Xu Xiangyu and Yan Tianqi win Chinese national titles, earn Chess Olympiad spots
The 2026 Chinese National Individual Chess Championship took place in Xinghua, Jiangsu from 7-18 May, featuring separate Open and Women’s sections. After 11 rounds of Swiss play, GM Xu Xiangyu and WIM Yan Tianqi emerged victorious to claim their first national titles and secure spots on the Chinese team for the upcoming 46th Chess Olympiad. Xinghua is no stranger to chess fans – it’s the hometown of long-time world No. 1 women’s player and four-time women’s world champion Hou Yifan. This year marked the 18th consecutive edition hosted by the city since 2009, and the second year the event has used an 11-round Swiss format instead of the traditional round-robin. The total prize fund amounted to 500,000 RMB (approximately 73,500 USD), with the men’s champion receiving 120,000 RMB and the women’s champion 80,000 RMB. Open event The open section featured 66 players, including nine Grandmasters. The competition was tightly contested, with a sole leader – 17-year-old IM Kong Xiangrui – emerging only after Round 8. Top seed GM Xu Xiangyu caught up with him in Round 9, and the pair entered the final round tied on 7.5 points. Xu defeated GM Li Di while Kong had to work hard in a difficult position to salvage a draw against IM Lou Yiping. Xu Xiangyu scored 8.5 points (6 wins, 5 draws) and secured the title – his fist national crown after finishing second in 2023 and third in both 2022 and 2024. This victory also earns him a debut on China’s Olympiad team later this year. Kong Xiangrui and GM Xu Yinglun tied for second place on 8 points. Kong took silver for the second year in a row on tie-break, while Xu Yinglun completed the podium. With a performance rating of 2604, Kong earned his first GM norm. Another teenager, 15-year-old Xie Jiaxiang, secured an IM norm. Final Standing – Open: https://chess-results.com/tnr1389458.aspx Women’s event In the women’s section, 24-year-old WIM Yan Tianqi totaled 8.5 points (7 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss) to win her first national title. Like Xu Xiangyu, she earned a berth on the Chinese Olympiad team – also her first. Yan Tianqi entered the event with two WGM norms and delivered a performance rating of 2416, but fell short of her last WGM due to insufficient games against WGMs. 17-year-old WIM Chen Yining claimed silver with 8 points, while 15-year-old WIM Wang Qinxuanyi took bronze with 7.5 points. Top seed WGM Xiao Yiyi also scored 7.5 but finished fourth on tie-breaks. Chen Yining earned a 9-game WGM norm, Bai Xue got an 11-game WIM norm, and both Jiang Tianyu and Wang Xiaoyan completed 10-game WIM norms. Final Standing – Women: https://chess-results.com/tnr1389459.aspx Text and photos: Liang Ziming
Chess boards from the 46th FIDE Olympiad to find new homes across the world
The boards from the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand will be distributed to national federations after the event, leaving a piece of the world’s biggest chess festival with the global community long after the final round is played. Every two years, the Chess Olympiad brings together thousands of players from across the globe, competing on the same boards, in the same halls, under the same pressure that defines the sport at its highest level. When the 46th Chess Olympiad concludes in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the boards played on throughout the event will not disappear into storage. Instead, they will continue their journey in federations and tournaments around the world. Around 900 DGT boards that will be distributed are not replicas or souvenirs produced for the occasion. They are the very same electronic boards on which the world’s strongest national teams will have competed across eleven rounds of the Open and Women’s sections of the Olympiad. For the federations that receive them, they will remain practical tournament equipment while also carrying the history of the games played on them. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich welcomed the initiative: “The Chess Olympiad brings together the entire chess world, and these boards will carry that spirit into federations across every continent. These boards symbolize the very spirit of Gens Una Sumus but, no less importantly, will provide an important practical solution for many federations.” Federations wishing to receive electronic boards from the 46th Chess Olympiad are invited to submit a request by email to gsc@fide.com, indicating the number of boards they would like to receive.