2 21:00:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (2)
All games drawn on day two of the Candidates
Mark Crowther | Mon Mar 30 22:37:00 2026
FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 (1)
FIDE Candidates tournament in Cyprus starts with three decisive games
Mark Crowther | Sun Mar 29 22:09:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (13)
Abdusattorov beats Erigaisi to win the Tata Steel Masters
Mark Crowther | Sun Feb 1 21:06:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (12)
Abdusattorov takes a half point lead into the final round of the Tata Steel Masters
Mark Crowther | Sun Feb 1 01:02:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (11)
Sindarov joins Abdusattorov in the lead of the Tata Steel Masters with two rounds to go
Mark Crowther | Fri Jan 30 22:11:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (10)
Abdusattorov leads on 6.5/10 Sindarov, Van Foreest and Bluebaum are in the chasing pack
Mark Crowther | Thu Jan 29 00:28:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (9)
Abdusattorov draws against Sindarov in Tata Steel Masters Round 9 to keep a half point lead
Mark Crowther | Wed Jan 28 01:24:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (8)
Nodirbek Abdusattorov still leads the Tata Steel Masters with 5.5/8 even after losing to Anish Giri
Mark Crowther | Sun Jan 25 23:00:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (7)
Abdusattorov leads the Tata Steel Masters by a point after beating Keymer in Round 7
Mark Crowther | Sun Jan 25 00:11:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (6)
Abdusattorov leads the Tata Steel Masters 4.5/6 after a horrendous blunder by Gukesh
Mark Crowther | Fri Jan 23 23:08:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (5)
Mark Crowther | Wed Jan 21 22:31:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (4)
Niemann and Abdusattorov lead the Tata Steel Masters with 3/4
Mark Crowther | Wed Jan 21 14:53:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (3)
Bluebaum and Van Foreest win their first games and join the leaders of Tata Steel on 2/3
Mark Crowther | Tue Jan 20 00:51:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (2)
Abdusattorov and Fedoseev winners in Tata Steel Round 2
Mark Crowther | Sun Jan 18 22:27:00 2026
88th Tata Steel 2026 (1)
Mark Crowther | Sat Jan 17 23:40:00 2026
World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025
Magnus Carlsen completes a World Championship Rapid and Blitz double for the fifth time
Mark Crowther | Wed Dec 31 00:26:00 2025
Jonathan Hawkins (1983 - 2025)
Mark Crowther | Wed Dec 24 14:16:00 2025
15th XTX Markets London Chess Classic 2025 (Rapid)
Nikolas Theodorou wins the London Super Rapid
Mark Crowther | Mon Dec 8 14:28:00 2025
15th XTX Markets London Chess Classic 2025 (7-8)
Abdusattorov's draw with Firouzja confirms victory in the London Chess Classic
Mark Crowther | Fri Dec 5 10:04:00 2025
15th XTX Markets London Chess Classic 2025 (5-6)
Abdusattorov extends his winning streak to 5 games in London
Mark Crowther | Tue Dec 2 13:20:00 2025
15th XTX Markets London Chess Classic 2025 (3-4)
Abdusattorov leads the London Chess Classic with 3.5/4
Mark Crowther | Sun Nov 30 15:04:00 2025
15th XTX Markets London Chess Classic 2025 (2)
Firouzja, Theodorou and Abdusattorov lead the London Chess Classic after wins in Round 2
Mark Crowther | Fri Nov 28 14:36:00 2025
FIDE World Cup 2025 (8)
Javokhir Sindarov wins the FIDE World Cup 2025
Mark Crowther | Wed Nov 26 17:52:00 2025
FIDE World Cup 2025 (7)
Mark Crowther | Sun Nov 23 14:15:00 2025
88th Tata Steel 2026
Tata Steel Chess tournament all set for its 2026 edition after announcing the players
Mark Crowther | Tue Nov 18 18:32:00 2025
FIDE World Cup 2025 (2)
Major surprises in the second round of the FIDE World Cup
Mark Crowther | Thu Nov 6 21:12:00 2025
Jonathan Hawkins (1983 - 2025)
Mark Crowther | Wed Dec 24 14:16:00 2025
GM Jonathan Hawkins has died at the early age of 42 after suffering from a rare form of cancer. He was a two time British Champion, wrote the classic chess book "Amateur to IM" and was more recently a successful chess coach.
Mark Crowther | Sun Oct 26 23:01:00 2025
Mihail Suba has passed away at the age of 78. His book Dynamic Chess Strategy published first in 1991 is rightly regarded as a classic.
12th Sinquefield Cup 2025 (4)
Caruana takes a clear lead in the Sinquefield Cup after beating Abdusattorov in Round 4
Mark Crowther | Fri Aug 22 12:27:00 2025
Caruana beat Abdusattorov in the only decisive game of Round 4 to move half a point clear of Aronian and Praggnanandhaa. MVL missed a chance to beat Gukesh and So should have played on against Firouzja.
