The two top names in the tournament, grandmasters Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, are gunning for a final spot in the 2026 FIDE Candidates, the final round-robin eliminator that determines who will challenge for the World Championship in 2026. A winning performance at the Emirates might secure that.
As a result, all eyes in the chess world will be on the London Chess Classic, organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities. It is not the first time the result has carried such weight.
In 2023, the now world champion Gukesh D arrived in London with the same ambition but was thwarted by England’s Michael Adams who took top honours.
In 2024, grandmaster Gawain Jones, pictured celebrating with his two kids, was crowned champion for the first time. He returns this year to defend his title.
Adams, the legendary nine-time British champion, is also back along with England’s number-two Nikita Vitiugov and Cambridge-based former prodigy Luke McShane. The quartet complete the strong home challenge.
From overseas, the world’s youngest ever grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra will fly over from the USA to compete along with another American star Sam Shankland, rated 2654 FIDE.
Mishra has just competed at the World Cup in Goa, India, along with Greek Grandmaster Nikolas Theodorou, who also joins the line-up. Shankland’s campaign in India continues. The London Chess Classic also welcomes Ukrainian Grandmaster Pavel Eljanov, a former World Cup semi-finalist and world number six.
But it is the presence of Firouzja, the 2762-rated and currently world number six, and Abdusattorov, a supreme talent from Uzbekistan who is a former World Rapid champion, which elevates the line-up. Both are world class players and in the race to make it to the Candidates, every game will be a must-win for them.
More details about the line-up are available here.
The 15th London Chess Classic is organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC). Previous winners include legends of the game such as former world champions Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik.
Festival of chess
The elite event is just one of a series taking place at the Emirates this month. In addition, the LCC Festival will give 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 stacked with professional players and prodigies including ten-year-old sensation Bodhana Sivanandan.
- 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
- a Bughouse Chess tournament for teams of two players
- Challenge the Master sessions where anyone can take on one of our resident experts
- the LCC Dinner at The Dorchester, raising funds to support the work of Chess in Schools and Communities.
Spectators can enjoy the all action and live grandmaster analysis from our grandmaster commentary team (David Howell, Leinier Dominguez, Stuart Conquest, Danny King), either by joining us at the Emirates Stadium or online.
International Master Malcolm Pein, Chief Executive of CSC, said:
“We are delighted to be back at the Emirates, particularly as it is now also the home of the possibly the strongest chess player in British football, Eberechi Eze, winner of the PogChamps tournament on Chess.com.
We have an extraordinary field for this year’s XTX Markets London Chess Classic. Four top English players and four top flight pros, plus two from the chess elite, trying to stake their claim for a shot at the world title.”
About Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC)
Chess in Schools and Communities is a UK-wide charity founded in 2009, whose mission is to improve children’s educational outcomes and social development by introducing them to the game of chess. We run over 1,000 projects in schools, libraries and prisons and a world-class tournament, the London Chess Classic, each December.
About XTX Markets:
XTX Markets is a leading algorithmic trading firm which uses state-of-the-art machine learning technology to produce price forecasts for over 50,000 financial instruments across equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and crypto. It uses those forecasts to trade on exchanges and alternative trading venues, and to offer differentiated liquidity directly to clients worldwide. The firm trades over $250bn a day across 35 countries and has over 250 employees based in London, Singapore, New York, Paris, Bristol, Mumbai, Yerevan and Kajaani.
Since 2020, XTX Markets has committed over £250 million to charities and non-profit partners, establishing the firm as a major philanthropic donor in the UK and globally. The firm’s philanthropy focuses on advancing mathematics education and research, having committed over £50 million in grants to UK charities and education institutions, with the aim of supporting more students to progress to degrees, PhDs and highly-skilled careers in maths, especially those from low-income backgrounds. XTX Markets has also committed more than £25 million to support elite mathematics talent worldwide. More broadly, the firm’s giving also supports high-impact education programmes in low- and middle-income countries, humanitarian relief and local community initiatives in the regions where our offices are located internationally.
Since 2021, XTX Markets has proudly sponsored ChessFest, CSC’s annual celebration of the game of chess that culminates in the charity taking over Trafalgar Square for a day of fun, free, family-friendly activities. In total ChessFest has welcomed close to 100,0000 visitors.
XTX Markets sponsored the 2024 London Chess Classic, which saw the event move to the Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal Football Club. We are delighted that XTX Markets are continuing their sponsorship of the tournament in 2025.
For more information contact:
Leon Watson
Chess in Schools & Communities
07786078770
