The Dawn of a New Era

Good morning chess players. Twenty year old Javokhir Sindarov has climbed a mountain the likes no other chess player has done with a nine point score across twelve games at the FIDE Candidates, which decides the challenger to current world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. With the old guard of name brand players like Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura dragging behind by a whopping 3 point deficit, only future FIDE president Anish Giri stands in second place behind 2 points. Sindarov’s play this tournament has been out of this world, to the point that it has even stunned former world champion Magnus Carlsen (still our goat).

Reminder! Tonight is the monthly Club Rapid Tournament at Nook! Join us 7pm for five rounds of 10|2 blitz Swiss, $20 with prizes for all skill levels.

At this point there is essentially zero chance someone catches up to the Uzbek star. Stay tuned for more info regarding the big World Championship match. In the Women’s Candidates running alongside the open event, there is a stellar bunch up of the worlds best women at the top of the pool, so it’s anyone’s game. Former world champ Zhu Jiner shares lead with Indian prodigy Vaishali Rameshbabu, with Anna Muzychuk and Bibisara Assaubayeva both behind by a half point. With two days left we look forward to seeing who makes it out on top. Speaking of top women, let’s look at the events we’ve been hosting at Bushwick Chess.

2026 Women’s Championship See’s New Top Player

At the third annual Brooklyn Women’s Championship, we saw new and returning players join to challenge one another for the coveted Brooklyn Top Woman. With donations of over $600 from club members the competition was fierce. Our club friend and adult improver Sydney Strauss attended, along with two rockstars from Prospect Park, Elanor Avril and Trina Chatterjee. Bushwick’s Lisa Lin, Sam Sharf, Maya Rutta and Miriam Kagan also tested the field with plenty of newcomers from around the city.

After five rounds of 10|2 rapid, it was clear that the undefeated WFM Devina Devagharan was the clear front runner, defeating the best of the pool along with content comrade WCM Maddie Weber. WFM Devina’s introductory NYC rating now sits at 2083. We look forward to her future attendance when she makes New York her permanent home in May. You can follow her content journey on Instagram!

WCM Weber claimed second place with 4/5, and now sits with a rapid rating of 1884, which lowkey let’s be real mean’s she’s STILL underrated. Follow her Youtube journey HERE. Third place went to the well deserved Sam Sharf on 3/5, bringing her rating up to 1728 NYCR. You can see the full ratings results HERE.

April Beginners/Intermediate Continues to Be A Challenge

While our most beginner friendly event at Bushwick Chess saw an average rating of 1411 NYCR, the challenge to climb out of the U1600 pool remains tough for our regular club players. 21 players met at the monthly five round rapid for new and improving players under 1600 NYCR, all with the hope to graduate out of the pool and find glory in the much higher rated Open Rapid TONIGHT!

After five rounds, newcomer Benjamin Douglass finished the event with a perfect 5/5, graduating in his first entry and claiming a new rating of 1864 NYCR. Second Place went to Scott Friedman on 4/5, now rated 1499 NYCR while Third Place went to Daniel Goodman on 3/5, now rated 1525 NYCR.

And that’s it for this week chess players! Join us tonight for more chess and be sure to check our socials HERE. Much love chess players, see you over the board soon. You can find your updated NYC Rating HERE.