Alireza Firouzja wins 2022 Sinquefield Cup
World No. 4 Alireza Firouzja clinched victory in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5-0.5 in a rapid playoff for the title, earning an extra $10,000 in addition to his $87,500 first place prize. With his result in the Sinquefield Cup, Firouzja also emerged as the overall winner of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour, taking home a $100,000 bonus prize. Finishing second in the GCT was Wesley So, who earned a bonus of $50,000, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave placed third in the overall standings. Firouzja’s sensational performance follows his impressive win in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz held late in August. “In general, the Grand Chess Tour is the toughest tour in the history of chess I think, so to win it is an amazing feeling and I cannot be more happy,” said Firouzja after securing tour victory with a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in today’s final round. 2022 Sinquefield Cup – Final Standings FINAL ROUND VACHIER-LAGRAVE – FIROUZJA | ½-½, 33 moves Firouzja’s last round game was fairly uneventful, as Vachier-Lagrave essentially forced a draw out of the opening in a 5.Re1 Berlin. Firouzja knew his theory well and the players traded down into a dead-drawn single rook ending. Thanks to this draw, Firouzja was able to clinch first in the overall GCT standings, with the Sinquefield Cup still very much undecided based on the results of the games of Nepomniachtchi and So. No more fist bumps! The handshake is back in vogue at top level. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes NEPOMNIACHTCHI – NIEMANN | ½-½, 54 moves After Firouzja’s quick draw, Nepomniachtchi had an opportunity to win the tournament outright with a victory over Niemann, who had been struggling over the last few rounds. A somewhat rare line in the English left Nepo with a much better structure in the endgame, and seemingly decent practical chances with a knight against bishop. But despite out-maneuvering Niemann and building up a decisive advantage, Nepomniachtchi somewhat inexplicably rejected an obvious capture of a pawn, opting to continue shifting his pieces around. This gave Hans a chance to consolidate his position and a few moves later Nepo blundered into a threefold repetition. After 38…Ke7, rather than taking the h6-pawn with a winning position, Nepomniachtchi played the surprising retreat 39.Rb8?, giving Black time to consolidate and hold. Niemann had a difficult position but managed to survive, finishing with a very respectable 3.5/8 in his first super-tournament. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes SO – DOMINGUEZ | ½-½, 39 moves With a win in the last game, So could catch up to the leaders and force a three-way playoff, but Dominguez’s play in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted was too solid, and So was unable to generate any serious winning chances out of the opening. Nevertheless with the draw, So was able to secure second place in the overall GCT. Despite losing an important game to Firouzja yesterday, So still managed to earn 2nd in the overall GCT. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller MAMEDYAROV – ARONIAN | ½-½, 39 moves An exciting 4.Qc2 Nimzo led to the players’ castling on opposite sides of the board, with a very sharp position. But after accurate play by both Mamedyarov and Aronian, the middlegame fizzled out quickly, with mass exchanges leading to a drawn double rook endgame. After the game, Aronian expressed disappointment with his overall performance in recent events, hoping to return to better form soon. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes PLAYOFF GAME 1: NEPOMNIACHTCHI – FIROUZJA | ½-½, 70 moves The first game of the playoff featured Nepomniachtchi’s pet Catalan, as the queens got exchanged early and it seemed like Firouzja had equalized comfortably. But a hasty decision (26…c5) by Firouzja gave Nepo the chance to establish a passed pawn, seizing a nice strategic plus. At this point, Firouzja started to defend well and Nepo lost his advantage when he allowed a trade of knights, leading to a rather drawish rook endgame. After 26…c5 27.d5!, White exerted some pressure, thanks to Black’s weakened b6-pawn, but this wasn’t enough to win the game. GAME 2: FIROUZJA – NEPOMNIACHTCHI | 1-0, 34 moves In the second game, Firouzja grabbed the initiative early on, after an inaccurate move (7…Na6) by Nepomniachtchi on the Black side of an English. Things escalated quickly when Firouzja offered a pawn sacrifice in order to get his kingside majority moving, but rather than accepting the pawn Nepo blundered a piece with 16…Qe7, missing a simple tactic in response. Firouzja pounced on the opportunity and converted with ease, clinching the playoff. After 17.e5! winning a piece in view of 17…Qxe5 18.Bf4+- The triple-crown winner of the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup, and overall Grand Chess Tour. Next up for Firouzja is the Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX, which starts September 14. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Sponsors Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour Venue: Saint Louis Chess ClubSeptember 02-12, 2022 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr.
