American GM Hans Moke Niemann proposed a regulation change at the UzChess Cup 2026 during the technical meeting. Hans suggested replacing the Sonneborn-Berger system with Tiebreaks to determine the winner of a first-place tie.

Hans Moke Niemann

Hans Moke Niemann

American GM

“Imagine you’re tied for first place, and you don’t get first just because someone won more games with Black. How would you feel? It would discredit the entire tournament.

Of course, you want the tournament to be decided at the chessboard, not by some ‘Sonneborn-Berger’. I don’t even know what that number means…

Every single top tournament has regulations. It is important to have an international standard. If Tata Steel and all similar tournaments have Tiebreaks, then here we should have the same regulations, the same Tiebreaks.

I’m always offering Tiebreaks and no one accepts… If you believe in yourself, you should vote for Tiebreaks.”

Players and organizers discussed Niemann’s suggestion. The idea of playing Tiebreaks only in case of a two-way tie was proposed and rejected. Organizers approved Tiebreaks for any number of players tied for first place.

‘Sonneborn-Berger’ is a system that determines the winner in a tie by the sum of additional points. It adds up the points of all players a person defeated and half the points of those they drew with. Additional criteria include the number of wins and the number of wins with Black.

The UzChess Cup 2026 takes place from June 7 to 15, at the Crowne Plaza, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The event features a 90+30 time control for the first 40 moves and 30+30 for the rest of the game over a single Round-Robin between 10 players.

Credit: ChessBase India Facebook