London Chess Classic
Congratulations to Nodirbek Abdusattorov, winner of the Masters event at the 2025 XTX Markets London Chess Classic. Nodirbek won the event with a score of 7½/9 a full 2 points clear of Alireza Firouzja on 5½ and Nikita Vitiugov on 5. The Super Rapid tournament was won by Nikolas Theodorou with an incredible score of 9/10.
The 2025 XTX Markets London Chess Classic took place between 26th November and 7th December 2025 at two London venues - the Emirates Stadium, home to Arsenal Football Club, and London Novotel West, a hotel in Hammersmith. Ten world-class grandmasters, led by Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (world numbers 6 and 12 respectively) competed in our Masters all-play-all tournament while world number 7, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, headed an extremely strong FIDE Open field.
In addition, the LCC Festival gave players of all standards the opportunity to enjoy many different forms of the game of chess:
a Super Rapid tournament offering players the chance to compete with our elite grandmasters
the FIDE Open, a 9-round classical chess tournament suitable for players seeking title norms
the U-2100 Round Robins, a series of 6-player all-play-all classical chess tournament for those rated under 2100
two Weekend Rapidplays, 7-round tournaments suitable for players of all standards
six evening Blitz tournaments suitable for players from beginners to experts
a Team Blitz tournament for teams of four players
the LCC Dinner at The Dorchester, raising funds to support the work of Chess in Schools and Communities.
Spectators could enjoy the all action and live grandmaster analysis from our amazing commentary team (David Howell, Leinier Dominguez, Antoaneta Stefanova, Stuart Conquest, Danny King), either by joining us at the Emirates Stadium or online.
School Events
Eight hundred children from 60 primary schools across the UK attended the 2025 XTX Markets London Chess Classic for a day of chess activities including lessons, simultaneous displays and a tournament. They also got to meet the Grandmasters and some lucky ones got to make the ceremonial first move in the main event. The London Chess Classic typically has five days of school activity which showcase the benefits of teaching chess in school.
The Pro-Biz Cup
The Pro-Biz Cup is an annual event that runs alongside the London Chess Classic. It brings the best business minds and the world’s leading Grandmasters together in a fun tournament to raise money for Chess in Schools and Communities.
Businesses bid to play with their favourite players and the ones who bid the highest get the chance to team up with a Grandmaster in a three round pairs chess tournament. The amateur and grandmaster play as a team and will take it in turns to make moves in rapidplay games with each team allowed two one-minute time-outs per game to discuss strategy or perhaps just a killer move! The 2025 Pro-Biz Cup was won by Bodhana Sivanandan and Abhimanyu Mishra.