Arvindh Chitambaram crowned champion of 22nd Dubai Open
Chitambaram finishes with 7.5 points, half a point ahead of Predke and Praggnanandhaa GM Arvindh Chitambaram of India was crowned as champion of the 22nd Dubai Open Chess Tournament during the awarding ceremony Sunday night at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Hall of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club in Al Mamzar. The closing ceremony was attended by His Excellency Khalid Ali bin Zayed Al Falasi, Chairman of the club’s board of directors, His Excellency Tarim Matar, President of the UAE Chess Federation, and members of the club’s board of directors. The 22nd edition of the Dubai Chess Open 2022 took place from 27 August – 5 September at the Dubai Chess & Culture Club. The 9-round Swiss tournament with a total prize fund of $50,000 brought together 180 players from 35 federations. In a speech during the ceremony, tournament director Saeed Yousuf Shakari praised the strong support extended by the Dubai Sports Council to the club and its various chess programs and for supporting the development of Emirati chess talents and their participation in tournaments in the UAE and outside the country. He also commended all the participants for the high level of competition and exciting matches during the tournament, and the arbitration team, headed by the Emirati International Arbiter (I.A.) Mahdi Abdulrahim. Chitambaram, who started as the tournament’s 13th seed, came out on top scoring 7.5/9 after a draw in the final round with his compatriot GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The top-seed GM Alexandr Predke and GM Praggnanandhaa finished on seven points, but Alexandr claimed second place thanks to better tiebreaks, relegating Praggnanandhaa to the third position. Predke had a chance to tie Chitambaram for first place and even win the tournament with a higher tiebreak score over the Indian, but could only manage a draw in his final round game against GM Ahmed Adly of Egypt. “It’s always nice playing in Dubai,” said Chitambaram, who had been a guest at a friend’s house during his stay in the emirate. “The conditions are great, and it’s a brilliant venue.” Chitambaram nursed a slight edge against Praggnanandhaa, but eventually conceded to a draw by repetition of moves when his fourth-seed opponent mounted a dangerous counterattack against the white king. “The position was equal, so I had to take a draw,” Chitambaram said. “I’ve not done too well in any of the Dubai tournaments before, but this one came out a surprise like I cannot believe that I won the championship.” His triumph in Dubai, in addition to winning the Indian blitz and rapid titles earlier this year and a tournament in Benasque, Spain, has helped Chitambaram rebound from a heartbreaking campaign in 2021, when he lost rating points and missed a chance to join the Indian teams to the World Chess Olympiad, which India hosted last month. “It’s always nice to win any tournament in general and I’m really happy with this win,” said the 2018 and 2019 Indian champion. Chitambaram received USD 13,000 and a championship trophy while the rest of the top 15 players also collected cash prizes. Three other players finished on seven points: the tournament’s 2011 champion GM. Abhijeet Gupta, IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete and former Asian champion GM. Sethuraman S.P., who finished fourth to sixth in that order. Final standings: 1 GM Aravindh Chithambaram IND 2614 7½ 2 GM Predke Alexandr FID 2692 7 3 GM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2661 7 4 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2631 7 5 IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete IND 2381 7 6 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2625 7 7 GM Erigaisi Arjun IND 2689 6½ 8 FM Poormosavi Seyed Kian IRI 2404 6½ 9 GM Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2613 6½ 10 GM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2557 6½ Special Prizes I.M. Omran Al Hosani received the Best Emirati Player award, while India’s WGM Divya Deshmukh took the Best Female award. Indian players, meanwhile, took the rating category prizes: Panda Sambit (under 2400), Sanket Chakravarty (under 2300), Ayush Sharma (under 2200), Raghav Srivathsav V (under 2100), and Joel Paul Ganta (under 2000). Photo: Dubai Chess & Culture Club
Kateryna Lagno wins FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship
