Anniversary chess match Space – Earth ends in a draw
On June 9, the second chess match between Space and Earth took place in the main hall of the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. The event has been co-organized by the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics, the Roscosmos State Corporation, the Chess Federation of Russia, and the social network VKontakte. The match featured pilot-cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, Hero of the Russian Federation, and test-cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, who played from aboard the International Space Station. Representing team Earth was Sergey Karjakin – a former Rapid and Blitz World Champion, and two-time winner of the world team championships as part of the Russian team. He was making his moves in the Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics. The match was timed with the half-century anniversary of the first Space – Earth chess game played on June 9, 1970. Just like 50 years ago, the first move advantage belonged to the space crew. The game ended in a draw after a sharp tactical battle in the Ruy Lopez. The VKontakte platform attracted more than 800,000 people watching the match broadcast. A cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin noted that it was a great honor for cosmonauts to hold their ground against a grandmaster. Sergey Karjakin also shared his impressions of the game: “In this game, my emotions ran higher than in any game I played in the world championship match. This is because when you play against team Space, you have no idea what to expect. The game was very interesting and sharp, and, at the same time, quite a correct one in terms of chess content. I do not think the opponents have made any mistakes; therefore, a draw is a natural outcome. A human brain seems to function extremely well in space. Space brings people together, they say. As we have seen today, chess can indeed help people of various professions reach each other even across space. With this in mind, let us organize such matches more frequently than on a once-per-50-year basis. The anniversary match became the culmination of celebrations dedicated to the legendary chess game. A well-known TV presenter and sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev and the head of the Museum’s press service Daria Chudnaya hosted the show. The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, Director General of the Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin, and the Museum of Cosmonautics Director Natalya Artyukhina sent greetings to the participants of this match. During the stream, the audience had a chance to watch a video telling a story behind the legendary space chess set used in the first Space – Earth match and an interview with the multiple World Champion Anatoly Karpov. You can watch the match with commentary in English on the YouTube channels of Roscosmos and FIDE. Photos: Eteri Kublashvili About the organizers: The Museum of Cosmonautics is one of the largest scientific and technical museums in Russia. The history of the museum starts in 1964 when the Monument to the Conquerors of Space first appeared on the map of Moscow. Today, the Museum of Cosmonautics is one of the top three most visited museums in Moscow’s Department of Culture. The modern museum exposition is composed of eight exhibition halls. The museum’s collection includes more than 99,000 items: samples of rocket and aerospace technology, authentic relics, documents, philately, numismatics, decorative and applied works of art, and collections of paintings and graphics. The museum tells the stories of the conquerors of space. Among them: the famous Belka and Strelka, authentic descent vehicles from Soyuz spacecraft, a model of the first artificial satellite “Sputnik,” the original Lunokhod control panel, a full-scale model of the base module of the “Mir” space station, and other space artifacts. Official website of the museum: https://kosmo-museum.ru/ ROSCOSMOS is a State Corporation established in August 2015 to oversee and implement a comprehensive reform of the Russian space industry. State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS ensures the implementation of the Russian government’s space program and its legal regulation. ROSCOSMOS also places orders for the development, manufacture, and supply of space equipment and space infrastructure objects. The state corporation is also responsible for international space cooperation and tasked with setting the stage for the future application of space activities findings for Russia’s social and economic development. Official website of SC ROSCOSMOS: https://www.roscosmos.ru Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) (from 1992 till 2019 known as the Russian Chess Federation) is an All-Russian non-governmental organization uniting regional chess federations as well as being a member of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The Federation was founded in 1992 as a successor to the USSR Chess Federation. The CFR charter recognizes the Federation congress as the supreme governing body to be convened at least once every four years. Besides, the collegiate governing body is the Federation’s Supervisory Board, which consists of five vice presidents and 26 representatives of regional federations. Since 2014, the sole executive authority has been vested with President of the Russian Chess Federation (since 2019, the Russian Federation of Chess). Andrey Filatov is the CFR’s current President. The CFR is a direct organizer of many national and international tournaments, including the Russian Championship Higher League, Russian Team Championship, and the international tournament Belaya Ladya. The CFR also hosts the Russian Rapid and Blitz Championships, the Russian Cup, the Grand Prix Rapid, and the Children’s Russian Cup. Official website of the Russian Chess Federation is: http://ruchess.ru
Day 3: Carlsen and So through to semifinals
Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So on qualifying for the semifinals after defeating Jeffery Xiong and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave respectively. So clinched the match with a round to spare while the battle between Carlsen and Xiong was a close affair decided in the final game. Vachier-Lagrave and Xiong are both eliminated, earning $15,000 each, with Xiong collecting a bonus of $2,000 for defeating the World Champion in clutch game number 5. Carlsen will face the winner of the Levon Aronian vs. Alexander Grischuk match, whereas So will square off against one of his countrymen, the winner of the Fabiano Caruana vs Leinier Dominguez match. These aforementioned matches will resume today. Magnus Carlsen vs. Jeffery Xiong 11.5 – 6.5 Jeffery Xiong started the day off strong by getting a better position out of the opening then capitalizing on a blunder by his opponent, thus equalizing the score. The 19-year-old also had winning chances in the second game, but the World Champion created enough opportunities to escape unscathed. Xiong felt that the third game was the critical point of the match, one he did not recover from psychologically. As the commentators were ready to call the game a draw, the American mistakenly traded down to a lost king and pawn endgame, resigning several moves later. Xiong’s mental anguish was clear in the next game, as he allowed a brute force attack on his king and resigned in 25 moves. Even with a two-point deficit, the American grandmaster had the better tiebreaks in case of a tie as he had previously won a clutch game. He needed to score a win and a draw in the remaining two clutch games, where each win was worth three points. After a comfortable draw for Carlsen with the black pieces in the penultimate game, his opponent had a monumental task ahead of him: a must-win situation with the black pieces. Carlsen had the advantage in the middlegame and sealed the deal after his opponent’s blunder. He also picked up the $8,000 rolled over bonus for this win. In the postgame interview, Carlsen observed that the match could have gone either way and shared the frustration he felt in the first two games due to playing poorly and not winning. The young American star received a lot of praise both from his opponent and the commentators and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to face the World Champion. Wesley So vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 13-5 The fast-paced match ended before Carlsen and Xiong were even halfway through theirs! Maxime Vachier-Lagrave entered the match three points behind his opponent but still had excellent chances to turn the tables. The first two games ended peacefully after both players had missed a few opportunities. The third game could have been the breaking point in this match as well and was the perfect example of why rook endgames are notoriously difficult and need to be played out until the end. When it seemed as though the game was heading towards yet another draw, So went astray, allowing his opponent to clinch the win with a pawn sacrifice taking advantage of his king being cut off. The fourth game was also Vachier-Lagrave’s to take, but a pawn grab cost him everything, as the Frenchman allowed so much counterplay on the back rank, that he was the one who had to force the draw. The American clinched the match in the penultimate game but not without some problems. While choosing between two moves in a winning position, So chose the one that blundered a pawn and was very obviously an upset on camera. However, he still showed his brilliance by finding a tactical shot that ended the game. The final game ended in fifteen moves as Vachier-Lagrave seemed too jaded after the previous two games to concentrate fully. With this win, So earned all the clutch bonus money, totaling to $10,000. Unsurprisingly, the former US Champion is a big fan of this format but keeps his focus on his play rather than bonus prizes. Text: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan You can watch the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com (official website) Press Contact: Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org