Baadur Jobava and Nino Batsiashvili each won their fifth national chess titles at the 2026 Georgian Championships in Tbilisi. The open and women's events, held from January 27 to February 5, featured 10-player round-robin formats at classical time controls. Jobava finished unbeaten, while Batsiashvili dominated with a mid-tournament winning streak.
The 85th Georgian Chess Championship and the 83rd Georgian Women's Chess Championship took place simultaneously at the Biltmore Hotel in Tbilisi. In the open section, top seed Baadur Jobava took sole lead after the fourth round and held it through the end, scoring 6 points from nine games without a loss. He drew his final game against Tornike Sanikidze, securing first place half a point ahead, with Luka Kiladze in third. This marks Jobava's fifth title, following wins in 2003, 2007, 2012, and 2024; his first came at age 19, and he peaked at a 2734 rating in 2012, ranking 19th globally.
Jobava's victories included a key win in round two against Giga Quparadze, where he played 20.Ne5 to gain advantage, leading to a superior endgame converted despite some inaccuracies. Both Jobava and Sanikidze finished undefeated.
In the women's event, Nino Batsiashvili claimed the title with 7.5 points from nine games, clinching it a round early after five straight wins from rounds four to eight. Her previous titles were in 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2022, her first at age 28. The win elevated her to Georgia's top-ranked female player and 17th worldwide among women.
The final round decided the medals: Meri Arabidze beat Lela Javakhishvili to tie on points, but Javakhishvili took silver via Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak, with Arabidze third. Batsiashvili's round-one win over Bella Khotenashvili featured a sharp middlegame where 29.Nc4?? by her opponent allowed 29...Bf3+ to win the exchange.