GM Kateryna Lagno defeated the defending champion, GM Hou Yifan, in the final of the FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship on Friday, September 2. It was a riveting duel of two worthy opponents that came down to the wire in the end. Lagno pulled ahead in the first 5+1, but some connection problems coupled with Hou’s determination and resilience did not allow her to win this stage (4.5-4.5). It should be noted that Hou showed real sportsmanship and agreed to add her opponent two minutes on the clock after Katerina got disconnected. Hou Yifan grabbed the lead in the 3+1 portion in which the opponents exchanged heavy blows and kept it to the very end, winning the second segment by a minimal margin of 5.5-4.5. Lagno immediately levelled the score in the final 1+1 stretch and then stringed together three victories and broke away. Hou responded with two straight wins sending the match to the last decisive game. Needing a victory to reach Armageddon, she spent precious seconds in a very complicated endgame and eventually forfeited on time. In her short post-game interview with Alexandra Kosteniuk and Irina Krush, Lagno shared how she coped with the connectivity issue: “Everything was quite good from the start, but then I got disconnected, and somehow I just couldn’t put myself together after that. I understand that happens to Chinese players quite often, but I was like: ‘Not today! Not now!’ And then… it was always a very close match.” Kateryna also expressed gratitude to her husband, GM Alexander Grischuk, who helped with opening preparation. Lagno earned $9,214.29 in prize money for this victory and a total of $20,860.11 in this event. Hou collected $2,785.71 from this match, $14,399.85 in total. The FIDE Chess.com 2022 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online event where titled women players will play a series of blitz and bullet matches for a share of the $70,000 prize fund. More info of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
FIDE Congress 2022: Key decisions
As it often happens, the FIDE presidential elections tend to overshadow everything else that happens in the congress. As everybody knows by now, Arkady Dvorkovich was reelected by a landslide vote (157:16), but there was much more to it than that. To begin with, the FIDE Council, the most important strategic and executive body within FIDE, had to be formed. Of course, the President himself and his Deputy, Viswanathan Anand, automatically became its first two members. The four elected Vice-Presidents were Sheikh Saud bin Adulaziz Al Mualla (UAE), Ms. Xie Jun (CHN), Mr. Georgios Makropoulos (GRE), and Mr. Michael Khodarkovsky (USA), by order of votes received. Next came the FIDE President’s nominations who, as he had previously announced, designated Mr. Mahir Mammedov (AZE) – Vice-President, Mr. Joran Aulin-Jansson (NOR) – Vice-President, Ms. Zhu Chen (QAT) – Treasurer, Mr. Olalekan Adeyemi (NGR) – Vice-President, and Mr. Mario Antonio Ramirez Barahas (MEX) – Vice-President and Secretary of the Council. Last but not least, the Council is completed with the Continental Presidents which, as of August 9, were Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Europe), Tshepiso Lopang (Recently elected as Continental President for Africa), Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nehyan (Asia) and Jorge Vega Fernandez (Americas). However, the Confederation of Chess for the Americas (CCA) will hold elections in October, while the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) will hold them in December. Depending on the results, the composition of the FIDE Council could change accordingly. Once the FIDE Council was established, the President proposed to its members the creation of a new body, the FIDE Advisory Board. Its main task will be to present its recommendations to the different governing bodies of FIDE regarding the most important issues of the organization of chess life. The first Chairman of this Advisory Board will be the General Secretary of the AICF, Bharat Singh Chauhan, and so far Gulkiz Tulay, Vladimir Kramnik, Darcy Lima, Patrick van Hoolandt and Abdullah Salem Alwahshi have accepted the invitation to be members of this panel. The brand new Tashkent City Congress Hall, proposed venue for the 2026 Chess Olympiad An important point on the agenda was the bid for the 2026 Chess Olympiad. The Uzbekistan Chess Federation announced the full support of its government to hold the event in their country and announced a budget of 12 million euros for the main competition, plus an additional 3 million for the Chess Olympiad for Players with Physical Disabilities. The proposed venue is the brand new Congress Hall which is part of the Tashkent City International Business Center, one of the largest urban development projects in the Republic of Uzbekistan that, when completed, will cover an