Levan Pantsulaia and Nana Dzagnidze have been crowned the 2025 Georgian Chess Champions, securing their fifth and fourth national titles, respectively.

The 84th Georgian Chess Championship and the 82nd Georgian Women’s Chess Championship, both 10-player round robins with classical time control, were held simultaneously from February 2-12 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The open section featured Georgia’s top players, except for 2024 champion Baadur Jobava, who opted not to defend his title. GM Levan Pantsulaia (pictured above) took the lead early with back-to-back victories and never relinquished it. Holding a solid point advantage over the competition, he secured the title by drawing his final three games, finishing clear first with 6.5/9—the only unbeaten player in the event.

Giga Quparadze took silver, finishing just half a point behind, while Tornike Sanikidze strung together three consecutive wins in the final rounds to claim bronze.

Final standings Open:

Top seed GM Nana Dzagnidze (pictured above) dominated most of the tournament but stumbled in the penultimate round, allowing GM Bella Khotenashvili to close the gap to just half a point. Facing her main rival in the final round with White, Dzagnidze opted for a quick 7-move draw, clinching the championship title with an impressive 7/9.

Khotenashvili finished second, while IM Meri Arabidze tied for third place with Inga Khurtsilava but claimed bronze thanks to a superior Sonneborn-Berger tiebreaker.

Final standings Women:

Photos: Georgian Chess Federation