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2-year cycle of four chess solving competitions, 2025-2026,
with the final competition to be held in Fujairah, 27–30 November 2026
Final
Standings
Regulations
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2-year cycle of four chess solving competitions, 2025-2026,
with the final competition to be held in Fujairah, 27–30 November 2026
Final
Standings
Regulations

WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix Final 2026 –
Composing Tournament

According to the general concept of the WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix –
to be a multinational stage for solvers and composers –
a composing tournament is announced for the problems and endgames to be solved in the Grand Prix Final.
This experimental composing tournament aims to revive the dialogue between composers and solvers.
It should inspire originals to challenge the best solvers in the world, but also to please them with artistic merit, including elements like clarity, harmony, surprise…
In return, the finalists will award the best problems – from the angle of the best solvers.

Deadline for submission

1st November 2026

Awards

29th November 2026

Advantage

to the compositions from countries not represented in the Final

Prizes

500€ for the solvers’ favourite in each round

How to prepare and send the entries

Each entry should include: author’s name, diagram and conditions on one page, and the solutions on another page (or the solutions after considerable break in the body of email)
Send your entries to: the email address of the Grand Prix Final Director Axel Steinbrink: axel.steinbrink@gmx.de, no later than 1st November 2026. Earlier sending will be most welcome.

The types of problems

#2; #3 ; #n; endgame study; S#; h#

Number of entries

Up to three entries per author (individual or cooproductions) may take part, but only one per author may be selected for the Grand Prix Final. (Do have in mind that shorter self-mates – especially S#2 – and helpmates, may be deficitary).

The final selection

As for a standard WCSC/ECSC format the selection will include: three #2; three #3; one #4, two #>4; three endgame studies; one S#2, one S#3, one S#>3; one h#2, one h#3 and one h#>3.
Number of problems to be selected: 18
The final selection of entries used in the Grand Prix Final, with names of the composers and placements, will be revealed at the end of the competition, on 29th November 2026.
If a good offer of originals for all the rounds allows it, the composers from the countries not represented in the Grand Prix Final will have advantage in the final selection. An ideal target would be to have the Final consisting of compositions from 18 different countries whose solvers are not among the finalists.

The final placements

The final placements of each entry will be based on marks given by the finalists, and the best evaluated entry from each round will receive an award of 500€. All compositions submitted for evaluation shall be presented to the solvers anonymously. The procedure of evaluating the compositions is explained in the Grand Prix Final Regulations:

Point 8. Solvers’ Rewards to the Composers
8. Solvers’ rewards to composers


8.1 All finalists are required to evaluate the quality of the compositions used in each round.
8.2 The three compositions in each round shall be ranked from 1st to 3rd place according to their combined qualities of artistic merit, including clarity, beauty and surprise, and an appropriate level of difficulty. The mark 1 represents the best composition in the round, 2 the second-best, and 3 the third-best. In exceptional cases, a solver may share places, such as 1-2 or 2-3.
8.3 All compositions submitted for evaluation shall be presented anonymously.
8.4 The evaluation lists must be completed and handed to the organisers no later than one hour after the end of Round 3 and Round 6, respectively.
8.5 For the final calculation, only the grades given by the Top 10 solvers in the Final shall be taken into account. The highest and lowest grades shall be excluded, and the remaining grades shall be used to calculate the average ranking in the order 1-2-3.
8.6 The best composition from each round, according to the evaluation of the Top 10 solvers in the Final, shall receive an award of EUR 500.

Regulations
Publication

Compositions solved in the Grand Prix Final will be published on the official Grand Prix website, with the source: WFCC Fujairah Grand Prix Final 2026, 1st/2nd/3rd Place.