area of 80 hectares. However, the world-renowned city of Samarkand was also mentioned as a possible alternative due to its tourist attraction. At the same time that the General Assembly approved the bid of Uzbekistan, their young team scored a dramatic victory against India B, a decisive result that allowed them to bring home the gold medal. Augusto de Muro, President of the Argentinian Federation… and FIDE? An interesting discussion was the one around the “missing FIDE President”, brought up by the FIDE Historical Committee. If we stick to the official records, Dutch lawyer Alexander Rueb was the first FIDE President, from 1924 to 1949. However, according to several sources, the President of the Argentinian Chess Federation Augusto de Muro was elected president of FIDE by the Congress held in Buenos Aires (1939) in the frame of the Tournament of Nations. Mr de Muro decided to accept this position, considering the war that had just broken in Europe. There is solid evidence to back up this story. However, the validity of the decision made at the 1939 FIDE Congress is also under question due to some legal formalisms. The FIDE Management and the Historical Committee have been instructed to gather more information on this topic, and consult with researchers and legal experts. The General Assembly has granted the FIDE Council the right to decide whether to officially recognize Mr. de Muro as FIDE president or not. The legendary GM Vlastimil Hort. Photo: Alina L’Ami Yet more recognitions: the General Assembly approved granting the title of FIDE Honorary Members to some important chess personalities: Slim Bouaziz (TUN), Vlastimil Hort (GER), Jorge Vega (GUA), Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (PHI) and Kurt Jungwirth (AUT). An important point on the agenda was the approval of new Rating Regulations for Rapid and Blitz Tournaments, which will be coming into force from October 1 2022. Following the proposal of Sabrina de San Vicente, Chair of the Qualification Commission, in the rating list published on October 1 2022, there will be a one-off change to the rapid and blitz ratings of players: If the player is unrated in rapid or blitz, then they remain unrated in rapid or blitz If the standard rating is more than 100 points higher than one of the other ratings, then that rating is moved up to: standard rating minus 100 points If the standard rating is 100 or fewer points higher than one of the ratings, then the player retains their rating Another important change is that the “K” (development coefficient) will no longer be =20 for all players. From October 1 onwards, K will vary between =10 and =40, following these rules: In the following links, you can find a comprehensive list of all the decisions made at the General Assembly and the FIDE Council meeting. If you click on the index, you can access all the attachments with the pertinent documents. List of decisions at the General Assembly List of decisions at the 2022 2nd FIDE Council Meeting
Arjun Erigaisi clinches Abu Dhabi Masters 2022
GM Arjun Erigaisi (India) emerged as the winner of the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival – Masters scoring an impressive 7.5/9. The event took place from 17-25 August 2022 in the United Arab Emirates and brought together 148 players from 31 countries. Coming into the final round a half point ahead of nine players, the 18-year-old Indian teenager did not take any chances and clinched the title after defeating GM David Anton Guijarro with white pieces. Arjun completed the event unbeaten and picked up 22 rating points, meaning he will join an elite 2700+ club next month. GM Javokhir Sindarov (pictured above) also scored a crucial victory over Amin Tabatabaei in the final round and finished clear second with 7/9. A large group of players, including Jorden Van Foreest (3rd), Ray Robson (4th), Nodirbek Yakubboev (5th) and Nihal Sarin (6th), to name a few, tied for third place. Final standings: 1 GM Erigaisi Arjun IND 2689 7½ 2 GM Sindarov Javokhir UZB 2629 7 3 GM Van Foreest Jorden NED 2680 6½ 4 GM Robson Ray USA 2682 6½ 5 GM Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2620 6½ 6 GM Nihal Sarin IND 2651 6½ 7 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2625 6½ 8 FM Samant Aditya S IND 2430 6½ 9 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2613 6½ 10 GM Aryan Chopra IND 2627 6½ 11 GM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM 2625 6½ Photo: Rupali Mullick Official website: adchessfestival.ae/
Vincent Keymer wins 2022 German Masters
