The Week in Chess

1. Sergei Tiviakov wins his fourth Netherlands Chess Championship - Final

   Sergei Tiviakov was the surprise winner of the 2026 Netherlands Chess Championships held at the Renaissance Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Hotel. Whilst the event was missing the strongest two players, Anish Giri and Jordan van Foreest, it was a pretty respectable field and Tiviakov was the eighth seed.

   Tiviakov beat IM Eelke De Boer in the first round. In the second he lost the first game to Erwin L'Ami but recovered in a must win game two before winning the blitz (5m+2spm) tie-breaks 1.5-0.5. He beat Eric Van den Doel 1.5-0.5 in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was another surprise, 9th seed 24-year-old Liam Vrolijk. The two classical games were drawn before Tiviakov won the two blitz games to take the title.

2. Netherland Championships 2026 - Games and Results

   The Netherland Championships took place in Amsterdam Sat 4th to Sat 11th Jul 2026. The event was a KO with both an open and women's event. Sergei Tiviakov won his fourth title defeating Liam Vrolijk in the final after a tie-break. Machteld Van Foreest beat Anna-Maja Kazarian 2-0 in the final.

3. KazChess Masters 2026 - Games and Results

   The KazChess Masters took place Tue 30th Jun to Wed 8th Jul 2026 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Alexey Sarana edged out Alexander Donchenko on tie-break after both scored 6/9. Igor Kovalenko finished half a point behind.

4. GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2026 - Games and Results

   The GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia took place in Zagreb 1st to 5th July 2026. Players: Vincent Keymer, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jorden Van Foreest, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Ivan Saric, Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Gukesh Dommaraju.

   Alrizeza Firouzja won an Armageddon Tie-break against Nodirbek Abdusattorov after they tied the combined standings and a two game rapid tie-break match.

5. FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships 2026 - Games and Results

   The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships takes place Wed 17th Jun 2026 Sun 22nd Jun 2026. Three days of rapid followed by three days of blitz in Hong Kong. 48 teams. Players: Magnus Carlsen, Vladislav Artemiev, Arjun Erigaisi, Alireza Firouzja, Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Wei Yi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Javokhir Sindarov, Ding Liren, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Anish Giri, Nihal Sarin, Dmitry, Andreikin, Jan Krzysztof Duda, Alexander Grischuk etc

6. 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.

7. 3rd UzChess Cup 2026 - Games and Results

   The 3rd UzChess Cup took place in Tashkent Sun 7th Jun to Mon 15th Jun 2026. The Masters: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Moke Niemann, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Santosh Gujrathi Vidit, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, Nikolas Theodorou and Mukhiddin Madaminov.

   The lowest rated player, 19 year-old Mukhiddin Madaminov won after winning a tie-break blitz match against 8th seed Shamsiddin Vokhidov. They had both scored 5.5/9 half a point clear of Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Arjun Erigaisi. Mahammad Muradli won the Challengers with a dominant 7.5/9 two points clear of second placed Mittal Aditya. The Futures tournament was won by IM Khumoyun Begmuratov (born 2010). Timur Gareyev edged out Shavkatjon Abdukholikov on tie-break in the open after both scored 7.5/9.

8. Blohberger beats Navara 3.5-2.5 in a match - 3-4

   Felix Blohberger defeated David Navara in a match in Vienna Mon 8th Jun to Sat 13th Jun 2026. 22 year-old GM Blohberger has a YouTube Channel where he talks about chess. Blohberger had a personal sponsor for the match and it was held at the headquarters of the Austrian Chess Federation, they also provided the arbiter. Every round was commentated live. It was an interesting match, Navara was better in game one, game two was balanced, game three was the decisive one for the match, Navara was a pawn down in a Bishop vs Knight endgame, he probably should have held but his passive defensive idea wasn't the way to do it. Game four was the most exciting of the match with both sides having winning positions at various stages before a draw in a four queens endgame. Games five and six were a little calmer and both finished in draws.