Press release by FIDE / Written by Dragana Nikolovska
The World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) is pleased to announce that the Grand Final of the WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix 2025–2026 will take place from 27 to 30 November 2026 in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The world's leading chess solvers will meet in the new building of the Fujairah Chess & Culture Club, home of the WFCC Main Office, to decide the first Grand Prix champion, and to vote for the best of the original compositions created to challenge them.
Grandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller, one of the world’s leading endgame experts, guides you step by step through everything you need to know in this second volume.
Picture this: you’ve outplayed your opponent move by move, you’re clearly better – and then the endgame slips into a draw, simply because you lacked the crucial theoretical knowledge. That is exactly where this course comes in. Without solid endgame skills, there’s no way forward. Rook endgames are most essential: they occur more often than any other type of endgame, and often make the difference between victory and half a point. If you master them, you’ll confidently convert your advantages into wins!
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Bodycheck
The event is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, on whose personal initiative the series was created. The project was realised by WFCC 1st Vice-President Abdulla Ali Aal Barket and WFCC Secretary Mohammad Alhallak, and the 2025–26 edition is the first cycle of what is planned to become a traditional competition.
The new building of the Fujairah Chess & Culture Club, venue of the Grand Prix Final
The road to Fujairah
Qualification spanned four official championships: the European Chess Solving Championships in Athens (April 2025) and Skopje (May 2026), and the World Chess Solving Championships in Alba Iulia (July 2025) and Magdeburg (August 2026). Each solver's two best results counted towards the overall standings. Piotr Murdzia (Poland) and Danila Pavlov (FIDE) finished the cycle tied at the top with 87 points each, ahead of Kacper Piorun (Poland) and Arno Zude (Germany), who both scored 72.
Top finishers of the World Chess Solving Championship 2026 in Magdeburg, from left: Piotr Murdzia (2nd), Danila Pavlov (1st) and Arno Zude (3rd)
The finalists
Following several withdrawals, the line-up of the final is as follows:
- From the top 12 of the Grand Prix standings: Piotr Murdzia (POL), Danila Pavlov (FIDE), Kacper Piorun (POL), Arno Zude (GER), Ural Khasanov (FID), Eddy Van Beers (BEL), Mihnea Costachi (ROU), Bilguun Sumiya (MGL), Maksim Kharitonov (FID), Nikos Sidiropoulos (GRE), and Kevinas Kuznecovas (LTU), who, in line with the regulations, replaces his compatriot Martynas Limontas from the reserve list
- Best solvers from other countries: Ilija Serafimović (SRB), Oleksiy Solovchuk (UKR), Joost Michielsen (NED)
- Organisers' nominees: Anirudh Daga (IND), the best Indian junior solver, and Renars Muzis (LVA), winner of the Youth Chess Composing Challenge 2026
- Still to be confirmed: solvers from the host, i.e. Fujairah Chess & Culture Club, and FIDE nominees
Format and rating
The Final consists of six rounds over two days in the familiar WCSC/ECSC format. On 28 November (11:00–14:30) solvers face two-movers, three-movers and endgame studies; on 29 November (10:00–13:30) helpmates, more-movers and self-mates. All 18 problems are original, previously unpublished compositions by 18 different composers. The tournament is rated with coefficient 3, and solving title norms can be achieved. As an invitational event, it does not form part of the World Solving Cup.
A substantial prize fund
With a total of €30,000, the Final offers a generous prize fund for a single chess-solving event. The solvers' share of €27,000 is more than double the €12,000 awarded at each World Chess Solving Championship leg of the series, and the Final alone accounts for well over a third of the €74,000 distributed across the entire Grand Prix cycle.
The winner will receive €3,800, with €2,900 for second and €2,400 for third place. Every finalist receives a prize of at least €750. All finalists are accommodated in single rooms on a full-board basis at the official hotel, Royal M Hotel by Gewan Fujairah.
Composers and solvers: a duel and a dialogue
Smyslov cultivated a clear positional style and even in sharp tactical positions often relied more on his intuition than on concrete calculation of variations. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Vasily Smyslov.Without composers there would be no solving competitions, and the Grand Final puts this relationship at its heart. All 18 problems and studies come from an accompanying composing tournament, in which problemists from around the world compete to create works that are beautiful, yet hard enough to challenge the best solvers in the world.
At the end, the roles are reversed: for the first time, the solvers will reward the composers by vote. The finalists will rank the three compositions of each round for clarity, beauty, surprise and difficulty, and based on the marks of the top 10 solvers, the best composition in each round earns €500 – €3,000 in total. Preference is given to composers from countries not represented in the Final, and the selected works and their authors will be revealed on 29 November.
The aim, as the composing tournament announcement puts it, is to "revive the dialogue between composers and solvers" - bringing together the two sides of chess composition.
As previously announced on the official WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix website, the deadline for submissions is 1 November 2026. Entries (up to three per author) should be sent to Grand Prix Final Director Axel Steinbrink at axel.steinbrink@gmx.de.
The dialogue will continue off the clock. On the evening of 28 November, a Youth Evening will see the five junior finalists - Renars Muzis, Ural Khasanov, Ilija Serafimović, Kevinas Kuznecovas and Anirudh Daga - present their own original compositions for the senior participants to solve. Afterwards the tables turn, as experienced finalists such as Piotr Murdzia and Joost Michielsen set their own problems for the juniors.
Schedule
Participants arrive on 27 November. The evening of 28 November, after the first competition day, is reserved for the Youth Evening. The closing ceremony takes place on 29 November at 19:00, followed by departures on 30 November. A separate blitz solving event for domestic solvers is planned for 29 November, with details to be announced.
Full regulations, standings, and the list of finalists are available on the official website: https://grandprix.wfcc.ch/
Officials
- Tournament Director: Dr. Abdulla Ali Aal Barket
- Head of Technical Committee: GM Marjan Kovačević
- Head of Organising Committee: IA/IO Mohammad Alhallak
- Chief Arbiter: ISJ Axel Steinbrink
Contact: grandprix@wfcc.ch
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
Endgames decide more games than any opening preparation ever will and yet they are often the least understood phase of chess. In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
Free Video sample: Introduction
Free Video sample: Activate the king