For the fourth year in a row, German Chess Summer in Magdeburg brought together hundreds of local players competing in various tournaments, this time, from August 12-24: German individual championships, German Women’s individual championships, German senior individual championships (+ 50 / + 65), German blitz individual championships, German Women’s Individual Blitz Championships, German Cup Individual Championships and many others. The top of the milk was the most prestigious German Masters, a ten-player round-robin tournament featuring the best German players. The top-rated Vincent Keymer entered the competition as the favourite and did not disappoint. The 17-year-old native of Maintz scored 7/9, conceding his opponents just four draws. Vincent’s result could have been even more impressive had he converted an overwhelming advantage in his final round game against Frederik Svane, who finished second. Keymer picked up 12 rating points and became the only unbeaten player. Frederik Svane’s performance was a pleasant surprise. The eighth-rated player stayed in the race for the top spot for the most part and earned 19 rating points. Arik Braun and Daniel Fridman netted 5 points each and tied for third place, with the former making the podium thanks to a greater number of victories. Frederik Svane facing his brother Rasmus Final standings: 1 GM Keymer, Vincent 2672 7 2 GM Svane, Frederik 2547 6 3 GM Braun, Arik 2594 5 4 GM Fridman, Daniel 2606 5 5 GM Kollars, Dmitrij 2643 4½ 6 FM Kölle, Tobias 2433 4 7 GM Svane, Rasmus 2640 4 8 GM Engel, Luis 2557 4 9 GM Huschenbeth, Niclas 2607 3½ 10 IM Rosner, Jonas 2464 2 The 24-seed Leonardo Costa (pictured above) made a splash in German Championship, claiming the title and punching his ticket to the German Masters 2023. Lara Schulze (pictured below) triumphed in the women’s category. Thilo Ehmann secured victory in the German Cup individual championship. Among the seniors, the new German champions are Arno Zude (50+) and Yuri Boidman (65+). Check out full results on the official website. Photo: Deutscher Schachbund Twitter and Deutscher Schachbund Facebook page
Belgian Championship 2022: Daniel Dardha wins third title
GM Daniel Dardha tuned in a dominating performance in the 2022 Belgian Chess Championship organized by the Koninklijke Belgische Schaakbond/Fédération Royale Belge des Echecs (Royal Belgium Chess Federation), claiming his third national title. The teenager from Antwerp previously won this event in 2019 and 2021. The champion finished three points ahead of his closest competitor Georgian-born GM Alexandre Dgebuadze. “Won the Belgian Championship for the 3rd time with 8.5/9, exceeding the 2600 mark and becoming #1 Belgium. On the next goal!” the champion wrote on his Facebook page. Photo: Daniel Dardha’s Facebook page Official website: frbe-kbsb-ksb.be/
Felix Blohberger and Annika Fröwis win Austrian Championship
Felix Blohberger and Annika Fröwis emerged as the winners of the Österreichische Staatsmeisterschaft 2022. The 2022 Austrian Chess Championship, a 9-round Swiss tournament with classical time control, took place from August 12-19 in the Vienna Chess House. Both men and women competed in one event but were ranked separately, with the highest-scoring female player claiming the title of Austrian Women’s Champion. The tournament was a very close affair, with Felix Blohberger, Christoph Menezes, Andreas Diermair and Dominik Horvath coming into the final round as joint leaders on 6/8. Blohberger and Diermair drew their games against Horvath and Nikolaus Stanec, respectively, while Menezes got an overwhelming position against Johannes Steindl with black pieces but mishandled it and eventually lost. As a result, four players tied for the top position, scoring 6½/9, but the title goes to Felix Blohberger, thanks to superior Buchholz. Felix made himself an excellent gift for his 20th birthday he is celebrating today. Congratulations! Andreas Diermair took silver, and Dominik Horvath claimed bronze. Final standings: 1 GM Blohberger Felix 2492 6½ 2 GM Diermair Andreas 2458 6½ 3 IM Horvath Dominik 2489 6½ 4 FM Steindl Johannes 2312 6½ 5 IM Menezes Christoph 2414 6 6 FM Leisch Lukas 2404 6 7 GM Stanec Nikolaus 2460 6 8 FM Morgunov Marc 2412 6 9 IM Kilgus Georg 2387 6 10 GM Shengelia David 2462 6 Annika Fröwis seemed to be rushing towards a clear victory after scoring four points after five rounds. However, he suffered three straight defeats against strong opponents and allowed Veronika Exler and Barbara Teuschler to catch up with her heading into the final round. All three ladies lost their games in Round 9 and shared first place. Buchholz variable favoured Fröwis, who took the title and completed a WIM norm with a performance of 2267. Official website: chess.at/ Photo: D. Hiermann