The rush of year-end tournaments near and far means a lot of chess players can welcome in 2026 with a very good feeling about how 2025 came to a close.
Close to home, class told in the 50th running of the Eastern Open, held this year at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. Texas Grandmaster Mikhail Antipov, the only GM in the Premier Section’s 87-player field, finished undefeated and alone in first at 7-1. Among those tied for second a full point back were two Marylanders: Expert Alexander Zlodorev and Candidate Master Steven Liu.
Other Eastern section winners: Under 2200 — Virginia Class A player Daniel Wang, who upset several higher rated players on his way to a 7-1 score; Under 1900 — Maryland’s Gowtham Karaka; Under 1600 — Jack Silver of New Jersey; Under 1300 — Virginian Tanish Singh; Under 1000 — the District’s Leander Garrett; and Eastern Senior Champion Mardon Yakubov of Pennsylvania for his second-place finish in the Under 2200 tournament.
The storied Hastings Chess Congress in the English seaside town has featured some epic battles over its long history. English IM Alex Golding and Ukrainian GM Alexander Kovchan shared the honors in the 99th running of the event last month, with Kovchan defeating young front-runner GM Marius Deuer in the ninth and final round to claim a share of the prize.
And as we noted last week, Norwegian former classical world champ Magnus Carlsen added to his already bulging trophy room with his sixth win in the FIDE World Rapid Championship held in Doha, Qatar. Carlsen wasn’t done, staging a stirring comeback to capture his ninth World Blitz title as well.
On the women’s side, Kazakh blitz savant GM Bibisara Assaubayeva captured her third women’s world blitz crown, while Russian GM Aleksandra Goryachkina exorcised years of frustration by winning the women’s rapid title on tiebreaks over Chinese star GM Zhu Jiner. It was Goryachkina’s first world title of any kind after coming close several times before.
Goryachkina’s rapid win over WIM Bat-Erdene Mungunzul featured a relentless assault on the young Mongolian’s unfortunate king, with White repeatedly opening new lines of attack against her opponent’s Pirc Defense before the harassed enemy king finally succumbs to a mating attack.
Black’s premature 6. e5 Ng4?! 7. Ng5 f6 8. Qf3 c6 9. e6 Nh6 already leaves her with defensive holes to patch, and Goryachkina smartly launches a quick offensive with 10 h4!? (Nxh7!? Nf5 11. d5 was also very interesting) Bg7 (fxg5 11. hxg5 Nf5 12. d5! Qa5 13. Bd3 Nxe3 14. Rxh7! leaves Black facing more defensive challenges after 14…Rxh7 15. Bxg6+ Kd8 16. Qxf8+ Kc7 17. Bxh7 Nxd5 18. Kf1) 11. Bd3 fxg5 12. hxg5, when trying to save the attacked knight leads to disaster on 12…Nf5?? 13. Bxf5 gxf5 14. Qh5+ Kf8 15. Qf7 mate.
Black barely survives the first wave of attack, but White has more in reserve, with moves like 14. Ne4! and 19. c4! Kb7 20. d5! opening new lines of attack as Mungunzul’s king seeks refuge on the queenside.
The succession of hammer blows proves quickly decisive: 24. a5 Qc7 25. bxa6+ Ka7 (White also wins on 25…Nxa6 26. Bxa6+ Rxa6 27. Rxd5) 26. b4! (opening yet another attacking front) Nd7 27. b5 Bb3 28. Rdb1, and Black resigns as her defensive barrier disintegrates in lines such as 28…Bf7 29. b6+ Nxb6 30. axb6+ Qxb6 31. Rxb6 Kxb6 32. Rb1+ Kc7 33. Rb7+ Kc8 34. Qh3+, and mate in a few more moves.
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The 35th North American Open, the giant Swiss event held in the final days of the year in Las Vegas, chose to share the wealth in 2025, with no fewer than 10 players tying for first place at 6 1/2-2 1/2. Of those 10 (not listed here for obvious space reasons), Colombian 22-year-old GM Santiago Avila Pavas, now attending the University of Texas-Rio Grande, was one of just two players to win their final-round game to sneak into the crowded winners’ circle.
