Five-time champions

Based on reporting by FIDE

Baadur Jobava and Nino Batsiashvili emerged as national champions at the 2026 Georgian Chess Championships, each securing a fifth career title in their respective competitions.

The 85th Georgian Chess Championship and the 83rd Georgian Women's Chess Championship were staged simultaneously in Tbilisi from 27 January to 5 February. Both events followed a 10-player round-robin format and were contested at classical time controls.

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In the open championship, top seed Baadur Jobava justified his pre-tournament billing. He moved into sole first place in the fourth round and maintained his advantage throughout the second half of the event. Going into the final round with 5½ points from eight games, half a point clear of Tornike Sanikidze and a full point ahead of Luka Kiladze, Jobava concluded matters with a short draw against Sanikidze. With all remaining games also drawn, the standings at the top remained unchanged.

This victory added to Jobava's previous national titles from 2003, 2007, 2012 and 2024. His first championship success came at the age of 19, marking him out early as one of Georgia's leading players. At his career peak, he reached a rating of 2734 in September 2012, which placed him 19th in the world.

Sanikidze finished in second place, while Kiladze claimed third. Both Jobava and Sanikidze completed the tournament without suffering a defeat.

The championships took place at the great-looking halls of the Biltmore Hotel

In the second round, Jobava got the better of Giga Quparadze. In the following position, the eventual champion found the most precise continuation in 20.Ne5

Black, of course, should not play 20...Qxf4?? due to 21.Ng6+ Kh7 22.Nxf8+!, first grabbing the rook with discovered check to collect the queen after giving a couple more checks. Capturing the queen first with 22.Nxf4+?! allows Rf5, blocking the check - which is also winning for White, but not as precise.

Quparadze thus continued with 20...Ne7. After 21.Qxf6 Rxf6 22.Rc1, White got a stable advantage in the ensuing queenless position.

Jobava eventually reached a superior endgame with knight and bishop against rook. The conversion was not without mistakes, but the five-time Georgian champion got the work done in the end. This was his first of three victories in the event, all achieved with the white pieces.

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

Baadur Jobava

Final standings

All games

The women's championship saw a commanding performance from Nino Batsiashvili, who set the pace early and pulled away decisively in the middle rounds. A sequence of five consecutive wins between rounds four and eight allowed her to clinch the title with one round still to play, eventually finishing on 7½ points out of nine.

Batsiashvili's latest triumph followed earlier national titles in 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022, with her first success achieved at the age of 28. The result in Tbilisi also had broader implications: she moved ahead of Nana Dzagnidze on the women's live rating list to become Georgia's top-ranked female player, and now stands 17^th in the world among women.

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The battle for the remaining medals was settled in the final round. Meri Arabidze defeated Lela Javakhishvili to draw level with her on points, but Javakhishvili prevailed on the Sonneborn–Berger tiebreak to take silver, leaving Arabidze in third place.

The women's podium: (from l. to r.) Meri Arabidze, Lela Javakhishvili and Nino Batsiashvili

In the crucial encounter against third seed Bella Khotenashvili, played in round one, Batsiashvili, with the black pieces, was facing a permanent checkmating threat on g7 amid a sharp middlegame. However, her opponent faltered decisively with 29.Nc4?? here.

The best continuation for White is 29.Nc6!, when there might follow:

• 29...Bxc6? is bad due to 30.Rxd6 Bxa4 31.bxa4, and Black cannot capture the rook on d6 since the queen is defending the g7-square. White is clearly for choice.
• 29...Qb7 is best, and after 30.Rd3 (defending b3) Rd7 31.Ne5 Re7 32.Ra5, White has the initiative but the evaluation remains close to equal

Also playable for White are the more prosaic 29.Rd3 or 29.Ra5.

Instead, Khotenashvili's 29.Nc4?? allowed 29...Bf3+ 30.Kxf3 Rxd1, and White will not get enough compensation for the exchange.

While in time trouble, White faltered again with 31.Ke2? (31.Ne5 is better), and resignation came rather soon following 31...Rad8 32.Ra6 R1d4 33.Qa5? Qe4

Black has the material and the initiative.

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Nino Batsiashvili

Final standings

All games

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