Olympiad-2026 in Tashkent

[Amit R]

Hi Victor,

Are the tournament dates available?

If not, would you know by when they would be?

[Victor Plotkin]

Sep 4-17, Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The original plan was to organize Olympiad in Tashkent, but FIDE changed the location.

[Amit R]

Thank you, Victor.

Are the Zonal dates confirmed too? On the CFC website, I see the bid dates of April 6-11 ; are those the final ones ?

[Victor Plotkin]

We don't have anything approved right now. It's just a bid.

[Amit R]

Thank you, Victor.

[Denny Qian]

rule 4. 5 points / year bonus for U23 players. Atanasov (2008) gets 25 points. Mendes (2012) gets 45. -- does this rule apply to women team selection ?

[Murphy Han]

same for rule 4, does it apply to all U23 players?

[Victor Plotkin]

rule 4. 5 points / year bonus for U23 players. Atanasov (2008) gets 25 points. Mendes (2012) gets 45. -- does this rule apply to women team selection ?

Yes, it does.

[Victor Plotkin]

Nov 1, 2025 rating list.

1. GM S.Rodrigue-Lemieux - 2531 (2521+10). 20+ games since May 1, 2025
2. GM P.Charbonneau - 2509. 1 game
3. GM R.Preotu - 2485. 20+ games
4. IM N.Noritsyn - 2473 (2453+20). 15 games
5. GM A.Lesiege - 2455. 20+ games
6. IM A.Atanasov - 2454 (2429+25). 20+ games
7. GM T.Roussel-Roozmon - 2454. 0 games
8. GM B.Sambuev - 2428. 20+ games
9. IM J.Han - 2427 (2397+30). 6 games
10. GM K.Spraggett - 2426. 20+ games

[Amit R]

Hi Victor,

Is the Zonals schedule/award expected to finalized during the ongoing CFC voters meeting?

If not, may I know by when is it expected to be?

[Victor Plotkin]

Ongoing VM meeting deals with 2027 CO/CYCC only. We still discuss some problems with current bidders from FQE. Hopefully, everything would be finalize relatively soon.

[Amit R]

Ongoing VM meeting deals with 2027 CO/CYCC only. We still discuss some problems with current bidders from FQE. Hopefully, everything would be finalize relatively soon.

Thank you, Victor.

[Victor Plotkin]

Dec 1, 2025

1. GM S.Rodrigue-Lemieux - 2527 (2517+10).
2. GM P.Charbonneau - 2509. 1 game
3. GM R.Preotu - 2485.
4. IM N.Noritsyn - 2473 (2453+20). 15 games.
5. GM A.Lesiege - 2455
6. IM A.Atanasov - 2454 (2429+25).
7. IM J.Han - 2427 (2397+30). 6 games
8. IM T.Krnan - 2423. 0 games
9. GM B.Sambuev - 2421.
10. IM Sai Krishna - 2415.

[Michael]

December was a good month for the top Canadian players with 7 of the top 8 players gaining rating points. The only one not to gain rating was Alexandre Leseige and that was because the Tournoi du Père-Noël event hasn't been rated yet. A lot of the December gains came from the US Masters tournament where the Canadian players brought back a large number of rating points. In the top 10 players, the biggest rating gains were from Sai Krishna with +15 and Razvan Preotu and Anthony Atanasov who both gained 12 ELO.

In the top 100 players, the biggest gainer was Neil Moses who I believe is 14 years old. Neil gained a total of 95 ELO from playing at the US Masters, Ottawa December Open and Hart House Holidays Open. A couple more months like that and Neil will start to appear on Victor's top 10 list.

[Denny Qian]

do we have the top 10 femal players list as of January ?