Avila Pavas nearly had his title hopes short-circuited in a highly entertaining Round 3 clash with fellow Texan CM Logan Shafer, who puts up a feisty battle before succumbing. The Exchange Caro-Kann can lead to some pretty sleepy positions, but Shafer as Black invites a sharper battle with 9. Ng5 Nf5!? 10. g4 (challenge accepted) Nh6 11. Bxh7+ Kh8 12. Bc2 e5, giving up a pawn for quick development.
The complications escalate quickly: 14. h3 f5! (risky, but Black dare not back down now, and White’s kingside will soon face heavy pressure) 15. Qxd5 fxg4 16. Rxe5 Bxe5 17. Qxe5 (Qxd8?! Rxd8 18. hxg4 Bxg4 19. Be3 Rf8, and Black is fine) Re8 18. Qf4 Re1+ 19. Kh2 gxh3, with the nice threat of 20…Qf6! 21. Qxf6 Ng4+ 22. Kxh3 Nxf6+ 23. Kg2 Rxc1, winning.
Given the spirited play on both sides, it’s a pity Black misses a chance to keep the battle going: 2. Nd2 Qe8 21. Ndf3? (see diagram; it’s hard to fault White in this semi-irrational position, but the engines say he should seek salvation in 21. Ba4 b5 22. Bxb5! Qxb5 23. Qf8+ Ng8 24. Nf7+, with a likely perpetual check after 24…Kh7 25. Nf3 Rh1+ 26. Kg3 Qf5 27. N7g5+ Kh8 28. Nf7+ Kh7 29. N7g5+, as both 29…Kg6?? 30. Nh4+ and 29…Kh6?? 30. Ne6+ would lose at once for Black), and now 21…Ng4+! 22. Kg3 h2 23. Nxh2 Rg1+ (Nxh2? 24. Qh4+ Kg8 25. Qh7+ Kf8 26. Bf4 Rxa1 27. Bd6+ wins for White) 24. Kf3 Bd7 25. Be3 Rxa1 26. Nxg4 Qh5 27. Nf7+ Kg8 28. Nfe5 would have let the fight go on.
Instead, White makes the right call on 21…Re2? 22. Be3!, cutting loose his bishop on c2 to protect the critical f-pawn.
After 22…Rxc2 23. Rg1 Bg4 24. Bd4!, all of White’s forces are ready to join the attack. The breakthrough is not long in coming: 26. Bxg7+! Kg8 (Kxg7 27. Ne6+ Kf6 [Kf7 28. Rg7+ Ke8 29. Qa4+ b5 30. Qxb5 mate] 28. Qe5+ Ke7 29. Nf4+ and wins) 27. Qc4+ Nf7 28. Bd4 Kf8 29. Qc5+, and Black resigns since the end is nigh after 29…Ke8 (Kg8 30. Nxf7+ Bg6 31. Qxh5) 30. Re1+ Kd8 31. Bf6+ Kd7 32. Re7+ Kd8 33. Qc7 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Goryachkina-Mungunzul, Women’s World Rapid Championship, Doha, Qatar, December 2025
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 a6 5. Nf3 b5 6. e5 Ng4 7. Ng5 f6 8. Qf3 c6 9. e6 Nh6 10. h4 Bg7 11. Bd3 fxg5 12. hxg5 Bxe6 13. gxh6 Bf6 14. Ne4 Bd5 15. Nxf6+ exf6 16. Qg3 Kd7 17. O-O Kc7 18. b3 Bf7 19. c4 Kb7 20. d5 c5 21. cxb5 Qb6 22. a4 Bxd5 23. Rfd1 Rd8 24. a5 Qc7 25. bxa6+ Ka7 26. b4 Nd7 27. b5 Bb3 28. Rdb1 Black resigns.
Avila Pavas-Shafer, 35th North American Open, Las Vegas, December 2025
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 e6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. O-O Nge7 8. Re1 O-O 9. Ng5 Nf5 10. g4 Nh6 11. Bxh7+ Kh8 12. Bc2 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. h3 f5 15. Qxd5 fxg4 16. Rxe5 Bxe5 17. Qxe5 Re8 18. Qf4 Re1+ 19. Kh2 gxh3 20. Nd2 Qe8 21. Ndf3 Re2 22. Be3 Rxc2 23. Rg1 Bg4 24. Bd4 Qh5 25. Qe4 Bf5 26. Bxg7+ Kg8 27. Qc4+ Nf7 28. Bd4 Kf8 29. Qc5+ Black resigns.
• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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