Grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi, Francisco Vallejo and Igor Lysyj are the top-seeded players in the Moscow Open main event, the 2015 Cup of Russia qualifier. More than 250 chess players are participating in this event. The Women’s Cup of Russia stage rating favorites are World Women’s Junior Champion Aleksandra Goryachkina (2451), Georgian Women’s Champion Nino Batsiashvili [...]

The 2015 Iranian National Chess Championship (Men’s Final) took place from 20th to 27th January, 2015, in Mashad, the second most populous city in Iran and a major oasis along the ancient Silk Road connecting with Merv in the East. The event was an 11-round Swiss tournament consisting of 29 players. 4 of them are GMs, 3 [...]

The 38th Cardinal Open Chess Tournament was held on 23-25th January, 2015, at the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel in Columbus, Ohio, USA. The event had five sections: Open (FIDE rated, FIDE rules), U2100, U1800, U1500 and U1200. The playing format was 5-round Swiss with time control 40/120, SD/60 d5. A total of 183 players competed, [...]

The 133rd MGU Open 2015 was held on 24-25th January, 2015, at Chess Club MGU, in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria and the fifteenth largest city in the European Union. The event was organized by FA Dimitar Iliev and Chess Club “An Pasan” in a 6-round Swiss FIDE format, open to all players rated below 2200 and it is valid [...]

The Central Florida Class Championships 2015 were held from 23-25th January at the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld, 10100 International Dr., 32821. The event had six sections: Master/Expert, Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and U1200. The tournament format was 5-round Swiss with time control G/120, d5. 125 players participated in the [...]

The 2015 Azerbaijani Individual Chess Championship for women took place from 16th to 25th January 2015 in Baku, the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan. The event was a 9-round Swiss tournament with time control 90′/ 40 + 30′ + 30″. WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova emerged a clear winner with 7/9 points, leaving the nearest followers [...]

The Final Stage of the 81st Brazilian Individual Men’s Chess Championship 2015 took place from 17th to 25th January 2015 in Joao Pessoa, the easternmost city in the Americas and the capital of the state of Paraíba in Brazil. The event was a 12-player round-robin tournament with an average Elo rating 2356 and tempo of play 90′ [...]

Land of the Sky XXVIII open chess tournament was held from 23-25th January at the Crowne Plaza Resort Asheville, One Resort Dr., in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. The event had four sections: Open (FIDE rated), Asheville (FIDE rated, Under 2200), Buncombe (Under 1700) and U12 (U1200). The playing format was 5-round Swiss with time control [...]

World Champion Magnus Carlsen drew the final game of the 77th Tata Steel Masters to claim the first place with 9,0/13 points. Carlsen had a slow start, making two draws before losing to Poland’s Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Apparently the setback woke up the monster and Carlsen proceeded to record six consecutive victories. He routinely maintained the [...]

Bulgarian champion GM Kiril Georgiev won the Karposh Rapid Tournament that was held on 24th January at restaurant “Granit” in Skopje, FYROM. The 9-round Swiss tournament with the time control 15′+5” gathered 107 players. The event was organized by the Municipality Karpos and Chess Club Gambit Aseko-SEE. The total prize fund was 1250 EUR. Georgiev [...]